J. Walter Thompson Company. Account Files, 1885-2012 and undated, bulk 1920-2006

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Restrictions:
Collection is restricted. Original audiovisual materials are closed to patron use. Technical Services staff need to produce use copies before contents can be accessed. Unpublished materials are...
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Summary

Creator:
J. Walter Thompson Company
Abstract:
Founded in 1864, the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) is one of the oldest and largest enduring advertising agencies in the United States. The JWT Account Files is an artificially-created collection of information about client accounts held by the JWT and provides information about JWT's management of its advertising campaigns. Additionally, the files document deliberations about such topics as media selection; markets and marketing; and target audience for individual advertising campaigns. The bulk of the materials, especially the older records, document clients managed by JWT's New York Office, but the work of other offices is also represented, including: Atlanta Office (Marine Corps); Chicago Office (Oscar Mayer, Kraft); Detroit Office (Ford); and San Francisco Office (Sprint). The collection includes account histories; research reports; memoranda; correspondence; printed material; clippings; brochures and pamphlets; product labels and packaging designs; original artwork and advertising proofs; slides; photographs; audiocassettes and videocassettes. Clients represented include Eastman Kodak; Ford; Ford Dealer Association; R.T. French; General Cigar; Hamm's beer; Handy Andy; International Banana Association; IBM; Kellogg; Kraft; Quaker Oats; U.S. Marine Corps; US Sprint; Warner Lambert; White Castle; and the 1964 World's Fair. More limited materials are available for other significant JWT clients, including: Burger King; Champion Spark Plug; Domino's Pizza; Lever Brothers; Northern Telecom; Oscar Mayer; Rolex; Standard Brands; and Scott Paper. Acquired as part of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History.
Extent:
460 Linear Feet
Language:
Material in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Hebrew, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian
Collection ID:
RL.00658

Background

Scope and content:

The JWT Account Files is an artificially-created collection of information about client accounts held by the JWT and provides information about JWT's management of its advertising campaigns. Additionally, the files document deliberations about such topics as media selection; markets and marketing; and target audience for individual advertising campaigns. The bulk of the materials, especially the older records, document clients managed by JWT's New York Office, but the work of other offices is also represented, including: Atlanta Office (Marine Corps); Chicago Office (Oscar Mayer, Kraft); Detroit Office (Ford); and San Francisco Office (Sprint). The collection includes account histories; research reports; memoranda; correspondence; printed material; clippings; brochures and pamphlets; product labels and packaging designs; original artwork and advertising proofs; slides; photographs; audiocassettes and videocassettes. Clients represented include Eastman Kodak; Ford; Ford Dealer Association; R.T. French; General Cigar; Hamm's beer; Handy Andy; International Banana Association; IBM; Kellogg; Kraft; Quaker Oats; U.S. Marine Corps; US Sprint; Warner Lambert; White Castle; and the 1964 World's Fair. More limited materials are available for other significant JWT clients, including: Burger King; Champion Spark Plug; Domino's Pizza; Lever Brothers; Northern Telecom; Oscar Mayer; Rolex; Standard Brands; and Scott Paper.

Biographical / historical:

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.

Acquisition information:
The J. Walter Thompson Company. Account Files were received by the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library as transfers between 1987 and 2009.
Processing information:

Processed by Richard Collier, Caitlin Harding, Ashley Urquhart, Thomas LaPorte, Katherine Rose, Jessica Wood March 2007

Encoded by Richard Collier, Caitlin Harding, Ashley Urquhart, Jessica Wood

Completed November 2009

Materials from accessions 93-015, 93-018, 93-028, 93-029, 93-033, 93-041, 93-059, 93-083, 93-099, 93-100, 93-149, 93-248, 94-110, 95-127, 96-071, 96-074, 96-161, 97-069, 97-072, 97-088, 97-096, 97-109, 97-203, 97-217, 97-219, 97-284, 98-219, 98-230, 98-383, 98-407, 98-530, 99-298, 99-385, 99-386, 01-216, 01-214, 02-133, 02-139, 02-199, 02-200, 02-202, 03-233, 03-257, 04-023, 04-028, 04-042, 04-064, 04-317, 2005-0053, 2005-0096, 2006-0088, 2007-0040, 2007-0056, 2007-0101, 2007-0102, 2007-0106, 2007-0184, 2007-0185 and 2009-0156 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.

Arrangement:

Materials relating to client accounts for which only a limited amount of information is available are arranged into a Small Files Series. Following the Small Files, there are account records for thirty individual clients, plus a series of records added in 2022.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is restricted.

Original audiovisual materials are closed to patron use. Technical Services staff need to produce use copies before contents can be accessed.

Unpublished materials are closed to non-JWT staff for fifteen years from the date of creation.

Review Board materials may not be photocopied.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. There may be a 48-hour delay in obtaining these materials.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

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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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], J. Walter Thompson Company. Account Files, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1ts6x