Product Details
Nicely engraved antique stock certificate from the Campbell Soup Company dating back to the 1950's. This document, which contains the printed signatures of the company President and Treasurer, was printed by the American Bank Note Company, and measures approximately 12" (w) by 8" (h).
This certificate's great vignette features a can of Campbell's Soup flanked by a pair of allegorical males.
Images
You will receive the exact certificate pictured.
Historical Context
The company was started in 1869 by Joseph A. Campbell, a fruit merchant from Bridgeton,
New Jersey, and Abraham Anderson, an icebox manufacturer from South Jersey. They produced canned tomatoes, vegetables, jellies, soups, condiments, and minced meats.
In 1876, Anderson left the partnership and the company became the "Joseph A. Campbell Preserve Company".
Campbell reorganized into "Joseph Campbell & Co." in 1896. In 1897, John T. Dorrance, a nephew of the general manager Arthur Dorrance, began working for the company at a wage of $7.50 a week. Dorrance, a chemist with degrees from MIT and Göttingen University, Germany, developed a commercially viable method for condensing soup by halving the quantity of its heaviest ingredient: water. He went on to become president of the company from 1914 to 1930, eventually buying out the Campbell family.
In 1898, Herberton Williams, a Campbell's executive, convinced the company to adopt a carnelian red and bright white color scheme, because he was taken by the crisp carnelian red color of the Cornell University football team's uniforms. To this day, the layout of the can, with its red and white design and the metallic bronze medal seal from the 1900 Paris Exhibition, has changed very little, with the exception of the French phrase on the top of the bronze seal that said "Exposition-Universelle-Internationale" which was changed to the English name of the exhibition as "Paris International Exposition".
Campbell Soup became one of the largest
food companies in the world under the leadership of William Beverly Murphy. He was elected executive vice president of Campbell Soup in 1949 and was President and CEO from 1953 to 1972. While at Campbell's Soup Company, he took the corporation public and increased its brand portfolio to include Pepperidge Farm's breads, cookies, and crackers, Franco-American's gravies and pastas, V8 vegetable juices, Swanson broths, and Godiva's
chocolates. David Johnson was President and CEO from 1990 until 1997.
Campbell Soup invested heavily in
advertising since its inception, and many of its promotional campaigns have proven value in the Americana collectible advertising market. Perhaps best known are the "Campbell Kids" designed by illustrator Grace Drayton. Ronald Reagan was a spokesman for V8 when Campbell's acquired the brand in 1948.
In addition to collectible advertising, the company has also had notable commercial sponsorships. Among these was Orson Welles's The Campbell Playhouse, which had previously been The Mercury Theatre on the Air. After the program's adaptation of The War of the Worlds became a sensation for accidentally starting a mass panic due to its realism, Campbell's took over as sponsor of the radio theater program in December 1938.
Campbell's continues to be a major part of Camden, New Jersey, regularly participating in charity events in the community. In 2009, Campbell's completed the building of a new and expanded headquarters in the city.
In 2012, Campbell announced plans to buy Bolthouse Farms, a maker of juices, salad dressings and baby carrots, for $1.55 billion. Analysts saw this as an attempt to reach younger, more affluent consumers.
From 2012, Campbell Soup has been focused on updating their image and digital marketing to increase visibility among younger generations. They hired Umang Shah to lead global social and digital marketing. He led record social engagement campaigns including #DeclareRecess and #BIGFiveO
In June 2015, Campbell Soup acquired salsa maker Garden Fresh Gourmet for a sum of $231 million as it looked to expand into the fresh and organic packaged foods business.
In December 2017, Campbell's completed the acquisition of Pacific Foods of
Oregon, LLC for $700 million and announced the agreement to acquire the snack company Snyder's-Lance for $4.87 billion in cash. The latter deal is the largest in the company's history.
Pop ArtIn 1962, artist Andy Warhol took the familiar look of the Campbell's soup can and integrated it into a series of pop art silkscreens, a theme he would return to off and on through the 1960s and 1970s. The first batch in 1962 were a series of 32 canvases. At first, the cans were accurate representations of actual Campbell's cans, but as his series progressed, they became more surrealistic, with Warhol experimenting with negative-reversed color schemes and other varied techniques (many of these which would be used on other Warhol paintings of the period, such as his celebrity silkscreens of the 1960s). The silkscreens themselves have become iconic pieces of pop art, with one in particular, Small Torn Campbell Soup Can (Pepper Pot) (1962), commanding a price of $11.8 million at auction in 2006.
In 2004, Campbell's themselves recognized Warhol's art by releasing in the eastern United States a limited-edition series of cans that were inspired by the coloring and silkscreen effects of Warhol's pieces. This marked one of the few times in the company's history that they would change the trade dress for their main canned-soup line in any substantial manner. In 2012, the Warhol-inspired cans returned to shelves, in an exclusive retail partnership with Target.
SlogansMmm Mmm Good (1935–present; their predominantly used slogan)
Give Me The Campbell Life (1969–75)
Soup Is Good Food (1975–1982)
Never underestimate the power of soup! (1990s)
Possibilities (2005–2009)
So Many Many Reasons It's So Mmm Mmm Good (2008–2010)
It's Amazing What Soup Can Do! (2010–present)
Made for real, Real life (2015–present)
