In 2023, the Charles Addams memorabilia specialist Joel Jacobus informed us here of a series of advertisements on copper trays promoting Cole of California swimwear. The trays were manufactured by Bernäd Creations with cartoons by The New Yorker's Addams, Sam Cobean, and Syd Hoff. The trays themselves are undated, but the Hoff example was specifically mentioned in a 1951 newspaper article.
This year, Joel informed me of another vintage advertising tray he came upon featuring art by New Yorker cartoonist William Steig. The client is the National Shoe Institute and there is only one tray design known thus far. The manufacturer is again Bernäd Creations, who used Steig illustrations on other cartoon trays and cigarette boxes for commercial sale to the general public, but these decidedly were not advertising.
Joel notes that the shoe institute tray appears to be from approximately the same time period as the Cole of California cartoon trays. "So far," he writes, "I can't find any other artists associated with it. The Steig image is of a man lying in a giant shoe with the caption, 'Can’t I just stay here tonight?'" Below that is the copy "National Shoe Institute.”
Joel continues:
The first mention of The National Shoe Institute that I can find is from 1948 in the New York Times. There were National Shoe Fairs in Chicago from at least 1938 through 1968.
He further speculates that this tray "might have been a promotional item at the National Shoe Fair." Steig's illustration appeared in his book The Rejected Lovers, which sets the date of the tray to approximately 1951. (That's the same year as the newspaper piece noting the Hoff tray.)
The Steig copper tray is green and is currently listed on eBay:
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William Steig
National Shoe Institute Copper Tray
eBay listing accessed August 31, 2026
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William Steig
National Shoe Institute Copper Tray
eBay item description |
The New York Times Magazine excerpted nine of the Steig book's drawings in its October 14, 1951 Sunday issue, the week prior to its publication. Under the title "On Man's Misery—Love," an uncredited author writes, "The hero of the work is man at his most pitiful. The villain is woman, who seems to combine the features of Goldilocks, a six-foot chorus girl and Lizzie Borden."  |
"On Man's Misery—Love"
Excerpts from The Rejected Lovers by William Steig
The New York Times Magazine, Sunday, October 14, 1951
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1951/10/14/issue.html |
Note: My thanks as always to Joel Jacobus for finding this rare tray, for recognizing its uniqueness, and for feeling compelled to research the National Shoe Institute just as thoroughly as he formerly researched Bernäd Creations and Cole of California. Hats off to you, Joel, and shoes too.
The archives of Duke University libraries have a campus promotion from the National Shoe Institute for 1949 which identifies the advertising agency as J. Walter Thompson.
I would so appreciate hearing from anyone with more information about this seemingly small advertising campaign. This might include other cartoon copper trays from the promotion with drawings by William Steig or perhaps other cartoonists. Other advertising campaigns that appeared on Bernäd trays would also be of interest.
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