How about somewhere in Virginia or North Carolina- tobacco country?
Arlyn Danielson

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From:   Eric Solberg[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Thursday, July 17, 1997 11:18 AM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        New Tobacco Museum

We would appreciate any help or advice in our effort to establish an
international tobacco museum.  We are new to the museum world, but we
hold the world's largest archive on the tobacco issue.  Here is some
background information...

At least a dozen or so tobacco museums have documented tobacco's history
reflecting the role of tobacco in the economic and social development of
the United States and other countries around the world.  These museums,
that explore the diversity of cultures that have shaped and been shaped
by tobacco trade, are supported primarily by the tobacco industry.  For
example, the Museum of Tobacco Art and History in Nashville, Tennessee,
supported by United States Tobacco (UST) features a unique collection of
pipes and other artifacts from every part of the world and traces "the
history of tobacco dating from pre-Columbian times."

We have had the opportunity to visit many of these museums in a number
of countries, including Sweden, France, Japan (the Tobacco and Salt
Museum), Canada, and Germany.  In not a single museum is there an
accurate reference to the public health efforts during the past century
to counteract tobacco use and its promotion.

For more than two decades, through the work of an organization known as
DOC, we have monitored, documented and saved every bit of information on
both sides of this controversial issue.  Several years ago, we
established the DOC Tobacco Archive and International Resource Center.
This vast collection of materials in print, audio, video, and other
media, documents the history of tobacco use, the influence of tobacco
advertising on society, and world-wide public health efforts to
counteract its use.

Newspapers, magazines, trade journals, annual reports, and other
documents from major tobacco companies, advertisements, point-of-sale
promotional displays, posters and signs, audio cassettes, video footage,
books, photographs, slides, toys, and other ephemera demonstrate the
role of tobacco in popular culture around the world.  Political and
legislative activities of the tobacco industry and public health
organizations are documented by transcripts, Congressional records,
hearings, depositions, conference proceedings, internal correspondence,
and other documents.

The collection holds more than 200,000 tobacco industry documents
covering a variety of topics including research, marketing plans, and
the industry's 14-year collaboration with the American Medical
Association (yes, you read that correctly).

The archive also includes a rare collection of cigarette advertisements
in medical journals from the 1930s to (believe it or not) the 1980s.
These are quite rare, as most of you understand that when the journals
are bound for libraries, the advertising pages are removed.  We have
literally tracked these journals through medical societies throughout
the country over the past twenty years.  Additionally, the 2,000 books
in the collection (including more than 200 rare books) provide a great
history of this controversial subject that seems to have dominated
headlines around the world.

With access to more than 7 hours of original one-inch reels of cigarette
commercials made for television in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, we
produced a video called "Smoke That Cigarette" (named after the once
popular song). The film uses vintage clips of tobacco company executives
juxtaposed with pioneering researchers like Dr. Alton Ochsner (one of
the first to make the connection between smoking and lung cancer in the
1930s).  Mixed in are the old, but memorable jingles in cigarette
commercials.

This socio-cultural resource on the tobacco issue covers the issue from
all vantage points over a period of more than a century.  We feel the
materials naturally serve the establishment of a museum, and we've
established this as a three-year goal.

We are members of the Texas Association of Museums (TAM).  We presented
this topic at their annual meeting two years ago, and we are excited to
becoming a part of the museum community.  TAM has been very helpful in
our planning stages, but we seek advice from anyone interested in
providing a helping hand.

While we are currently based in Houston, Texas, we are shopping around
for any community that thinks we can be an added attraction or point of
interest.  Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions?  Please share.

Thanks.

Eric Solberg, M.A.
Executive Director
5615 Kirby Drive, Suite 440
Houston, Texas  77005
(800) DOC-9340
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