Mid-Century Corporate Consumerism and the Rise of the Sun Belt, 57 Photographs of Clearwater, Florida, 1951 to 1956

George Fulmer Sunbelt Migration

Photograph

George Fulmer commercial photo archive showing national and regional companies establishing the automotive, petroleum, grocery, and large corporate presence of rapidly expanding Clearwater, Florida, principally 1951 to 1956. Clearwater’s population rose from 15,581 in 1950 to 34,065 in 1960, while firms including Sears, J. C. Penney, Goodyear, Shell, Pure Oil, Publix, Sherwin Williams, Sealtest, and 7 Up extended corporate distribution and merchandising into the growing Sunbelt market. George L. Fulmer, a Clearwater High School graduate and wartime Navy aerial photographer whose photographs are kept by the Clearwater Historical Society documented this consolidation of postwar mass consumer capitalism across the Sunbelt.

Photo archive of 28 silver gelatin photographs with 29 corresponding large format negatives retained in numbered studio envelopes, Clearwater, Florida, principally 1951 to 1956. Shell and Pure Oil assignments show service stations, service bays, automobiles, and prominent corporate signage; Goodyear storefront views advertise tires, radios, appliances, and installment purchasing through signs reading “No money down” and “Up to 24 months to pay.” Sherwin Williams appears in exterior storefront portraits and interior views of a “Custom Mix” paint counter backed by shelves of branded cans, while Publix assignments include shoppers beneath Sealtest Dairy Products and Coca Cola advertising and a dense 7 Up display promoting “The all family drink” through stacked bottles, cases, price signs, and repeated trademarks. J. C. Penney commissioned Fulmer to photograph an “Easter Bunny” promotion inside its clothing department, and other assignments record a “Valentine Vanities” promotion, rug and furniture displays, men examining clothing and retail windows, a “Diamond Dope” baseball contest, and representatives gathered before a “Tools and hardware” display. The original sleeves identify individual clients and jobs including “Shell Oil Co.,” “Sears opening,” “Publix Market,” “Paramount Features,” “Sherwin Williams Co.,” “J. C. Penney ‘Easter Bunny,’” “Goodyear,” and “Pure Oil Co.”

Booming industries including petroleum, automobiles, national department stores, supermarkets, soft drinks, and home improvement supplied the commercial infrastructure of Florida’s emerging leisure, tourist, suburban, and residential economy Seasonal promotions, soft drink displays, branded dairy advertising, installment sales, parking spaces, service bays, and standardized storefronts preserve the material culture of 1950s abundance as corporations adapted national systems of distribution and promotion to one of Florida’s fastest growing urban markets. One negative shows severe warping; the remaining photographs and negatives show light surface and handling wear. Overall in good condition. The surviving print and negative sequences preserve the corporate storefronts, advertising practices, consumer credit, automobile infrastructure, and branded retail environments through which postwar Clearwater became part of the national Sunbelt economy.

Item #23838

Price: $650.00