Research & Collections News

Recent News

February 16, 2022
Convenient Contraptions: The Vending Machines in Hagley’s Museum Collection
We’ve all been there: you’re ravenous and parched; and you need to find something to eat or drink – QUICK! Here comes the office, train station, or highway rest stop vending machine to the rescue. You grab your granola bar and bottle of water and you’re on your way. Crisis averted.
February 16, 2022
Thomas Jefferson Paid $5 for a Pen (How Writing Gadgets = Privilege)
Throughout his life, Thomas Jefferson continually sought the best and latest equipment for record keeping. This included a fountain pen, at a time when this was a new writing technology. For this pen, he paid $5 (equal to $140 today).
February 15, 2022
The Fight to End Employment Discrimination in Cleveland, 1948
The industrial film producer Cinecraft Productions Inc., whose archive arrived at Hagley in 2019, includes scripts, films, and TV commercials produced by the Cleveland-based company from its founding in 1938 into the 1970s.
January 24, 2022
Debating Bureaucracy: General Electric & American Business Culture
January 24, 2022
A Century of Gnomes at the Hotel Du Pont
I have worked with the library’s collections for several decades and continue to be amazed by items discovered during my research. While assisting Hotel Du Pont management with a project, an interesting item was found in an old dusty envelope – a fairy tale of sorts about Gnomes.
January 24, 2022
Innovation through Litigation: A Gunfight in Patent Court
Prior to becoming patent model curator, I processed a group of weapons that the St. Andrews School donated to Hagley in 2019. A. Felix du Pont, founder of the school, collected these weapons. They were displayed in custom exhibit cases in the dining hall for many decades.
January 24, 2022
Campbell’s Soup Mm! Mm! Good!
“Mm! Mm! Good!” It is a slogan that brings memories from childhood, particularly in the depths of winter. Playing in the snow and then coming inside to a steaming bowl of tomato soup. Getting sick with a winter cold and having a cup of chicken noodle soup to feel better.
January 24, 2022
Catch up, Ketchup!
I was reading a round-up of articles detailing important events from last year, and found that somehow, I missed the Great Ketchup Shortage of 2021!

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