The Hagley Vault

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

Archive

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

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The construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began on this date,...
The construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began on this date, January 5, in 1933. At the time of its opening on May 27, 1937, the bridge was both the longest (4,200 feet) and tallest (746 feet) suspension bridge in the world. This ambitious project completed by a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel Corporation, the McClintic-Marshall Construction…
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As a little celebration of the new year, here's engine #2021,...
As a little celebration of the new year, here's engine #2021, built in 1917 by the Lehigh Valley Railroad's Sayre Yards, named after the company's chief engineer and first Superintendent, Robert H. Sayre. The yards were located in Waverly, New York, and the adjoining company town of Sayre, Pennsylvania. This glass negative image of the steam…
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Smell ya later 2020, and don't let the second hand hit you on...
Smell ya later 2020, and don't let the second hand hit you on the way out. And 2021, I've got my eye on you. This postcard, mailed in Maine on December 29, 1909, is part of Hagley Library's Waldron collection of Christmas and holiday postcards (Acc. 200.223). This collection contains over 550 holiday cards, most dating from the 1900s to the 1950s…
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We're getting our Wednesday off to a smashing start with these...
We're getting our Wednesday off to a smashing start with these photographs of the launching of a Socony Mobil Oil Companytanker in New York City, taken on this date, December 30, in 1958. The ship was built by Chester, Pennsylvania's Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, with launching ceremonies conducted by John G. Pew, Jr.and Nancy Wilhelmina…
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On this date, December 29, in 1845 the United States annexed the Republic of Texas...
On this date, December 29, in 1845 the United States annexed the Republic of Texas, forgoing the traditional territorial phase of statehood and making Texas the 28th state to join the union. The formal transfer of power occurred on February 19, 1846. The annexation process had officially begun in 1845. On October 13, a large majority of American…
It's #MakeUpMonday, and I've never looked so good. Though I do...
It's #MakeUpMonday, and I've never looked so good. Though I do now have the voice of a woman oohing "Make-up! and "Yeahhh" in my head over and over again, so there's that too. This advertisement from Avon Products was released in December 1976, a few years after a successful campaign by the company to recruit and market to upper and middle…
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Someday soon we all will be together If the fates allowUntil...
Someday soon we all will be together If the fates allowUntil then, we'll have to muddle through somehowSo (try to) have yourself a merry little Christmas now Christmas in 2020 is going to be far from perfect for most of us. But here's to making it work. We hope your holiday and the rest of your 2020 is safe, healthy, and happy. This shabby chic…
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No ugly Christmas sweaters here...
No ugly Christmas sweaters here. We're getting seasonal this #TextileTuesday with operator Howard Lowe and his whole deal. Lowe is seen here in a circa 1945 photograph, doing his thing in the 100-foot long control room of the Belle, West Virginia plant of the DuPont Company's Ammonia Department. Lowe and his colleagues handled production equipment…
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Still struggling with last minute gift ideas? Have all the...
Still struggling with last minute gift ideas? Have all the radios you've seen so far been old, insufficiently masculine, inappropriate for the quiet and reserved man in your life, or just utterly useless for his liquor and cigarette storage needs? Maybe Chicago's Porto-Productscan help you with a little gift psychology. This advertisement was…
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We're getting a #FashionFriday visit today from Miss America...
We're getting a #FashionFriday visit today from Miss America 1954, Evelyn Ay, modeling a custom design by Ialongo in Herbert Meyers Everglaze cotton twill. This 1954 image is part of a series of fashion photographs commissioned by the Joseph Bancroft and Sons Company. In the mid-1930s, the textile manufacturer had begun producing a line of rayon…
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On this day, December 17, in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright's...
On this day, December 17, in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright's Wright Flyer made its now-famous first flight just south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The world's first successful motor-powered airplane took to the air at 10:35 in the morning, with Orville Wright as its pilot. Traveling at a speed of 6.8 miles per hour, it rose ten feet and…
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As we wait to find out whether today's snow storm will be a...
As we wait to find out whether today's snow storm will be a blizzard or a bust, we're getting into the seasonal spirit with this 1947 photographic negative of a Central Railroad of New Jerseylocomotive making short work of snowfall alongside Clinton Avenue in Plainfield, New Jersey. This item is part of Hagley Library's Herbert Harwood Jr.…
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On this date, December 15, in 1890, the Hunkpapa Lakota...
On this date, December 15, in 1890, the Hunkpapa Lakota political leader Sitting Bull was killed by U.S. agents outside of his home on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation during an attempt to arrest him, as police forces feared he was about to escape the reservation to join the Ghost Dance movement, a religious-political resistance that had…
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It's a drizzly day at Hagley Library but, like much of the...
It's a drizzly day at Hagley Library but, like much of the Northeast this week, we're preparing for snow in the days ahead. Thanks to our Nash dealer, however, we expect to spend those days spotless, wrap free, and smoking all we like. This pamphlet for the 1938 model Nash automobile, which boasted a new and miraculous internal air conditioning…
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This December 12th marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of...
This December 12th marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of William Caroll Pahlmann (1900-1987), one of the leading American interior designers of the mid-twentieth century. Pahlmann is known for his "eclectic" style that combined materials and decorative elements from many time periods and cultures, everything from antiques to modern laminates…
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The bald eagle became America's national symbol on June 20,...
The bald eagle became America's national symbol on June 20, 1782, when the Second Continental Congress approved a design for a national seal created by Charles Thomson, the secretary of Congress, which used the bird as a motif. A previous effort to design a national seal, led by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, had failed to…