The Hagley Vault

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

February 10, 2025
Eagle, standing on American flag, holding feathers (or a scalp) in his beak of a rooster labeled 'se

Patriotic ephemera and decorative arts were a popular consumer item during the American Civil War; this illustration comes from a ca. 1863 envelope found in Hagley Library's collection of Civil War patriotic envelopes (Accession 1969.064).


This collection has was digitized in conjunction with Hagley’s exhibit, An Oath of Allegiance to the Republic: the du Ponts and the Civil War and its digital companion exhibit Civil War: Robert Smalls / Soldiers and Powdermen, which takes a look at the lives of everyday people whose names might not be familiar, but whose impact on the story of the du Ponts and the Civil War is significant.

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Archive

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

Gif showing four sides of a Christmas card with paper cut outs of holiday and peace themed symbols. Text on each side reads 'peace', 'love', 'happiness', and 'Irv Koons'
Thursday, December 22, 2022
We're heading out for the holidays today with one last post featuring our newest digital collection ...
We're heading out for the holidays today with one last post featuring our newest digital collection in the Hagley Digital Archives, which offers a selection of materials from Hagley Library's collections of  Irvin Koons photographs (Accession 1996.315), Irv Koons papers (Accession 2132), and Irv Koons memorabilia (Accession 2716), all originating...
Sketch of Garfield the cat on an ALPO cat food label. Garfield is criticizing the food.
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
We're continuing to share images this week from a new digital collection ...
We're continuing to share images this week from a new digital collection in the Hagley Digital Archives. Our Irv Koons digital collection offers a selection of materials from Hagley Library's collections of  Irvin Koons photographs (Accession 1996.315), Irv Koons papers (Accession 2132), and Irv Koons memorabilia (Accession 2716), all originating...
Gif showing a selection of containers of Comet, each with a slightly different graphic design.
Monday, December 19, 2022
This week, we're sharing images from a new digital collection in the Hagley Digital Archives ...
This week, we're sharing images from a new digital collection in the Hagley Digital Archives, which offers a selection of materials from Hagley Library's collections of  Irvin Koons photographs (Accession 1996.315), Irv Koons papers (Accession 2132), and Irv Koons memorabilia (Accession 2716), all originating from the life and work of the graphic...
Cover of the 1930 yearbook for the Boy Council of Philadelphia.
Friday, December 16, 2022
This post is for all our pals out there ...
This post is for all our pals out there. Today, we're sharing the cover of the Boy Council of Philadelphia's 1930 yearbook. The yearbook documented the organization's annual celebration, "Boy Week", which entailed citywide events such as the Boy Loyalty Parade, Boy Safety Day, a map drawing contest sponsored by the Automobile Club of Philadelphia...
A skilled dye maker at DuPont's Organic Chemicals Department's Chambers Works at Deepwater Point, New Jersey is shown with a lab technician checking dye shades.
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Our #WorkerWednesday visitors this week are employees of the DuPont company's Organic Chemicals Department ...
Our #WorkerWednesday visitors this week are employees of the DuPont company's Organic Chemicals Department at the Chambers Works plant in Deepwater Point, New Jersey. This ca. 1955 photograph shows a dye maker in the laboratory with a lab technician, checking dye shades. The plant was established by the DuPont Company in 1892 for the purpose of...
Black and white photograph of a woman at a diner adjusting a display case for pies.
Monday, December 12, 2022
There's always room for pie, especially if you've got the Pastri Tower ...
There's always room for pie, especially if you've got the Pastri Tower. This undated (ca. 1945?) photograph was created by DuPont to showcase the company's Lucite brand transparent acrylic resin, and is part of Hagley Library's DuPont Company Product Information Collection (Accession 1972.371). In 1952, the DuPont Company organized a Product...
Ad for sewing notions; image shows a woman at a product display, pair of hands reaching for products. Prominent text reads: "Am I Lazy?"
Friday, December 9, 2022
It's not Saturday just yet ...
It's not Saturday just yet, so Hagley is still hard at work this Friday morning. But we're getting the jump on a lazy weekend with this advertisement from The Spool Cotton Company, which appeared in a May 25, 1940 issue of Department Store Economist. The publication, which is call number f TS1760 .U58 in our collections, was a trade journal for...
Photograph of a long line of women in a factory, each working on a machine part in front of them on a conveyor belt.
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
sts this #WorkerWednesday are the women of the Sperry Gyroscope Company ...
Our guests this #WorkerWednesday are the women of the Sperry Gyroscope Company, seen here in a photograph taken on July 18, 1944. Text associated with this image associates the work being done in this photograph with the synchronized motor assembly for "Ford Instrument #4". This image is part of Hagley Library's collection of Sperry Gyroscope...
Children and police officers posing with car decorated with anti-Prohibition slogans.
Monday, December 5, 2022
Happy Repeal Day! On this day, December 5, in 1933, the repeal of thirteen years of Prohibition ...
Happy Repeal Day! On this day, December 5, in 1933, the repeal of thirteen years of Prohibition in the United States was accomplished with the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution. This photograph was taken in the early 1930s, probably in front of DuPont Building in Wilmington, Delaware. It is part of a small...
Black and white fashion photograph of two women in glittery evening gowns.
Friday, December 2, 2022
Let's go glamorous this #FashionFriday ....
Let's go glamorous this #FashionFriday with a photograph from the 'New York Couture' folder of Hagley Library's collection of Dupont Textile Fibers Product Information photographs (Accession 1984.259). The Textile Fibers Department of the DuPont Company, established in 1936 as the Rayon Department, specialized in researching and developing...
Photograph collage of a soda counter at Strawbridge & Clothier's, ca. 1898.
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
'Tis the season for shopping, but we could all use a break ...
'Tis the season for shopping, but we could all use a break. We're taking a post- Black Friday and Cyber Monday rest today in one of the retail world's pioneering establishments. This 1898 photo-collage shows the soda counter of Strawbridge & Clothier, a family-owned major department store chain in the greater Philadelphia area. The company...
Black and white oimage of a man and two women working in an office, ca. 1910.
Monday, November 28, 2022
We're back in the office after our long holiday weekend ...
We're back in the office after our long holiday weekend, and we're recognizing that Monday feeling across time and space with this 1905 photograph from the offices of the California Perfume Company. This image is part of Hagley Library's collection of Avon Products Inc. photographs and audiovisual materials (Accession 1997.209). Avon is one of the...
Postcard will illustration of a child dressed as a chef carrying a large platter of turkey.
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Hagley Library will be closed on November 24th and 25th for the Thanksgiving holiday ....
Hagley Library will be closed on November 24th and 25th for the Thanksgiving holiday. So today, we're celebrating a four day weekend with this undated cordial greeting from our collection of Travel, holiday and miscellaneous postcards (Accession 2013.201).  
Two men and a woman, arrayed around a 'color organ', which resembles a small, if unusual, piano.
Tuesday, November 22, 2022
Today's #TechTuesday post features Mary Elizabeth Hallock Greenewalt
Today's #TechTuesday post features Mary Elizabeth Hallock Greenewalt (1871-1950) and her "color organ". This ca. 1920 photograph shows Greenewalt and the organ, an instrument of her own invention that was designed to project a sequence of colored lighting when played in arrangement with selected musical programs. Greenewalt was born in Beirut,...
Toby Wing, screen and stage star, watches herself in the television receiving set as she performs before the new television equipment in the Philco Radio television station
Monday, November 21, 2022
Today's photograph is being posted in recognition of World Television Day ...
Today's photograph is being posted in recognition of World Television Day, an observance created by the United Nations in 1996 in conjunction with the organizations first World Television Forum. Text associated with the image, created on March 29, 1938, states that it shows "Toby Wing, screen and stage star" as she "watches herself in the...
Advertising card for Morton's Salt. Features vegetables collecting salt from a pouring can.
Friday, November 18, 2022
It’s iconic and ionic …ranging from literature on salt mining to theses on halophilic enzymes ...
It’s iconic and ionic …ranging from literature on salt mining to theses on halophilic enzymes, Hagley Library’s Carol Litchfield collection on the history of salt (Accession 2012.219) is one of the world’s greatest resources on the subject of salt. This advertising card featuring anthropomorphic veggies that "know what's good for them" is one of...

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