Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Jay T. Last Collection of Agriculture Prints and Ephemera: Finding Aid
priJLC_AGR  
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Overview of the Collection
  • Access
  • Administrative Information
  • Scope and Content
  • Related materials in the Huntington Library
  • Arrangement
  • Indexing Terms

  • Overview of the Collection

    Title: Jay T. Last Collection of Agriculture Prints and Ephemera
    Dates (inclusive): approximately 1818-1924
    Bulk dates: 1850-1900
    Collection Number: priJLC_AGR
    Collector: Last, Jay T.
    Extent: approximately 2,315 items
    Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Prints and Ephemera
    1151 Oxford Road
    San Marino, California 91108
    Phone: (626) 405-2191
    Email: reference@huntington.org
    URL: http://www.huntington.org
    Abstract: The Jay T. Last Collection of Agriculture Prints and Ephemera contains roughly 2,315 items from approximately 1818 to 1924, with the majority of material dating from 1850 to 1900. The collection consists mainly of advertising prints and ephemera related to crop, hay, livestock, and dairy farming, including the tools, equipment, supplies, and structures used for cultivating soil; raising, harvesting, and storing crops; irrigating land; growing grasses for animal fodder; marking territory lines or separating fields and pasture lands; and boarding, breeding, feeding, rearing, tending, and selling farm animals.
    Language: English.
    Note:
    Finding aid last updated on November 19, 2019.

    Access

    Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

    Administrative Information

    Publication Rights

    The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

    Preferred Citation

    [Item title, Call number]. Jay T. Last Collection of Agriculture Prints and Ephemera, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Provenance

    This collection forms part of the Jay T. Last Collection of Graphic Arts and Social History, which was donated to the Huntington Library by Jay T. Last in 2005 as a gift in progress. The bulk of the agriculture prints and ephemera were transferred to the Library between 2010 and 2013.

    Background

    The Jay T. Last Collection is an unparalleled archive of printed paper artifacts that documents American lithographic, social, and business history. The collection began in the early 1970s when physicist and Silicon Valley pioneer Jay Last moved to Southern California and started collecting citrus box labels he found at local flea markets and rummage sales. As his collection grew, Last realized that these labels conveyed important information about commercial printing, graphic design, and social history, and he expanded his collection to include other forms of American visual culture. Today this collection contains more than 200,000 lithographic prints, posters, and ephemera of mostly nineteenth- and early twentieth- century American origin and represents works by more than five hundred lithographic companies.

    Scope and Content

    The Jay T. Last Collection of Agriculture Prints and Ephemera contains roughly 2,315 items from approximately 1818 to 1924, with the majority of material dating from 1850 to 1900. The collection consists mainly of advertising prints and ephemera related to crop, hay, livestock, and dairy farming, including the tools, equipment, supplies, and structures used for cultivating soil; raising, harvesting, and storing crops; irrigating land; growing grasses for animal fodder; marking territory lines or separating fields and pastures; and boarding, breeding, feeding, rearing, tending, and selling farm animals. Agricultural machinery and implement companies dominate. Manufacturers and dealers of fertilizer, windmills, and fencing supplies are also represented, as are veterinary medicine, items used to collect or make dairy products, and items used on horses such as blankets, halters, harnesses, horseshoes, nails, saddles, and riding whips. Certificates issued by or pertaining to agricultural societies and organizations are also found here.
    Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (bigger than 11 x 14 inches). Most small-size items are described broadly at the series level; selected small-size items and all large-size items are fully inventoried, with all printers, artists, and publishers indexed by name. The collection has 125 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographs and engravings, including advertising prints, certificates, and promotional materials. Small-size items number over 2,000 and are comprised mainly of trade cards, leaflets, handbills, stationery, calendars, price lists, and catalogs from various businesses.
    Materials are further divided into two subseries: Implements and Supplies, and Livestock. Implements and Supplies includes fences, fertilizers, farm machinery and implements, and windmills. Livestock includes breeding, dairying, food, and veterinary medicine for livestock, and a variety of products and services relating to horses and blacksmithing.
    The collection's prints and ephemera are primarily promotional in nature and provide information about American farming and agriculture-related industries, as well as the evolution of advertising strategies employed by these businesses in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Materials in this collection also provide perspectives on the role of horses in American daily life, and on membership and participation in various societies and organizations. As graphic materials, the items offer evidence of printmaking techniques and trends, as well as information about the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process.

    Alternative Form of Materials Available

    Visit the Huntington Digital Library: Jay T. Last Collection   to view digitized items from this collection.

    Related materials in the Huntington Library

    Includes additional certificates and other materials related to agricultural exhibitions.
    Includes insecticides and other related pest control products.
    The Huntington Library Historical Prints Collection contains three related items (priHHC_AGR_0000017; priHHC_AGR_0000018; priHHC_AGR_0000019) that are listed in the "Related Materials" section at the beginning of Series II in this finding aid.

    Arrangement

    The collection is arranged in the following series and subseries:
    • Series I. Agriculture Prints and Ephemera (small size)
      • Subseries A. Implements and Supplies (small size)
      • Subseries B. Livestock (small size)
    • Series II. Agriculture Prints and Ephemera (large size)
      • Subseries A. Implements and Supplies (large size)
      • Subseries B. Livestock (large size)

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

    Genres

    Billheads.
    Business cards.
    Catalogs.
    Chromolithographs.
    Ephemera.
    Ephemera -- United States -- 19th century.
    Ephemera -- United States -- 20th century.
    Engravings.
    Handbills.
    Intaglio prints.
    Leaflets (printed works).
    Letterheads.
    Lithographs.
    Price lists.
    Printed ephemera.
    Promotional materials.
    Relief prints.
    Stationery.
    Trade cards.

    Subjects

    Advertising -- Agriculture.
    Advertising -- Machinery industry.
    Agricultural exhibitions -- Pictorial works.
    Agricultural implements -- Pictorial works.
    Agricultural laborers -- Pictorial works.
    Agricultural machinery -- Pictorial works.
    Agricultural machinery industry -- Pictorial works.
    Agricultural machinery industry.
    Agricultural machinery.
    Agriculture -- Pictorial works.
    Agriculture.
    Animals -- Pictorial works.
    Chickens -- Pictorial works.
    Children -- Pictorial works.
    Families -- Pictorial works.
    Farmhouses -- Pictorial works.
    Farms -- Pictorial works.
    Fences.
    Fertilizer industry -- Pictorial works.
    Fertilizer industry.
    Fertilizer.
    Horses -- Pictorial works.
    Indians of North America -- Pictorial works.
    Livestock -- Pictorial works.
    Men -- Pictorial works.
    Women -- Pictorial works.

    Printer, Publisher, Artist Index

    The following is a complete list of printers, publishers, and artists represented in the individually cataloged items in this collection.
    A.L. Clarke & Co.
    Ackerman, James, 1815 or 1816-1864
    American Lithographic Co.
    Avery, A. S.
    Baker, Geo. H. (George Holbrook), 1827-1906
    Bonheur, Rosa, 1822-1899
    Bosqui Eng. & Print. Co.
    Britton & Co.
    Brooks Bank Note Co.
    Bufford, John Henry, 1810-1870
    Charles Van Benthuysen & Sons
    Chubbuck, Thomas, -1888
    Clapp, Matthews & Co.
    Clay & Richmond
    Cosack & Co.
    Courier Company
    Crow, Franklin
    Currier & Ives
    Curtis & Childs
    De Lappe, W. R. (Wesley Raymond), 1887-1952
    Donaldson Brothers (Firm)
    Endicott & Co. (New York, N.Y.)
    Ensign, Thayer & Co.
    Fair Pub. House
    Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company
    Forbes, E.
    G. & W. Endicott (Firm)
    G.H. Buek & Co.
    Gast Lithograph & Engraving Company
    Gies & Co.
    Gies & Co.
    Gindele, Franz
    Globe Co. (Springfield, Ohio)
    Goes Lithographic Co.
    Graham, Andrew B.
    Gray Lith. Co.
    Gugler Lithographic Company
    Hatch Lith. Co.
    Hinckley, Thomas Hewes, 1813-1896
    Hitchcock & Co.
    J. Manz Engraving Company
    J. Ottman Lithographic Company
    Jas. Wilson & Son
    Johnstons Print
    Jordan & Halpin
    Kellogg & Bulkeley
    Kellogg, Elijah Chapman, 1811-1881
    Kelly, Thos., active 1867-1868
    King, Blanche V.
    Krebs Lithographing Company
    Kuhl, Frederick
    Lamont, D. G. (Daniel G.)
    Lehman & Bolton
    Major & Knapp Engraving, Manufacturing & Lithographic Co.
    Mayer, Merkel & Ottmann
    McNeill, S. F.
    Meadows, C. (Christian)
    Michelin, Francis, 1809 or 1810-1878
    Nutting, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1803?-1887
    Oakley, Frank F.
    Orcutt Litho Co.
    Packard, Herbert S.
    Palmer, C.
    Potter, Joseph S.
    Rand, Avery & Co.
    Rand, Avery & Co.
    Rease, W. H.
    Recorder Print
    Richmond & Co.
    Robertson, Wm. C.
    Russell & Richardson
    Sage, Sons & Co.
    Sarony & Major
    Sarony, Major & Knapp Lith.
    Sarony, Napoleon, 1821-1896
    Scott, Thomas J. (Thomas James), -1888
    Shober & Carqueville
    Singerly, B. (Benjamin)
    Smith, B. F. (Benjamin F.), 1830-1927
    Stephens Litho. & Eng. Co.
    Stobbs, Charles R.
    Stull, Henry
    Times Printing House (Philadelphia, Pa.)
    Tompson & Ramsay
    Tompson, J. G.
    Union Card Co. (Montpelier, Vt.)
    Valois, Ed.
    Van Benthuysen Printing House
    Vandusen, R.
    William N. Whitely Co.
    Wilson & Miller
    Winters Art Lithographing Company
    Winters Print & Litho. Co.