Management Resources at the UTM Library

Period Covered: Late 19th to 1990s
The J. Walter Thompson Company Archive documents the history, operation, policies and accomplishments of one of the world's largest and oldest advertising firms. The documents in this collection allow researchers to explore how advertising works, company culture, how decisions are made and ultimately from this we can examine the effect that the industry may have had over wider culture and how culture interacts with advertising. A huge number of brands, companies, and industries are covered from automobiles to cosmetics and cruises. These include: Kellogg's, Kodak, Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Pan Am World Airways, R. T. French, Scott Paper Company, United States Marine Corps, and White Castle Restaurants.

Period Covered: 1935-1965
Market Research and American Business, 1935-1965 provides a unique insight into the American consumer boom of the mid-20th century through access to the market research reports and supporting documents of Ernest Dichter; the era’s foremost consumer analyst and market research pioneer. The collection is a treasure trove of information on some of America’s best known brands, containing thousands of reports commissioned by advertising agencies and global businesses in a booming era for consumerism, ‘Madison Avenue’ advertising and global brands on consumer goods ranging from tobacco and broadcasting to cars and hotels.

Period Covered: 1850-1950
Trade catalogues have been a prominent feature in commerce and manufacturing from the eighteenth century to the present day. Highly illustrated, they are an essential visual record of a variety of products and facilitate research into popular culture, material culture, social norms, and attitudes, as well as the history of marketing, business, and technology. These documents provide evidence of the evolution of distribution and communication systems linking manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers across the emerging United States and beyond. They document the changing commercial tastes and fashions of the consumer over a period of rapid growth, expansion, and crisis (both at home and overseas), revealing contemporary prices and economic expenditure for households and individuals on a range of products.