Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Whitman's Chocolates Collection of Print Advertisements

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0437
Creators:
Whitman Chocolates
Dates:
1878-1954, undated
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.6 Cubic feet
2 boxes
Repository:
Materials trace the evolution of product packaging and advertising of Whitman's Chocolates. Includes business records and photographs of early product displays.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The collection primarily documents the packaging and display of Whitman's Chocolates. There is a pen and ink sketch from a New York newspaper dated from 1878 which is an image of the Whitman exhibit in Paris, France. Also included are advertisements clipped from newspapers and magazines dated1898 and 1934 as well as undated advertisiements. A scrapbook labeled as Mr. Greenwood's advertising and merchandising portfolio consists primarily of photographs of window displays and products. The window displays are from stores across the United States, including Burlington, Vermont; Louisville, Kentucky; Wichita Falls, Texas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Huntington, West Virginia; Chicago, Illinois; Burlingame, California; Beverly, Massachusetts; Mobile, Alabama; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Atlantic City, New Jersey and Albany, New York. There are some materials relating to Mother's Day, including a short paper on the history of the holiday which states that the first observance was in Philadelphia in 1908. In addition, there are candy wraps, point of purchase displays, correspondence and a Good Housekeeping Bureau of Foods Sanitation and Health certificate from 1932. A second scrapbook of correspondence, advertisements, order forms, newsletters, and newspaper clippings dates from 1950-1952. There is also a fact book dated 1954 and an undated product book. Lastly, there is an undated photograph of Stephen Whitman. Materials are arranged in chronological order.

Administration

Author
Stacey Coates
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection donated by Whitman's Chocolates, through Robert J. Dizutti, 1991, November 13.
Separated Materials
The Division of Home and Community (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) holds artifacts related to this collection, including packaging for some of its products. See Accession number 1992.0017.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Stacy Coates, intern, 1991; supervised by Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, archivist.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Whitman's Chocolates Collection of Print Advertisements, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
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.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.

Related Materials
Materials related to Stephen F. Whitman & Son are located in the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (AC0060).

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographs -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
advertising -- Food Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chocolate processing Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business records -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chocolates -- History Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
advertising -- Confectionery Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chocolate industry -- History -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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