About this collection:

➤ Joseph Albert Funk was born on July 15, 1916 in Bethany, WV to Charles P. Hallie V. (Lauck) Funk. Funk graduated from Bethany College in 1940, then later served in WWII and the Korean War. In the 1950s, Funk served as the director of public relations and advertisement for the Stone & Thomas Department Store in Wheeling, WV. He later went on to work for the Wheeling National Bank, where he also served as the director of advertising and public relations. Funk died in Wellsburg, WV on November 22, 1998.

The collection consists of two large scrapbooks, compiled by Joe A. Funk, that document several Stone & Thomas public relations campaigns in 1957-1958. The books are composed primarily of photographs, but also contain letters, internal memos, newspaper clippings, tickets, and other ephemera related to the events. The first book documents the Santa Claus Train, Christmas Parade and Open House held on Saturday, November 22, 1958. The second book documents the Queen of Queens Pageant Campaign, 1957-1958, also sponsored by the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference.

➤ Read more about the scrapbook and the Chrismas Parade on the Archiving Wheeling Blog.

➤ Interested in this material? Please use our "Ask an Archivist Form" or call 304-232-0244.

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