Inventory of the J. Walter Thompson Company. Account Files Collection, 1885-1987 and undated, bulk 1920-1979

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Descriptive Summary

Title Creator Extent Repository Language [top]

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions Use Restrictions Preferred Citation Provenance Processing Information             

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Historical Note

The J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) evaluated its progress through a systematic study of the performance of its client accounts. Among the tools used to gauge the success of advertising campaigns and the health of ongoing client relationships were the compilation of account histories. The earliest surviving efforts by JWT to document its account relationships include approximately one hundred account histories collected from 1925-1926 by the Business Extension Department. The histories were prepared largely by Henry C. Miner, Jr. (JWT employee, 1925-1933) under the direction of Rae H. Smith (then a Representative and later Vice President and Director). From the 1920s through the 1940s, JWT New York Office’s Department of Information and Records compiled records particularly on New York Office clients, including account histories, label and packaging designs and other printed materials. Beginning in the mid-1950s, the New York Office Information Center collected newspaper and magazine clippings, inter-office memoranda, research reports, and publications for various clients. This practice continued through the 1980s.

In addition to such institutional record-keeping practices, from the 1930s through the 1950s, individual staff members also compiled account records, which were then transferred to the Information Center of the New York Office. Howard Henderson, Vice President and Manager of the Cincinnati Office, gathered correspondence, memoranda, and reports regarding three clients: Chesebrough-Pond's, General Cigar Company, and the United States Playing Card Company. John Monsarrat, a JWT Executive Vice President and Director, provided material for the Chesebrough-Pond’s account file. Another JWT Vice President, William C. McKeehan, provided further material about the United States Playing Card Company account in the 1950s.

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Collection Overview

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Subject Headings

Subjects

• J. Walter Thompson Company.
• J. Walter Thompson Company. New York.
• J. Walter Thompson Company--History.
• Advertising--History.
• Advertising--Research.
• Advertising campaigns.
• Advertising campaigns--Evaluation.
• Advertising agencies--History.
• Advertising agencies--Management.
• Advertising agencies--United States.
• Clippings.
• Packaging.
• Pamphlets.
• Andrew Jergens Company (Cincinnati, Ohio).
• Chesebrough-Pond's.
• General Cigar Company (Philadelphia, Pa.).
• Oneida, ltd.
• Pan American World Airways, Inc.
• Standard Brands, Incorporated.
• U.S. Playing Card Co.
• John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History

Authors

• J. Walter Thompson Company.
• Miner, Henry C., Jr.
• Smith, Rae H.
• Henderson, Howard.
• Monsarrat, John.
• McKeehan, William C.

	List of Series in Collection
		Accounts Files Collection

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Detailed Description of Collection

Box 1
Box 2
Box 3
Box 4
Box 5
Box 6
Box 7
Box 8
Box 9
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Box  11
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Box 20
Box 21

• Descriptive Summary
• Administrative Information
• Historical Note
• Collection Overview
• Subject Headings
• Detailed Description of Collection