Magazine advertisements helped brand Dennison as the number one name associated with crepe paper. Not only did the ads open the world of paper crafting to women through descriptions of projects, they also listed the various locations that crepe was available: stationery stores, pharmacies, and specialty licensed Dennison outlets. Dennison also offered the possibility of receiving their products through the mail. With regional stores throughout the Northeast and Chicago, mail-order options were reasonable for crafters in remote locations.[1]
Dennison’s Party Book from 1922 showed a couple dancing at a costume party.
The Dennison Manufacturing Company included crepe paper samples in its instruction books. These colors were included in Dennison’s Art and Decoration in Crepe and Tissue Paper, available from the University of California, and the Hathi Trust.
The printed advertisements also offered free books that contained more directions for crepe paper. These were marketing devices that contained samples of crepe paper in its range of colors, as well as suggestions for activities and events in which it could be used. Dennison sold other items, but these instructional books primarily contained information about crepe paper.[2]
Dennison’s Christmas Book, 1925. Books in this series, and others that Dennison published, were in full color with advertisements as well as instructions for home decor projects.
Crepe Advertisements Clumsy and Cute
[1] William Leach, Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of American Capitalism (New York: Vintage, 1994), 180-181.
[2] An example of this is in Dennison’s Christmas Book (1925), 32.
Disposable America 