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Nahum (Nach) Waxman Collection of Food and Culinary Trade Cards

 Collection
Identifier: 8573

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The Nahum (Nach) Waxman Collection of Food and Culinary Trade Cards documents the history of food and household product industries through trade ephemera and advertising cards dating from the 1860s to the 1990s. It contains mainly trade cards, along with food labels, menus, advertising samples, culinary-themed print materials, and ephemera related to food, culinary, beverages, household and equipment, retail, agriculture, cigarettes and more. The collection also offers insight into historical food marketing, consumer trends, and cultural representations of food products. Includes materials from Jewish businesses, Chinese advertising cards, and Black representation, some with racist and offensive imagery.

Dates

  • circa 1850-1900.

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection material in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Nahum (Nach) Waxman (1937-2021) was a collector of food and culinary cookbooks, trade cards and ephemera. In 1983, he opened the New York City bookstore Kitchen Arts and Letters, specializing in cookbooks, gastronomy, and food-related books and magazines from around the world. His collection spans over a century of promotional materials related to food, beverages, and household products, reflecting his deep interest in the visual and cultural history of food and drink. The materials assembled by Waxman include advertising samples, menus, and thousands of trade cards from a wide range of food-related industries and communities, including Jewish businesses and more.

Extent

4.2 cubic feet. (4.2 cubic feet)

Abstract

The Nahum (Nach) Waxman Collection of Food and Culinary Trade Cards documents the history of food and household product industries through trade ephemera and advertising cards dating from the 1860s to the 1990s. It contains mainly trade cards, along with food labels, menus, advertising samples, culinary-themed print materials, and ephemera related to food, culinary, beverages, household and equipment, retail and commercial, agriculture, cigarettes, and more. The collection also offers insight into historical food marketing, consumer trends, and cultural representations of food products, including materials from Jewish businesses, Chinese cards, and examples of Black representations including racist imagery.

Arrangement

Physical arrangement by donor. Intellectually arranged in alphabetical order.

Physical Description

Printed Materials.

General

Contact Information:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections 2B Carl A. Kroch Library Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3530 Fax: (607) 255-9524rareref@cornell.eduhttp://rmc.library.cornell.edu
Compiled by:
RMC Staff
Date completed:
October 2018
EAD encoding:
RMC Staff, October 2018
Date modified:
Kristen Reichenbach, October 2018
Status
Completed
Author
Compiled by RMC Staff
Date
October 2018
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Revision Statements

  • 12/07/2018: This resource was modified by the ArchivesSpace Preprocessor developed by the Harvard Library (https://github.com/harvard-library/archivesspace-preprocessor)

Repository Details

Part of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Repository

Contact:
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853
607-255-3530
607-255-9524 (Fax)