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Catalog Data

Creator:
MacDowell, Helen Sandford, 1889-  Search this
Pease, L.F.  Search this
Prince, Georgiana K., 1861-1915  Search this
Sandford Greeting Card Company  Search this
Gilman, Georgiana Sandford, 1887-1982  Search this
Sandford, Frank S., 1853-1924  Search this
Sandford, Mary Elizabeth, 1852-1936  Search this
Sandford, Ruth, 1879-1972  Search this
Names:
American Red Cross  Search this
Women's Christian Temperance Union  Search this
Donor:
Gilman, R. Thompson  Search this
Extent:
8 Cubic feet (37 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Cartes-de-visite
Clippings
Travel diaries
Photograph albums
Programs
Advertising
Photographs
Letters (correspondence)
Dvds
Business cards
Trade catalogs
Genealogies
Diaries
Design drawings
Business records
Account books
Calling cards
Cabinet photographs
Daguerreotypes
Memoirs
Place:
Panama Canal (Panama)
Date:
1831-2004
Summary:
Collection documents the business activities of the Sandford Card Company and include the papers of Mary Elizabeth Sandford, founder of the company, and her immediate family.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents the business activities of the Sandford Card Company primarily in the early part of the century. It includes product designs and samples; advertising and marketing materials, as well as, correspondence and financial papers. In addition, there are the papers of Mary Elizabeth Sandford, founder of the company, and her immediate family. These materials consist primarily of diaries, photographs, correspondence, family histories and genealogies. The collection is arranged into four series. Series one documents the business activities of the Sandford Card Company. Series two contains the personal papers of Mary Elizabeth Sandford, her husband Frank Sherman Sandford and their children. Series three is the personal papers of Mary Elizabeth Sandford's parents and siblings. Series four is the personal papers of extended family members mostly by marriage.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into four series. Series 1: Sandford Card Company Records, 1880-1967; undated Subseries 1.1: Correspondence, 1909-1936; undated Subseries 1.2: Financial Records, 1880-1926; undated Subseries 1.3: Product Designs and Samples, 1911-1941; undated Subseries 1.4: Advertising and Marketing Materials, 1924-1967; undated Series 2: Sandford Family Papers, 1831-2003; undated Subseries 2.1: Frank Sherman Sandford, 1870-1925; undated Subseries 2.2: Mary Elizabeth Kennedy Sandford, 1868-2003; undated Subseries 2.3: Ruth Louise Sandford, 1900-1972; undated Subseries 2.4: John Joseph Sanford, 1900-1987; undated Subseries 2.5: Georgiana Kennedy Sandford Gilman, 1870-1973; undated Subseries 2.6: Helen Louise Sandford McDowell, 1899-2000; undated Subseries 2.7: Family Papers, 1831-1992; undated Subseries 2.8: Frances Rohe, 1913, 1920; undated Series 3: Kennedy Family Papers, 1861-2003; undated Subseries 3.1: James Frank Kennedy, 1861-1920s; undated Subseries 3.2: Mary Jane Durkee Kennedy, 1867-1882 Subseries 3.3: Lillian Frances Kennedy Pease, 1875-2003 Subseries 3.4: Emma Jane Kennedy, 1877-1883; undated Subseries 3.5: Georgiana Kennedy Prince, 1878-1915; undated Subseries 3.6: Family Papers, 1934-1992; undated Series 4: Other Family Papers, 1840s-2004; undated Subseries 4.1: Durkee Family, 1864-2004; undated Subseries 4.2: Gilman Family, 1840s-1902 Subseries 4.3: Gilman Family, 1916-2004; undated Subseries 4.4: McDowell Family, 1920; undated Subseries 4.5: Pease Family, 1953-1984; undated
Biographical / Historical:
Mary Elizabeth Kennedy Sandford founded the Sandford Card Company in Dansville, New York in 1907. The Sandford Card Company was intended to provide consumers a means to send messages to family and friends. Such products contained more thought out verses and images than the typical postcards that were available during this time period. Initially, Mary Elizabeth created four verses with images and had five thousand of each printed by the F. A. Owen Publishing Company. The four samples were sent to two hundred bookstores and drugstores. Sales were later made with distributors and agents in various cities throughout the country. In addition, the company also sold cards to fraternal organizations using their symbols or mottos in the design. Eventually, fraternal organizations became a big part of the company's customer base expanding to more than fifty groups. The company grew as a mail order business. All card shipments were made directly from Dansville, New York to forty-eight states and countries including Canada, Alaska, Cuba, Japan, Guam, Philippines, Hawaii, Panama, and Netherlands, West Indies, England and Scotland. Although the Sandford Card Company started as a greeting card business it eventually offered place cards, calling cards, calendars, program folders, napkins, banquet supplies, gifts and souvenirs to its product line. All printing work was contracted out to lithographic businesses in New York, Boston and Cincinnati. With the death of Mary Elizabeth Sandford and her husband Frank Sherman Sandford the company continued to be operated under the guidance of their daughter Ruth Louise Sandford. In 1948, Ruth Sandford hired John G. Holden as business manager. In 1965, the company moved from Dansville to Baldwinsville, New York under the management of the third generation of the founding family. It continued to operate as a family business until it was sold to John G. Holden. The company was later purchased by Rodney Pease the grandson of Mary Elizabeth Sandford's sister Lillian Frances Pease. Pease eventually changed the name and direction of the company.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center Lillian Pease Card Company Records (AC1251)
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives Center in 2011 by R. Thompson Gilman, Executor for the estate of Elizabeth G. Essley.
Restrictions:
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Women-owned business enterprises  Search this
Women -- Political activity  Search this
Women -- Organizations  Search this
Postcards -- 20th century  Search this
Greeting cards -- 20th century  Search this
Greeting card industry  Search this
Family-owned business enterprises  Search this
Women's suffrage -- United States  Search this
Temperance  Search this
Health resorts  Search this
Genre/Form:
Cartes-de-visite
Clippings -- 20th century
Travel diaries -- 20th century
Photograph albums -- 20th century
Programs -- 20th century
Advertising -- 20th century
Photographs -- 20th century
Letters (correspondence) -- 19th century
DVDs
Business cards
Trade catalogs -- 20th century
Genealogies
Photographs -- 19th century
Diaries -- 20th century
Design drawings -- 20th century
Business records -- 20th century
Account books -- 20th century
Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century.
Calling cards
Cabinet photographs
Diaries -- 19th century
Daguerreotypes
Memoirs
Citation:
Sandford Greeting Card Company and Family Papers, circa 1839-2000; undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.1252
See more items in:
Sandford Greeting Card Company and Family Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep81b1ccf0d-eb81-4700-87bc-1b731a16572a
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1252