The Library History Buff

Promoting the appreciation, enjoyment, and preservation of library history

Civic Advertising Envelopes

One way that communities in the first two decades of the 20th century sought to attract new businesses was through advertising on envelopes.  These envelopes typically included pictures on the front of the envelope that depicted significant buildings and attractions in the community.  The back of these envelopes included written text which made the case for locating in a particular community. During this same period new public library buildings were being built in communities across the country, many as the result of grants from philanthropists such as Andrew Carnegie.  So it is not surprising that libraries are often one of the buildings being depicted on the front of the envelope.

The Carnegie Library in Sheboygan, Wisconsin is pictured on this civic advertising envelope.  All but a portion of the Carnegie building has been razed.  The new library is the Mead Public Library.  The text on the back of the envelope below says in part "Have a first class opera house and a fine library building with a well equipped library."

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Last updated: 12-11-08   © 2005-2008 Larry T. Nix
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