Industrial and Technological Change

Computer Supported Inquiry Activity

Inquiry Question:

How do the advertisements for personal automobiles reflect changes in American Society?

Web sites with Information on Advertising

Ted’s Vintage Advertising Museum

http://pelorus.scriptmania.com/cars/index.htm

Collection of old advertisements for automobiles.

Ad Access

http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/search.html

Images and database on over 7000 advertisements

Advertising and Commercial Imagery Collections

http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/archives/d-7.htm

Nationally recognized collections for the study of advertising.

Automobile Advertising

http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1231.htm

Essay on early ads for automobiles and how they mirrored society.

Making Sense of Advertisements

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/Ads/

This guide, written by Dr. Daniel Pope at the University of Oregon, offers an overview of advertisements as historical sources and how historians use them by Dr. Daniel Pope at the University of Oregon. Available at History Matters website, part of a series of essays on how to make sense of various types of primary source documents.

Websites with Images Related to the Theme

Pacific Northwest Logging Industry

http://www.lib.washington.edu/specialcoll/exhibits/kinsey/logging.html

The University of Washington Library has some excellent photographs on rural life in the PNW, including this logging collection

Inside an American Factory: Films of the Westinghouse Works, 1904
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/papr/west/
 A collection of 21 films "showing various views of Westinghouse  companies" and their operations. Most of the films feature the Westinghouse Air Brake, Machine, and Electric and Manufacturing Companies, located in Pennsylvania.  Searchable by keywords, and browsable by subject and title. Includes information on the company, working conditions, and founder George Westinghouse. Also  features a timeline and a selected bibliography. From the American Memory Project of the Library of Congress. LII

U.S.  Army Corps of Engineers Digital Visual Library
http://images.usace.army.mil/main.html
The planning and building wing of the US Armed Forces highlights  this site with a searchable archive of free images depicting current and historic  Corps projects. There are thousands of photos of engineering challenges such as hydroelectric dams, emergency response and environmental clean-up operations, harbors, fish ladders, levees, and wetlands under preservation. The Advanced Search link allows users to choose subject, location, mission type, or project name. LII

America at Work, America at Leisure: Motion Pictures from 1894-1915
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awlhtml/

A collection of 150 motion pictures illustrating "work,  school, and leisure activities in the United States."  Searchable by keyword, and browsable by title and subject. Includes films  of "the United States Postal Service from 1903, cattle breeding, fire fighters,  ice manufacturing, logging, calisthenic and gymnastic exercises in schools,  amusement parks, boxing, expositions, football, parades, swimming...." Also  contains related essays and a bibliography. From the American Memory Project  of the Library of Congress. LII

Los Angeles Public Library: Photo Collection
http://www.lapl.org/catalog/photo_collectioninfo.html
A growing collection of thousands of digitized photos from the Los Angeles Public Library's archives. Most of the images in this database document the growth of Los Angeles and its communities, capturing various aspects of suburban life, local business, sports, agriculture, the motion picture industry, fashion, architecture, immigration, and much more. Features many photos of northern California and some photos of the California missions and other historical landmarks. Searchable. LII

San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection
http://sflib1.sfpl.org:82/
This searchable database provides access to nearly 30,000  photographs covering San Francisco history from the 1850s to the present.  The collection is strongest for the years leading up to 1965. The photos are  digitized reproductions from the more than 250,000 photos in the San Francisco  Public Library's Historical Photograph Collection. Besides searching the database,  users can browse photos by subject. Information is also included on copyright,  ordering, and using the images. LII