Show 95 more

• • Thumbnail
  • Title
  • Description
  • Notes
  • Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Whetstone, Merco Company
  • Whetstone promoting Merco Company. The back of the whetstone has a white background with a blue border. It features a large blue star and red images of a bird and fish, along with red, blue, and white text reading "S.C. / Charleston / Charlotte /...
  • The Merco fertilizer company, in business at least until 1948 with facilities in Charlotte and Dunn, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, and Pensacola, Florida, sold agricultural fertilizers throughout the Southeast. The pelican and fish...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Watch fob, North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company
  • Watch fob with leather strap attached. The fob has a picture of a building and text that reads, "Home Office North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, Durham, N.C."
  • The North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, which opened for business in Durham in 1899, grew into the oldest and largest African American life insurance company in the United States. Influential in its founding, and its first three...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Watch fob, Durham Buggy Company
  • Watch fob promoting the Durham Buggy Company. The fob has a white background and features a black and red picture of a bull and buggy. Black text reads "As Strong As A Bull / Trade Mark / Durham Buggy Company, Durham, N.C." Dimensions: 41 mm in...
  • The Durham Buggy Company was incorporated in 1906. The company constructed a three-building manufacturing facility adjacent to the railroad tracks on East Peabody Street between South Holman Street and Cross Street in east Durham. A work force of...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Top, North Carolina State Fair
  • Top advertising the North Carolina State Fair. The top is silver with a tan face and peg. The face reads "N.C. / STATE FAIR / OCTOBER 13-18 / It's Your Fair / Be There / RALEIGH."
  • The North Carolina State Fair was first held in 1853 in Raleigh on land to the east of the capitol building. The State Fairgrounds were moved to the current location to the west of Raleigh in 1928. The fair has been held every year except for the...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Tin, Seal of North Carolina Plug Cut Smoking Tobacco, circa 1900
  • Empty metal tin for tobacco. The tin is black with green, red, and yellow accents. The front reads "SEAL OF / NORTH CAROLINA / PLUG CUT / SMOKING TOBACCO / MANUFACTURED OF / SELECT GRANVILLE COUNTY, N.C. LEAF" and has a drawing of two women with...
  • The Marburg Brothers started a family tobacco business in their hometown of Baltimore, Maryland in 1864, specializing in smoking tobacco and snuff. The Marburg Brothers employed an aggressive advertising campaign to promote their "Seal of North...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Ticket, Franklin Delano Roosevelt speech, 1936
  • Ticket for a speech given by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the Green Pastures Rally. The yellow ticket has black text reading: "SECTION O / NUMBER 42 / GREEN PASTURES RALLY / Hon. Franklin Delano Roosevelt / will deliver an address at 4:30...
  • The 1936 Green Pastures Rally in Charlotte was an event organized by states of the South to demonstrate support for President Franklin Roosevelt's economic policies to allay the effects of the Great Depression. President Roosevelt, the keynote...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Ticket, Democratic rally for Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936
  • Ticket for a Democratic Party rally supporting the re-election of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The white ticket has a black-and-white image of Roosevelt on the left. Text on the left half of the ticket reads "This Certifies that / ________ / is an...
  • On June 27, 1936, a Democratic Party rally supporting the re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt was held at the Armory Auditorium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Roosevelt himself could not attend, as he was giving his re-nomination...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Ticket for Midnight Easter Party
  • Ticket for Midnight Easter Party at the Stevenson Theatre in Henderson, North Carolina held on 6 April 1931. The ticket is yellow with brown text. The text on the ticket reads "Midnight Easter Party / Stevenson Theatre / Henderson, N.C. / Easter...
  • Free Love, a 1930 comedy film, and Expensive Kisses, a 1930 comedy short, were shown in the Stevenson Theatre in Henderson, North Carolina, at a special midnight showing in April 1931. The 700-seat movie theater located at 216 Garnett Street in...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Ticket for Bright Leaves screening
  • Ticket for screening of the film "Bright Leaves." The ticket reads, "HIS BEST SINCE SHERMAN'S MARCH!" / FILM COMMENT / "Reflective, wise, /often hilarious!" / New York Times / "Funny, graceful!" / -Le Monde / "Fascinating!" Time Magazine /...
  • Bright Leaves is a 2003 documentary by independent filmmaker and Harvard University professor Ross McElwee. A native North Carolinian, McElwee examines the multigenerational relationship between his family and the tobacco industry. McElwee...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Thread, Basil L. Whitener campaign
  • Cellophane package containing a spool of white thread and a small card. The card features a picture of a man in front of a building, with text that reads, "Re-Elect/ Congressman/ Basil L. Whitener/ Compliments of/ Basil L. Whitener/ Member of...
  • Basil L. Whitener (1915-1989) was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for six terms from 1957 to 1968. A South Carolina native, he graduated from Duke University Law School, and practiced law in Gastonia, North Carolina. Whitener was an...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Tags and chain, George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars, 1996
  • Military-style dog tags marking the 20th anniversary of George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars. The two silver tags are oval-shaped and attached to a silver chain. One tag reads in black text, "GEORGE CLINTON / & THE P-FUNK / ALL STARS." The...
  • George Clinton, a singer and songwriter, was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina in 1941. His funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic attained commercial success in the 1970s. Members of the bands overlapped and were sometimes called...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Tab, Isaac Beverly Lake, 1980
  • Tab supporting the gubernatorial campaign of Isaac Beverly Lake. The background has wide bands of red, white and blue. Text reads "FOR/ LAKE/ GOVERNOR."
  • Isaac Beverly Lake (1934- ) is a Raleigh, North Carolina native who earned his law degree at the Wake Forest University School of Law. He was elected to two terms as a Democratic state senator before switching to the Republican Party. In 1980...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Sugar bowl, Mecklenberg Hotel
  • Silverplate sugar bowl from Mecklenberg Hotel. Text in the center reads "MECKLENBERG." The bowl has a handle on each side.
  • The Mecklenburg Hotel was built in 1914 in Charlotte. The five-story hotel, located across the street from the Southern Railway depot at 516 West Trade Street, boasted 100 rooms, a 24-hour cafe, a French restaurant, and elevator service. The...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Sticker, Ronald Reagan campaign
  • Sticker promoting Ronald Reagan "I gave to put Ronald Reagan in the White House / CONSERVATIVES FOR REAGAN / THE CONGRESSIONAL CLUB P.O. BOX 18848 RALEIGH, N.C. 27619"
  • Ronald Reagan, Republican, president, 1981-1989
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Sticker, Holly Inn
  • Sticker promoting the Holly Inn in Pinehurst, North Carolina. The sticker features a graphic depicting a holly branch with red berries in the center. White text reads "HOLLY INN/PINEHURST N.C."
  • James Walker Tufts (1835-1902), a successful Boston businessman, made his fortune by owning a chain of drug stores and by selling soda fountain supplies and equipment. Beginning in 1895, Tufts purchased 5,800 acres of logged-over forest in south...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Souvenir, wooden mule from World War II Army camp
  • Souvenir brown mule figurine with black fringed tail and ears. The figurine is wooden. Text on one side reads "Greensboro / N.C." Text on the other side reads "Old/ Army Mule."
  • At the beginning of World War II, municipal leaders of Greensboro, North Carolina advocated for a military base to enhance the city's economy. Their efforts were rewarded with the opening of the 650-acre Army Air Force Basic Training Camp No. 10...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Souvenir, William Howard Taft in Charlotte, North Carolina, 1909
  • Cast iron souvenir from William Howard Taft's visit to Charlotte. The souvenir is made from black metal with molding of Taft's face in center. The outer edge reads "CHARLOTTE N.C. / MAY 20, 1909 / W.H. TAFT."
  • William Howard Taft, President of the United States (1903-1913) and later Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court (1921-1930), visited Charlotte on May 20, 1909. The event was the annual Charlotte-Mecklenburg County commemoration of the (possibly...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Souvenir teapot paperweight
  • Souvenir paperweight in the shape of a teapot. The teapot stands on a cylinder with a square base and has red felt on the bottom.
  • This teapot is a model of a seven-foot-tall tin teapot fabricated in 1858 by the Mickey brothers, who were tinsmiths in Salem, North Carolina. The teapot was hung outside their shop at the corner of South Main Street and Belews Street to advertise...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Souvenir moonshine jug, Democratic National Convention, 1964
  • Souvenir moonshine jug. The jug is made of off-white ceramic with a brown glazed top. Blue text on the front of the jug, surrounding a drawing of a donkey, reads "NORTH CAROLINA / MOUNTAIN DEW / NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC / CONVENTION / 1964."
  • This ceramic jug is a souvenir of the 1964 Democratic Convention held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in late August, less than a year after the assassination of President John Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963. At the convention the North...
  • Lew Powell Collection
• • 
    
    
  • Souvenir miniature cotton bale
  • Souvenir miniature cotton bale. The bale consists of white cotton with tan wrapping and copper bands around it. A tag attached reads, "Souvenir/ COTTON BALE / from / NORTH CAROLINA" with a drawing of a cotton plant on it. The back of the tag gives...
  • This miniature souvenir bale of cotton is a model of the 480-pound bale of compressed cotton fiber typically produced during processing of harvested cotton bolls. Cotton has been grown in North Carolina since the late eighteenth century, with an...
  • Lew Powell Collection

• Select All Collections