William L. Bird Holidays on Display Collection
name: label: Creator
content: Bird, William L.
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was assembled and donated by William L. Bird.
creator: label: Creator
content: Bird, William L.
setName: label: See more items in
content: William L. Bird Holidays on Display Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: The collection consists of archival materials assembled by National Museum of American History Curator William Lawrence Bird. The materials were used as background research for the publication of his book Holidays on Display (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007), and as exhibit objects for the exhibit by the same name that opened shortly after the museum's architectural renovation (November 2009-September 2010). The materials include advertising and trade literature, especially for department stores and with emphasis on the display of toys; catalogs; photographs and slides; postcards; parade programs; design drawings; correspondence; stock certificates, and miscellaneous items relating to department stores and their displays, parades and the amusement industry.
accruals: label: Accruals
content: One cubic foot was received from William L. Bird on April 16, 2015. One half cubic foot of material was received from William L. Bird in 2018.
bioghist: label: Historical Note
content: The collection consists of archival materials assembled by National Museum of American History Curator William Lawrence Bird. The materials were used as background research for the publication of his book Holidays on Display (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007), and as exhibit objects for the exhibit by the same name that opened shortly after the museum's architectural renovation (November 2009-September 2010).
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 6.5 Cubic feet (19 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1877 - 2010
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Collection transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Political History (now Division of Political and Military History) in 2012.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1288
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into fourteen series.

Series 1, Advertisements, 1925, 1954, undated

Series 2, Articles/Newspaper clippings, 1922-2009 and undated

Series 3, Artwork/Drawings, 1952, 1966

Series 4, Buttons/Pins (souvenir), 1901-2009

Series 5, Certificates, 1975-1976

Series 6, Correspondence, 1928

Series 7, Department Stores, 1903-2001

Series 8, Design/Display Companies, 1890-2001

Subseries 8.1, Adler-Jones Company, 1947

Subseries 8.2, American Decorative Flower Company, Inc., undated

Subseries 8.3, Chance Manufacturing Company, Inc., 1975

Subseries 8.4, Chicago Artificial Flower Company, 1938-1939, 1951

Subseries 8.5, Eden Musee, 1892-1910 and undated

Subseries 8.6, Dennison Manufacturing Company, 1913-1956

Subseries 8.7, Display Sales, 2008 and undated

Subseries 8.8,  Garrison-Wagner Company, 1949-1952, 1959

Subseries 8.9, Gasthoff's Display Service, Inc., 1937-1938, 1956

Subseries 8.10, General Electric, 1931, 1938, 2000

Subseries 8.11, D. Glosser and Associates, Inc., undated

Subseries 8.12, Hamberger Displays, Inc., 1989., 1997-1998, 2001

Subseries 8.13, Intamin AG (observation towers), undated

Subseries 8.14, International Register Company, 1931

Subseries 8.15, Heinrich Mark, undated

Subseries 8.16, Maytag Parade Floats and Moving Displays, [1938?]

Subseries 8.17, Roberto Meluzzi, undated

Subseries 8.18, Messmore & Damon, 1890-1960s

Subseries 8.19, Modern Art Studios, circa 1920s

Subseries 8.20, Motion Machines, Inc., undated

Subseries 8.21, Phoenix Decorating Company, 2006-2010

Subseries 8.22, Pinfari, undated

Subseries 8.23, Pittsburgh Display Advertising, Inc., 1952

Subseries 8.24, S.B. Ramagosa and Sons, 1974

Subseries 8.25, Rubies Costume Company, Inc., 2000

Subseries 8.26, Schack's Artificial Flower Company, 1922

Subseries 8.27, Anton Schwarzkopf, undated

Subseries 8.28, Sherman Display Guide, 1942

Subseries 8.29, Vaughan's, Inc., 1950s, 1992 and undated

Subseries 8.30, Venture Ride Manufacturing, Inc., 1975

Subseries 8.31, Victory Corporation, 1978-2000

Series 9, Parade Programs, 1909-2009

Series 10, Photographs, 1877-2009

Subseries 1, Parades, 1877-1980s

Subseries 2, Window Displays, circa 1930s-2000s

Subseries 3, Miscellaneous, 1935-1965 and undated

Subseries 4, Slides, 1948-1976

Subseries 5, Lantern Slides, undated

Series 11, Postcards, 1909-1973 and undated

Series 12, Publications, 1938-1989, 2007

Subseries 12.1, Amusement Business, 1962-1967

Subseries 12.2, Chicago Railroad Fair Official Guide Book, 1948

Subseries 12.3, Commercial Christmas Decor, 2001-2002

Subseries 12.4, Department Store Economist, 1963 July

Subseries 12.5 Display World, 1949, 1950-1952

Subseries 12.6, The Fellow Worker (Jordan Marsh Company), 1928 December

Subseries 12.7, Good Year News (Good Year Tire and Rubber Company), 1962 November

Subseries 12.8, The Holiday Messenger, 1891-1892

Subseries 12.9, The Hudsonian (J. L. Hudson Company), 1937-1954

Subseries 12.10 International Correspondence Schools, 1946-1956

Subseries 12.11, Jolly Book for Boys and Girls (John Wanamaker and Company), 1929-1931

Subseries 12.12, Koester School Year Book, [circa 1920s?]

Subseries 12.13, Merchants Record and Show Window, 1906,1917, 1918

Subseries 12.14, Signs of the Times (National Journal of the Advertising Display), 1953 January

Subseries 12.15, Sparks (R.H. Macy and Company), 1938-1947

Subseries 12.16, Store Chat (Strawbridge and Clothier), 1949, 1951, 1957

Subseries 12.17, Time Magazine, 1948 December 27

Subseries 12.18, Tourist Attractions and Parks, 1989 February

Subseries 12.19, Childrens Souvenir Books, 1926-2003 (bulk 1920s)

Series 13, Travel/Tourism, 1927-2007

Series 14, Tru-Vue, circa 1940s
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, 2012.
bibliography: label: Bibliography
content: Lehman Brothers Collection, Harvard Business School, Baker Library, Historical Collections (http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/lehman/chrono.html?company=macy_credit_corp) (accessed August 9, 2012)

Bird, William L. --  Holidays on Display -- . New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007.

"Eden Musee Faces Bankruptcy,"  -- New York Times -- , June 8, 1915.

Kobler, John. "Where Are they Now? The Pride of the Eden Musee,"  -- New Yorker -- , November 20, 1943.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of archival materials assembled by National Museum of American History Curator William Lawrence (known as Larry) Bird. The materials were used as background research and as exhibit objects for the exhibit "Holidays on Display" (November 2009-September 2010). The materials include advertising and trade literature (especially for department stores and with emphasis on the display of toys); catalogs; photographs and slides; postcards; parade programs; design drawings; correspondence; stock certificates, and miscellaneous items relating to department stores and their displays, parades, and the amusement industry.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials held in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Messmore & Damon Company Records, 1892-1998 (AC0846)

Landy R. Hales Papers, 1908-1969 (AC0906)

Hudson-Fulton Celebration Photograph Album, 1909 (AC1149)