Margaret Fishback papers, 1863-1978 and undated

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Summary

Creator:
Fishback, Margaret, 1904-1985
Abstract:
Margaret Fishback was an advertising copywriter for Macy's, Cecil & Presbrey, Warwick & Legler, Young & Rubicam, Doyle Dane Bernbach, and a number of freelance clients. A poet, columnist, and author of prose work, she contributed frequently to national magazines and published several books. The Margaret Fishback Papers span the years 1863 through 1978 and document Fishback's dual careers in advertising and writing as well as her personal life. The collection includes correspondence, layouts, drafts, galley proofs, radio scripts, working copy of advertising text, poetry, prose, published material, appointment books, scrapbooks, photographs, and other materials. Clients represented in the papers include Borden's, Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, Clairol, General Foods, Gourmet Foods, Gimbels, Macy's, Martex, Moore-McCormack Lines, Norcross, Norsk, Pabst, and Simmons Beautyrest.
Extent:
52 Linear Feet
About 35,700 items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00397

Background

Scope and content:

The Margaret Fishback Papers span the years 1863 through 1978 and document Fishback's dual careers in advertising and writing as well as her personal life. The collection includes correspondence, layouts, drafts, galley proofs, radio scripts, working copy of advertising text, poetry, prose, published material, appointment books, scrapbooks, photographs, and other materials. Clients represented in the papers include Arrow, Borden's, Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, Clairol, General Foods, Gimbels, Gourmet Foods, Macy's, West Point Pepperell (Martex), Moore-McCormack Lines, Norcross, Norsk, Pabst, Simmons Beautyrest, and Wrigley. Materials that predate Fishback's birth consist of a small collection of 19th-century prints and illustrations.

The collection is organized into three series: Personal Files, Writings, and Advertising.

The Personal Files Series chiefly documents Fishback's personal life through personal correspondence, datebooks, diaries, and photographs. Also included are a number of items collected by Fishback such as etiquette books, newspaper clippings, church bulletins, and travel memorabilia. Biographical data, chiefly news articles, provide secondary source material about Fishback and her family.

The Writings Series documents Fishback's writing career, containing her published works as well as a large amount of work in unpublished form. Writings include articles and light poetry written for national news and general-interest publications such as Collier's, Liberty, Life, Look, the New York Times, New Yorker, Saturday Evening Post, and Time. Writings also include Fishback's contributions to women's magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Family Circle, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, Judge, Mademoiselle, McCall's, War Brides, Woman's Day, and Woman's Home Companion. A large number of Fishback's poems were reprinted as compilations; Fishback also compiled her own work in several scrapbooks. Materials represent Fishback's writings for children, including a promotional booklet for Martex and an English translation of a German poetry book. In addition to general prose and poetry, this series also includes materials collected and produced for a column entitled "Woman-Talk," which Fishback wrote for Liberty from 1943 to 1947. Also included are short stories, greeting card work, letters to magazine and newspaper editors, speeches for various events such as author talks and advertising conventions, and other miscellaneous writings. General files document the administrative aspects of Fishback's writing career. These files contain correspondence, chiefly between Fishback and various editors and publishers, as well as financial and legal materials.

The Advertising Series documents Fishback's advertising work for R.H. Macy and Co. Department Store, as well as work for advertising agencies and freelance work. Included in this series are advertisements in various stages of production: notes, drafts, proofs, and tear sheets. Administrative materials, such as correspondence, often accompany the advertisements. Also represented in this series is evidence of Fishback's professional affiliations, particularly with the Advertising Women of New York (AWNY). Materials generated or collected in the process of preparing for speaking engagements with professional societies are also included. The series also includes a small collection of trade literature, chiefly books on advertising topics written by other authors.

Large-format print materials have been removed from their original series locations and relocated to Oversize Materials. Relocated items have been replaced in the Detailed Description of the Collection by dummy folders enclosed in brackets.

Biographical / historical:
Margaret Fishback
Date Event
1900 Mar. 10
Born Margaret Fishback, Washington, D.C.
1917
Graduated from Central High School (Washington, D.C.)
1921
A.B. degree, Goucher College (Baltimore, Md.)
1921
Teacher, English and History, Columbia Junior High School (Washington, D.C.)
1922
Organizational Department, Tamblyn and Brown (New York, N.Y.)
1926-1930
Divisional copywriter, R. H Macy & Co. (Macy's)
1930-1942
Institutional advertisement writer, Macy's
1932
Published I Feel Better Now, Verses
1933
Published Out of My Head
1935
Published I Take It Back
1935 June 14
Married Alberto Gastone Antolini, chief rug buyer, Macy's
1937
Published One to a Customer: Collected Poems
1938
Published Safe Conduct: When to Behave--And Why
1940
Published Time for a Quick One
1940-1942
Copy Chief, Macy's
1942 Jan. 25
Son Anthony Frederick (Tony) Antolini born
1943-1947
Wrote "Woman-Talk" column in Liberty magazine
1945
Published Look Who's A Mother!
1948-1950
Copywriter, Cecil & Presbrey
1951
Copywriter, Warwick & Legler
1956
Divorced Alberto Antolini
1958
Copywriter, Young & Rubicam
1959 Oct. 1-1961
Copywriter, Doyle Dane Bernbach
1963
Published My Little Library: Dolls, Games, Rhymes
1963
Published Poems Made Up to Take Out
1968
Published The Animal Parade (translated from German)
1969
Published A Child's Book of Natural History
1985 Sept. 25
Died, Camden, Me.

Margaret Fishback Antolini was an advertising copywriter and author of light verse and prose. She was known for her wry, cynical attitudes towards domesticity, and her marriage to Alberto Gastone Antolini in 1935 prompted headlines such as "Sneerer at Love Engaged to Wed" ( The New York American, 17 April 1935). The couple had one son, Tony. Fishback lived in several New York City neighborhoods, settling in Murray Hill in 1941, where she would remain until at least 1976. She spent most summers in Thomaston, Maine.

Fishback contributed light verse and prose to a number of national publications, including Collier's, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, Harper's Bazaar, Look, Mademoiselle, New York Times, Reader's Digest, Saturday Evening Post, and Woman's Day. She authored several compilations of light verse, an etiquette book called Safe Conduct: When to Behave--and Why, and two children's books. Common themes in Fishback's work include New York City, womanhood, marriage, and career. Fishback also frequently based her writings on stories and advertisements in newspapers. She published primarily under her maiden name, but also occasionally under her married name and the pseudonyms "Marne" and "Marnie."

Fishback was described in a 1932 New York newspaper article as "the highest-paid advertising woman in the world". In addition to her advertising work for Macy's and various advertising agencies, she also did extensive freelance work. Fishback contributed to advertising campaigns for Arrow Shirts, Borden's, Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, Clairol, DuPont, Gimbels, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P), Hanes Hosiery, Martex, Norsk, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Seagram's, Simmons Beautyrest, and Wrigley, among several others. She was also a member of the professional society Advertising Women of New York (AWNY).

Chronology of Major Published Work
Date Event
1932
I Feel Better Now, Verses
1933
Out of My Head
1935
I Take It Back
1937
One to a Customer: Collected Poems
1938
Safe Conduct: When to Behave--And Why
1940
Time for a Quick One
1945
Look Who's A Mother!
1963
My Little Library: Dolls, Games, Rhymes
1963
Poems Made Up to Take Out
1968
The Animal Parade (translated from German)
1969
A Child's Book of Natural History
Acquisition information:
The Margaret Fishback Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift from Anthony Antolini in 2005.
Processing information:

Processed by Angela McClendon and Stacy Lavin, March 2007

Encoded by Angela McClendon

Completed May 2007

Accession 2005-0015 is described in this finding aid.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Collection is open for research.

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The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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[Identification of item], Margaret Fishback Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University

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