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Billboard photograph collection

Call Number

PR 5

Date

circa 1918-1934, inclusive

Creator

Drucker & Baltes Co.
General Outdoor Advertising Group

Extent

6 Linear feet (17 boxes)

Language of Materials

This collection is primarily visual. Any text is likely to be in English.

Abstract

The photographs appear to have been taken to record which advertisers bought billboard space at 13 sites in Manhattan and two sites in the Bronx, New York City. The views focus on signs but also show surrounding buildings, elevated railroads, and street activity at such heavily traveled intersections as Broadway and Seventh Avenue (Times Square), Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, Sixth Avenue at 27th Street, Eight Avenue at 110th Street, 125th Street in Harlem, and Third Avenue at 166th Street in the Bronx. The same sites appear repeatedly, sometimes monthly, during the 1920s and into the Great Depression. The photographs reveal changes in both the neighborhoods and in the advertising for many products, among them Chesterfield cigarettes, Wrigley's chewing gum, and Pepsodent toothpaste.

The Billboard Photograph Collection is digitized and available in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Digital Library.

Historical Note

The photographs in this collection were taken by the New York City photographic company Drucker & Baltes for the General Outdoor Advertising Company; a billboard company formed in 1925 through the merger of the Fulton Group and Thomas Cusack Company.

Outdoor advertising, in the form of flyers, broadsheets and posters, has existed as long as printing on paper has been economically viable. Large chromolithographed posters were popular in America after the process was introduced in 1840, and were used to advertise circuses and shows, as well as for troop recruitment during the United States Civil War. These posters were generally pasted or hung on the sides of buildings or other structures.

Starting in the 1870s and 1880s, large advertising posters began to appear in American cities along elevated railroads and streets, and the first companies leasing outdoor advertising space were formed. 1896 saw the publication of an industry journal, The Bill Poster, as more money was being made through advertising. In 1900, a standard size of poster (16 sheets of 42" x 28" each), as well as a standard size board on which to place it, was adopted by the burgeoning industry.

As automobiles grew in popularity, outdoor advertising became much more prolific. In New York City, the largest billboards were seen in busy intersections such as Times Square and 42nd St. at 6th Avenue, as well as along elevated railroad tracks.

Such large scale advertising was not welcomed by all. In New York, citizens and politicians complained about the visual pollution they felt billboards added to the cityscape. By 1918, New York City laws restricted billboards from residential areas.

Arrangement

The negatives are arranged as they were received, by negative number, in a chronological run. Item number refers to this negative number. Indices to products advertised, dates, and locations of billboards are available on-site in the collection file, and refer to these negative numbers.

Scope and Contents

The Billboard Photograph Collection consists of 226 glass and 677 film negatives which document advertising billboards at 13 Manhattan and two Bronx locations between 1918 and 1934.

Photographers photographed the same sites repeatedly, even when no advertisements appeared on the billboards. In addition to advertisements pasted on large billboards, ads for stores, films, and products were painted on the sides of buildings and are shown in smaller size posters along elevated railroad stations and on street kiosks.

The Manhattan intersections shown are Sixth Ave. & 27th St.; Times Square, Eighth Ave. & 110th St. (Cathedral Parkway); Fifth Ave. & 42nd St.; Sixth Ave. between 42nd & 43rd Sts.; Sixth Ave. & 44th St.; Sixth Ave. & 47th St.; Seventh Ave & 34th St.; Seventh Ave & 42nd St.; Madison Ave., between Fifth & Sixth Aves.; Eighth Ave. & 58th St.; Broadway & 57th St.; and 125th St. between Seventh and Lenox Aves. The Bronx locations are 166th St. & Third Ave. and Willis Ave. near 148th St. Photographs in the finding aid are identified by location; for additional information about products advertised and buildings depicted, refer to the digitized images. Indices by business, product advertised, theater and production are also available in the Collection File at the repository.

The same billboards were photographed repeatedly and show changes in product names, advertising methods, and slogans. Many products and companies advertised here continue to be in business in 2001. In addition to billboards, many businesses and buildings are shown in each shot, and these also change over the years. The Publicity Building, at the junction of 7th Avenue, Broadway, and 47th St., was photographed from different angles, allowing changes in the businesses housed within it to be tracked. This turnover is especially notable during the Depression years, when many firms failed or moved to different locations.

Billboards advertise the following categories of products: real estate; political campaigns and candidates; fundraising campaigns; banks; clothing; beverages; food products; tobacco; automobile and gasoline companies; film and theater productions and venues; restaurants and hotels; services, such as swimming and dancing schools; and other products, such as pencils and magazines. Among the best-represented products in the collection are Wrigley's Spearmint Gum, Camel Cigarettes, Union Dime Savings Bank and Armour Star Ham.

The 1920s witnessed the introduction of film industry advertising. Ads for individual movies, as well as for movie theaters, film production companies, and film sound technologies, are well represented in this collection. Films and movie theaters, as well as plays and other entertainment events (such as rodeos at Madison Square Garden) are noted within the database. Notable productions include the first sound film The Jazz Singer and Mae West's play Diamond Lil.

Billboards advertise candidates for elected office, most often in party tickets. Slogans like "Vote for Hoover and Ottinger. Continue prosperity. Vote every arrow" or "Smith and Robinson. Vote every star" appeared during the 1928 election season. The previous fall, voters had been urged to pay attention to constitutional amendments and decent housing, and to "vote no on number 6, separate state and federal elections in interest of good government" and "vote yes on all the others, more subways, improved living conditions, better state government."

Real estate, both in New York City and the surrounding areas, was also heavily promoted on billboards. Tudor City was advertised upon its completion, starting in 1927. Signs touting auctions for land or property in the Bronx and Long Island are also pictured. In addition, many signs sold Florida (or, specific cities, such as Palm Beach) as a vacation spot. These advertisements were often paid for by travel agents, although some ads for Miami were attributed to the Miami Chamber of Commerce.

During the years of the Depression in the 1930s, billboards advertising relief efforts and committees appeared, mostly in space donated by billboard companies. These signs urged New Yorkers to donate time and money to help out those less fortunate, or advertised committees formed to help the impoverished.

Before prohibition of alcohol (the Eighteenth Amendment) was enacted in 1920, a few billboards and painted signs advertised beer and liquor. Prohibition's repeal in 1933 saw a huge increase in advertising on the part of beer companies. Prepared food (such as Mueller's Cooked Spaghetti) first appears in advertising around 1928.

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: Billboard Photograph Collectio, PR 5, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchase, 1982.

Existence and Location of Copies

The Billboard Photograph Collection is digitized and available in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Digital Library.

Collection processed by

Jenny Gotwals

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:49:20 -0400.
Language: Finding aid written in English.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024