Library of Congress Homework Due 10/6

As I was watching the Library of Congress videos, I found many things that interested me. One that I found particularly interesting was the children's pop-up book that they had because they found it to be of particular interest due to the vibrant colors used throughout the book for its time period. I had no idea that the Library of Congress had childrens' books and I thought it was interesting that the main reason they had it was for the colors they used.  I wondered what other types of items were in the Library of Congress had that I was unaware of.  I wondered if they had more children's items.  Later I learned that they had a lot of children's items.  I also learned about all sorts of items to be found in the Library that I was not aware of. 

I had always thought that the Library of Congress focused only on the history and making of our country and our founding fathers.  Since I have never had the opportunity to visit the Library, I was totally uninformed.  I also thought they only had books, maps and photos but then I learned they had other items such as the contents of President Lincoln's pockets the night he was shot and the actual yellow ribbon that was tied around the "Old Oak Tree" for the Iran hostages.  I never would have guessed the ribbon would be there.

I later found that the Library of Congress even has comic strips. I never knew that they would think this was an important enough part of history to be in the Library.  Nor did I think that certain movies would be considered to be in the Library but they are.

Lastly I decided to research the history of advertising by Coca Cola. Who would have thought that television ads would be in the Library of Congress?  Their first print ad was in 1886 and is shown here. 

They began their television advertising in 1954.  They used stop motion advertising from 1954-1956.  In 1964 the used experimental color television project to determine the best lighting for their cans, bottles and performers in television advertisements.  Their famous Polar Bear campaign began in 1993 and was launched with the beginning of the Always campaign.

All in all I found this experience very interesting and I can see many, many advantages to using the Library of Congress web site for students as well as adults.