The Jay T. Last collection of sports and leisure prints and ephemera contains about 1,770 printed materials related to the history and advertising of sports, recreational activities, pyrotechnics, gambling, and games in the United States. The materials date from approximately 1758 to approximately 1938, although the bulk of the items date from the mid-19th to the early-20th centuries. The collection consists of about 67 large-sized items, and over 1,000 smaller-sized items, including paper dolls, playing cards, lottery broadsides, novelty items, trade cards, puzzle cards, dime novels, and promotional billheads, and letterheads. Images on materials range from scenes of indoor pastimes to outdoor sports and activities.

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.

24.1 Linear Feet (13 binders, 2 boxes, 6 flat-file drawers)

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.

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