Manuscripts Collection
The origins of the Target Corporation date back to 1902, when George Draper Dayton purchased Goodfellow Dry Goods Company, which operated a retail store in downtown Minneapolis. Draper renamed the store Dayton's the following year. The new corporate name, Dayton Dry Goods Company, was changed to The Dayton Company in 1911. The company acquired J.B. Hudson and Son, jewelers, in 1929 and formed J.B. Hudson, Inc.; opened its first discount merchandise Target store in Roseville (Minn.) in 1962; and launched B. Dalton Bookseller in 1966. The Dayton Corporation was established in 1967. This name was retained until 1969, when the corporation merged with Detroit-based J.L. Hudson Company to become the Dayton Hudson Corporation. The name Target Corporation was adopted in 2000.
The collection comprises two major sections: the microfilmed scrapbooks of newspaper advertising for Dayton's department store and several operating companies; and color photographic prints of 77 selected color advertisements that also appear on the microfilm, but as black-and-white images. The advertising books are further divided into the following five units: Dayton's Upstairs Store; Dayton's Downstairs Store; Dayton's University Store; J.B. Hudson, Inc.; and Other Operating Companies (B. Dalton Bookseller, Dayton's Home Furnishings, and Ride the Mails to Dayton's). The ads in each unit are arranged chronologically. The color prints are also arranged chronologically.
The scrapbooks contain full newspaper pages consisting entirely or partially of Dayton’s advertisements, and clipped ads. Most appeared in the major Minneapolis morning and evening papers. Some for B. Dalton Bookseller are from newspapers published in other states.
The Minnesota Historical Society does not own trademark, patent, copyright, or other intellectual property rights to any of the materials in this collection. For further information concerning status and/or permission to publish, please consult the reference staff..
Produced by: FILM-IT, Eagan, Minnesota, 2002, 2006.
The microfilm is available for interlibrary loan from the Minnesota Historical Society.
Location of original advertising scrapbooks: John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University; Durham, North Carolina.
Accession number: 16,114
Processed by: Deborah Kahn, April; 2007
Catalog ID number: 006390884
Dates in brackets indicate that the date on the back of the photograph was used to date the print, because no date is present on the image itself. If no newspaper is cited, it is likely the advertisement appeared in a Minneapolis newspaper, but this assumption may not be accurate.