I finally went to the U.S. Library of Congress yesterday, which is just 25 miles from my house. For anyone not familiar with the Library, it is located in Washington, D.C. near the Capitol, and encompasses three large buildings connected by underground tunnels. Most of the collections are open to the public. All that is required is registration with a photo ID. There’s much more information about the library available online at the Library’s Web site, if you’re interested.
I went yesterday with the purpose of getting registered and talking to a collection expert about any Bulova materials they might have. The answer was “a lot”. I threw out some things like Sears catalogs, and the response was that they have them all—same with the Saturday Evening Post and many other advertising vehicles. Materials related to watches and watch companies are housed in the Business and Science Reading Rooms, which together occupy one of the three buildings. Reproduction facilities are available right there in the collection rooms.
Yesterday, I started in the Newspaper & Current Periodicals Reading Room, in search of articles on topics of particular interest to me. While doing that, I also took a look at newspaper advertisements for Bulova watches that came up in my searches. The ads below are the result. There were many more ads than this small collection, but some were of insufficient quality to be useful, some we already have, quite a few did not give model names, and some showed watches that are already well documented. I was looking specifically for anything that might provide new information.
I’m confident that this is just the tiniest, insignificant tip of the iceberg when it comes to what the Library has to offer. Yesterday, I didn’t have time to look at all the newspaper ads for Bulova—not even close--nor did I explore what might be on microfilm. And that’s just one of the many reading rooms. As stated above, the true mother lode of information will be in the Business and Science rooms, not where I was yesterday. There’s just so much there. I’ll report back with finds from future trips, which I hope to make quite soon.
Below I’ve provided excerpts from the ads so that you can see the watches better. The full page of print with publication source and date information will be sent to Stephen.
If anyone wants a close-up of a particular watch, let me know either here or via PM.
There are a few items I want to highlight in the ads below, namely:
- A very early ad that refers to watches worn in WWI
- A very early Lone Eagle ad
- Some previously unseen Academy Awards, including the "X", "Y", and "S"
- A 1929 ad for a tonneau shaped Ambassador, which supports the Ambassador ID in the "Complete Guide", which was discredited in a previous discussion on the basis that the only 1929 Ambassador was a square model
- A 1929 ad for a Westfield that looks an awful lot like the Piping Rock look-alike we were discussing last week
- We now have an ad for the Berkshire and Lady Berkshire
- We now have an ad for the "Photo Watch" (two actually)
- A 1929 ad for the Lafayette may be the answer to the two not quite identical versions of the "Governor"
- 1940 ad for the Lone Eagle that specifies a gold case (no stainless back mentioned), so maybe we can finally stop arguing about whether case composition, rather than case and crystal size, are the proper distinguishing factors between the LE and Ambassador.
July 14, 1918 - Los Angeles Times (Ad in two parts for clarity)
June 17, 1927 - New York Times
Dec. 9, 1927 - Boston Daily Globe
May 21, 1929 - The Atlanta Constitution
May 17, 1929 - Daily Boston Globe
Oct. 18, 1929 - The Atlanta Constitution
Dec. 20, 1929 - Daily Boston Globe
Dec. 15, 1935 - The Hartford Courant
Nov. 21, 1940 - The Atlanta Constitution
March 24, 1950 - New York Times
March 24, 1950 - Daily Boston Globe (Part 1)
From left to right - Academy Award "X", "T", "W", and "Y". ("Z" is in the box at the bottom.)
March 24, 1950 - Daily Boston Globe (Part 2)
From left to right - Academy Award "B", "A", "F", "D", "C".
July 8, 1950 - New Journal and Guide
Feb. 17, 1951 - New Journal and Guide
March 31, 1951 - New Journal and Guide
Dec. 15, 1951 - New Journal and Guide
Dec. 20, 1951 - The Hartford Courant
April 26, 1952 - New Journal and Guide
Left to right, top to bottom: Academy Award "OO", "NN", "S", "K", "O", "FF", "R", "MM".
Oct. 11, 1952 - New Journal and Guide
In reply to Wow Jackpot! The Bartleys ad by FifthAvenueRes…
And another ad for the solid gold Grant like here http://www.mybulova.com/watches/1946-grant-754
In reply to Also showing the previously by FifthAvenueRes…
The Library is amazing and very well organized. When you register, you get the opportunity to sit down with a collection expert and discuss what you're looking for and where best to find it. The atmosphere is relaxed, unhurried, and clearly geared toward being helpful and friendly rather than just shuffling people through the process. The approx. 75-year-old woman I met with was incredible in her knowledge of the Library. I said a few lines about Bulova, business documents, advertisements, history, and she took off, giving me lists, maps, directions, specific advice on what to look for and where. . . basically everything I needed. Every time I asked her a "Do you have this. . ." question, her answer was "Yes, we have everything". Each of the collection rooms has its own search advisors, and I found the one in the Newspaper room to be very helpful as well. She sat me down at a computer and walked me through how to search the various collections. I expected to feel lost in such a huge place, struggling to make sense of it all, but my experience was, happily, quite the opposite.
In reply to Note this excerpt from the by NOVA
In reply to Looking at the ad, I would by bobbee
I'm looking at the ad that shows the Carla, Lady Berksire, and Berkshire. It looks to me like the Carla is smaller than the Lady Berkshire, but that could just be the perspective of the ad. However, when I look at the watches in the center, gray portion of that ad--which can be viewed in the full image posted above--they look like they are sized pretty consistently, so I'm thinking the Carla is smaller.
Hi Lisa, and thanks for sharing all this information and images. I have long been intrigued by the LOC, and finally made my first visit in Sept. 2009. I was on a tight schedule, so did not have time to register, let alone start researching. But I did have time to take the "overview" tour that they provide for casual tourists. This of course was in the Jefferson buildiing with the big rotunda that most people recognize as "the library." Like you, I was kind of awe struck and wishing I could simply take a year off, take a lease on an apartment somewhere close to a Metro train station, and just immerse myself in the library's holdings. Ah, perhaps someday! As an aside, I had lunch that day in the LOC's cafeteria, which is located on the top floor of the James Madison Building. If you're in need of sustenance during those long days at the library, I highly recommend this place. It's open to the public, and the food there is quite good. And it keeps you in close proximity to the library "campus" so you don't spend a lot of "commute time" trying to find a restaurant off the Mall. Apparently, they want to keep their librarians well nourished with an excellent selection of truly good and healthy food, not the usual "cafeteria crap" you might expect. Also, after I got back from my visit, the History Channel aired an excellent program on the library. It's well worth looking into if anyone would like to get a general sense of what the LOC is about, its history, and so forth. And of course, the LOC's own website has a lot of good "overview" information as well. It is truly "America's Library." Your tax dollars support it, so you should not feel intimidated by using it, if you are so inclined!
Anyway, thanks again, Lisa. It's good just to know where the bulk of this material is (the Business and Science Reading Rooms), so I know where to start if I ever go! And I know I speak for everyone here when I say I'm looking forward to future installments!
Bruce
In reply to Hi Lisa, and thanks for by brtime
In reply to Bruce , if you ever decide to by mybulova_admin
Lisa,
You have definately surpassed our super sleuth Jerin for ads. Tip of the iceberg?? I think you've only uncovered an ice cube so far. I wish I could take the time and spend a month or so researching Bulova with you. What an awesome time that could be. Now I'll have to look into some kind of Canadian equivelent that may be closer.
In reply to Lisa, You have definately by bourg01
Thanks, but I still give Jerin that title. I'm just going to one place where all the ads are waiting to be gathered. Jerin has spent countless hours (and dollars) searching and finding ads from every conceivable location. He has done a great job and made a contribution to the site that I may surpass in numbers but not in effort or ingenuity.
In reply to Thanks, but I still give by NOVA
This is too true, from his humble beginnings Jerin truly embraced collecting Bulova's and the mybulova site. He took us leaps and bounds over the past year and I'm sure he's still hunting down new material as we all are.
Let's just say you 2 are a dynamic duo when it comes to your efforts here at mybulova.
In reply to This is too true, from his by bourg01
I'll add all new model names into the model listing soon.
The NewYork Times advert for the Lome Eagle is the very advert I have searching for for 6 years.! WOW
Now I have a release date to go on and confirmation of the box it came in. This is an important ad for me personally. Thanks Lisa!
In reply to I'll add all new model names by mybulova_admin
In reply to It does, a crossover piece by FifthAvenueRes…