Outdoor profile portrait of Mattaponi man John Langston, wearing overcoat, posed in front of a clapboard structure with brick chimney on the Mattaponi Reservation, Virginia.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Frank Speck photograph collection, Photo Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Outdoor portrait of Mattaponi man John H. Langston, wearing overcoat, sweater, and broad-brimmed hat, posed in front of a clapboard structure with brick chimney on the Mattaponi Reservation in Virginia.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Frank Speck photograph collection, Photo Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
United States of America -- New York -- Nassau County -- Sands Point
Date:
[1930?]
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original images by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens.
The collection documents the Fuller Brush Company founded by Alfred C. Fuller in 1906.
Content Description:
The collection documents the Fuller Brush Company from the early years of its existence. The contents include photographs; ledgers; correspondence; internal reports; manufacturing facility studies; quality control reports; financial statements; sales data; company newsletters, some loose and some in bound form; other internal publications; advertising; trade literature; product manuals; catalogs; training manuals and employee handbooks; company annual reports; convention programs and materials; films; materials relating to employee incentives; vinyl records of radio broadcasts; scripts, pressbooks, and other promotional material for motion pictures; informational audio-cassete tapes; contracts, trial testimonies, and other legal papers; industry surveys and marketing campaign proposals; and clippings and printed materials.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into thirteen series. Unless otherwise noted, material is arranged chronologically.
Series 1: Historical background, 1916-2001
Series 2: Corporate records, 1917-2010 (bulk 1973-1976)
Series 3: Marketing, 1941-2013
Series 4: Operational records, 1913-1976 (bulk 1969-1976)
Series 5: Financial materials, 1919-1996
Series 6: Personnel, 1922-1984
Series 7: Sales managers, 1922-1990
Series 8: Distributors, 1921-2006
Series 9: Publications, 1920-1999
Series 10: Product materials, 1912-2017
Series 11: Photographs, circa 1890-2000
Series 12: Press Clippings and Publicity, 1921-2010
Series 13: The Fuller Brush Man and The Fuller Brush Girl, 1947-1953, 2004 (bulk 1947-1952).
Historical:
Founded in 1906 by Alfred C. Fuller in Hartford, Connecticut, the Fuller Brush Company predominately sold a wide range of cleaning products, marketed for personal care, housekeeping, and commercial users. Mostly a direct-selling company, it is perhaps best known for its independent, door-to-door salesmen, a figure referred to in popular culture as "the Fuller Brush Man." Calling on the housewives of America, the Fuller Brush Man would visit households with a gift, flyers, and a case full of samples, with which he would demonstrate the use of cleaning implements of various shapes and sizes. Through techniques such as developing new products based on customer feedback, and providing a satisfaction guarantee by allowing for product returns during the Fuller Brush Man's next visit, the Fuller Brush Company inspired new levels of trust and credibility in direct selling. In return, the company reaped massive profits. During the peak of the company's popularity, in around the 1950s, the Fuller Brush Man was a ubiquitous part of the American landscape, alluded to in comic strips, radio programs, and popular films, such as the 1948 Red Skelton comedy The Fuller Brush Man and the 1950 comedy The Fuller Brush Girl, starring Lucille Ball.
The Fuller Brush Company continually used its resources to promote and establish the identity of the Fuller Brush Man, to its own salespeople as well as the public. Traditional print advertisements were supplemented with extensive publicity coverage, carefully crafted by the Fuller Brush Company's advertising and public relations team. The company fostered a culture of achievable aspiration among new recruits, through in-house publications, which celebrated the accomplishments of fellow dealers, incentive programs, and a career ladder pipeline, which allowed high achieving salesmen to advance from independent dealers to regional sales managers--who were considered formal employees of the Fuller Brush Company. Some sales managers became local celebrities in their districts, adding their own charisma to the development of the Fuller Brush Man--such as New York District's Al Teetsel--whose "Fine and Dandy" personal motto established a cult following. Other Fuller Brush Company salesmen used the Fuller Brush Man's distinctive optimism, pluck, and perseverance to later become celebrities in their own right, such as evangelist Billy Graham, who attributed his high school days as a successful Fuller Brush Man to his future success.
While the Fuller Brush Company is best known for its door-to-door network of Fuller Brush Men, and its household products division, the company experimented with various channels of distribution and other specialized products during its over 100-year history. The Fuller Brush Company produced implements to clean guns during World War II, and in 1945 was honored with the E Award for its war effort contributions. In the 1940s, the Fuller Brush Company introduced female salespeople, or "Fullerettes" to their door-to-door ranks (mostly to promote their Debutante Cosmetics line, released by Daggett & Ramsdell, Inc. in 1948). The company returned to actively recruiting Fullerettes in 1966, and thereafter welcomed distributors of either sex. The company's Machine Division produced the mast for the sailboat "Columbia" in 1958, and in the 1960s, its Marine Division produced items for the maintenance of nautical equipment. Around the 1960s, its Household Division incorporated new items such as vitamins and hormone treatments into its personal care product line. The company experimented with retail brick-and-mortar locations, and, in 1974, instigated a telemarketing program. After 1985, the Fuller Brush Company began to move away from door-to-door sales techniques, redeveloping its sale channel distribution system to include mail order catalogs, a secure sales website for distributors, network-marketing techniques, and a reinterpretation of sales territories for distributors where district territories began to blur in favor of nationwide sales opportunities.
Founded in Hartford, Connecticut, the company remained in the region through the 1960s, though the company shifted locations to larger offices and manufacturing facilities as it grew. In 1960, operational facilities and headquarters moved to a large, custom-built campus in East Hartford, Connecticut. However, in 1968, the company was acquired by the Kitchens of Sara Lee, Inc. (then a part of the Consolidated Foods Corporation). During the 1970s the Fuller Brush Company experienced rapid changes in administration and organization. Under President Nat Zivin, headquarters relocated to Niles, Illinois in 1973. Later the same year, headquarters and operations moved to a large manufacturing facility in Great Bend, Kansas. The company remained a division of Sara Lee until 1989.
The Fuller Brush Company grew to involve multiple subsidiaries, including many that were international. The Fuller Brush Company established a wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary in 1921, called the Fuller Brush Company, Limited. In 1942, the Fuller Brush Company bought out a competitor, the Albany, New York-based Mohawk Brush Company. The "bristlecomb" hairbrush, introduced by the Mohawk Brush Company in 1928, remained one of the Fuller Brush Company's signature products. In 1961, the Fuller Brush Company founded and incorporated Charter Supply Corporation as a wholly-owned Mohawk subsidiary. Charter Products operated as a "private label" division, to rebrand duplicate products. The Fuller Brush Company also owned subsidiaries in Mexico; in 1968, the Fuller Brush Company held 100% interest in House of Fuller, S.A. and Charter de Mexico, S.A., both established in Mexico. Also in 1968, the Fuller Brush Company was a partial owner of House of Fuller (Jamaica), Ltd. The Fuller Brush Company conducted business around the world, including dealings in England, France, Jamaica, Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Spain, and Venezuela.
With growth came legal challenges. The Green River Ordinance, established in 1931, placed limits on door-to-door sales. The Fuller Brush Company challenged the ordinance, when it went to the Supreme Court in 1937. Over the course of its history, the Fuller Brush Company weathered lawsuits ranging from trademark disputes to labor treatment complaints from area managers in Puerto Rico.
After the sale by Sara Lee in 1989, the Fuller Brush Company was held by a series of private owners, including Lee Turner and Stuart A. Ochiltree. In June 1994, CPAC, Inc. purchased the company. In 1995, CPAC, Inc. also bought a longtime competitor of the Fuller Brush Company, Stanley Home Products, a company founded in 1929 by Stanley Beverage, a former sales vice president for the Fuller Brush Company. The two companies became siblings under the same parent organization; items from the Stanley Home Products line were sold by Fuller Brush Company distributors, and manufactured at the Fuller Brush Company plant in Great Bend. In 2012, both the Fuller Brush Company and Stanley Home Products filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The companies merged their product lines and catalogs, eliminating equivalent products, to cut costs and streamline operations.
In December 2012, David Sabin and Chicago-based private equity firm Victory Park Capital purchased the Fuller Brush Company. The company headquarters moved to Napa Valley, California. Facing increased financial difficulties, in 2016 the company began to phase out its independent distributor system and domestic manufacturing operations. Around January 2018, the company was sold to Galaxy Brush LLC of Lakewood, New Jersey.
Biographical:
Alfred C. Fuller (January 13, 1885 - December 4, 1973), was founder and first president of the Fuller Brush Company, as well as the "original Fuller Brush Man." He was born in rural Nova Scotia, to parents Leander Joseph Fuller and Phebe Jane Collins. The eleventh of twelve children, Fuller took pride in the resilient and self-sufficient spirit he developed growing up on a Nova Scotian farm, and valued such qualities throughout his life over formal education. Long after his success, he promoted himself as an average man among average men.
In 1903, at age eighteen, Alfred Fuller left his family home in Nova Scotia, and followed siblings who settled in the United States. He moved in with his sister Annie and her husband, Frank Adler, in Somerville, Massachusetts. After a series of odd jobs, Fuller considered trying his hand at selling brushes (he was inspired by a brother, Dwight, who made and sold brushes before his death by tuberculosis in 1901). Alfred discovered a knack for trade; unlike many other direct salesmen at the time, his sales technique emphasized product demonstrations. Eventually, Fuller decided to make his own brushes. He set up a workbench in his sister's basement in January 1906. Four months later, he moved to Hartford, Connecticut where he founded the Fuller Brush Company.
The rapid success of the company, improved Alfred C. Fuller's romantic prospects. With the enthusiastic support of his sister, Annie, Alfred initiated a courtship with a Nova Scotian woman who had formerly caught his eye, Evelyn Ellis. They were married on April 10, 1908. However, the marriage was strained, and they divorced in 1930. In 1932, Alfred Fuller remarried. His second wife, Mary Primrose Pelton, was also Nova Scotian, the daughter of a judge from Yarmouth. They remained together for the rest of his life.
Alfred C. Fuller and his first wife Evelyn had two sons. Alfred Howard was born in 1913 and Avard in 1916. Both would later rise to prominence within the Fuller Brush Company, serving as its second and third presidents. The elder son, Howard, was Fuller Brush Company President from 1943 until 1959. From an early age, Howard challenged his father regarding the direction of the company. With his bold and aggressive personality, Howard was able to institute changes to the company that resulted in higher profits, such as distributing catalogs before the salesman's visit, shortening product demonstrations, prioritizing many small sales over few large sales, and developing other techniques that emphasized speed and efficiency. However, his temperament also contributed to Howard and his wife Dora's untimely deaths. Howard, always interested in thrilling, high-risk pursuits (such as driving sports cars, piloting airplanes, and racing speedboats and sailboats) was cruising through Nevada at 120-miles per hour for a business trip, uncharacteristically accompanied by his wife, when his Mercedes-Benz 300 SL blew a tire. Both Fullers died in the accident.
Following the tragic accident, Avard assumed leadership of the Fuller Brush Company. Avard's more conservative nature ushered in an era of leadership where his father, Alfred C. Fuller, rose in honor and influence with the company. However, Avard relied on traditional sales strategies (such as promoting a culture around the Fuller Brush Man, rather than take a more active strategy toward integrating female distributors) which placed the Fuller Brush Company at a disadvantage with competitors such as Avon Cosmetics. Avard served as President of the Fuller Brush Company until 1969.
Although Alfred C. Fuller never reclaimed presidency of the Fuller Brush Company, he remained chairman emeritus for the duration of his life. A treasured company figurehead, celebrations were held in his honor long after his retirement. In 1956, a testimonial dinner was held where a portrait of Fuller was unveiled in honor of the 50-year anniversary of the Fuller Brush Company. In 1965, Alfred C. Fuller was further honored, when his birthplace was dedicated as a historic landmark. Alfred C. Fuller was known as "Dad" Fuller to the thousands of Fuller Brush Men and Fullerettes who represented the company door-to-door throughout the country, and made frequent appearances in in-house publications and external publicity. Working with Hartzell Spence, Alfred C. Fuller wrote an autobiography, titled A Foot in the Door, published by the McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. in 1960. A practicing Christian Scientist with a devout Methodist mother, Fuller frequently alludes to the influence of his faith in his autobiography. Alfred C. Fuller passed away on December 4, 1973.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Stanley Home Products Collection (AC0788)
Earl S. Tupper Papers (AC0470)
Brownie Wise Papers (AC0509)
Ann and Thomas Damigella Collections (AC0583)
Industry on Parade Film Collection, episodes 66, 217 (AC0507)
Materials at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Libraries Trade Literature Collection, includes some Fuller Brush Company catalogs;
The Work and Industry Division, National Museum of American History holds artifacts from the Fuller Brush Company from previous accessions, such as hairbrushes for women and men (including bristlecomb hairbrushes); shower brushes; toothbrushes; combs; a military brush; brush holders; and similar materials. (AG.A.6645-AG.A.6653; AG.A.6656-AG.A.6666; AG.77-FT-15.0523; ZZ.RSN833134).
The Medicine and Science Division, National Museum of American History holds a general purpose cleaning brush, and a bathroom fixtures cleaning brush from a previous accesssion (2006.0098).
National Portrait Gallery holds a portrait of Alfred Fuller.
Materials at Other Organizations
Hagley Museum and Library, Manuscripts and Archives Department
Avon Products Inc., Records, 1880-2012
University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, Archives
Columbia Pictures Records, 1934-1974 (collection #93555)
Includes materials related to the Fuller Brush man and Fuller Brush Girl, 1950.
Separated Materials:
Artifacts collected along with the acquisition of archival material are held by the Divisions of Work and Industry, and Medicine and Science.
Separated materials assigned to the Division of Work and Industry include a men's tie; buttons; ashtray; charm; and tape measure. See accession 2018.0089.
Separated materials assigned to Division of Medicine and Science include a bathing brush, a dental plate brush, a women's hair brush, a comb cleaner, and toothbrushes. Some items are maintained in original packaging, or are kept with original paper inserts. See accession 2018.0090.
Provenance:
Collection donated by the Fuller Brush Company through David Sabin, 2018.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Reference copies for audio and moving images materials do not exist. Use of these materials requires special arrangement. Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives.
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.
The Samuel Adams Papers document a surgeon's perspective on several major battles and events occurring during the United States Civil War.
Scope and Contents:
This collection is divided into four series and includes letters and other papers of the Civil War surgeon Samuel Adams, as well as two CDs containing scans of the letters and transcriptions, and other documentation. The letters were sent to Adams's family and were written from the sites of major battles of the Civil War, including Antietam, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. One letter mentions Lincoln's assassination. The collection contains medical papers written by Adams, a military pass, and a list of "maxims" written by Adams's body servant, WIlliam. Additionally, genealogical information connecting the collection donor to Samuel Adams, transcriptions of all handwritten documentation, and a copy of Grandfather to Grandson, which is a collection of letters written by the donor's great-grandfather during the Great Depression, are included.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into four series.
Series 1: Supplemental Documentation, 1862-1933, undated
Series 2: Civil War Letters, 1862-1865 (bulk 1862-1863)
Series 3: Medical Papers, undated
Series 4: Miscellaneous Documents, 1861 July 16, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Samuel Adams was born in Maine around 1839, and was a surgeon for the Union Army during the United States Civil War. Adams enlisted on April 16, 1862 as an assistant surgeon, and was commissioned into the U.S. Army Medical Staff as part of the regular Army. Adams received two promotions by brevet during the war to Captain and then to Major. He was present during the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg, and died of yellow fever on September 9,1867 in Galveston, Texas.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Robert K. Hollingsworth on September 26, 2013.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
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.
Approximately 11,000 images collected by Thomas Norrell consisting of original photographic prints and photographic postcards, original film and glass plate negatives, and duplicate/copy photographic prints and negatives. The majority are external views of single locomotive engines of North American railroad and industrial companies. Images of international railroad company locomotives and of representative locomotives from various locomotive works and builders are also included. The collection contains a small number of subject-specific images covering such topics as train wrecks, funeral trains, experimental locomotives, miniature trains, and locomotives at the 1933 and 1939 World's Fairs.
Scope and Contents:
The collection contains material related primarily, but not exclusively, to early North American railroad locomotives. Photographs and negatives comprise the bulk of the material in the collection, with the number of individual images well exceeding 10,000. While the collection is particularly valuable for its images of locomotives from smaller or relatively obscure railroad lines and industrial concerns (such as mining and lumber companies), it also includes a substantial number of images from the leaders of the railroad industry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (such as the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad).
Norrell's organization of the collection reflects his technical knowledge of railroad engines and his familiarity with various railroad companies. His use of Whyte notation as an organizational schema gives evidence to this. Whyte notation is broadly utilized by the railroad industry as a way to classify locomotives based on their wheel configuration. A count of leading (non-driving) wheels, middle driving wheels, and trailing wheels (non-driving) is represented by a three-digit hyphenated number. For example, a locomotive with four leading wheels, four driving wheels, and two trailing wheels would be classified as a 4-4-2. Norrell utilized this convention when subdividing railroad companies for which he had collected many images, such as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad, and the Lehigh Valley Railroad, among others. Norrell subdivided portions of his collection of Pennsylvania Railroad images based on that company's distinct classification system, where letters of the alphabet corresponded to different Whyte notations.
Norrell used other criteria to help subdivide larger assemblages of single-company railroad images, and these have been maintained. In some instances, he used the company number designation found on the locomotive itself (as in the case of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad). Other times, subject designations were used to distinguish rail yards, passenger cars, and special or prominent locomotives. Because the Pennsylvania Railroad comprised such a large segment of images, Norrell organized it according to a number of subdivision types (including year, Whyte notation, and subject) rather than any single one.
The collection is arranged into three series: Series 1, Negatives, 1831-1967, undated, Series 2, Photographic Prints, circa 1850-1960, and Series 3, Ephemera, undated.
Series 1, Negatives, 1831-1967, undated,contains photographic negatives and is divided into two subseries: Subseries 1, Film Negatives, 1831-1967, undated, and Subseries 2, Glass Plate Negatives, 1831-1967, undated.
The series contains original negative images, copy negatives of other printed images, and copy negatives of printed material, such as book illustrations. The inclusive dates for the series reflect the subject of the material photographed (as in the case of copy negatives) rather than the date the negative was created.
The negatives primarily depict views of single locomotive engines from various North American and international mainline and short line railroads. Interspersed among these are views of company-owned locomotives representing such North American industries as mining (coal, iron, limestone, copper, gold, quartz, zinc), lumber (timber, pulp, paper), metallurgical production (coke, iron, steel), stone/brick production (masonry, cement, gravel), utilities (power, light, telephone), chemical production, leather production, automotive production, and food service. A number of military railroad locomotives as well as early metropolitan transit systems are also represented among the negatives. Most of the images depict steam locomotives, though some diesel engines, diesel-electric hybrid engines, passenger and freight cars, and assorted repair/service vehicles are also spread throughout.
Subseries 1, Film Negatives, 1831-1967, undated consists of polyester film negatives ranging in size from 2 1/4" x 4 1/4" to 5" x 7". Additional larger polyester film negatives are interfiled with the glass plate negatives of Subseries 2 and range in size from 5" x 7" to 8" x 10".
The negatives are physically arranged by size, then by the negative series number originally assigned to them by the United States National Museum, Division of Transportation. This numbering system generally, but not always, follows an alphabetical order by name of railroad company (North American and international) or industrial company. The majority of the film negatives are 5" x 7" or smaller, and the number series for this size of negative begins with 85-20939 and ends with 85-31126.
Film negatives larger than 5" x 7" are separated and interfiled with the glass plate negatives of Subseries 2. As such, the negative series number range for these larger film negatives is not always consecutive. The first series number range begins at 82-4189 and ends at 82-4429. The second range begins at 82-13786 and ends at 82-13795. A printed, item-level index of the negatives containing an alphabetical list of railroad and industrial company names and associated negative numbers is available for consultation in the Archives Center.
The envelope enclosures for all negatives generally include the name of the railroad or industrial company, the engine/locomotive number, the engine/locomotive builder, the Whyte classification (wheel arrangement), the year of the engine/locomotive's construction, a brief description of the image, the size of the negative, and the negative series number.
Subseries 2, Glass Plate Negatives, 1831-1967, undated, consists of glass plate negatives ranging in size from 5" x 7" to 10" x 12". Three broken glass plate negatives have been re-housed and are stored separately. Otherwise the plates are arranged by size, then by original negative series number as assigned by the United States National Museum, Division of Transportation. This number range is not always consecutive because the glass plate negatives are interfiled with the larger film negatives of Subseries 1. A printed, item-level index of the negatives containing an alphabetical list of railroad and industrial company names and associated negative numbers is available for consultation in the Archives Center.
The 8" x 10" glass plate negative number series begins with 82-4168 and ends with 82-4424.
The 5" x 7" glass plate negatives contain series numbers 82-13783 to 82-13785.
The 12" x 10" glass plate negatives contain series numbers 82-4430 to 82-4452.
The envelope enclosures for the negatives generally include the name of the railroad or industrial company, the engine/locomotive builder, the Whyte classification (wheel arrangement), in some cases a brief description of the image, and the negative series number.
Series 2, Photographic Prints, circa 1850-1960,consists of visual material, including photographic postcards, illustrated postcards, photographic prints (made through a variety of photographic processes), and a photograph album. It contains five subseries: Subseries 1, North American Railroad Companies; Subseries 2, International Railroad Companies; Subseries 3, Railroad Builders; Subseries 4, Subjects; and Subseries 5, Duplicate Images.
Subseries 1, North American Railroad Companies, circa 1850-1960 includes photographic and illustrated postcards and photographic prints of North American railroad companies, industrial railroads, and urban transit companies. The images range in size from 2 1/4" x 4 1/4" to 8" x 10," with the majority being silver gelatin prints. Occasional albumen prints, cyanotype prints, and salted paper prints are found in the collection. The majority of the images are views of single locomotive engines, though some images of railroad stations, roundhouses, rail yards, and passenger cars are interspersed throughout. While the majority of the photographs are 4" x 6" or smaller, there are prints larger than 4" x 6" which are arranged alphabetically by railroad or industrial company name. In some cases multiple larger images from railroad companies with names close to each other alphabetically are filed together in a single folder and identified with the first common letters of the company names.
Norrell's original alphabetical organization by railroad or industrial company name has been preserved. In some instances where a substantial number of images for a particular railroad company exist, Norrell subidivided the images either by Whyte notation (wheel arrangement) or by subject. This usually follows either an alphabetical or numerical organization, but not in every case. In many instances, hand-written notes and postage appear on the reverse of the photographic postcards. Addresses and salutations indicate that many of the postcards were not sent to Thomas Norrell directly, but were acquired by him at a later date.
Subseries 2, International Railroad Companies, circa 1850-1960, includes photographs, illustrated postcards, and a photograph album depicting international railroads and railroad locomotives. Of particular interest is the photograph album compiled by Thomas Norrell containing sixty individual photographs of steam locomotive engines from eighteen assorted British, continental European, and South American railroad companies. The images are all approximately 14" x 10," and each corresponds to an identification chart mounted in the front of the album indicating the railroad company, engine number, Whyte notation (wheel arrangement), and special notes about each engine.
Subseries 3, Railroad Builders, circa 1850-1960 consists photographic prints and photographic postcards containing images of locomotives separated by builder. Norrell's original alphabetical arrangement of the images by locomotive works or manufacturing company name has been preserved.
Subseries 4, Subjects, 1804-1940, contains photographic prints and photographic postcards organized by subject. The images are arranged chronologically by date of the subject of the images. Of particular interest are Norrell's photographs of locomotives at the 1933-1934 Chicago and 1939-1940 New York World's Fairs.
Subseries 5, Duplicate Images, circa 1850-1960, contains duplicate photographic prints and duplicate copy prints created from the either the photographs in Series 2 or from the film and glass plate negatives from Series 1. The duplicate images, including photographic postcards and photographic prints, are subdivided by first letter of the name of the railroad or industrial company. The duplicate copy prints created from the negatives are arranged numerically by a negative number recorded on the negative itself.
Series 3, Ephemera, undated,consists of an unidentified and undated piece of railroad track.
References
Staufer, Alvin F. Pennsy Power III 1847-1968. Medina, OH: Alvin F. Staufer, 1993.
Subseries 1: North American Railroad Companies, circa 1850-1960
Subseries 2: International Railroad Companies, circa 1850-1960
Subseries 3: Railroad Builders, circa 1850-1960
Subseries 4: Subjects, 1804-1940
Subseries 5: Duplicate Images, circa 1850-1960
Series 3: Ephemera, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Thomas Norrell was born in West Ham (Essex County) England on November 11, 1899. He emigrated to the United States as a young man and became a naturalized citizen in 1911. He took an apprenticeship at the Baldwin Locomotive Works around 1920. Although the Baldwin works benefited from a boom in the export of steam locomotives meant to replenish foreign rail systems impacted by use during the First World War, the upswing was short-lived. Business at Baldwin slowed considerably in the 1920s as diesel engines began replacing steam locomotives. Recognizing that opportunities for advancement within Baldwin were scarce, Norrell moved out of railroad work completely and into the paper box industry. He married his wife Wilhelmina in 1929, and they resided in Cranston, Rhode Island and later Silver Spring, Maryland.
Despite his shift away from railroads as a vocation, Norrell maintained a life-long interest in trains and was a collector of photographic and print material related to locomotive engines, train cars, and industrial railroads. He contributed a number of articles to various railroad periodicals and was generous in providing images from his collection to other authors for reproduction in their publications. Norrell also influenced and supported a number of prominent railroad historians, including John H. White Jr., curator of the Division of Transportation in the Smithsonian National Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History). It was through White's efforts that Norrell's collection became part of the Smithsonian Institution.
In 1942 Norrell gained some degree of notoriety for having rediscovered the famed Brady Civil War negatives in the vault of the Phelps Publishing Company in Springfield, Massachusetts while searching for an unrelated daguerreotype of an early Massachusetts locomotive. The locomotive had been identified from a wood-engraving made by an artist for a Phelps subsidiary publication, and Norrell secured permission to search the Phelps Company's vault for the image. During his search, Norrell stumbled upon and recognized the famed Civil War collection from earlier printed publications of the images. He brought the collection to the attention of the National Archives, which deferred to the Library of Congress. The storage fees for the images had been unpaid for many years by their owner, and the Phelps Company, interested only in recovering compensation for the use of the space, seized the images and sold them at cost to the Library of Congress in 1944.
Norrell later lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia, close to his daughter Elise Mann. He died there on February 1, 1985.
References
Bell, Kurt R. "On the Shoulders of a Giant: A Profile of John H. White, Jr.," Railroad History, 204 (Spring-Summer 2011): 6-23.
Hodge, Robert, comp. An Index to the Death Notices in the Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Virginia), 1981-1991. Fredericksburg, VA: Robert A. Hodge (1992).
Norrell, Thomas. "The Norris Construction Record," Railroad and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin, 150 (1983): 57-XX.
Norrell, Thomas. "Uriah Wells, Locomotive Builder of Petersburg," Railroad and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin, 124 (1969): 40-XX.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930: Population Schedule. Massachusetts Enumeration District 9-169, Supervisor's District 10, Sheet 4-1, 1930.
Vanderbilt, Paul, comp. Guide to the Special Collections of Prints and Photographs in the Library of Congress. Washington D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1955.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Baldwin Locomotive Works Collection (Engine Registers and Order Books), 1833-1956, (AC0157)
Baldwin Locomotive Works Drawings, 1870-1890, (AC0353)
John H. White, Jr. Railroad Reference Collection, 1880s-1990, (AC0523)
Materials Held by the National Museum of American History, Division of Work and Industry
Three images from the collection, including an 1848 daguerreotype image of the locomotive "Tioga", an 1855 daguerreotype image of a locomotive on the Niagara Falls, and a circa 1870 daguerreotype image of a Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburgh locomotive.
Materials Held by Other Institutions
Thomas Norrell photographic album, and other views of rail transportation in Canada and the United States, circa 1920-1979, R5500-27-4-E, Andrew Audubon Merrilees fonds. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the United States National Museum, Division of Transportation (now known as the National Museum of American History, Division of Work and Industry) by Thomas Norrell on April 19, 1966.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270. The collection is stored off-site with the exception of the negatives. Some glass plate negatives are broken and may require special handling care.
Rights:
Copyright status unknown, though most images are in the public domain.
The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.
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.
Company catalog card included. Companyh acc. no. 149395.
Currently stored in box 3.1.41 [16].
Same as RSN 15163 and 27892.
Collection Restrictions:
The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.
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.
The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.
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.
The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.
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.
The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.
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.
