Last (Jay T.) Collection of Firefighting Prints and Ephemera, 1826-1907

View only results with digital items
Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Title:
Jay T. Last Collection of Firefighting Prints and Ephemera
Dates:
1826-1907
Creators:
Last, Jay T.
Abstract:
The Jay T. Last Collection of Firefighting Prints and Ephemera contains more than 200 printed items that relate to firefighting and the activities and organizations of firemen in the United States from approximately 1820 to 1909. The collection consists of advertising and promotional materials, business records, and illustrations produced for or pertaining to firefighting organizations, related social or charitable events, and firefighting vehicles, equipment, and supplies.
Extent:
approximately 200 items
Language:
English.
Preferred citation:

[Item title, Call number]. Jay T. Last Collection of Firefighting Prints and Ephemera, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The Jay T. Last Collection of Firefighting Prints and Ephemera contains more than 200 printed items that relate to firefighting and the activities and organizations of firemen in the United States from approximately 1820 to 1909. The collection consists of advertising and promotional materials, business records, and illustrations produced for or pertaining to firefighting organizations, related social or charitable events, and firefighting vehicles, equipment, and supplies.

Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (more than 11 x 14 inches). Small materials broadly at the series level; large-size items have been fully inventoried and all printers, artists, and publishers are indexed by name.

The collection has 40 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographic and engraved prints that include:

  • Fire department membership and discharge certificates
  • Depictions of fires and firefighters working to extinguish blazes
  • Builders prints of fire engines and similar vehicles
  • Images and advertisements pertaining to social and charitable events involving fire departments and related organizations

Small-size items in the collection number more than 160 and consist mainly of business documents and advertising and promotional ephemera such as printed booklets, trade cards, small programs, menus, tickets and invitations for charitable and social events such balls, concerts, musters, and celebrations, business cards, lapel ribbons, book and periodical illustrations, membership certificates, and stationery with printed billheads and letterheads filled out in manuscript.

Biographical / historical:

The Jay T. Last Collection is an unparalleled archive of printed paper artifacts that documents American lithographic, social, and business history. The collection began in the early 1970s when physicist and Silicon Valley pioneer Jay Last moved to Southern California and started collecting citrus box labels he found at local flea markets and rummage sales. As his collection grew, Last realized that these labels conveyed important information about commercial printing, graphic design, and social history, and he expanded his collection to include other forms of American visual culture. Today this collection contains more than 200,000 lithographic prints, posters, and ephemera of mostly nineteenth- and early twentieth- century American origin and represents works by more than five hundred lithographic companies.

Acquisition information:
This collection forms part of the Jay T. Last Collection of Graphic Arts and Social History, which was donated to the Huntington Library by Jay T. Last in 2005 as a gift in progress. The bulk of the firefighting prints and ephemera were transferred to the Library between 2010 and 2012 .
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged broadly by size in two series:

  • Series I. Firefighting Prints and Ephemera (small size)
  • Series II. Firefighting Prints and Ephemera (large size)

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Note:

The Jay T. Last Collection is a gift in progress. Container numbers may change as the collection expands.

Finding aid last updated on December 17, 2018.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Diann Benti.
Date Prepared:
© 2014
Date Encoded:
Machine readable finding aid encoded by Diann Benti in October 2013 and updated by Charla DelaCuadra in September 2015 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Item title, Call number]. Jay T. Last Collection of Firefighting Prints and Ephemera, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Website