Mr. World Exhibit Highlights

The back of a catalogue for Sill Stove Works’s new line of ranges, called “The World’s Sterling,” showing a copyrighted illustration (1897) of “The World’s Verdict.” This personification of the “World” is dressed as a chef, with a pot belly and chef’s hat. He is mid-wink — not the last winking world in this collection — and exclaims “Now THAT’S the very range I want.” Although manufactured in America, Sill Stove Works advertised their products as the world’s best, and used the anthropomorphized world to further that marketing tactic.

Two calendars (1908 and 1909) advertising the Preparation of Wampole, a medication proclaiming to cure impurities in the blood, to a Spanish-speaking audience. The front of each calendar presents an image of the globe being fed medication from a cupid. Squinting eyes, round cheeks, and a smiling face remain signposts of the “World” character, which is here used again as a general endorsement of the advertised product. The backs contain both a calendar and an advertisement for the product. In 1908, the tagline is, “The world moves”: the medicine is used as proof that the world continues to turn even in the face of illness. The 1909 calendar drops this motto, focusing instead on the “great danger of fatal illnesses” like “cough, tuberculosis, and … weak constitution.” The continual use of the globe imagery on the front, however, implies that the caricature remained popular even as the language around it changed, especially noteworthy in the wake of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act.

An 8 page catalogue with paint chips, a 4 page flyer, and a form letter (1909) all containing Hascall Paint’s logo and image of the world. He sits, winking and self-satisfied, astride the mirrored logo of himself in a painter’s uniform. He holds a brush and can of paint, similarly containing the logo of himself. He might not be immediately recognizable as a globe except for the longitude and latitude lines across his face, carefully repeated in each miniature. The slogan, repeated in both advertisements and the typed letter, is “The World’s Best Roof & Iron Paint,” and Hascall’s repetitive iconography certainly implies universality. The self-containing logo of a pleased “World” perhaps adds another meaning to the phrase “full of himself.”

A folding chromolithograph card (1920s) advertising Myers pumps, with a smiling globe on one side and a similarly positioned businessman on the other, both in a “hats off” gesture. The “world” figure here is characterized by extreme enthusiasm: crinkled eyes, rosy cheeks, and a large grin. The caption, “Standard the World Over,” explains the use of the globe imagery here, as Myers makes use of the frequent advertising pun.

A folding advertisement for Brokaw (1927), as the company claims to be supplied by “the finest hatters of Europe.” This globe image, interestingly, hasn’t been given a face, but is imbued with character nonetheless. It wears a stylish, jauntily positioned hat and centers itself on Europe, highlighting Italy, England, and France. The promotion seems to serve as double advertisement for André, Mossant, and Borsalino, who are described here as “three of the world’s most distinguished hatters.” 

An advertisement (1939) for a year’s gifted subscription to Esquire magazine, itself a miniature of the card that would accompany the gift. The face of the card, illustrated by E. Simms Campbell, depicts the personified character of “the World” as a swaddled baby as it receives a medical checkup from a variety of Esquire’s political cartoonists, including Campbell’s “Esky.” The depiction of the World as smiling and theatrical is not uncommon, and its image here holds other hallmarks of the common trope: longitude and latitude lines across the face, and a wide-eyed expression. As an advertisement, it indicates the breadth of impact that Esquire imagined for itself.

A child’s birthday card from the 1940s, created by Stanley Greetings, Dayton OH. This globe is situated on a low desk stand, similar to the globe-shaped coin bank a child might keep. The language of the card holds no reference to the “world” figure, emphasizing the smile instead: “For a Birthday with a Smile in it!” Like the laughing teddy bear in the corner, the anthropomorphized globe is here used as a classic and understandable symbol.