Primary Sources: The Great Depression and the 1930s: Business

"The Ad*Access Project, funded by the Duke Endowment Library 2000" Fund, presents images and database information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. Ad*Access concentrates on five main subject areas: Radio, Television, Transportation, Beauty and Hygiene, and World War II, providing a coherent view of a number of major campaigns and companies through images preserved in one particular advertising collection available at Duke University. "

"The Avon Digital History Archive provides a unique perspective on the history of the company, its sales representatives, employees, and consumers. The Avon Archive at the Hagley Library encompasses a range of materials such as advertisements, catalogs, representative's sales tools, and corporate documents."

"The Taylor Bulletin is a business newsletter produced from 1914 to 1933. Written by individuals with a wide range of expertise, the bulletin contains articles on a variety of subjects, pertaining to the study of business and cultural trends."

"The Belo Records, 1842-2007 archive includes the business documents and artifacts preserved by the company’s leadership since its establishment in 1842."

"... contains images from the Detroit Public Library's National Automotive History Collection and Burton Historical Collections. These photographs and postcards document the auto industry in the Detroit area during the first half of the twentieth century."

"The Dynamo, a monthly company magazine first published in April 1917, was designed to educate and motivate JCPenney associates. Each monthly issue of The Dynamo contained company news, inspirational messages, and training to help associates increase sales." Southern Methodist University Library

"Created in 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided hope and employment for millions of unemployed workers and studied the human toll of the depression. One such study—a series of WPA-conducted interviews with Dubuque, Iowa families—found that middle-class Americans particularly felt the sting and shame of unemployment caused by the depression. In this interview, the Donners discussed the closing of their family-owned printing business in Chicago during tough times. Returning to live with Mrs. Donner’s family in Dubuque in 1934, Mr. Donner remained unemployed for over a year before landing a job as a timekeeper on a WPA project, earning less than one-third his previous income."

"Nearly 10,000 photographs of billboards and other outdoor advertising, mostly on the Atlantic City Boardwalk from the 1920s to 1950s."

"n 1933, newly elected President Franklin Roosevelt announced a “Good Neighbor Policy” that promised a more friendly and less interventionist policy toward Latin America. The policy was prompted as much by Latin American resistance to U.S. intervention as by the U.S. government’s benevolence. In 1937, the policy was put to the test when Bolivia charged that Standard Oil of New Jersey had defrauded the Bolivian government; Bolivia canceled the company’s oil drilling rights and confiscated its facilities. True to its new policy, the United States avoided military intervention and instead pressured Bolivia by withholding loans and technical assistance. The following year, a war of words erupted between the government of Mexico and the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey over who owned the rights to exploit a portion of Mexico’s oil reserves. After U.S. oil companies refused to accept the arbitration terms of the Mexican labor board, Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas expropriated oil company properties worth an estimated half billion dollars. In The Reply to Mexico, Standard Oil offered a vigorous response to the Mexican expropriation of its property in 1938."

This Sears website provides access to information from the company archive dating back to 1886.

"An archive of 14 million documents created by tobacco companies about their advertising, manufacturing, marketing, scientific research and political activities, hosted by the UCSF Library and Center for Knowledge Management. "

"In 1933, newly elected President Franklin Roosevelt announced a “Good Neighbor Policy” that promised a more friendly and less interventionist policy toward Latin America. The policy was prompted as much by Latin American resistance to U.S. intervention as by the U.S. government’s benevolence. In 1937, the policy was put to the test when Bolivia charged that Standard Oil of New Jersey had defrauded the Bolivian government; Bolivia canceled the company’s oil drilling rights and confiscated its facilities. True to its new policy, the United States avoided military intervention and instead pressured Bolivia by withholding loans and technical assistance. The following year, a war of words erupted between the government of Mexico and the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey over who owned the rights to exploit a portion of Mexico’s oil reserves. After U.S. oil companies refused to accept the arbitration terms of the Mexican labor board, Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas expropriated oil company properties worth an estimated half billion dollars. In The True Facts about the Expropriation of the Oil Companies' Properties in Mexico, the Mexican government clarified its position to the American public and justified expropriation of Standard Oil’s property."