A database provides keyword, date, and location access to the images in the R. C. Maxwell Company Outdoor Advertisements category of this web project. The database includes terms deemed most likely to be useful to a range of users of the EAA project.

Below is a list of the database fields, with a description of each term, that you will find in the pull-down menus on the R. C. Maxwell Company Outdoor Advertising Search Page. For simple, narrow searches, just enter the keyword you are searching (e.g. Coca-Cola, Atlantic City, carriages, etc) and choose the appropriate term in the pull-down menus on the Search Page. If there is a match with a photograph in this category, you will be able to view it; if not, the search engine will report "no hits." (Entering a keyword such as "Coca-Cola" with the term "All" on the pull-down menu will ensure a search across all terms in the R. C. Maxwell Category.)

To search across all eleven categories in the EAA project (not just the R. C. Maxwell Company images), go to the EAA General Search page. On that page you will find guidance about using search terms for cross-category searching.

The first half of the list below reflects the Keyword or Field terms. Database fields representing Illustration and Special Features searches are grouped together in the second half.

(1) Keyword or Field Terms

Database Number:  A unique letter/number identifier assigned to each item.

Item Title:  Location where photograph was taken. In most cases this information was taken directly from information written on the photo or from information within the photo itself. Some locations could not be identified.

Year of Publication:  Year in which photo was taken; this information was usually taken straight from the the date on the item itself. "n.d." in this space means no date was found on the item.

Month of Publication:  Month in which photo was taken; this information was usually taken from information written on photo. "Unknown" in this space means no month information was available.

Company:  The name of the company(ies) with advertisements in the photo. Up to six companies may be found in this field. Additional company names may be found in the "Notes" field.

Item Number:  A record-keeping number written on the original photo folder or the photo itself by the photographer. Some items may have the same photo number.

City:  City where photograph was taken. "Unknown" is written if information was not given on the photograph or photograph folder.

State:  State where photograph was taken. "Unknown" is written if information was not on photograph or photograph folder. To find all images from a given state, search using the U.S. Postal Service 2-letter codes. Maxwell images in EAA show locations only in:





Connecticut (CT)	Pennsylvania (PA)
Louisiana (LA)	South Carolina (SC)
New Jersey (NJ)	Virginia (VA)
New York (NY)	West Virginia (WV)
North Carolina (NC)

By far the greatest number of images are from New Jersey.

Time of Photograph:  The time of the photograph was recorded as either "Day" or "Night." Most of the night photos show illuminated or electric advertising signs.

Notes:  This field was used to enter any overflow information from other fields (such as extra company names), as well as to add information specific to an advertisement that could be useful to researchers. Examples would include notes about images that were unusual, or especially interesting (e.g. the presence of horse drawn carriages, etc.). Searching on "All" fields from the Search page insures that key words in the Notes field will be included in search returns.

(2) Illustration and Special Features

Unlike most of the other categories, there is only one option in the Illustrations and Special Features area of the search page. Locating images that show people in the photograph is possible using this field. People are shown mainly in large groups or from a distance, so no other distinguishing features have been indexed. The outdoor advertising signs are the primary focus of all the photographs in this category.




People in Photograph:  If people were present in the photograph, "Visible" was written in this field.