New Hagley Exhibit on Product Packaging Curated by University of Delaware Students

CONTACT: Meg Marcozzi, Marketing Manager

                     (302) 658-2400, ext. 238    mmarcozzi@hagley.org

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Hagley Exhibit on Product Packaging Curated by University of Delaware Students

            Wilmington, Delaware – November 2012 – Hagley Museum and Library staff and University of Delaware History Department graduate students collaborated on a new exhibit, “History of Product Packaging.”  From vending machines and self-service counters to Palmolive and Sara Lee, this exhibit offers a look at product packaging over the last 150 years. The exhibit will be on display in the library and available to view Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from November 13 through March 1, 2013. Admission is free. Use Hagley’s Buck Road entrance off Route 100.

            Packaging is the science, art, and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use.  The students used many primary sources, including corporate histories, advertisements, trade magazines, and objects in the library collections. Each student wrote a research paper situating a particular product or package within the broader histories of product packaging, corporate strategy, and American consumer culture. These research papers provided the text and themes for the exhibit.

            An online version of the exhibit is available for view, www.hagley.org/packaging. This online exhibit is an ongoing, joint effort between Hagley Museum and Library and the History Department at the University of Delaware. It will continue to grow as future students’ research is integrated into the existing online exhibit.

            Special thanks are extended to University of Delaware History Department, Faculty Supervisor Dr. Kasey (Katherine) Grier, History 867 students, and Web Content Developer John Vanek.

About the Library

Hagley Library is the nation’s leading business history library, archives, and research center. Current holdings comprise 37,000 linear feet in the Manuscripts and Archives Department, 290,000 printed volumes in the Imprints Department, 2 million visual items in the Pictorial Department, and more than 220,000 digital images and pages in the Digital Archives Department.  Hagley’s Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society offers conferences, research seminars, and a public lecture series, and operates a research grant program.

Hagley Museum and Library

            Hagley Museum and Library collects, preserves, and interprets the unfolding history of American enterprise. For more information, call (302) 658-2400 weekdays or visit www.hagley.org.

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