The Hagley Vault

Selections from Hagley Museum and Library's archives and published collections on the history of American business, technology, and innovation.

December 2, 2024

Brrr!!! Winter weather has arrived on the grounds of Hagley Library. We're taking inspiration from this ca. 1955? photograph today and bundling up. This image shows a research team at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company's Haskell Laboratory working in their "all weather room", where DuPont researchers studied body reactions at extremely high and low temperatures and experimented with clothing made from the company's synthetic textile fibers.


This photograph is from Hagley Library's collection of DuPont Company Product Information photographs (Accession 1972.341). The DuPont Company created the Product Information section within the Public Relations department in 1952. Its function was to produce news releases with photographs about DuPont and its products for indirect publicity and advertising purposes.

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Archive

For posts prior to October 2020, visit the Hagley Vault on Tumblr.

Magazine cover featuring a fairy-like figure with a paintbrush spreading a swirl of green flowers.
Friday, April 1, 2022
Philco News's editorial team must have been as excited for springtime as we are ...
Philco News's editorial team must have been as excited for springtime as we are when they made this February 1960 cover. Hello April flowers! It's good to see you again! Philco News was the monthly employee newsletter of the Philco Corporation, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania firm that was once a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production....
Black and white image of a large formal garden and statuary
Thursday, March 31, 2022
This is an exciting time of year for the green thumbs of the northeast ...
This is an exciting time of year for the green thumbs of the northeast. If you're feeling ambitious about planting season this year and are looking for a little gardening inspo, check out this 1949 photograph of the Crowninshield Garden's refinery terrace statues and plantings. The Crowninshield Garden was a ca. 1920s neoclassical garden built on...
Black and white photograph of eight men forming a human pyramid
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Today's #WorkerWednesday shows employees of the Joseph Bancroft & Sons Co.'s ...
Today's #WorkerWednesday shows employees of the Joseph Bancroft & Sons Co.'s  Eddystone, Pennsylvania Print Works Division. This 1930 photograph is part of the Hagley Library's collection of Joseph Bancroft and Sons Company photographs (Accession 1969.025). The company's namesake, Joseph Bancroft (1803-1874) began manufacturing cotton cloth...
Seated woman in a sash is being crowne with a railroad workers' hat. Train in background.
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Who knew that #TrainTuesday could be so glamorous?
Who knew that #TrainTuesday could be so glamorous? This photograph features "Miss Careful Handling", a company-wide ambassador for the safe shipping of freight, alongside a Pennsylvania Railroad Company worker and train. Georgia Malick, also a Miss America finalist representing New Jersey, was featured as "Miss Careful Handling" in a series of...
Advertisement for Graybar vacuum cleaners showing a woman doing spring cleaning in a home.
Monday, March 28, 2022
I was so pleased to see some early Spring flowers on the Hagley grounds ...
I was so pleased to see some early Spring flowers on the Hagley grounds this morning that not even this May 1926 advertisement reminding me to do my chores can spoil me on the season. The Graybar Electric Company, a merchandiser of electrical equipment and household appliances, was founded in 1926 out of a supply division of the Western Electric...
Black and white photograph of a child dressed like a cowboy on a coin-operated horse ride.
Friday, March 25, 2022
Yee-haw! Here's to horsing around on the weekend ....
Yee-haw! Here's to horsing around on the weekend!  We're spreading around some #TGIF vibes today with this ca. 1945? photograph from Hagley Library's collection of Chamber of Commerce of the United States photographs and audiovisual materials, Series II. Nation's Business photographs (Accession 1993.230.II). The Chamber of Commerce of the United...
Black and white image of a house split vertically by flooding.
Thursday, March 24, 2022
April showers have turned up early to Hagley this year ...
April showers have turned up early to Hagley this year, so today is #WeaThursday. This 1933 photograph shows the aftermath of a flood in Laurel, Delaware. This item is part of Hagley Library's collection of Frank R. Zebley photograph albums (Accession 1968.012). Frank R. Zebley (1883-1960) was a Delaware native collector, photographer, author, and...
Black and white image of a woman buried up to her neck in crumpled cellophane.
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Feeling a little buried by work? This #WorkerWednesday post can relate ...
Feeling a little buried by work? This #WorkerWednesday post can relate ... This ca. 1955 photograph shows a DuPont Company employee up to her neck in cellophane trimmings yet to to be baled. It is from Hagley Library's DuPont Company Product Information Collection (Accession 1972.371). In 1952, the DuPont Company organized a Product Information...
Black and white group photograph of men in suits and hats in front of an industrial building
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
This 1921 photograph has us joining some #TechTuesday luminaries ....
This 1921 photograph has us joining some #TechTuesday luminaries for an inspection tour of the RCA Transoceanic Station at New Brunswick, New Jersey. RCA head David Sarnoff hosted a crew of contemporaries in the field of science and technology on this tour. His guests, captured in this group photograph, included Albert Einstein, Charles Steinmetz...
Black and white photograph of a man and woman seated in front of a desk decorated with a wedding theme.
Monday, March 21, 2022
Spring is here and love is in the air ....
Spring is here and love is in the air - today we're paying a visit to a new happy couple, Mr. and Mrs. MacCune.  This photograph, captured on this date, March 21, in 1921 shows the newlyweds at their place of work, in front of a desk decorated by their coworkers in recognition of their marriage. This photograph is from Hagley Library’s collection...
Black and white image of two men in undershirts with a golf bag.
Friday, March 18, 2022
It's #FashionFriday! What are your weekend plans ?
It's #FashionFriday! What are your weekend plans? Whatever they are, maybe they'd be better in Ban-Lon? This 1955 promotional photograph showcases the one-size undershirt in Ban-Lon textured yarn from the Joseph Bancroft & Sons Company. Text accompanying the image notes that the undershirt fit "all physiques from 34 to 44" and was "made with...
Cover of Lukens Life. Black and white clover pattern and photograph of a woman holding a shillelagh
Thursday, March 17, 2022
We're celebrating Saint Patrick's day today with Lukens Steel and ...
We're celebrating Saint Patrick's day today with Lukens Steel and Barbara J. Mahan. Mahan, a file clerk in Luken's General Sales Office, graced this March issue cover of Lukens Life alongside a shillelagh for Saint Patrick's Day in 1956. Lukens Steel is located in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. First established in 1793 by Isaac Pennock (1767-1824)...
Comic book cover showing a man waving at children. Titled "Helme's Snuff-Man".
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
This 1954 comic book from the George W. Helme Snuff Company featured snuff salesman ...
This 1954 comic book from the George W. Helme Snuff Company featured snuff salesman George and his thrilling tales for children about the history of the tobacco industry. This item is Pam 2018.0290 in Hagley Library’s pamphlets collection. It has been digitized along with other similar material to form a digital collection of promotional comic...
Color image of the interior of a dining car of a train, with passengers and staff.
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Today's #TrainTuesday finds us inside the a 1952 passenger car built by the Budd Company ...
Today's #TrainTuesday finds us inside the a 1952 passenger car built by the Budd Company for the Pennsylvania Railroad, likely for either the railroad's Senator train, which traveled between Washington, D.C. and Boston, or its Congressional Limited Express, a which traveled the same route, but with limited stops. This photograph, taken by...
Image with a blue square and text reading "What Color Is This?"
Monday, March 14, 2022
This ca. 1930 lantern slide was once used to illustrate the elements of the Munsell Color System ...
This ca. 1930 lantern slide was once used to illustrate the elements of the Munsell Color System, a method of color notation developed by Professor Albert H. Munsell (1858-1918) to describe and analyze color scientifically based on three attributes: hue, value, and chroma. The Council was founded on February 26, 1931 for the purpose of...
Illustration of vegetables marching behind a canister of salt. Text is "the leader in the kitchen"
Friday, March 11, 2022
We're joining these veggies on parade for #FoodieFriday ...
We're joining these veggies on parade for #FoodieFriday with one of the twenty-five advertising cards created by Boston’s Donnelly Advertising Company for the Morton Salt Company between around 1916 to 1923. The cards are part of Hagley Library’s Carol Litchfield collection on the history of salt (Accession 2012.219), one of the world’s greatest...

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