The collection consists of examples of product packaging designed by Mahler and others. The packaging is for products such as snack foods, motor oil, tobacco products, and sport equipment.

A collection of flat-folded product packages for soap and detergent. Some of the packages were designed by industrial designer Donald Deskey.

Seventy-three (73) cigarette pack labels from the World War II years. The manufacturers include American, British, Chinese, and Japanese tobacco companies.

A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Packaging 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

As a teenager, Virgil Johnson [b.1918] became interested in the designs and symbols on cigarette packs like "Black Cat" and "White Roll", and he began actively collecting in the 1930s. His interest intensified during the 1940s when he was stationed in North Africa and across the Mediterranean region as a photographer with the U.S. Navy. Mr. Johnson collected cigarette packs for over fifty years, and was a member of the Cigarette Pack Collector's Association. Approximately 6000 cigarette packages, foreign and American, arranged in 24 albums. Manufacturers include names such as those shown below.

The package is illustrated with a picture of Margaret Mead and includes a note on her as part of a series on "Outstanding American Women."

Papers relating to products developed and marketed by Joseph Enterprises, Inc., including the Chia Pet and the Clapper. The collection includes internal business documentation including correspondence, design drawings, and photographs. Print advertising and packaging samples as well as audiovisual materials make up an important part of the collection. The video collection includes commercials for the Chia and Clapper products as well as clips of product mentions in popular entertainment. In addition, there are two recorded oral history interviews with Joseph Pedott.

The collection documents Garfield and Company, a pharmaceutical manufacturer in New Jersey during the twentieth century. Garfield and Company, founded by Isidor Z. Garfield (1863-1951), made Seidlitz Powder, a commonly known medication composed of tartaric acid, sodium bicarbonate, and potassium sodium tartrate that was used as a mild cathartic by dissolving it in water and then drinking it. Materials include customer files, invoices, correspondence, advertising and packaging materials, calendars, posters, financial records, and an oral and video history with Julius Garfield, son of Isidor Z. Garfield.

Project files containmagazine and newspaper clippings, reviews, correspondence, renderings, floor plans, perspective drawings, site plans, sketches, preliminary drawings, patents, stationery, labels, and technical reports. There is an extensive collection of photographs and slides of many of Deskey's packaging designs, interiors, furnishings, and exhibition installations. The files of Donald Deskey Associates include organizational charts, client files, proposals, and financial records. Some of Deskey's personal correspondence, speeches, articles, and family photographs are included. Materials cover the period from 1927-1975.

Client files, administrative files, artwork, and collected food labels from graphic and industrial designer Francis Mair. Mair specialized in beverage labels and packaging during his many years with Landor Associates in San Francisco. Late in his career, he directed Landor's Museum of Packaging History. His prolific freelance career included designs for furniture, decorative arts, letterhead, and corporate images. His personal artwork included alphabets, typefaces, and sketchbooks. Much of his personal artwork is humorous or erotic.