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.
