Henry J. Kaufman and Associates Records
name: label: Creator
content: Luchs, Kenneth J.
label: Creator
content: Henry J. Kaufman and Associates (Washington, D.C.)
label: Names
content: Kaufman, Henry J.
topic: label: Topic
content: Advertising agencies
label: Topic
content: advertising
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated to the Archives Center in June 2003 by Mr. Kaufman's nephew, Kenneth J. Luchs.
creator: label: Creator
content: Luchs, Kenneth J.
label: Creator
content: Henry J. Kaufman and Associates (Washington, D.C.)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Henry J. Kaufman and Associates Records
abstract: label: Summary
content: Materials relating to Henry J. Kaufman, including photographs and ID cards; and the records of the Kaufman firm, including six scrapbooks, one for each decade; company newsletters, photographs, and other papers detailing the business history of the company as well as its social and other internal activities.
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: Henry J. Kaufman (1906-1997) founded his Washington, D.C. based advertising agency in 1929, only months before the stock market crash.  Business in some companies was quite poor after the collapse, and many desperate executives were willing to risk money on advertising.  The agency Henry J. Kaufman and Associates profited from the risk and grew rapidly, adding public relations and other services and eventually became the largest advertising firm in the Washington, D.C. area.  The company had both local and national clients and campaigns, including the Porsche Corporation and the Society of American Florists.  In addition to its print media, the agency was especially successful in the field of radio advertising, sponsoring an award in commercial radio announcing as well as regularly winning awards of its own.  Kaufman was a member of the Advertising Club of Metropolitan Washington, Incorporated (known as the Ad Club) and served as president in the 1940s.  He was considered the founder and "dean" of Washington, D.C. advertising and headed Henry J. Kaufman and Associates for fifty years until he sold it in the late 1970s.  He stayed active in consulting work and acted as a mentor to others in the advertising field until his death in 1997.  Kaufman and his wife Irma were married sixty-six years.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2 Cubic feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1930-1980
label: Date
content: bulk 1930s-1970s
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0843
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Advertisements
label: Type
content: Newsletters
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is divided into two series. 

Series 1, Business Papers, 1930s-1980s


Series 2, Kaufman's Personal Papers, 1950s-1990s, undated
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Kiley Orchard (intern), 2008; supervised by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Advertisements -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Newsletters -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 20th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: This collection consists of various business papers, personal papers, and advertising samples of Henry Kaufman and the Washington, D.C. advertising firm Henry J. Kaufman and Associates.  The bulk of the collection consists of seven scrapbooks from the 1930s-1970s that detail the company's social and internal activities as well as business history.  Researchers will find this collection particularly valuable for its insight into office culture and the ways in which it changes throughout the decades.

Series 1, Business Papers, 1930s-1980s, contains various business papers, photographs, and advertising samples relating to Henry J. Kaufman and Associates.

Subseries 1.1, Scrapbooks, 1930s-1970s, contains seven scrapbooks put together by Henry J. Kaufman and Associates.  The scrapbooks contain press coverage of the firm, newspaper clippings relating to members of the company, information regarding clients and campaigns, photographs of company events, and examples of office humor and culture.  Five of the scrapbooks are divided by decade, beginning with the 1930s and ending with the 1970s, but two of the books cover date ranges longer than one decade.  The scrapbook contained in Box 5 is dedicated mainly to Kaufman's tenure as president of the Advertising Club of Metropolitan Washington, Incorporated.  Several of the scrapbook pages have been disassembled, but there are numbered and photocopied pages to maintain the provenance of the collection.  The folders labeled "Material" contain the material originally located on the disassembled scrapbook pages. 

Subseries 1.2, Newsletters, 1933, circa 1958, 1968-75, 1978, contains editions of the company newsletter The Kaufman Report, an earlier newsletter entitled Corner Stone, and a direct mail piece.

Subseries 1.3, Advertising Campaigns, circa 1962-1990s, undated, contains an assortment of advertisements sponsored by Henry J. Kaufman and Associates.  Highlights are the Porsche Corporation, The Wall Street Journal, and a portfolio of advertising samples from 1977-1979. 

Subseries 1.4, Other Materials, 1951-1984, undated, contains a variety of business papers, correspondence, photographs, personnel lists, and press coverage related to the agency.  Henry J. Kaufman and Associates relocated to the Canal Street Building in 1963, and a number of the documents and photographs in this subseries are related to the move.

Series 2, Kaufman's Personal Papers, 1950s-1990s, undated, contains information pertaining more to Henry J. Kaufman than to the company.  The most substantive parts of the series are photographs of Kaufman and tributes relating to his birthdays and death.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Mateials in the Archives Center

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Caroline R. Jones Collection (NMAH.AC.0552)