The collection consists primarily of reports on the effectiveness of advertising. There is also a brief history of the Starch organization, 1960, and several promotional publications, 1938-1961. Though quite fragmentary, the papers point up the type of service provided by the Starch organization. The collection is divided into two groups: background material and reports.
The BACKGROUND MATERIAL contains a history of Daniel Starch and Staff, a publication by Daniel Starch on the measurement of broadcast sales, and several promotional items which explain Starch services. Particularly interesting are the issues of Tested Copy, a monthly newsletter which provides highlights of Starch research. Although spanning 1938 to 1960, there are several significant gaps in this newsletter coverage. The REPORTS, based on personal interviews, concern advertisements on radio and television and in newspapers and magazines in the mid to late 1950's. The former relate viewing and listening habits of audiences to both their buying habits and their demographic and personal characteristics. Notable here are studies of the television viewing of female heads of households for 1955 and 1956. The studies of advertising in newspapers and magazines consist of a summary of Starch newspaper studies from 1955 to 1957, and reports on the effectiveness of advertisements in issues of TV Guide, Field and Stream, and Life magazines, 1956-1961. The most extensive files are weekly reports on Life, 1957-1958.
