Hi, Eric:

I read your posting.  Really interesting stuff. (And thanks for plugging
TAM). Hope you get a good response.  Let me know if we can be of further
help.

Jack


Eric Solberg wrote:
>
> 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
> [log in to unmask]

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