Series 552: Manuscripts, Proofs and Printing Plates. 1936-1940; undated.
Advertising Commission (RG 10).

Series 552: Manuscripts, Proofs and Printing Plates. 1936-1940; undated.
Advertising Commission (RG 10).

      A variety of advertising material, including correspondence, draft newspaper features, an industrial promotion kit and multiple oversize campaign proofs, from the Advertising Commission promoting Mississippi externally and internally. External advertisements promote the state as a tourist destination, particularly for outdoor recreational activities. Advertisements from the Industrial Commission are aimed at garnering support for the Balance Agriculture with Industry program, established in 1936 at the behest of newly elected Governor Hugh White.

      Correspondence mostly comprises form letters sent to newspaper and magazine editors detailing the Advertising Commission’s recent work; the same letters were sent to the Legislature as reports. Sample proofs are sometimes included.

      Newspaper features on different aspects of the state, including forestry, cotton, show horses, the Natchez pilgrimage and winter legumes, were written as a series running every other week from July 1938 to September 1939.

      Features files include manuscripts and copy-edited and final proofs (the latter are oversize and can be found in box 31942). The industrial promotion kit was intended for use by local civic clubs or chambers of commerce promoting bond issues to finance industrial development, and includes a set of posters plus cartoons and a feature story to be run in the local newspaper.

      Oversize proofs are large advertisements intended to be seen as full page newspaper ads promoting the Balance Agriculture with Industry program and the state itself, including a series of maps featuring different aspects of Mississippi such as education, literature and legend, history, and recreation.

      Copper printing plates were used to print a brochure about Historical Mississippi, although the brochure cover plate depicts a different design than the Historical Mississippi brochure in this series.