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Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Guide to the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Hair
Summary
- Collection ID:
- NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Hair
- Creators:
-
Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969
- Dates:
-
1772-1948
- Languages:
-
Collection is inEnglish, with additional materials inFrench,German,Japanese, andLatin.
- Physical Description:
-
1.45 Cubic feetconsisting of 2.5 boxes, 1 folder, 7 oversized folders, 3 map case folders, 1 flat box (partial), plus digital images of some collection material.
- Repository:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Hair forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
The subject category Hair contains material pertaining to the manufacturing and distribution of hair-related products, including shampoos, wigs, hair dyes and tints, hair preservatives, hair oils, straighteners, combs, pressers, hair nets, and veils. Hair also contains material pertaining to hair-related services, including haircuts, hair removal, wigmaking, facial hair shaping, and hair styling. The material is not exclusively marketed to a single gender, but material marketed toward women is more prevalent.
The bulk of the subject category comprises business records, advertisements, import and export records, catalogues, and posters. Companies represented include Dr. J.C. Ayer and Company and Reuben P. Hall and Company.
Additional material includes images and poems related to hair. Portraits of people with long hair or certain hairstyles, images of salons, and caricatures. Realia in the collection consists of a black net veil. Subject- related material provides brief overviews of general hair care and maintenance, in-depth treatments for hair and scalp related problems, and samples of hair provided from people and correspondence describing them.
No particular depth is present for any singular subtopic within the collection, though images of hair styles, product advertisements and posters, and literature related to medical aspects of hair treatment are particular strengths of the collection. It contains a small amount of French, German, Japanese, and Latin language material, which is is within the collection and is indicated in folder-level descriptions when present.
Arrangement
Arrangement
Hair is arranged in three subseries.
- Business Records and Marketing Material
- Genre
- Subject
Administration
Author
Kendra Jae
Sponsor
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Hair is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, and it was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
Processing Information
In 2016, with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund, the Archives Center at the National Museum of American History implemented the use of minimal level processing standards to increase information about and facilitate access to more of our collections. For this subject, minimal processing included arrangement to the folder level, based on prior processing and preservation action, with retention of the pre-existing arrangement when possible, if applicable. Otherwise, an order was imposed by the Processing Archivist. Some materials were consolidated to eliminate excess bulk but items within folders were not arranged further. The guide may or may not include a more refined list of folder contents. Non-archival housing was replaced for long-term stability, but staples and other fasteners have not all been removed.
Minimal level processing and machine-readable finding aid completed by Kendra Jae, April 2017.
Digital Content
More …Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Preferred Citation
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Hair, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
More Information
Brand Name Index
Brand Name Index
The following is a list of brand names for various hair and related names that appear on this list is a compilation of those found on materials in the vertical document boxes. The list is intended to assist researchers locate desired materials when only the brand name is known.
Brand Name Index
Brand Name
Manufacturer
American Girl
R. Ginsburg & Bros.
Blue Grass
Elizabeth Arden
Buckingham's
R.P. Hall & Co.
Capillaris
T. Hill Mansfield's
Capillina
Wood & Sons
Cell-Life
Susanna Cocroft Laboratories
Cupid
Richardson & De Long Bros.
Fedora
Silverberg Import Co.
Follicula
Anglo-American Electric Ass.
Grace Darling
The Fair
Jo-Cur
Curran Labs
Kreml
R.B.
Revivum
C.N. Crittenton
Venida
Rieser Co.
Vigorol
J.B. Weis
Wear Rite
R. Ginsberg & Bros.
Keywords
Repository Contact
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
archivescenter@si.edu
