This collection consists of advertisements, mostly directed at women, in a variety of formats including manufacturers' booklets, trade cards, visiting cards, scores, milk caps, and greeting cards.

Founded in 1912 by Christine and J. George Frederick as the League of Advertising Women of New York, Advertising Women of New York, Inc., was the first club for women in advertising in America and one of the first in the world. Organized as an answer to discriminating men's clubs, the League's objectives were the further education in advertising of its members and the encouragement of greater involvement of women in advertising.

Bernays was an author, editor, feminist, and public relations consultant. After graduating from Barnard College (1913), she worked for the New York Tribune as a reporter and then successively as assistant woman's page editor and assistant Sunday editor. In 1919 she joined her future husband, Edward L. Bernays, in his new public relations firm in New York. It was largely through their pioneering efforts that the principles, practices, and ethics of the new profession of public relations were established. Editor of An Outline of Careers for Women (1919) and contributor to America As Americans See It (1932) as well as to Varied Harvest (1953), Bernays was also the author of A Wife Is Many Women (1955).

Bishop was a chemist, inventor, financial analyst, and teacher. She developed a nondrying, nonirritating, long-wearing lipstick and in 1948 founded Hazel Bishop, Inc. She hired Raymond Spector's advertising agency to help market the lipstick and on his advice purchased the back page of a national newspaper, placing on it her "success" ad, featuring a hot embrace and the line "Stays on you, not on him." Spector became the company's majority stockholder and wrested control of the business. A legal battle followed; the case was settled in 1954, with the company purchasing Bishop's 8% of company stock with the stipulation that she refrain from selling products under her own name. Bishop went on to develop Leather Lav, a leather glove cleaner; a foot care product marketed by H.G.B. Products Corporation; and a solid perfume stick called Perfemme. In 1978, she began teaching in the cosmetics, fragrances, and toiletries department of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.

Cumming received a B.A. in music from the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, and a Ph.D. in speech education from New York University. Before beginning her broadcasting career, she taught music and sang with a trio in vaudeville, on radio, and in churches. From 1950 to 1964 Cumming played the role of Betty Crocker, an advertising agent for General Mills, on radio and television. Papers concerning her Betty Crocker role consist mainly of promotional literature and speeches.

An active member and historian of Advertising Women of New York, Dignam worked in advertising, particularly of fashion, beauty, and homemaking products. She spent the 1920s in Europe promoting consumer relations and home appliances, then worked in Philadelphia during the 1930s and in New York City during World War II. Her letters, which contain correspondence with Christine Frederick, and her diaries reflect changing economic and social conditions; her war diaries describe World War II activities on the home front. Material on Advertising Women of New York and women in advertising is included in the collection.

First woman vice president of John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. (1958-1966), Divver started there as a copywriter in 1932 and became the assistant, then associate, and finally the advertising manager (1944-1958). She was a member of many Boston civic associations and in 1953 was chosen as Advertising Woman of the Year and Boston Business Woman of the Year.

Fox dedicated her professional life as an artist and photograph editor to collecting images of women. This collection contains images of women in chromolithograph prints and posters, magazine covers, advertisements, trade cards, postcards, Victorian "scrap" (small, intricate cut-outs of colored paper), pochoir prints, etchings, some photographs, and other ephemera, primarily from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

A home economist, lecturer, and author, Frederick campaigned for more efficiency in the kitchen. She set up and directed the Applecroft Home Experiment Station on Long Island, wrote on household management and the role of women as consumers, was an editor for Ladies Home Journal and The American Weekly, and in the 1950s became an interior decorator. She and her husband, J. George Frederick, helped found the Advertising Women of New York in 1912.

Gerety, known as Frances, graduated from the Charles Morris Price School of Advertising and studied at the University of Pennsylvania. She worked as a copywriter at Jacob Reed's and Sons before joining N.W. Ayer & Son in 1943, where she worked until her retirement in 1970. Gerety wrote advertisement copy for De Beers. In 1947, Gerety was tasked with creating a tagline for a new line and submitted the phrase "diamonds are forever," which became one of the most recognizable advertising slogans ever created and remains in use by De Beers. This collection includes an interview with Gerety for the N.W. Ayer Oral History Program; fashion advertisements featuring copy written by Gerety; De Beers advertisements featuring the "diamonds are forever" slogan; reports to De Beers Consolidated Mines by N.W. Ayer & Son featuring advertising and marketing recommendations; and photographs of Gerety and her family.

This collection consists of pamphlets issued by companies giving advice to girls on menstruation, fitting of bras and girdles, room decoration, driving a car, and clothing. It also includes a brochure advertising books on sex and birth control and a flyer advertising lectures on etiquette, manners, etc.

Handler was a businesswoman and the creator of Barbie. Ruth and her husband, Elliot Handler, formed two companies: Elliot Handler Plastics (1939-1942) to manufacture novelty goods, and Elzac (1942-1944) to manufacture costume jewelry. In 1945, with their partner Harold "Matt" Matson, they incorporated Mattel, Inc., a toy company. In 1959 Ruth Handler created the Barbie doll, named after her daughter Barbara; the Ken doll, named for her son Kenneth, followed in 1961. By the end of the 1960s Mattel had acquired non-toy companies and had plants in many countries. Poor accounting, unwise product decisions, and bad luck led to unexpected losses in 1972 and 1973. An SEC investigation held the Handlers responsible and they were forced out of the company in 1975. Following a mastectomy, Ruth Handler was unable to find a decent prosthetic breast, so she created her own, called Nearly Me, and formed a company in 1976 with Gerald Peyton to market it.

Marjorie Henderson Buell, better known as Marge, was a cartoonist and the creator of the character Little Lulu. In 1944 Marge signed an agreement with International Cellucotton (later Kimberly-Clark) for Little Lulu to be the mascot of Kleenex Tissue's advertising campaigns. Little Lulu remained with Kleenex until 1960. Marge drew both narrative strips and other art for the advertising campaigns, which were a huge success. Marge licensed Little Lulu's image for a variety of products, while keeping the copyright to the character in her name and always retaining creative control. Little Lulu could be found on greeting cards, posters, candy, gloves, hats, paper dolls, puzzles, crayons, drinking glasses, balloons, sheet music, and a host of other products.

The Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Company was a patent medicine company founded in 1873 and based in Lynn, Massachusetts, which produced a vegetable compound developed by Lydia Estes Pinkham. The medicine was marketed as a cure for female maladies such as menstrual cramps, headache, "female weakness," and nervousness associated with the menstrual cycle. It was also supposed to be helpful for hot flashes, depression, and other symptoms common during menopause. The company eventually had operations in Mexico and Canada, and its trademark was registered in Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and East Asia. This collection includes extensive documentation of product advertising, which used consumer testimonials. Most testimonial letters were destroyed by the company to protect the writers' privacy. Included are “Pinkham Pamphlets" in several languages, which incorporated inquiry letters and the advice given by Mrs. Pinkham.

One of the most influential women in advertising, Rindlaub climbed the ranks from secretary to copywriter to advertising executive. She had a long career at Batten, Barton, Durstine, & Osborn working on more than fifty major accounts in foods, cosmetics, home furnishings, household equipment, and other products targeted to women consumers. She spearheaded successful advertising campaigns for some of the most influential and prominent manufacturing companies in America, with clients including General Mills, United Fruit Company, the Campbell Soup Company, Carter’s clothing, and Oneida silverware. Recognized as an expert on "woman’s viewpoint," she conducted extensive market research that delved into the female psyche, identifying women’s needs and products which would improve efficiency in their lives.

Miriam Tane Siporin attended Hunter College briefly before her belief in radical politics and awareness of the dire circumstances facing working people during the Depression led her to give up her studies; although she completed her undergraduate degree at the Harvard Extension School in 1983. In 1937 she helped organize the Ford Automobile Plant workers in Somerville, Massachusetts and a few years later, the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union sent her to Illinois, where she organized workers and agitated for improved conditions. In the 1940s Tane Siporin relocated to New York City, where she worked as a copywriter for a few small agencies but taking a job with Sterling Advertising. Her work involved writing retail and trade copy, promotional material, and radio commercials for prominent fashion accounts. Her ads appeared in Vogue, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, The New Yorker, and similar magazines. Between 1945 and 1949 she worked as a copywriter for small advertising agencies in New York City.