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Target Dog Plush Toy

National Museum of American History

Object Details

Description
This is a white plush toy dog represents an English Bull Terrier named Arielle. Arielle quickly became popular among Target customers when introduced in 1999 by the Target Corporation in their advertising campaigns. The dog has a red bullseye, the Target logo, circling one of its eyes and has a red collar and red ears.
In 1902, George Draper Dayton purchased the Reuben Simon Goodfellow Company and started the Dayton Dry Goods Company, changing the name in 1911 to the Dayton Company. By the 1920s, he had a built a multi-million dollar business. In the 1960s, a senior executive for the company started developing the concept of an upscale discount retailer, which would later be named “Target.” The first Target store opened in 1962 in Roseville, Minnesota. Four stores opened that year and the company posted losses for the first few years. By 1965, the stores started turning a profit and ushered in an era of expansion of the Target concept. As of 2014, Target stores can be found in 49 states as well as Canada with Vermont being the lone holdout.
Spokes characters became the face of national brands, beginning in the 1890s. By the 20th century, they pitched all kinds of products and asked consumers to buy based on emotion. Manufacturers and advertisers created characters to give products friendly faces, connect with consumers through humor, reach younger audiences, and build brand loyalty. Many of these characters became so popular that the parent companies gave them as premiums and made them into licensed products. A few even got their own comic strips, games, and, later, television shows.
Credit Line
Gift of Target Corporation
ID Number
2014.0062.01
accession number
2014.0062
catalog number
2014.0062.01
Object Name
toy
Physical Description
fabric (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 6 in x 7 in x 7 1/2 in; 15.24 cm x 17.78 cm x 19.05 cm
See more items in
Work and Industry: Retail and Marketing
Advertising
American Enterprise
Exhibition
American Enterprise
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History
Record ID
nmah_1461440
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ae-0d21-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Related Content

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There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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