NOT SOLD (BIDDING OVER)
0.00USD+ applicable fees & taxes.
This item WAS NOT SOLD. Auction date was 2008 Mar 20 @ 15:00UTC-5 : EST/CDT
The original archive of the most expensive print advertising campaign up to its time. Using the most expensive props, models, jewels, and top photographers - to sell America's most expensive car - this archive captures the flair of the Fifties. Many of the photographs here have become icons of American culture.
In the Fifties, Cadillac brought the power of advertising to its ultimate. Through photography, depicting costly jewels, fabrics, couture design, and antiques, the client, Cadillac, rode to the pinnacle of celebrity - and sales.
Offered here is a major archive of the original, full-size 8 x 10 color transparencies taken for Cadillac by some of the foremost fashion photographers of the era, together with proof sheets, working files, manuscript and typewritten notes, and correspondence from their ad agency, 1955-62. Photographers include Edward Clarke, Al Gommi, Horst P. Horst, Herbert Loebel, and Frances McLaughlin-Gill. In all, there are several hundred pieces.
One cannot imagine a more expensive way of selling. Cadillac sought to present their automobiles in a new light, one which would redefine the American experience.
In their ad campaigns, Cadillac used the absolute finest of everything. No expense was spared to bring together the finest couture, with the most beautiful models, in the most exclusive settings presented as American royalty and captured by the top photographers of the era. This archive includes these original images, most in their cello sleeves, as supplied directly to Cadillac's art buyer by the respective photographers. No duplicates exist.
The result captivated America perhaps more than any other ad campaign of the era. The campaigns captured here principally show fashion models, including the famous "mother-daughter" series, and the jewelry campaign (usually photographed by Loebel). The latter was a series of ads, now famous in the annals of ad history, in which Cartier, Winston, Van Cleef, and others interpreted the Cadillac crest using spellbinding arrays of diamonds, rubies, and other fine jewels.
Some of the color transparencies are accompanied by original fashion or jewelry sketches, fabric swatches for models' gowns, fascinating manuscript and typewritten creative notes and correspondence of the Cadillac account's art director and buyer, advance letterpress proofs of the ad containing the photo, the finished ad, and other working documents. Also with original detailed invoices of Horst and McLaughlin-Gill, and letter from Clarke's agent.
The contents of the accompanying working files are utterly fascinating. Just a few extracts:
De Beers reports that Harry Winston is "...the only house who would have that amount of diamonds" The quest for the perfect pink diamond for use in an ad Advice that "the matching of a string of pearls may take twenty years" An agreement for Pinkerton to provide guards for a photo shoot at $3 per hour Admonition that "Tiffany doesn't need national prestige - they already have it" A note that Teresa Brewer wants to buy the dress in an ad Scandalous disappearance of a stone from a Cadillac crest made of diamonds and sapphires while on display at the Waldorf-Astoria in 1960 A memo from photographer McLaughlin-Gill listing values of props, including "Jewels from Cartier, $260,800" Cadillac's pursuit of the 128-carat Tiffany diamond A file for the Nov. 1960 Motorama at the Waldorf-Astoria, an event still talked about to this day, including internal planning notes, large paint chips for the Cadillacs to be displayed, and photos taken at the affair And much, much more.
The landmark 1959 and 1960 campaigns - watersheds of American popular culture - are especially well represented by these original materials. Indeed, so successful were these campaigns, propelled by the photography contained in this archive, that in the first quarter of 1960, Cadillac enjoyed the highest sales volume ever attained in their entire history.
In all, the collection captures, from conception through the finished result seen by the public, the vision of their creative directors. It contains some of the highest expressions of the art of commercial photography of the 20th century the Cadillac campaigns. In fact, some campaigns, such as that for the 1959 model cars, arguably represent the highest and most profound expression of popular Americana. Few things capture the essence of American life in the 1950s more than Cadillac.
Over 450 pieces, including: 52 color negatives 8 x 10, 67 color ad proofs and tear sheets, 235 letters, memos and notes, 65 printed items, 5 sketches, 12 fabric swatches, 3 paint chips, etc.
Negatives in superb condition, most in original cello sleeves; documents with ordinary handling wear varying from light to average, but generally about fine. (Single prints by Horst have recently realized as much as $50,000 each. The colors of these transparencies are arguably more vivid than prints.) Request detailed description, no charge. Images not available, as transparencies not scannable on our equipment. Inspection invited.
Auction Location:
P.O. Drawer 821, Yonkers, New York, 10702, United States
Previewing Details:
By appointment. Call for information.
NY State buyers charged sales tax at their respective City/County rate.
Taxes:
| Tax | Rate | Desc. |
| NY |
8.38% |
NY State Sales Tax |
Buyer's Premiums:
| From (Incl.) | To (Excl.) | Premium |
| 0.00 |
9,999.00 |
20% |
| 10,000.00 |
Infinite |
20% |
Additional Fees:
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FOR BIDDERS USING
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18, 2008. No bids are accepted after this time.
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ABOUT THIS AUCTION
The underlying auction in which you are bidding is Cohasco, Inc.s traditional mail-telephone auction.
Cohasco, Inc. has been in business for 62 years, originally in lower Manhattan, and presently in Yonkers, located on the New York City line.
We believe we are today the second oldest full-time autograph and manuscript dealer in North America.
You will be doing business with an old-fashioned firm. This is not a part-time hobby, nor are we newcomers. Over the years, we have handled major rarities and important collections, as well as more pedestrian material, and have sold to many of the preeminent government repositories, university libraries, and archives, as well as collectors and dealers around the world. We do not generally handle modern autographic material, as this can be prone to question.
Members of the firm enjoy life membership in the New-York Historical Society and U.A.C.C., and membership in the Manuscript Society for about forty years. Members of the firm are past or present members of the Rotary Club of New York. Our founder is a Knight-Commander of Malta, among other honors.
We have been issuing printed catalogues for decades, and continue to do so; this is our third auction to be shown on iCollector.com/eBay Live.
(The printed catalogue which underlies this auction is 128 pages, and may be obtained by Priority Mail for 10.00 domestic, 15.00 international.)
ABOUT ILLUSTRATIONS OF LOTS
Of the more than six hundred lots in this auction - containing thousands of pieces, we have photographed about 75 interesting items. Many items do not lend themselves to photography. Others are large lots. And others still are formats which are familiar to collectors.
Should you desire an illustration of an item which is not shown, please supply your e-mail, as well as fax and postal address. Depending upon the time remaining before closing date, we will endeavor to supply an illustration by one of those means.
Please note that in some cases, it will not be possible to supply an illustration. This would include large lots of common material, oversize items, items which are especially delicate, items whose colors or inks will not copy successfully, items of a character which is ubiquitously known, items whose publication could impact upon privacy and/or copyright, and others. The failure of a bidder to request an illustration, or our inability to supply one, shall not be the basis for cancellation of a bid or return of a lot.
In the last two days before closing date it is extraordinarily busy, and it may not be possible to supply illustrations or to provide responses to questions which involve detailed research or examination of the item. We encourage you to ask questions about the material that interests you well in advance of the closing date.
ABOUT AUTHENTICITY OF OUR MATERIAL
With respect to authenticity, we stand behind our warranty in our Terms and Conditions above, as well as our sixty-two years in business. If you are a successful bidder and wish a certificate of authenticity, we will be pleased to provide our own. Any occasional item which may be a secretarial signature, facsimile, or other exception is specifically noted in our descriptions.
ABOUT BIDDING
This auction contains the property of almost fifty consignors. If you have specific questions, please feel free to ask before the close of the auction. It is not an approval sale.
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All bids must be placed by 8:00 P.M. Eastern time sharp on Tues., March
18, 2008. No bids are accepted after this time.
The underlying auction is a traditional mail-telephone auction. Some of our regular bidders employ contingency bids, have spending limits, and other stipulations.
All bids must be entered, then carefully double-checked for accuracy.
On Thursday, Mar. 20, these bids will then be matched against bids which were left on iCollector/eBay Live, and iCollector/eBay Live winners will be notified, both by e-mail and subsequently by postal mail. In the rare event of a major weather event, electrical outage, or other occurrence beyond our control, bid matching will take place on the next possible business day. No bids will be accepted after Tues., March 18, 2008, 8:00 P.M. E.S.T.
In this manner, all bidders - whether by mail, phone, fax, e-mail, or iCollector/eBay Live - will be bidding on an equal footing.
WHEN WILL I FIND OUT THE RESULTS?
Results will be available from our office, by request, beginning Monday, Mar. 24. You are welcome to call or e-mail; please be sure to state the lots for which you wish information, and the full name under which you bid. It is not always possible to match a username only with lot numbers won. Time will not necessarily permit posting of complete prices realized on our website.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE AUCTION IS OVER?
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We take pride in informing our buyers that each shipment is packed with care; this is particularly important if your lots are fragile, of an unusual shape, or difficult to handle. It may take an expert packer two or more hours to pack one such lot.
We are not in the same position as a private seller with a few items on offer at a time. It is understandably impossible to ship all lots at the same time. It may require up to several weeks for your acquisitions to reach you following receipt of payment.
We ask our customers to keep the above in mind.
A NOTE
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IF YOU HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS ...
If you have any questions not addressed by the text on this website, please do not hesitate to e-mail or call (1-914-476-8500). Unlike some firms on the Internet, we have real people: we do not outsource support to distant lands, and we do not have VoiceMail during normal business hours of 10 A.M.-5 P.M. Eastern time.
PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL BIDS MUST BE RECEIVED BY MARCH 18, 2008, 8:00 P.M. E.S.T.