Wessonality!

I am still going through old advertisements in this collection. Last time I wrote about a product that doesn't exist anymore, although I am sure there are similar devices out there right now. This time I am writing about one that still is recognized and used today.

Growing up, I remember the old Wesson Oil ads with Florence Henderson singing about “Wessonality”. This phrase came long after Wesson Oil first came onto the scene as a cottonseed oil created by a chemist. Today, Wesson no longer carries its original product and has expanded into other types of oils instead. The advertisements and the products have changed over time, but Wesson continues to be sold in stores.

This is one of the advertisements I cam across in the collection. It is from 1920. If you go to the Wesson oil website, they have links to some of their other old commercials and advertisements. It's too bad that they left out the ads with Florence and her Wessonality.

http://www.wessonoil.com/the4oils.jsp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesson_cooking_oil

The Chau-Phone

Today’s collection item is from a series of advertisements. I love looking at old advertisements because I love to see change over time, especially when it comes to products that are still in existence today. I also enjoy looking at them because I learn about things that no longer exist, but were once deemed a necessity or have evolved into something else.

Western Electric Company was started in 1872 and was purchased by Bell Telephone Company in 1881. It is odd to think that telecommunications started so very long ago and is still evolving today. Currently we have so many different forms of communication, but in the early 20^th century, telephones of any kind were still a novel notion.

Cars were also a relatively novel notion in the early 20^th century.Finally horse drawn carriages were not the only family vehicles available to the public.If you were lucky and were wealthy, you not only had a car, but someone to chauffer you around in it.

What do these two seemly different things have in common? The exciting advertisement for Western Electric’s Chau-Phone! Chau-Phone was a telephone purchased for limousines so that the rider could speak to their chauffeur without having to shout through a speaking tube. While researching this device, I came across a website dedicated to microphones used in broadcasting that had a link to an actual flyer which incorporated much of the advertisement. The flyer was more detailed than the ad in describing the phone in greater detail about its description, pricing and installation.

I wish I had been able to track down the sales numbers to this product. I wonder how long it was in production and if they were able to sell many of them. I was most struck by the fact that this ad is obviously aimed towards a wealthy clientele and in 1913, I can’t imagine that there was such a large call for personal limos, much less chauffeured vehicles with the need of a Chau-Phone.

Image of Western Electric "Chau-Phone", 1918 from
Spark Museum.

Additional information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Electric

The Edison Employment Questionnaire

By the early 1920s, Thomas A. Edison's employment questionnaire became public after Charles Hansen, an unsuccessful applicant, memorized 141 of the questions. Job seekers taking Edison's questionnaire were called "victims" by the New York Times (links to PDF of article). The Newspaper claims "only a walking encyclopedia" could answer the questions.

Requests for the official questions were denied by Mr. Meadowcroft, Edison's secretary, because it would provide an unfair advantage to future applicants. However, Hansen's memorized list include:

• Who was the Emperor of Mexico when Cortes landed?
  
• Where are condors to be found?
  
• What country produces the most nickel?
  
• Name three principle acids?
  
• Where do we import cork from?
  
• What kind of wood are kerosene barrels made from?
  
• What voltage is used on street cars?
  
• What kind of wood are axe handles made from?
  
• What States produce phosphates?
  
• What is the weight of air in a room 20x30x10?

How well did you score?
Of the hundreds of applicants, only a handful scored satisfactory and were inducted into the Edison ranks. Others--many of whom were college graduates--mocked the test they perceived as pompous and irrelevant to the job's requirements.

Mr. Meadowcroft defends the questionnaire. "I will say, however, that it covers pretty thoroughly a man's supply of general information."

The included illustration is from the collection of James Cartoons, published between 1920-1921 by the New Process Electric Corporation. Here, Thomas Edison is seen printing questions. He is surrounded by his inventions and a number of hysterical college graduates who are spouting mock questions.

Ice Box Dictionary: Foreshadow

fore·shad·ow (fawr-shad-oh)
–verb (used with object)
to show the future Emperor of Japan during World War II under the headline "People Talked About" in a September 19, 1912 issue of Leslie's Illustrated Weekly Newspaper.

People Talked About, indeed. At the young age of 11, Prince Hirohito Michinomiya is shown here as the "heir apparent to the throne of Japan." Fourteen years later, he would become Emperor Hirohito of the Japanese Empire and an important figurehead up through the late 1980s.

It's About Bloomin' Time

Bloomers. You read that right. I wrote bloomers. It's not something you expect to see in a blog, but it wasn't something I was expecting to see in the satirical magazine, Judge, either. I guess I thought women's undergarments were off limits in the 19th century. Clearly they are not. :)

This past week I was working with magazines and illustrations from Judge. Judge was created by some of the cartoonists who left Puck magazine. I came across a page from the November 16, 1895 issue and found an illustration of women who were dressed in their “pneumatic bloomers." This amusing illustration depicts women participating in winter sports and how these not so pretty, but highly effective (and protective) bloomers made sports safer and more fun. My particular favorite illustration was the one that depicted how bloomers would help anyone who fell through ice to keep them afloat especially because they could protect the victim “until even tardy aid can be summoned.”

Although these illustrations are pretty silly, bloomers were indeed used for sports and more interestingly, they were part of the women's rights movement. They were made popular by Amelia Bloomer, who according to History.com, was the creator of a woman's newspaper, which supported issues such as women's rights and temperance. As her interest in women's rights grew, she also became interested in clothing and came up with the idea of bloomers for bicycling. Patricia Marks, in her book, Bicycles, Bangs, and Bloomers: The New Woman in Popular Press, writes, "The woman who puts on divided skirts and took to the roads on her "safety" gained not only independence but also a measure of health and a sense of well-being that her neurasthenic sister of earlier decades might have envied." Bloomers. Who knew?

http://www.history.com/topics/amelia-jenks-bloomer

Marks, Patricia. Bicycles, Bangs, and Bloomers: The New Woman in Popular Press. Louisville: University of Kentucky, 1990.

Searching for the Oldest Item in the Collection

The Corn Factors Exchange, Mark Lane, London
By the early 1750s, a new Corn Exchange building was constructed on Mark Lane in London. This illustration of the Corn Factors Exchange found in the Ice Box Archive, [Pictured to the right] was published in Gentleman's Magazine (or, Monthly Intelligencer) in March 1753. Shown is a three story building with a front facade of Doric columns. The perspective view of the first floor reveals the stairs and courtyard at the center of the building.

The Evolution of the Corn Exchange in London

By the 18th century the corn market at Bear Quay was unable to cope with the growth in the trade. Several corn merchants joined together and raised the money needed to build a new market place. Designed by J. W. Wood, the Corn Exchange at Mark Lane was completed in 1750. An extension was added in 1827. - Spartacus Educational

Mogg's New Picture of London and Visitor's Guide to it Sights, 1844

The Corn Exchange, Mark Lane ... the wholesale corn trade of the city of London is entirely conducted here; and oats, beans, and all other kinds of grain are sold by sample in this market, which is held three times a week - viz. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; but by far the best attendance is on Mondays.- Victorian London

Far from just a marketplace, the Corn Factors Exchange saw its share of public spectacles:
On Mark Lane in 1783, Christopher Atkinson stands in the pillory outside of the Corn Factors Exchange. Sheriffs watch as a large crowd gathers, both at street level and from within the Corn Exchange. - (C) Heritage Images

Harper's Weekly and Thomas Nast

Last week I was working on accessioning issues of Harper's Weekly. Each cover illustration was more captivating than the next and I found myself wishing that I had more context for some of them. Their political commentary wasn't always clear to me, but after some research, I found some of the information I was looking for and it made the illustrations much more understandable.

The covers that I enjoyed looking at the most were the covers illustrated by Thomas Nast. I knew of his work in creating the iconic Uncle Sam figure, but I did not realize he is the creator of the Democrat Donkey and the Republican Elephant as well. My favorite issues were the ones with Nast's drawings of Boss Tweed. Nast disliked Tweed and the corruption that followed him. In fact, it was one of Nast's illustrations of Tweed that helped catch him when he escaped to Spain to avoid prison time.

Although the Tweed issues were the ones that stood out most to me, the illustration that struck me the most was one that was published during the Reconstruction period. (Nast, Thomas. "The 'Civil Rights Scare' is Nearly Over. Harper's Weekly, April 22, 1875.) Shortly after the Civil War, the race issue was still an extremely difficult and touchy subject. The image was of black foxes chasing white geese and the caption read something about how the "Civil Rights scare" is nearly over.

As a person, I found the image disturbing. As a historian, I thought it was interesting seeing how race was portrayed during the time from primary source material, rather than information gathered through a textbook.