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Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)Kira A. Dietz, Archivist
Permission to publish material from Culinary Ephemera Collection must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Collection is open for research.
Selected items from this collection have been digitized and are available online: http://digitalsc.lib.vt.edu/Ms2013-028 . Additional items will be added to the digital collection as they are scanned.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Culinary Ephemera Collection, Ms2013-028, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Initial materials in the Culinary Ephemera Collection consisted of several purchases made and donations received in 2012 and 2013. Additional materials are expected in the future.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Culinary Ephemera Collection was completed in July 2013. Further description is expected as new materials are added to the collection. Additional description and reorganization of the collection was completed in September 2015, February 2017 and July 2017.
The Culinary Ephemera Collection was established in 2013. The collection consists of materials in a variety of formats that relate to food and nutrition, dating from the early 19th century to the present (although many of the materials are undated). Materials include: advertising and promotional materials for food products, games and other children's activities, menus from restaurants and events, pamphlets on nutrition and health topics, notecards inspired by food products and food publications, and postcards.
The collection is arranged in series by material format. Additional series (and possibly subseries) are expected as the collection expands.
Series I: Advertising and Promotional Materials includes broadsides and other single sheet advertisements, product labels, and a variety of trade cards. Advertised items include food technology and production items like stoves and small appliances, agricultural products, and individual foods and companies like Carnation and Kellogg. This series contains a set of trade cards from Libby Meats featuring image of and quotes from Shakespeare, miniature trade cards with calendars, and a large Royal Baking Powder broadside, among other ephemera.
Series II: Games and Puzzles contains puzzles intended for play cocktail or theme parties, as well as items for children from restaurants and product boxes and trivia/informational tools.
Series III: Menus includes printed menus for locations and restaurants for adults and children.
Series IV: Nutrition and Health consists of informational pamphlets on diseases and specific illnesses, as well as their treatment, plus advertisements and information on patent and practical medicines, and a small group of items relating to nutrition. This series includes ephemera specific to children's health and nutrition.
Series V: Correspondence Artifacts consists of postcards and notecards featuring food products, food labels, and images from institutions with agriculture and food collection holdings. Some postcards contain messages on the back.
Series VI: Recipes includes ephemeral items that contain recipes or are individual recipes.
Series VII: Coupons and Stamp Books includes savers, booklets for collecting stamps (to be traded for items), and coupons.
Virginia Tech Special Collections also includes a number of similar and related collections of ephemera and culinary publications:
At the earliest, this item probably dates to around 1885, four years after the death of James A. Garfield. Produced by Stillman Remedies Co. Garfield Tea was a laxative that came in loose or bagged tea form, as well as a syrup. There's no clear indiciation as to why it was named after Garfield (there is no clear connected between the late president and the company), though it may have been an attempt to capitalize on his image somehow. Records suggest there was no "Dr. Stillman," but the company was in the patent medicine business well into the 1910s. For more on this item, see the post " A Tea, a Counter-top Ad, and a Dead President " on the Special Collections blog.
This folded pamphlet includes five full-color illustrations of the factory in Baltimore, depicting steps in the manufacture and packing process, along with a color image facsimile of the company's label. The inside pages include information on the company, the product, and prices.
The J. F. Lawrence Printing Company operated at least from about 1890 until at least 1913. This prospectus includes samples and descriptions for patent medicine boxes, labels, and labels available for purchase.
Original pen and ink illustration of Percy Wilbur Witwer of Dallas, Texas, used as an advertisement for Mellin's Baby Food, c.1907.
This group of materials is organized by product/type of product. The finding aid does not include a list of individual cards or companies.