Title: Fred Wittner Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1928-1972

Creator:

• Wittner, Fred, 1909-1972

Call Number: U.S. Mss 139AF; PH 4713

Quantity: 5.6 c.f. (14 archives boxes) and 0.2 c.f. of photographs (1 archives box)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of the founder of Fred Wittner Company, a New York advertising, marketing, and public relations firm which specialized in industrial clients. Over half the collection relates to the operation of this firm and consists of memos, advertising schedules and copy, clippings, company publications, client files, and a company diary kept by Wittner, 1944-1949. The client files primarily date from the 1960s, with coverage best for Eastman Chemical Products, Inc., and Moore Special Tool Company. Documenting Wittner's personal involvement with the company are articles, speeches, correspondence, and clippings. The remaining portion of the papers deals with Wittner's career prior to the foundation of his own firm in 1939. These records include sports stories sent to such periodicals as the Brooklyn (New York) Daily Eagle, The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated and American Golfer, and writings done in collaboration with other sports writers. Also located here are client files which document his early work as an independent consultant and as a member of the firms of Benjamin Sonnenberg and F. Darius Benham. Prominent clients during this period include George Palmer Putnam and Amelia Earhart.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0139af

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Fred Wittner founded (1939) a New York advertising firm which early earned a reputation for comprehensive marketing and public relations efforts for its business and industrial clients. Though a relatively small firm, it grew steadily over the years and even expanded operations into foreign countries.

Fred Wittner was born August 26, 1909 in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1931 (B.A., Journalism). Wittner's early aspirations were not toward advertising and public relations; he was much more interested in journalism, especially sports writing. Before attending the University of Wisconsin he had already spent some time on the staff of the Brooklyn (New York) Daily Eagle; and while at Wisconsin helped establish the Badger News Bureau. Upon graduation, he joined the New York Herald-Tribune as a sports writer.

Throughout the 1930s Wittner made repeated attempts, usually unsuccessful, to have articles accepted by magazines such as Esquire, The New Yorker, Quill, and Readers Digest. He also collaborated with other aspiring writers and tried to publish his own book on sports writing.

In 1935 Wittner joined the staff of the New York public relations firm of Benjamin Sonnenberg. While there, he handled the publicity for the Seagram Distillers Corporation and a number of other clients. In the following year he became associated with George Palmer Putnam, the publisher, and Amelia Earhart, the aviatrix, as a ghost writer and publicity man. At the same time he served as associate editor for Sports Illustrated and American Golfer magazine and worked on the Knox Gelatin account for the public relations firm of F. Darius Benham. After the disappearance of Amelia Earhart in 1937, Wittner did some freelance writing for Literary Digest and Today magazines and continued as a public relations consultant. In 1939, however, he set off on his own by establishing an advertising agency in New York City with the help of his wife Miriam.

Wittner's firm, which changed its name from Fred Wittner Advertising to Fred Wittner Company in 1959, concerned itself for the most part with industrial clients (notable exceptions being the U.S. government savings bond program, 1962, and a visit to New York by Premier Ross Thatcher of Saskatchewan, Canada, 1965). The Wittner firm considered itself a pioneer in industrial advertising by virtue of its comprehensive service to clients. This included the production of sales and technical literature, public relations and publicity, and sales development techniques, providing an “integrated service,” touching all aspects of a client's activity.

By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Fred Wittner Company began to expand its efforts to Europe and South America, and had divided into two separate firms. The latter development, prompted by Wittner's desire to return to a smaller operation which might afford him more personal contact with clients, was completed in May, 1971. Fred Wittner died in July 1972.

The papers of Fred Wittner fairly well document his activities both as a writer and in advertising, marketing, and public relations. The papers are divided into five series: general, early writing career, early advertising career, Fred Wittner Company, and photographs.

The GENERAL section contains correspondence, news clippings, and notes, as well as articles and speeches (dating from the 1950s onward) of Fred Wittner. Also found here is correspondence and related material concerning his trip to Yugoslavia in 1958 as a member of the United States Trade Mission, reception of a University of Wisconsin Service Award in 1964, and membership in the American Association of Advertising Agencies and Audit Bureau of Circulation.

The EARLY WRITING CAREER section, replete with examples of Wittner's writings, is divided into two major divisions. The first concerns his contributions to a variety of periodicals, e.g., the Brooklyn (New York) Daily Eagle, The New Yorker, and Sports Illustrated. The second documents his efforts in collaboration with other aspiring writers as well as an attempt to publish a book on sports writing. In both divisions his writings are supplemented by correspondence. The EARLY ADVERTISING CAREER series contains files for Wittner's various clients, all non-industrial, held before the establishment of his firm. The documentation is rather thin, especially for the Amelia Earhart and Knox Gelatin accounts, but there is enough for many of the others, in the form of correspondence, advertising copy and news stories, to indicate the nature of Wittner's operation in this early period.

The FRED WITTNER COMPANY series includes a great variety of materials relating to the firm: client and personnel lists, memos, advertising schedules, news clippings, company publications and advertisements about its activities, and other general information about operations. Especially worthy of note is a company diary kept by Wittner from 1944-1949. For the most part, however, documentation of the Fred Wittner Company's business is neither extensive nor complete. The client files, mainly for the 1960s, bulk largest. Frequently, they contain correspondence, memos, reports, advertising copy and news releases; but only for certain companies, e.g. Eastman Chemical Products, Inc., New York and the Moore Special Tool Company, Bridgeport, Connecticut, do the records reveal the full range of Wittner's services to clients.

The PHOTOGRAPHS series contains visual materials, circa 1937-1962, relating to Fred Wittner. Production and client photographs include views of the Wittner offices in New York and products such as the Ford Thunderbird. Also included are photographs of clients from his work as an independent consultant, including Amelia Earhart and Rose Knox.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Fred Wittner, New York, New York, February 1968 and July 1972. Accession Number: MCHC68-12 and MCHC72-84.

Processing Information

Processed by R.H. Tryon, October 26, 1976.

U.S. Mss 139AF	Series: General
Box   1 Folder   1-8	Correspondence, 1928-1972
Box   1 Folder   9-10	Articles by Fred Wittner, 1944-1970
Box   2 Folder   1	Speeches by Fred Wittner, 1953-1971
Box   2 Folder   2-4	U.S. Trade Mission to Yugoslavia, 1958 (1958-1962)
Box   2 Folder   5	University of Wisconsin Service Award, 1964
Box   2 Folder   6	American Association of Advertising Agencies, 1958-1961
Box   2 Folder   7	Audit Bureau of Circulation, 1962-1965
Box   2 Folder   8	Newsclippings and articles about Fred Wittner, 1937-1971
Box   2 Folder   9	Miscellaneous notes
	Series: Early Writing Career, 1927-1940	⇧
	Periodicals
Box   2 Folder   10	Associated Collegiate Press Syndicate, 1937-1938
Box   2 Folder   11	Brooklyn (N.Y.) Daily Eagle, 1927-1930
Box   2 Folder   12	Collegiate Digest, 1937-1940
Box   2 Folder   13	Esquire, 1935-1936
Box   2 Folder   14	New York Herald-Tribune,ca. 1931-1941
Box   2 Folder   15	The New Yorker, 1934-1939
Box   2 Folder   16	Quill,1935-1939
Box   3 Folder   1	Readers Digest, 1937-1939
Box   3 Folder   2	Sports Illustrated and the American Golfer, 1935-1937
Box   3 Folder   3	Today, 1936
	Other
Box   3 Folder   4-5	Book manuscript (unpublished) of boxing career of Benny Leonard, by Leonard and Fred Wittner, 1937-1938
Box   3 Folder   6-7	Book manuscript (unpublished) on sports writing by Fred Wittner, 1938-1939
Box   3 Folder   8	Collaboration with Jack Lovelock, New Zealand Olympic athlete, on an article about sports in the U.S., 1937
Box   3 Folder   9-10	Collaboration with Major Robert Ginsburgh on various articles and stories, 1939-1940
Box   3 Folder   11-12	Miscellaneous articles in manuscript form
	Series: Early Advertising Career, 1935-1941, 1946	⇧
Box   4 Folder   1-2	Amelia Earhart, 1935-1941
Box   4 Folder   3	F. Darius Benham, Inc., Miscellaneous Accounts, 1936-1938
Box   4 Folder   4	Bernard H. Cooley (Cuban Commercial Attache), 1938-1941
Box   4 Folder   5	Guild of Prescription Opticians of America, 1938
Box   4 Folder   6	Van Campen Heilner (sportsman and explorer), 1937-1941
	Knox Gelatin Company
Box   4 Folder   7	General, 1939
Box   4 Folder   8	Eightieth Birthday of Mrs. Knox, 1937-1938
Box   4 Folder   9	Paula Lecler (war correspondent), 1940
Box   4 Folder   10	Norman Lee (first regular passenger to circle the world on scheduled commercial airlines), 1939
Box   4 Folder   11	Newsweek, 1939
Box   4 Folder   12	Outpost Inn, Ridgefield, Connecticut, 1946
Box   4 Folder   13-14	Penn Publishing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1939-1942
	George Palmer Putnam
Box   4 Folder   15	Publication of article on authorship of Shakespeare's plays, 1935-1936
Box   4 Folder   16	Correspondence, 1935, July - 1938, April
Box   5 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1939, May - 1940, April
Box   5 Folder   2	Readers Choice Book Club, 1938
Box   5 Folder   3	Arthur Rodzinski (White Goat Farm, Stockbridge, Massachusetts), 1940
Box   5 Folder   4	Dr. Joshua Rossett, Brain Research Foundation, 1939
Box   5 Folder   5	Gordon Brown Scheibell, Inventor, 1936-1939
Box   5 Folder   6	Seagram Distillers Corporation, 1935
Box   5 Folder   7	Triest Construction Company (N.Y.), 1937
	Series: Fred Wittner Company	⇧
	Subseries: General
Box   5 Folder   8	Client lists
Box   5 Folder   9	Personnel lists
Box   5 Folder   10-12	Memos, 1941-1971
	Company diary (kept by Fred Wittner)
Box   5 Folder   13-14	1944
Box   6 Folder   1-3	1945-1949
Box   6 Folder   4-6	Advertising Schedules, 1944, 1945, and 1953
Box   6 Folder   7	Client testimonials, 1955-1958
Box   6 Folder   8	Correspondence concerning change of name, 1959
Box   6 Folder   9	Twentieth anniversary, 1960
Box   6 Folder   10	Correspondence concerning metalworking handbook produced by Fred Wittner Company, 1963
Box   6 Folder   11	Collaboration with Cole and Weber, Inc. (advertising public relations), 1969
Box   6 Folder   12-13	Reorganization and move to new quarters, 1971
Box   7 Folder   1	Newsclippings and articles
Box   7 Folder   2	Miscellaneous financial information
Box   7 Folder   3	Miscellany
	Subseries: Advertisement about activities	⇧
Box   7 Folder   4	How Wittner Does It,n.d.'s
Box   7 Folder   5	Advertising that Makes News,1951-1957 and undated
Box   7 Folder   6-7	Who What When Where at Fred Wittner,1959-1968
Box   7 Folder   8	Miscellaneous publicity
	Subseries: Client files	⇧
Box   7 Folder   9	Air Reduction Company, New York, 1970
Box   7 Folder   10	Allen Tool Corporation, Syracuse, New York, 1960-1969
Box   7 Folder   11-13	Alliance Tool and Die Corporation, Rochester, New York, 1965-1969
Box   8 Folder   1	American Air Liquide, Inc., New York, 1959-1966
Box   8 Folder   2	American Gilsonite Company (mining), Salt Lake City, Utah, 1959-1963
Box   8 Folder   3	American Machine and Foundry Company, New York, 1954-1959
Box   8 Folder   4	American Type Founders Company, Elizabeth, New Jersey, 1957-1959
Box   8 Folder   5	Atols Tool and Mold Corporation, Schiller Park, Illinois, 1962-1963
	Babcock and Wilcox Company (Industrial equipment and tools) Rockford, Illinois, 1959-1970
Box   8 Folder   6	Correspondence, 1969-1970
Box   8 Folder   7	Reports and Memos, 1969-1970
Box   8 Folder   8	Miscellaneous (including advertising copy)
Box   8 Folder   9	Barnes Engineering Company, Stamford, Connecticut, 1955-1957
Box   8 Folder   10	Eric R. Brackman Company (machine tools), New York, 1968-1969
Box   8 Folder   11-12	Buhrke Tool and Engineering Company, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 1969-1971
Box   8 Folder   13	Clay-Adams, Inc. (hospital equipment), New York, 1953-1959
Box   8 Folder   14	Daco Instrument Company, Brooklyn, New York, 1953-1959
	Eastman Chemical Products, Inc., New York, 1955-1970
Box   9 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1955-1969
Box   9 Folder   2	Memos, 1955-1970
	Reports
Box   9 Folder   3	1955-1966
Box   9 Folder   4	1967
Box   9 Folder   5-7	Miscellany (including advertising copy)
Box   9 Folder   8	Electric Regulator Corporation, Norwalk, Connecticut, 1953-1956
Box   9 Folder   9	Fitchburg Paper Company, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, 1961-1963
Box   9 Folder   10	Greenville Industries, Inc. (business equipment), Wilmington, Delaware, 1967-1968
Box   9 Folder   11	W. & L.E. Gurley Engineering Industries, Troy, New York, 1953-1967
Box   9 Folder   12	Harbrace Publications, Inc., New York, 1968-1970
	J. M. Huber Corporation (ink and paper products), New York.
Box   9 Folder   13	Correspondence, 1947-1970
Box   10 Folder   1	Reports, 1965-1970
Box   10 Folder   2	Kalium Chemicals, Ltd., Atlanta, Georgia, 1965-1971
Box   10 Folder   3	Mallay Tool Service Corporation, Freeport, Texas, 1970-1971
Box   10 Folder   4	Master Manufacturing Corporation (machine tools), Hutchinson, Kansas, 1962-1970
Box   10 Folder   5-6	Mechanical Specialties Company (tool and precision machines), Los Angeles, California, 1960-1963
Box   10 Folder   7-8	Motor Terminals, Inc. and National Fitch Company, New York and Cincinnati, Ohio, 1939-1940
	Moore Special Tool Company, Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1945-1972
Box   11 Folder   1-8	Correspondence, 1960-1972
Box   11 Folder   9	Memos, 1965-1970
Box   11 Folder   10-11	Reports, 1945, 1953-1957, and 1963-1972
Box   12 Folder   1	Programs and presentations by Fred Wittner, 1964 and 1968
Box   12 Folder   2	Promotion for Foundation of Mechanical Accuracy by Wayne Moore, 1970-1971
Box   12 Folder   3-7	Publicity, 1944-1971
Box   12 Folder   8	National Tool and Die and Precision Machine Association, Washington, D. C., 1943-1968
Box   12 Folder   9	NIFE, Inc. (batteries), New York, 1966-1967
Box   12 Folder   10	Parsons and Whittemore, Inc. (paper), 1953-1965
Box   12 Folder   11	Perkin-Elmer Corporation (optics), Norwalk, Connecticut, 1952-1958
Box   12 Folder   12	Potters Photographic Applications Company, New York, 1963-1964
Box   12 Folder   13	Printing Developments, Inc., New York, 1959-1961
Box   13 Folder   1-2	Producto Machine Company, Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1967-1971
Box   13 Folder   3	Quality Machines, Inc., Elmwood, Illinois, 1968-1970
Box   13 Folder   4	Reigel Paper Corporation, Charlotte, North Carolina, 1969-1971
Box   13 Folder   5	Riverside Research Institute, New York, 1968-1969
Box   13 Folder   6	Simmons Machine Tool Corporation, Albany, New York, 1941-1963
Box   13 Folder   7	Stora Koppaberg Corporation (Swedish-owned, paper and steel), New York, 1964-1967
Box   13 Folder   8	Premier Ross Thatcher, Saskatchewan, Canada (visit to New York), 1965
Box   13 Folder   9	U.S. Government Savings Bonds, 1962
Box   13 Folder   10	U.S. Trade Missions Brochure, 1960
Box   13 Folder   11-12	Vidmar, Inc. (industrial storage cabinets), Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 1954-1968
Box   13 Folder   13	Winkstrom Machines, Inc. (automatic welding machines), New York, 1967-1968
Box   13 Folder   14	Others
	Subseries: Client files - Foreign	⇧
Box   14 Folder   1	Brazil, Romi Industries (lathe builders), 1970-1971
Box   14 Folder   2	England, 1966
Box   14 Folder   3-4	Others (European), 1965-1966
PH 4713	Series: Photographs	⇧
Box   1 Folder   1	Aviation clients
Box   1 Folder   2	Earhart, Amelia, 1937
	Fred Wittner Company
Box   1 Folder   3	Executives
Box   1 Folder   4	Production and clients, 1958-1962
Box   1 Folder   5	Simmons presentation, undated
Box   1 Folder   6	Yugoslavia trip, 1958
Box   1 Folder   7	Knox, Rose and Knox Gelatine headquarters, 1937