Elmer Jacobs Papers, 1925-1982

Gift, Margaret Jacobs, Aug. 22, 1992.

The Elmer Jacobs Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

The Elmer Jacobs Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.

Elmer Jacobs Papers, The Newberry Library, Chicago.

Margaret Kulis, April 1993.

Chicago illustrator and graphic designer active from the late 1920s through the1960s.

Born in Streator, Illinois, in 1901 or 1902, he was largely self-taught. From the late 1930’s onward he was much influenced by the New Bauhaus, also known as the School of Design in Chicago. A free-lance artist, Jacobs’ most visible clients were John Morrell & Co., Chicago Tribune, R.R. Donnelly & Sons, and Rand McNally & Co. From 1940-1952, he illustrated the award winning Phoenix Flame, a house organ turned promotional magazine for the Phoenix Metal Cap Co. Other clients included the American Bible Society, Caterpillar Tractor, and Encyclopaedia Britannica. His memberships included 27 Chicago Designers (1936-1982), Nine Illustrators (ca. 1948-1970?), and the Society of Typographic Arts (1936-1981). He won over forty awards, including the Carey-Thomas Award for creative publishing in 1950, the Direct Mail Advertising Bronze Award, and the 1953 Christmas Seal competition. Jacobs was an active public speaker and contest judge.

Original advertising and magazine art, correspondence, speech texts, tax records, photographs, and printed ephemera. There are also two sound discs of a radio interview (1951). The largest part of the collection concerns Jacobs’s work as a freelance illustrator, and especially the work he did for the Phoenix Flame. There is relatively little correspondence, but there are significant exchanges with Chicago artist Dale Nichols and designer Hal Higdon.

Papers are organized in the following series:

Title Box Series 1: Biographical materials, 1930-1982 Boxes 1-2 Series 2: Design Projects, 1925-1967 Boxes 2-12 Series 3: Artifacts, n.d. Box 12

• Names
  • 27 Chicago Designers (Association).
  • American Bible Society.
  • Caterpillar Tractor Company.
  • Encyclopaedia Britannica, inc..
  • Higdon, Hal
  • Jacobs, Elmer, 1900-
  • John Morrell & Co..
  • Nichols, Dale, 1904-
  • Phoenix Metal Cap Company.
  • R.R. Donnelley and Sons Company.
  • Rand McNally and Company.
  • Tribune Company.
• Subject
  • Chicago
  • Commercial art -- Illinois -- Chicago -- History -- Sources
  • Illustrators -- Illinois -- Chicago -- History
  • Manuscripts, American -- Illinois -- Chicago
  • Printing History and Book Arts