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John Orr Young Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: -
Date: Jul 1967

Biographical History

Born June 25, 1886 in Leon, Iowa to John Lewis Young and his wife, John Orr Young was an American advertising executive and consultant. From 1906 to 1908 he studied at Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Illinois, and then began his career in the advertising department of the Salt Lake Herald Tribune in Salt Lake City, Utah. From 1910 to 1912 he was the advertising manager of the Chicago firm of Lord & Thomas, and in 1913 he became advertising manager of Crisco, a division of Procter & Gamble.

In 1921 he and Raymond Rubicam, a fellow advertising consultant, founded the advertising agency Young and Rubicam. The agency's clients and products eventually included notable names such as General Foods (Postum, Grape Nuts, Jell-O), Gulf Oil, Parket Cavis (drugs), General Electric (radios), Arrow (shirts and collars), Travelers Insurance, International Silver, Jell-O, Borden's (dairy products), Johnson's baby powder, Swan soap, Four Roses Whisky, and Metropolitan Life.

From 1921-1935 Young retired from business life, but in 1937 he took a job as consultant for W.P.B. in Washington, DC and then in 1945 opened his own business, John Orr Young Associates, for which he served as consultant and president.

Young was a member of the Union Club and the Phi Pi Epsilon fraternity at Lake Forest. He is the author of Adventures in Advertising (1949).

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The John Orr Young Papers consist of two accessions which have not been integrated.

1967 accession

The 1967 accession is divided into manuscripts and published material. Manuscripts contains a single article by Young, while Published material contains two articles by Young and a number of newsletter-pamphlets.

1978 accession

The 1978 accession is divided into three parts. Personal miscellany includes news clippings, photographs, and yearbooks. Advertising business contains newsletters, posters, awards, and a manuscript by Young. 1952 Eisenhower campaign includes correspondence, news clippings, and a scrapbookand includes letters

Arrangement of the Collection

Note that because the two accessions have not been integrated, box numbers are not unique. Please specify accession and box number when requesting material.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Subject Headings

Persons

Young, John Orr, 1886-

Corporate Bodies

Rubicam & Young.

Subjects

Advertising agencies -- United States.

Genres and Forms

Correspondence.
Manuscripts (document genre)
Photoprints.

Occupations

Advertising.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

John Orr Young Papers
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Table of Contents

Manuscripts (1966 accession)

Published material (1966 accession)

Personal miscellany (1978 accession)

Advertising business (1978 accession)

Eisenhower campaign (1978 accession)

Inventory