Blue background with white lettering and illustration of two feet with toothy grins on the soles. 

SELZ is a brand of footwear manufactured and distributed by Chicago-based Selz, Schwab & Co. (1890-1929). The pioneering men responsible were both German-born immigrants. Morris Selz arrived in America at the age of 17, gaining experience elsewhere before arriving in Chicago eleven years later. His company, Selz & Cohn, opened in 1871 becoming a leading Midwest shoe wholesaler within a couple years. Charles H. Schwab joined the firm in 1878, incorporating in 1890. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the four Chicagoland factories (Chicago, Joliet, Genoa, Elgin) were churning out around 12,000 pairs of leather boots and shoes each day. Factory closures in 1929 associated with the Great Depression brought about its end.

Red number 7 wearing a crown in the center on a dark blue background with white text near outter edge.

Seagram's Seven is a brand of blended American whiskey bottled at the Lawrenceburg Distillery in Indiana. The brand's name comes from Joseph E. Seagram, who started out managing a flour mill and ended up making whiskey in the 1880s. His son ended up selling the company shortly after his death, but the brand stuck. 

Seagram's Seven is frequently consumed with a non-alcoholic beverage, often mixed with colas. Arguably the most popular cocktail being the 7 and 7, a mix of Seagram's Seven and 7-Up. The brand became popular in the 1970s using the "Every Party's Choice" slogan in its advertisments.

Vertical black rectangle mimics the video cassette product. Text is located in the top quarter in white or red print with bars of green-red-blue. 

3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing) is the company behind many household products from post-its to tape to cleaning products.  In the 1950s, they began producing the video cassette. With the advent of personal VCRs and video cameras, sharing and viewing video footage changed the way we view television and even our own family moments. 

During the 1950s and 1960s, Scotch was the standard of open-reel recording tape. By the mid 1980s, 3M developed an improved tape with smaller, more regularly shaped and more closely aligned magnetic particles. However, by the late 1980s, other brands such as JVC had overtaken Scotch in the VHS market and Scotch soon lost the market due to higher prices per VHS tape sold. Other brands were cheaper to make and sell. Soon after in the early 1990s, the DVD was introduced and the need for any VHS tape, 3M or otherwise, became secondary to the new DVD format.

A red coffee can with gold lid and outline on a dark green background.

Schillings Best Coffee—"Schilling's Best are as good as they can be --not prudish or foolishly or extravagantly perfect." –was a product of A. Schilling & Company, marketer of coffee, tea, baking powders, extracts and spices. The San Francisco company was established by two German natives, August Schilling and George F. Volkmann in 1881, who broke from J.A. Folger & Co. to start their own venture. Advertising was a major aspect of the brand from the start and they encouraged shops carrying their products to do the same. Ultimately, Schilling merged with McCormick & Company in 1946 and the brand continued until 2002.

Illustration of a large gold decorative scroll with a brown piano in the middle on a dark blue background. Gold text flanking the illustration on both sides is printed as though on staff paper with added musical notes.

Schaeffer's Piano Company is a third-generation family-owned business based in Rockville, Maryland. The company has been serving the greater Washington, DC area since 1901 selling new and used pianos, providing restoration, tuning and refinishing services. They even produce their own Schaeffer brand piano.

White text on red border, blue text in center on white background. 

Black and white illustration of a man with an eagle head holding a briefcase and text on both sides of image.

Have info on this button? Contact us here.

All text. Light green background of the outer edges contains the contact information. Center circle detailing the company's services has a pink background with green highlighting of key phrases in the copy.

Rockland Photo Studio was situated for many years at 439 Main Street in Rockland, Maine. The all-service photography and camera repair shop was established in 1915. Looking for a mirror to check your face before your studio photo? Without even knowing it, your customer has accepted to carry around your ad, hopefully pulling it out at other photo-taking events where the ad message can be spread. 

A curly-haired blonde child with a chalkboard sits with his feet out in front of him; his sore red foot is showing through one of his shoes. "Educator SHOE" is printed on the sole of the other shoe. The text and company logo appears on both sides of the character in red over a white background. The logo text is written on the chalkboard in white.

Rice & Hutchins was a shoe manufacturing and wholesaling company based in Boston. It was started in 1866 by William Ball Rice and neighbor Horatio H. Hutchins. Both had experience in the shoe business, Rice having apprenticed as a shoe maker before joining the Union Army. The company grew quickly, adding factories in the northeast. Hutchins retired in 1885 but Rice continued the company's reach into the Midwest and opened offices in Berlin, London and Manila. By the time of his death in 1909, the company was considered to be among the largest shoe manufacturers in America. Sons Harry and Fred continued the business until it was sold in 1929.

Rice & Hutchins "Educator" was advertised as an "orthopoedically correct" shoe for men, women and children, prices starting at $1.35. They were among the 800 pairs of shoes on display in the company's award winning exhibit at the 1915 World's Fair held in San Francisco (Panama-Pacific International Exposition).

Yellow background with black text inside a black-dotted talk bubble.

Renault vehicle manufacturer began in 1899 by three brothers in Paris, France. They achieved early success by racing their cars in city-to-city contests which unfortunately took the life of one of the brothers. A second brother left the company, but the third, described later by Time magazine as "rich, powerful and famous, cantankerous, brilliant, often brutal, the little Napoleon of an auto making empire," was still running the company. Renault's innovative designs for military tanks, airplanes and vehicles during WWI garnering the company a Legion of Honor award. But by 1944 the remaining brother was accused of collaboration with the Germans in the Second World War and died before the trial. The company, Renault, was nationalized in 1945 by the French.