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 Fairs
and Expositions Prints and Ephemera
Dates (inclusive): 1834-1970
Bulk dates: 1875-1893
Collection Number: priJLC_FAIR
Collector:
Last, Jay T.
Extent:
approximately 1,965 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 Fairs and Expositions
Prints and Ephemera contains more than 1,965 printed items that relate to fairs,
exhibitions, expositions, and other similar gatherings and events in the United
States from 1834 to 1970, with the bulk of material pertaining to the United States
Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1876. The collection
consists of advertising prints, promotional ephemera, business records, and illustrations produced for specific events,
for exhibitors at these events, and for businesses that provided collateral services to event-goers including food, lodging,
and transportation.
Language: English.
Note:
Finding aid last updated on December 17, 2018.
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 Fairs and
Expositions 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
fairs and expositions prints and ephemera were transferred to the
Library between 2010 and 2012.
The collection partially consists of materials assembled by collector Russ
Mascieri, which were acquired by Last in 2000. The majority of these materials
were incorporated into the main body of the fairs and expositions prints and
ephemera, with the exception of a group of trade cards that has been kept intact
(see Series I, Subseries B, Binder 13).
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 Fairs and Expositions
Prints and Ephemera contains more than 1,965 printed items that relate to fairs,
exhibitions, expositions, and other similar gatherings and events in the United
States from 1834 to 1970, with the bulk of material pertaining to the United States
Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1876. The collection
consists of advertising prints, promotional ephemera, business records, and illustrations produced for specific events,
for exhibitors at these events, and for businesses that provided collateral services to event-goers including food, lodging,
and transportation.
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). Small-size items are described
broadly at the series level; large-size items are fully inventoried, and all
printers, artists, and publishers are indexed by name. The collection includes approximately 100 large-size items comprised
mainly of lithographic and engraved prints, including
advertising and promotional prints, souvenir programs and specialty newspapers, and
view prints depicting exhibition buildings. Small-size items number approximately
1,865 and contain a variety of promotional materials including trade cards,
calendars, booklets, programs, tickets, leaflets, guides, stationery, and printed
billheads and letterheads with manuscript text. Each series is divided into three
subseries and sorted by fair or exhibition. General Fairs and Expositions materials
form Subseries A and are arranged chronologically, with the United States Centennial
Exhibition and World's Columbian Exhibition each contained in their own subseries
(Subseries B and C, respectively).
Prints and ephemera pertaining to international, regional, and local fairs and
expositions make up the collection. The bulk of the material is related to the
United States Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1876, but
also prominent are materials related to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition held
in Chicago, Illinois, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of explorer Christopher
Columbus' arrival in the New World. Other fairs and exhibitions represented in the
collection include the Great International Exhibition in London, England, the
Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, California, the Exhibition
of the Industry of All Nations in New York City, the World's Industrial and Cotton
Centennial Exposition in New Orleans, Louisiana, and various local county fairs.
The collection touches on topics of American business development, tourism,
industrial advances, agricultural exhibitions, community events and celebrations.
The images are primarily promotional in nature and provide information about the
history of fairs and expositions in the United States and their roles in both small
and large communities, as well as the evolution of advertising
strategies in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The collection also reflects America's
progression from a rural agricultural society to an urban industrial environment, and the
technological innovations that developed during this transformation. 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
Related materials in the Huntington Library
The Huntington Library Historical Prints Collection contains two related items
(priHHC_FAIR_0000015, priHHC_FAIR_0000016) 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. Fairs and Expositions Prints and Ephemera (small size)
- Subseries A. General Fairs and Expositions, 1850-1939 (small
size)
- Subseries B. U.S. Centennial Exhibition of 1876 (small
size)
- Subseries C. World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 (small
size)
- Series II. Fairs and Expositions Prints and Ephemera (large size)
- Subseries A. General Fairs and Expositions, 1834-1970 (large
size)
- Subseries B. U.S. Centennial Exhibition of 1876 (large
size)
- Subseries C. World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 (large
size)
Items are arranged numerically by call number and described in the following format:
-
Title of print. Date
- Artist(s) (when known). Printer(s). Publisher(s)
Indexing Terms
Genres
Billheads.
Broadsides.
Business cards.
Business records.
Calendars.
Catalogs.
Certificates.
Chromolithographs.
Ephemera.
Ephemera -- United States -- 19th
century.
Ephemera -- United States -- 20th
century.
Engravings.
Intaglio prints.
Leaflets (printed works).
Letterheads.
Lithographs.
Maps.
Newspapers.
Photographs.
Photomechanical prints.
Planographic prints.
Postcards.
Price lists.
Printed ephemera.
Programs (documents).
Promotional materials.
Relief prints.
Stationery.
Stereographs.
Stock certificates.
Tickets.
Trade cards.
Views.
Subjects
Advertising.
Agricultural exhibitions -- Pictorial
works.
Amusement rides -- Pictorial
works.
Animals -- Pictorial works.
Brooklyn Academy of
Music -- Pictorial works.
Carnivals -- Pictorial works.
Centennial Exhibition (1876
: Philadelphia, Pa.) -- Pictorial works.
Chicago (Ill.) --
Buildings, structures, etc. -- Pictorial works.
Cincinnati Industrial
Exposition (4th : 1873 : Cincinnati, Ohio)
Columbia (Symbolic character) --
Pictorial works.
Eagles -- Pictorial works.
Exhibition buildings -- Pictorial
works.
Exhibitions -- Pictorial
works.
Fairs -- Pictorial works.
Festivals.
Flags -- Pictorial works.
Foreign Exhibition (1883 :
Boston, Mass.) -- Pictorial works.
Great Exhibition (1851 :
London, England) -- Pictorial works.
Horse-drawn vehicles -- Pictorial
works.
Horses -- Pictorial works.
Industrial buildings -- Pictorial
works.
International Industrial
Fair (1888 : Buffalo, N.Y.)
Landscapes -- Pictorial works.
Livestock -- Pictorial works.
London International
Exhibition (1st : 1862 : London, England)
Monuments -- Pictorial works.
National Export Exposition
(1899 : Philadelphia, Pa.)
National Peace Jubilee and
Musical Festival (1869 : Boston, Mass.)
New York Exhibition of the
Industry of All Nations (1853-1854 : New York, N.Y.) -- Pictorial works.
Panama-Pacific
International Exposition (1915 : San Francisco, Calif.)
Philadelphia (Pa.) --
Buildings, structures, etc. -- Pictorial works.
Portraits.
Presidents -- United States -- Pictorial
works.
Steamboats -- Pictorial works.
Uncle Sam (Symbolic character) --
Pictorial works.
United States --
Centennial celebrations, etc.
United States --
History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Pictorial works.
United States --
History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Pictorial works.
World’s Industrial and
Cotton Centennial Exposition (1884-1885 : New Orleans, La.) -- Pictorial
works.
World's Columbian
Exposition (1893 : Chicago, Ill.) -- Pictorial works.
Printer, Publisher, Artist Index
The following is a complete list of printers, publishers, and artists represented
in the large-size items in this collection.
A. Brown & Co.
Ackermann, Emil F., 1840-
American Bank Note Company.
Ames, Daniel T.
Armstrong & Co. (Boston,
Mass.)
Aubrun, Louis.
Banks & Co.
Benecke, Theodore.
Bentzen, B.M.
Bien, Julius, 1826-1909.
Bourquin, F. (Frederick), 1808-
Breuker & Kessler Co.
Centennial Photographic Co.
Chapin, Will E.
Chas. H. Crosby & Co.
Church (Artist)
Colby Poster Printing Co.
Cosack & Co.
Crosscup & West.
Curran, M.E. (Artist)
Currier & Ives.
Davis, Theodore R.
Day & Son.
De Young, M. H. (Michael Harry), 1849-1925.
Donaldson Brothers (Firm)
Ed. W. Welcke & Bro.
Ehrgott & Krebs.
Fair Pub. House.
George Stinson & Co.
Gilbert & Rivington.
Gillin & Nagle.
Goupil & Cie.
Haddock, John A., 1823-
Harper & Brothers.
Heliotype Printing Co.
Hunter, Thomas.
Remacle, A. (Printer)
Julius Bien & Co.
King, C. Frank.
Krebs, Otto.
Kurz & Allison.
Leighton Bros. (Printer)
Lloyd Brothers & Co.
Los Angeles Times (Firm)
Majestic Poster Press.
Major & Knapp Engraving,
Manufacturing & Lithographic Co.
Matthews-Northrup Company.
Meyer, Gustav (Publisher)
Miller, James, 1821 or
1822-1883.
Murphy, John L. (Printer)
Nagel & Weingärtner.
National Publishing Company
(Philadelphia, Pa.)
New England Lithographic
Co.
Ohio. State board of Centennial
managers, 1876.
Olsen, Alex A.
Orcutt Litho Co.
P.S. Duval & Son.
Queen, Jas. (James),
1824-approximately 1877.
R. Hoe & Company.
Rand McNally and Company.
Rivers, J. S.
Riverside Press (Cambridge,
Mass.)
Riverside Printing Company.
Russell & Morgan Printing
Company.
Schile, H. (Henry)
Schmidt Litho. Co.
Southern Lithographic Co.
Tappan & Bradford.
Taylor & Smith.
Telbin, William, 1813-1873.
Thornton, Chester.
United States. Bureau of Engraving and
Printing.
Walker, Edmund
(Lithographer)
Weingartner, A.
Wheaton, W. F.