Transportation collections span the 1760s to the 1940s, with an emphasis on the 19th and early 20th centuries. Major subjects include modes of transit for passengers and cargo by land, sea and air; manufacturing and commerce; technology and design; and travel and tourism. Items document the early history of balloon flight primarily in France and England, maritime transport, especially along the coastal United States in the 19th century, transatlantic travel during the golden age of ocean liners, and the proliferation of American businesses and products associated with the railroad, bicycle and horse-drawn vehicle industries.
Aeronautica Collection: Prints and Ephemera, 1762-1940
The collection includes more than 600 prints and ephemera. Materials date from 1762 to 1940 and document the early history of balloon flight primarily in France and England, as well as the use of aeronautical imagery in satirical, documentary and decorative images. The collection features prints chronicling the progression of early aeronautical history from the first manned balloon ascent launched by French brothers Joseph-Michel Montgolfier and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier in 1783, to the well-publicized ascents of famed English balloonist Charles Green in the mid-1800s. Item types consist primarily of prints, illustrations and broadsides, but also include ephemera such as handbills, advertisements, original drawings and watercolors, invitations and tickets, handwritten notes, newspaper and magazine clippings, handwritten notes, scraps of fabric from balloons and parachutes and sheet music.
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John Haskell Kemble Collection:
Commercial Maritime Ephemera Collection, 1855-1990
Over 24,000 items including ship histories, brochures, schedules, passenger lists, accommodation plans, menus and publicity pamphlets comprise the Kemble collection. More than 925 shipping companies are represented, including American President Lines, Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd., Cunard Steamship Company, Holland Amerika Lijn, Matson Navigation Company, Pacific Mail Steamship Company, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company and White Star Line.
Call number: ephJHK
Maritime Art Collection, 1828-1981
The collection contains 125 artworks dating from 1828 to 1981, with subjects about and/or depicting maritime vessels, including commercial and military ships. Most are oil paintings, with some watercolors also included.
Call number: artJHK
Maritime, Travel, and Transportation Collection, approximately 1748-approximately 1990
Materials date from approximately 1748 to 1990 and include prints, ephemera, maps, charts, calendars, objects and photographs related to maritime and land-based travel, often from Kemble's travels. Most of the collection remains unprocessed.
Call number: priJHK
Jay T. Last Collection of Maritime Prints and Ephemera, 1704-approximately 1942
The approximately 1,150 printed items pertain to travel, shipping and other maritime-related activities and businesses in the United States and are primarily promotional, illustrating the history of passenger travel and commercial shipping, as well as the advertising strategies employed by these industries.
Call number: priJLC_MAR
Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation:
Transportation Prints and Ephemera, 1826-approximately 1911
Relating to land-based modes of transportation, primarily in the United States from the 1820s to the early 1900s, the 730 items in this collection touches on topics of transportation, commerce and manufacturing, technology and engineering, travel and tourism and geography. Images are primarily promotional and provide information about the history of the American railroad, bicycle and horse-drawn vehicle industries and the evolution of their advertising.
Call number: priJLC_TRAN
Transportation: N.N. Hill Brass Company Business Correspondence, 1892-1919
The N. N. Hill Brass Company was a bell manufacturing company in East Hampton, Connecticut. There are approximately 770 pieces of incoming correspondence and some related documents that focus on the company's manufacture, advertisement and sale of bicycle bells, and their involvement with the bicycle industry and related trade associations and bicycle clubs.
Call number: priJLC_TRAN_Hill
Transportation: Railroad Passes, 1848-1980
More than 3,000 passes issued primarily by American railroad companies to individuals in the 19th and 20th centuries comprise this collection. The passes provided the holders with permission to ride on the railroad, usually through the end of the calendar year, and the passes in the collection bear a variety of titles including annual pass, season ticket, time pass, free ticket, exchange ticket and complimentary ticket. The decorative details of the passes vary across the collection, though most examples from the late 19th century and early 20th centuries contain engraved or lithographed designs and images. American railroad companies issued the majority of passes primarily for annual travel on commercial passenger lines.
Call number: priJLC_TRAN_Passes
Transportation: Railroad Stock and Bond Certificates, 1835-1976
Over 1,100 railroad stock and bond certificates primarily issued by American railroad companies to individuals in the 19th and 20th centuries. Visual decorations include ornate patterned borders, embossed corporate and gold seals, logos and vignettes primarily depicting railroad locomotives and trains, as well as landscapes and views of the American frontier, eagles, Columbia, Native Americans, farmers, miners, political surveyors, wheat bundles and portraits of political figures and railroad company executives.
Call number: priJLC_TRAN_Stocks