Seeking Artifacts for NJ in the 1950s Exhibit

I am working with the Middlesex County Office of Arts and History to curate an exhibit on New Jersey in the 1950s at the Cornelius Lowe House in Piscataway. I am trying to find artifacts and ask that anyone with anything like the items in the list below (or suggestions where I might find them) please contact me privately at: gordon.bond@co.middlesex.nj.us

Thank you!

Gordon Bond

The following is a list of themes and suggested artifacts. I am open to other suggestions as well.

• Rise of the Suburbs
  • Copy of “G.I. Bill of Rights”
  • Press photo of FDR signing GI Bill
  • Image(s) of suburbs
• Women Returning to the Home
  • “Rosie the Riveter” poster (or similar) as example of expanded role of women in wartime
  • Advertisements reinforcing traditional gender roles
  • 1950s lawnmower, barbeque, or other items reflecting typical homelife
• Disposable Income
  • Word War II ration book
  • Ads, pictures, illustrations, depicting “ideal” consumer life
• Supermarkets
  • Ads, pictures, illustrations depicting 1950s supermarkets
  • 1950s food packaging (cans, tins, etc.)
  • Early ads, packaging, or ephemera from ShopRite
  • Period cash register
  • Period shopping cart
• Women’s Work
  • 1950s kitchen appliances (toasters, mixers, etc.)
  • Appliance ads aimed at women
  • Period examples of Tupperware / Saran Wrap
• Diners and Fast Food
  • Pictures of diners
  • Menus
  • Waitress outfit
• Segregation
  • Photos of African-Americans dining out
• Television
  • Can we get an empty TV cabinet shell where a video monitor can be put in where the screen is to show vintage programming on a loop?
  • “TV Guide” from the period
  • Ads for televisions from newspapers/magazines
  • Pictures, ads, press photos from period shows
• WATV
  • Picture of Newark Mosque Theatre
• Civil Defense
  • Civil Defense posters, pamphlets
  • Shelter sign
  • CD helmet
  • “Duck and Cover” video
  • Ads for home shelters
  • Anything pertaining to the CD work of Leonard Dryfuss
  • Nike missile related artifacts
• American Automobile Culture
  • 1950s car grill or a fin with lights; Steering wheel; Hub cap(s)
  • Auto ads from newspapers and magazines
  • Owner’s manual for 1950s car
• Hot Rods & Auto Racing
  • Period NJ raceway posters / programs
  • 1950s hot rod magazines, calendars
• Interstate Highways
  • Picture of Eisenhower
  • Autobahn
• New Jersey Turnpike & Garden State Parkway
  • Signs (actual-size mock-ups?)
  • Maps
  • Promotional brochures
• Wildwood & Doo Wop
  • Neon sign
  • Furniture
  • Postcards
• Chicken Bone Beach
  • Photos
  • Event programs
• Birth of Rock’n Roll
  • “Rock Around the Clock” record
  • Juke Box or radio playing music
  • Record covers (facsimiles?)
• Rock and Rollers from New Jersey
  • Pictures
  • Posters
  • Ticket Stubs
  • Frankie Valli - Newark, 1934
  • Connie Francis - Newark, 1939
  • Ricky Nelson - Teaneck, 1940-1985
  • The Shirelles - Passaic, Shirley Owens 1941, Doris Coley 1941-2000, Addie "Micki" Harris 1940-1982, and Beverly Lee 1941
  • Lesely Gore - born NYC but raised in Tenafly, 1946
• Drive-In Theaters
  • Movie posters
  • Screen with projected movies; silhouetted cut-out rows of people in cars in front; loop videos of 1950s movie scenes
  • Speaker
  • Ads for drive-ins
• Sputnik 
• Period Toys w/NJ Connections
  • Slinky (wire from Robeling, NJ)
  • Lionel train set (running?)
  • J. Chein & Co. tin toys
  • Barclay Mfg. metal toy soldiers
  • Horsman Doll Co. dolls
  • Colorforms
  • Dick Tracy Wrist Radio
• White Flight / School Desegregation
  • Pictures of anti-bussing protests
  • Anti- and pro-bussing poster facsimiles on sticks
  • Teaneck yearbook with the first integrated class?
• Civil Rights Movement
  • Picture of Camden building where King boarded
• Levittown
  • Pictures
  • Sales brochures
  • Ads
  • William James
  • Newspaper articles about James’ housing discrimination suit
  • W.R. James Elementary School pictures
• Women’s Rights
  • 1960s ERA demonstration photos or signs
• LGBTQ Rights
  • Anything pertaining to the “lavender scare”
  • Anything pertaining to Murphy’s Tavern discrimination suit
  • Copy of NJ Supreme Court ruling on same