Series 5, Photographs, 1882-1973; undated, document advertising, company activities, office buildings, plants, packaging, grocery store displays, window and wall displays, employees and the coffee trade. Company photographer, Ken P. Allen, is credited with many of the company related images and some relating to the coffee trade. Most of the photographs are labeled and have negatives. Documentation for some of the photographs can also be found in other portions of the collection. The series is divided into twelve subseries.
Subseries 5.1, Employees, 1882-1961; undated, document the activities of people working for the company. Company employees consist of factory workers, salesmen, and executives. Company executives include Austin Hills, Reuben Hills, Edward E. Hills, Herbert Gray Hills, Leslie W. Hills and T. Carroll Wilson. A number of the employee photographs were created for company publications. Some of the company activities include female employees in the preparedness parade, the company basketball team, a groundbreaking ceremony, salesmen conventions, managers' meetings and coffee testing or cupping. The materials are arranged in chronological order by date.
Subseries 5.2, Division Offices, 1924-1931; undated, include images of Hills Bros. offices across the country including Butte, Chicago, Denver, El Paso, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle, Spokane, and Wichita. These photographs document both the work stations of the region and Hills Bros. personnel in their work environment. The interior and exterior of the division offices are also shown. There is one image of an unidentified office. Materials are arranged in alphabetical order by the name of the city in which the offices are located.
Subseries 5.3, Facilities and Vehicles, 1927-1973; undated, primarily document the work environment and social spaces for many of the plant and factory workers. There are a number of images of female employees engaged in work. Some of the photographs show machinery used for transporting bags of green coffee into the warehouse, controlled roasting, vacuum packing, and granulation control. The architectural design, construction and outside views of the Edgewater Plant, 1939-1940, are also included among these materials. The location of this plant was critical for shipping green coffee up the Hudson River from the New York Harbor to the plant. In addition, there are images of trucks used by the company. Images of the cafeteria dating from 1927 and exhibits for employees dating from 1938-1968 are also found among these materials. The materials are arranged in chronological order by date.
Subseries 5.4, Advertising, 1925-1959; undated includes images of the various logos, designs, displays and illustrations used by Hills Bros. throughout the years. There are a number of images of the Arab trademark photographed in various settings. Many of the images have negatives and include advertising forms, point of purchase displays, outdoor displays, food show exhibits, newspaper advertisements, a 1940 medal award for newspaper campaign advertising and selling, service cards and displays installed by advertising service men. Most of the materials are dated and are arranged in chronological order.
Subseries 5.5, Sales, circa 1921-1939; undated, consist of photographic materials maintained by Hills Bros. for use in sales presentations. Included among these materials is an incomplete set of plates from a jobber portfolio for the Midwest area dating from 1921-1922. There are also a number of negatives of sales maps dating from 1931-1939 and telephones. Materials are arranged in chronological order by date.
Subseries 5.6, Packaging, 1884-1969; undated includes both prints and negatives of containers used by Hills Bros. to prepare and store coffee products. There are images of boxes, cans, glass jars, coffee guides and coffee pots. An evolution of packaging design as it relates to historical events is evident throughout the images. Of note are prints of the Hills Bros. coffee cans in the paintings by artist Fred Machetanz dating from 1969. The materials are arranged in chronological by date.
Subseries 5.7, Grocery Store Displays, circa, 1901-1935, contain the largest amount of materials in this series. Hills Bros. photographer, Ken Allen visited a number of retail grocers around the country to document Hills Bros. coffee displays. Some of these photographs were used in broadsides created by Hill Bros. entitled "Interesting Grocery Stores" and "Before and After." The broadsides were created from 1928-1933 with the retail grocer as the target market. Approximately 30,000 broadsides were mailed to customers. The photographs are identified by the name of the store and location. Most of the prints also have negatives and correspondence granting Hills Bros. permission to publish the photographs. Materials are arranged in alphabetical order by the name of the grocery store.
Subseries 5.8, Store Tests, 1938, consists of photographs, negatives, reports and drawings from merchandising tests conducted in grocery stores in California, Arizona, Oregon, Missouri and Minnesota. "Before" photographs document shelf displays while the "after" photographs document the new floor displays. Reports on the corresponding sales figures used to promote Hills Bros. merchandising service in retail grocery stores are also include among the materials. The materials were maintained in the order that they were created by the company.
Subseries 5.9, Window and Wall Displays, 1928, 1930, 1934, contain a large number of photographs documenting the installations of window and wall displays. The displays were created by the advertising department in San Francisco and given to advertising service representatives as patterns for the installations. Advertising service representatives operated throughout the entire marketing area from the Pacific Coast to Chicago. It was custom to visit every grocery store at least once a year. Representatives offered to install a window display or wall display free of cost to the store. The materials are arranged by number and include some duplicates.
Subseries 5.10, Publicity, 1933-1936; undated, include photographs and correspondence that were maintained by Hills Bros. for publicity purposes. A large portion of the photographs consist of Hollywood movie stills with scenes using Hills Bros. coffee primarily from the 1930s. There is a substantial amount of material on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Incorporated polar expedition (1933) for the production of the movie "Eskimo." Based on the novel of the same name by Peter Freuchen, a Scandinavian surveyor, the movie chronicles his experiences charting the North Arctic Zone for use in maps put out by the Danish government. The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Incorporated crew was sent above the Arctic Circle to film the production using natives. A supply of Hills Bros. coffee was included among the food provisions to last the crew for a year. Photographs of the expedition and movie stills were later used by Hills Bros. for advertising in grocery stores. In addition, there is also a newspaper article from the Citizen News dated January 1934 that discusses the adventures of the cast and crew of Eskimo. The materials are arranged in chronological order by date.
Subseries 5.11, Miscellaneous, 1898-1949; undated, is a random mix of images including the return of troops from the Spanish American War on Market Street; Boeing Air Transportation, Incorporated; Frank Goss from the Columbia Broadcasting System; Fresno Bee National Recovery Administration; Infants' Choir; Kinner Airplane and Motor Corporation, Ltd.; gold miners with hot coffee by the camp fire; and Fred N. Palmiter. The materials are arranged in chronological order by date.
Subseries 5.12, Coffee and Tea Industry, 1900s-1947; undated, consist of prints and negatives relating primarily to the cultivation, growth and processing of green coffee. A number of these images document women laborers from Guatemala and El Salvador examining, hand picking and sorting coffee beans. The photographs were created to illustrate the production process in the 1930s. A photograph of Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Brown on a coffee buying trip in the 1900s is also included among the materials. There are photographs of coffee mills and Hills Bros. Company's participation in food shows. In addition, there are some images relating to the tea trade including the loading of tea in Asia. Materials are arranged in chronological order by date.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Incorporated Records, 1856-1989, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian.
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.
Collection Citation:
Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Incorporated Records, 1856-1989, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian.
0.55 Cubic feet (1 box, 1 folder in oversized box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Diaries
Photographs
Negatives
Certificates
Calendars
Place:
Alaska
Date:
bulk 1917-1970
Summary:
This collection consists of material relating to both Robert S. Sanford's World War I service and his work in Alaska with the US Bureau of Mines. The material relating to his service with the 139th Aero Squadron includes the following: a series of over 100 letters from Sanford to his family from 1917-1919, chronicling his entry into the military, training stateside, his overseas deployment and service in the Toul sector; nine photographs of Sanford in uniform or of aircraft in France; a May 4, 1918 copy of "Plane News"; and a small brown diary with entries written by Sanford from 1917 to 1918.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of material relating to both Robert Sanford's World War I service and his work in Alaska with the US Bureau of Mines. The material relating to his service with the 139th Aero Squadron includes the following: a series of over 100 letters from Sanford to his family from 1917-1919, chronicling his entry into the military, training stateside, his overseas deployment and service in the Toul sector; nine photographs of Sanford in uniform or of aircraft in France; a May 4, 1918 copy of Plane News; and a small brown diary with entries written by Sanford from 1917 to 1918. The material relating to his work with the United States Bureau of Mines includes the following: two brown notebooks containing Sanford's notes on his work in Alaska, including flying information; one notebook containing photographs of Alaska, mostly of hunting and fishing; a few letters from Sanford in Alaska to his family; negatives from Alaska; newspaper articles about Sanford's contributions to finding the Alaskan oil fields; a certificate given to Sanford for crossing the Arctic Circle as a passenger of Wien Alaska Airlines in 1945; and a 1947 Wien Alaska Airlines, Inc. calendar.
Arrangement:
The Robert S. Sanford Collection is arranged by content type.
Biographical / Historical:
Robert S. Sanford (1897-1981) served as an airplane mechanic for the 139th Aero Squadron during World War I. The 139th was assigned to the First Army on June 12, 1918 and engaged in the Toul Sector. They ceased operations on December 11, 1918. After the war, Sanford was employed by various private mining companies in South America, Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Oregon, Canada and Oklahoma. He joined the US Bureau of Mines in 1940, and in 1943 was the district engineer in charge of the mineral development program in Alaska. While there, he found large oil areas on the Arctic slope. In the early 1950s, Sanford served with the State Department, on loan from the Bureau of Mines, as a mining consultant to Afghanistan, India, and Nepal. He resigned from the Bureau of Mines in 1966.
Provenance:
Bonnie Gitlin, Gift, 2004, NASM.2004.0063
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
7.28 Cubic feet (5 records center boxes, 1 16 x 20 x 3 inch flatbox, 1 12 x 16 x 3 inch flatbox)
7.66 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Manuscripts
Photographs
Publications
Financial records
Audiotapes
Telegrams
Ephemera
Date:
1931-1985
bulk 1931-1939
bulk 1946-1962
Summary:
The Bendix Corporation (1924-1983), manufacturers of devices for the automotive and aviation industries, sponsored the Bendix Trophy Race—a transcontinental speed competition for aircraft—annually from 1931-1939, then sporadically from 1946-1962. This collection includes race-related materials from the Bendix Advertising and Publicity department, along with materials from other aviation events for which Bendix was a sponsor. Approximately a third of the collection relates to the corporation's activities from circa 1960 to 1983, including military and commercial avionics and communications systems, and support for the Unites States space program, particularly the construction of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex 39.
Scope and Contents:
This collection centers on the activities of the Bendix Advertising and Publicity department (later Advertising and Public Relations), for many years directed by William A. Mara (later Eldon E. Fox) and assisted by the New York public relations firm Carl Byoir and Associates, Inc. Materials include correspondence, telegrams, documents, brochures, press releases, photographs, and black and white and color negatives and transparencies. As the Bendix Trophy Races were closely associated with the National Air Races, the collection includes race programs, schedules, entry forms, and related air racing ephemera, as well as a number of photographs by Robert E. Burke and Associates, for many years the official photographer of the National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio. Similar materials relate to the National Soaring Contest held in Elmira, New York (1935-1946), and the All Woman Transcontinental Air Race (1956-1962) for which Bendix was a sponsor, various National Aircraft Shows and National Aviation Shows, and Bendix's membership in the Aircraft Industries Association of America (AIAA). The collection also includes materials relating to the design and production of the Vincent Bendix Trophy and related replicas and engraved plaques by the Medallic Art Company (New York, NY) and plaster models and plaques by The Potter-Bentley Studios, Inc. (Cleveland, Ohio). Also included are photographs and two sets of 11 audio cassette tape recordings each of interviews made as part of the 1985 program "The Golden Years," and photographs taken at the related October 30, 1985, event at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The later third of the collection relates to Bendix's activities circa 1960-1985, with documents and photographs relating to the construction of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex 39, followed by a small amount of assorted advertising ephemera for various Bendix electronic products and services.
Arrangement:
The materials are arranged in the original physical order as received from the donor, and have been grouped into four series. Folders within a series generally run in chronological order, although the last series contains an assortment of materials many of which would be more logically placed in earlier series. Folders of correspondence are generally arranged in reverse chronological order within the folder. Many of the photographs appearing in Series 2 (Bendix Trophy Races, By Year) can be found duplicated elsewhere in the collection. Boxes 6 and 7 both contain oversized materials.
Biographical / Historical:
The Bendix Corporation, founded in 1924 by inventor Victor Bendix, began as a manufacturer of devices for use in the automotive industry, initially of engine-related items such as starting motors and carburetors, but soon expanding to brakes and hydraulic systems. In 1929, renamed as Bendix Aviation, the corporation branched out into the design and manufacture of equipment for the closely related aeronautics industry, including aircraft hydraulics for brake and flap systems, aircraft engine carburetors, and various electric and electronic instruments. In 1931, Bendix decided to sponsor the first Bendix Trophy Race—a transcontinental speed competition open to all comers, male or female—"to encourage experimental developments by airplane designers and to improve the skills of aviators in cross-country flying techniques such as weather plotting, high altitude and instrument flight." The Bendix Trophy Races were held in conjunction with the National Air Races, occurring with great fanfare annually from 1931-1939, but were suspended from 1940-1945 during World War II. In 1946, the races resumed, but now had to contend with the invention of the jet engine—accordingly, the Bendix Trophy Race was split into two categories: the "R" Division for reciprocating engine airplanes, and the "J" Division for U.S. military jet airplanes. Interest in air racing had declined in the post-war period, and no race was run in 1950. In 1951 the races resumed, and from this point on were limited to U.S. military jets only. Subsequent Bendix Trophy Races occurred in 1953-1957, and then (after a three-year gap) in 1961, with the last race held in 1962.
By this point in time, the Bendix Corporation—which had branched out to dominate the US market in aircraft radio and radar equipment during World War II—was producing missile and radar systems for the US military. In the 1960s Bendix was also building ground and airbourne telecommunications and telemetry systems for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Bendix Field Engineering division worked on the construction of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex 39 at the Merritt Island Launch Area (MILA) adjacent to Cape Canaveral, Florida, including the Apollo Launch Control Center, Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), and operational support equipment. In the 1970s, Bendix and its numerous Divisions were involved in a series of mergers, sales, and other changes involving the Raytheon and Allied (later Allied-Signal Aerospace) corporations, followed by a hostile takeover attempt in 1982 by Martin Marietta. In 1983, Bendix was acquired by Allied-Signal Aerospace (later Honeywell International) which retained the avionics part of the business.
The original Vincent Bendix Trophy was donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in 1985 [artifact number A19850368000]. On October 30, 1985, an event sponsored by Bendix/Allied-Signal was held at the museum in Washington, D.C., honoring aviators involved in the Bendix Trophy Races. Titled "The Golden Years," the program included interviews with several winners of the Bendix Trophy.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
