Inventory of the J. Walter Thompson Company. Norman H. Strouse Papers, 1916-1987

J. Walter Thompson Company. Norman H. Strouse Papers, 1916-1987

J. Walter Thompson Company.

2.8 Linear Feet
2100 Items

Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library

English.

Collection is open for research.

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Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.

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The copyright interests in the J. Walter Thompson Company Archives have not been transferred to Duke University. For further information, see the section on copyright in the Regulations and Procedures of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.

[Identification of item], J. Walter Thompson Company. Norman H. Strouse Papers, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.

The Norman H. Strouse Papers were transferred to the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library from the J. Walter Thompson Company in 1987.

Processed by: Donna Longo DiMichele

Completed December 2, 1992

Encoded by Stephen Douglas Miller

Processing of this collection was supported in part by gifts from the J. Walter Thompson Company Fund and the John and Kelly Hartman Foundation.

This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.

The papers of Norman H. Strouse span the years 1916 to 1987, although the bulk of the material dates from the 1950s to the 1960s. They consist of correspondence, office files and memoranda, reports, writings and speeches, charts, client presentations, notes and notebooks, publications, clippings, photographs, and scrapbooks. The collection documents the J. Walter Thompson Company office in Detroit, Mich., especially the Ford Motor Company account; corporate administration for the entire company; company history; and public relations. The collection also partially documents Norman Strouse's bibliographic interests.

The Detroit Series documents various aspects of Norman H. Strouse's service in the Detroit office. Some aspects of his transition to the Presidency of the J. Walter Thompson Company are documented in the series. The Office Files Subseries includes information about general management concerns and decisions regarding staff, including assignments and compensation; operating expenses; and the succession of top management positions in the 1950s. Ford Motor Company account information and comparisons between the J. Walter Thompson Company and other advertising agencies are also in the subseries.

The Detroit Series, Ford Motor Company Subseries documents various aspects of the Ford Motor Company account with the J. Walter Thompson Company and, to a lesser extent, personal relationships that Norman H. Strouse had with members of Ford management. The client presentations, including some to Henry Ford II, include analyses of expenditures and annual budgets, sales and marketing figures, and the results of a study authorized by the Ford Motor Company. Outdoor billboard advertising was an important component of the Ford account, and Norman Strouse was an innovator in this type of advertising. The Baby Talk billboard developed for the Ford Motor Company Campaign of 1947 is well documented in the subseries. There are comments from Ford dealers and district managers, outdoor advertising companies, and other J. Walter Thompson Company offices about the campaign. These groups also submitted, to the J. Walter Thompson Company Detroit office, additional solicited and unsolicited comments which they had received from the public or found in newspapers. The Baby Talk Billboard Scrapbook, a portfolio presentation album assembled by General Outdoor Advertising for Norman Strouse, also documents the campaign, including the public's response.

When Norman H. Strouse succeeded Stanley B. Resor as President of the J. Walter Thompson Company, Strouse was the key figure in changing the organization into a management-run corporation, following the form by which he had previously organized the Detroit office. The Corporate Administration Series documents Mr. Strouse's transition to the Presidency and the management reorganization of the New York office, including the establishment of the Executive Team, the Administrative Committee, the Operations Committee, and the Review Boards. Documentation of personnel issues is scattered throughout the series, especially in regard to upper levels of management. There are also descriptions of the responsibilities of various positions and the professional relationships between various J. Walter Thompson Company staff members. Mr. Strouse wrote numerous memoranda evaluating the course of management policies and changes as well as future prospects for change, including those that would occur as a result of retirements. Memoranda on various aspects of forward planning are scattered throughout the series. The Corporate Administration Series also includes information on the acquisition of new clients and the satisfaction of current clients, trends in advertising, billings, profits, and stock holdings. The series contains information about other advertising companies, including comparisons of total billings, market distributions, and evaluation of staff who were under consideration for recruitment to the J. Walter Thompson Company. The correspondence documents general management issues, responses to promotions and retirements, and Mr. Strouse's visits to international offices. Some letters are personal, a number of which reflect Mr. Strouse's bibliographic interests. The Company Image folder includes information on the architectural and interior design of the New York offices as well as discussions of the impressions of the company held by other companies and the public.

Colin Dawkins, a writer for the J. Walter Thompson Company, collected information for a history of the company. The J. Walter Thompson Company History Series contains the correspondence between Mr. Dawkins and Norman Strouse in regard to Mr. Dawkins's research. The correspondence includes general information about the J. Walter Thompson Company, especially management, as well as information specifically about Norman Strouse's experiences in the company. The series includes copies of some early company correspondence, including Mr. J. Walter Thompson's resignation; letters from Stanley Resor to J. Walter Thompson Company employees Rae H. Smith and Loyd R. Coleman; and to E.J. Copeland of Nash Motors regarding the Kelvinator. There is a commentary by Lewis Mumford concerning the company library begun by Helen Lansdowne Resor for employees. Some correspondence has notations referring to materials in the Detroit Series, Ford Motor Company Subseries and the Corporate Administration Series. "Basic Roots of the J. Walter Thompson Company" is an historical overview of the company compiled by Vice President Howard Henderson. It describes the J. Walter Thompson Company's driving principles and policies and compares it with other agencies, including their standings in worldwide competition. "Basic Roots" also includes case histories of some company clients and their products for the period of about 1904 to the 1920s.

The Public Relations Series documents responses to two articles by Arno H. Johnson of the J. Walter Thompson Company Research Department and a third article, "1955-1961/The Best Advertisements from Reader's Digest," which Mr. Strouse had mailed to members of Congress and other federal government officials and some corporate leaders.

The Publications Series documents aspects of Norman H. Strouse's hand press, the Silverado Press, and his bibliographic interests, especially the work of Robert Louis Stevenson. Norman and Charlotte Strouse were instrumental in the establishment of the Silverado Museum which focuses on Robert Louis Stevenson. Some information about this museum is scattered in the Corporate Administration, Correspondence Series. Reproductions from Norman and Charlotte Strouse's collection of manuscripts and rare books are in the Christmas Greeting Subseries.

These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.