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
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
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.