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Last (Jay T.) Collection of Travel and Exploration Prints and Ephemera
priJLC_TRAV
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Jay T. Last collection of travel and exploration prints and ephemera
Creator:
Last, Jay T.
Identifier/Call Number: priJLC_TRAV
Physical Description:
21.29 Linear Feet
(10 binders, 2 boxes, 3 flat-file drawers)
Date (inclusive): 1814-1937, bulk 1840-1909
Abstract: The Jay T. Last collection of travel and exploration prints and ephemera contains about 1,190 printed materials related to
the history of hotels, resorts, luggage companies, and maps in the United States. The materials date from approximately 1814
to approximately 1937, although the bulk of the materials date from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. The collection consists
of 50 large-sized items, and over a thousand smaller-sized items, including trade cards, postcards, booklets, billheads, and
letterheads. Images include views of hotels and resorts, pictorial and regional maps, and examples of different luggage models
sold by manufacturers.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
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.
[Identification of item]. Jay T. Last collection of travel and exploration prints and ephemera, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Jay T. Last, 2005.
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 travel and exploration materials were transferred to
the Library between 2010 and 2012. Additional materials were transferred in 2017.
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.
The Jay T. Last collection of travel and exploration prints and ephemera contains about 1,190 printed materials related to
the history of hotels, resorts, luggage companies, and maps in the United States. The materials date from approximately 1814
to approximately 1937, although the bulk of the materials date from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. The collection consists
of 50 large-sized items, and over a thousand smaller-sized items, including trade cards, postcards, booklets, billheads, and
letterheads. Many of the prints include views and promotional maps created by hotel and resort proprietors from New York City,
Boston, and Chicago.
Images on some of the prints trace the history of vacation destinations in the United States, predominately of beaches near
Coney Island, ranging from Locust Grove to Starin's Glen Island, Dreamland, Luna Park, and more. The prints also contain images
of elevated street views, storefronts, pedestrians traveling to hotels, and people at their leisure at beaches and amusement
parks. A few prints also include promotional information about amenities, services, medical treatments, and local excursions
offered by the various establishments.
A large portion of materials in this collection are printed maps, varying from ornamental pictorial maps about U.S history
and western expansion, to pocket maps created by hotel proprietors, real estate agents, government departments, and local
businesses. While predominantly mapping locations within New York and Massachusetts, many of the maps also cover regions in
California, documenting land development, fire-safety plans, and real-estate advertisements in Fresno, San Francisco, and
Los Angeles. A few of the maps in this collection also provide exploration routes and information on locating gold mines in
California, Colorado, and Alaska. Information on the maps include topographic details, timetables for travel destinations,
and document travel routes by rail or ferry.
A smaller portion of this collection also consists of images of luggage, trunk, travel bag, and valise products advertised
by manufacturers from Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Newark, and more.
Processed by Mari Khasmanyan in October 2021.
Existence and Location of Copies
Selected items from this collection have been digitized. Digital reproductions are available in the
Huntington Digital Library.
The collection is physically arranged according to the general size of the item with smaller printed materials in ten binders
(approximately 1,125 items), medium-sized prints in one flat-box (approximately 12 items), booklets in a half-size document
box (approximately 2 items), and large and oversized prints are stored in three flat-file drawers (approximately 50 items).
Materials in binders are arranged alphabetically by location, and then by name of establishment or company.
Organized in two series:
- Series I. Small size prints and ephemera, 1814-1909
- Series II. Large size prints and ephemera, 1828-1937
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Advertising -- Tourist trade.
Advertising -- Transportation.
Beaches -- Pictorial works.
Billheads.
Boats and boating -- Pictorial works.
Broadsides.
Carriages and carts.
Chromolithography.
Cities and towns -- Pictorial works.
Coaching (Transportation).
Commercial streets -- Pictorial works.
Dwellings -- Pictorial works.
Engravings.
Ephemera.
Health facilities -- Pictorial works.
Horse-drawn vehicles -- Pictorial works.
Hotels -- Pictorial works.
Landscapes -- Pictorial works.
Lithographs.
Leisure -- Pictorial works
Letterheads.
Locomotives -- United States -- Pictorial works.
Luggage -- Pictorial works.
Luggage industry--United States.
Maps.
Pictorial maps.
Pictorial maps--History.
Postcards.
Posters.
Prints.
Railroad travel.
Relief prints
Resorts -- Pictorial works.
Tourism -- Pictorial works.
Trade cards.
Travel -- Marketing.
Travel posters.
Travel posters, American.
United States -- Discovery and exploration -- Sources.
United States--Maps.
Views.
West (U.S.) -- Description and travel.
World maps.
A. Hoen & Co. (Baltimore, Md.)
Albert Krebs & Bro. Lith. (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Austin, Margaret, B.
Baillie, James S., 1838-1855
Baker & Godwin (New York, N.Y.)
Baker, Geo. H. (George Holbrook), 1827-1906
Baker, Joseph E, approximately 1837-1914
Barritt, William, approximately 1822-
Bien, Julius, 1826-1909
Blanchard, Rufus
Bowes, John R.
Brown, Arthur
Bumstead, Albert H. (Hoit), 1875-1940
Campbell, Thomas, 1790-1858
Carrigain, Philip, 1772-1842
Chillas, David
City of Los Angeles (Calif.) (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Cleveland Directory Co.
Cooper, H.P (Henry Poolly)
D.S. Walton & Co. (New York, N.Y.)
Darley, James M. (Morrison)
Dawson, W. W. (William Wirt), 1828-1896
Dayton & Wentworth (Boston, Mass.)
Donaldson Litho. Co. (Newport, Ky.)
Donaldson Brothers (Firm) (New York, N.Y.)
Dripps, M. (Matthew)
Ensign, Bridgman & Fanning
Ensign, Thayer & Co (New York, N.Y.)
Fishbourne, R.W., 1836-1862
Fisk & Russell
Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company (Boston, Mass.)
Fox, William F. (Freeman), 1840-1909
Fresno County (Calif.). Board of Trade (Fresno, Calif.)
G.T. Brown & Co. Lith. (San Francisco, Calif.)
Gower, S.J.
H.S. Crocker & Co.
Hamlin, Homer, 1864-1920
Hart, Chas. (Charles), active 1870-1880
Hayward, George, approximately 1800-
Heger, F.
Hogan, Thomas , 1843-1890
J. Ottmann Lithographic Company (1885-1906) (New York, N.Y.)
J.H. Bufford's Lith. (Boston, Mass.)
Joesbury, Joseph
John (Jno) F. Waite Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Krebs Lithographing Company (Cincinnati, Ohio)
L. Prang & Co. (Boston, Mass.)
Lane, Fitz Henry, 1804-1865
Magnus, Charles, 1850-1900
Marquand, Moore & Co. (New York, N.Y.)
McCloskey, Henry
Middleton, Strobridge & Co. (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Moore & De Pue (San Francisco, Calif.)
Moore Brothers
Moore, Thomas, 1798-1842
Moorman, J. J. (John Jennings), 1802-1885
National Geographic Society (U.S.) (Washington D.C.)
New York (State). Commissioners of Fisheries, Game and Forests
Orr, John William, 1815-1887
P.S. Duval & Co.
Peters, W.C. (William Cumming), 1805-1866
Phelps, Humphrey, active 19th century
Puck Publishing Co. (1877-1918) (New York, N.Y.)
Rightmyer, L.
Robison, Savage and Co. (Cleveland, Ohio)
Roepper, W. Th. (William Theodore)
Rowan, V. J. (Valentine James)
Russell & Richardson (South Carolina)
Saalburg, C.W. (Charles William), 1865-1950
Sackett & Wilhelms Litho. & Prt. Co (New York, N.Y.)
Sage, Sons & Co. (Buffalo, N.Y.)
Schell, Francis H. , 1834-1909
Schlegel & Smart (1849-1957) (New York, N.Y.)
Schmidt Label & Litho. Co (San Francisco, Calif.)
Senefelder Lith. Co (Boston, Mass.)
Squire, Bela S., Jr., 1810-1882
Sowle & Ward (Boston, Mass.)
Strong, Thomas W. (Thomas Whaley), 1817-1892
United States Pacific Railroad Expeditions and Surveys
Valentine, D.T. (David Thomas), 1801-1869
W. Endicott & Co. (New York, N.Y.)
W.J. Morgan & Co. (Cleveland, Ohio)
Waddle, Fetter & Co.
Waddle, Thomas
Ward, Joseph
Warren, G. K. (Gouverneur Kemble), 1830-1882