2.58 Cubic feet (consisting of 5.5 boxes, 4 oversize folders, 1 map case folder.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Trademarks
Letterheads
Sales catalogs
Business ephemera
Business cards
Print advertising
Business letters
Ephemera
Invoices
Receipts
Catalogs
Patents
Publications
Trade catalogs
Labels
Printed ephemera
Catalogues
Trade cards
Recipes
Trade literature
Periodicals
Manufacturers' catalogs
Commercial catalogs
Menus
Mail order catalogs
Instructional materials
Business records
Advertising mail
Advertisements
Commercial correspondence
Advertising
Auction catalogs
Legal documents
Sales records
Beverage labels
Legislation (legal concepts)
Manuals
Correspondence
Sales letters
Exhibition catalogs
Advertising cards
Advertising fliers
Date:
1748-1994
Summary:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Wines forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
Scope and Contents:
In 1953, Warshaw launched a year-long collecting campaign, soliciting material on whiskey and wine. He expanded this effort to also include items related to the drinking habit of notable persons. The wine category has been separated from this original grouping and contains material primarily related to wine traders and merchants, wine auction and exhibition materials, import and export legislation, and the creation and subsequent history of certain wines. Additional topics represented in the collection include medicinal uses of wine, cooking and wine, wine-related organizations, and wine in religious traditions.
The bulk of the represented content is print material including advertisements, business records, price lists, invoices, correspondence, and import/export records. While several companies are represented, there are no comprehensive business records for any entity represented in the collection.
Advertising represents a large portion of the collection, and provides a varied and expansive look at the evolution of wine-related art in advertising. Other strengths of the collection lie in the diversity of subject material, allowing researchers to get a broad introduction to several facets of the wine industry and wine in culture.
Arrangement:
Wines is arranged in three series.
Also included is a partial Brand Name Index - Guide Supplement (Box 1, Folder Admin).
Business Records
Genre
Subject
Forms Part Of:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Missing Title
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Wines is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
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.
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Wines, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Accounting and Bookkeeping forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
Scope and Contents:
Temperance contains material documenting perspectives on alcohol use and regulation as well as the impact of various temperance movements on society and the government. The collection covers the issues related to these movements through multiple eras and social lenses, and addresses both pro and anti-temperance perspectives though there is significantly more material that supports the temperance and prohibition movements.
Materials represent a sampling of newsclippings, realia (ribbons, fans, and pendants), artwork in various mediums, and educational resources. No extensive records of any particular group or region exist, and no particular depth is present for any singular subtopic. The subject of temperance often overlaps with news and developments about the women's suffrage movement, elections, and wars.
While newsclippings are divided into specific subject categories, there may be significant overlap between regional issues and files pertaining to legislation and elections due to newsclippings frequently addressing multiple issues.
Arrangement:
Temperance is arranged in four subseries.
Perspectives
Organizations
Regional Issues
Political Parties
Individuals
Genre
Cigarette and Tobacco Documentation
Event Documentation
Images, Writings, and Music
Realia
Serial Publications
Subject
Medicinal Uses
Temperance and Government
Temperance and Religion
Temperance and Society
Temperance and War
Oversize
Miscellaneous
Related Materials:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Missing Title
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Temperance is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
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.
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Temperance, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow. Please ask staff to remove any staples before copying.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: reproduction fees may apply.
Collection Citation:
Division of Science, Medicine, and Society HIV/AIDS Reference Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
7.38 Cubic feet (consisting of 12 boxes, 2 folders, 11 oversize folders, 1 map case folder, 3 boxes (1 full, 2 partial), plus digital images of some collection material.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Advertising
Advertising fliers
Advertising cards
Advertising mail
Advertisements
Beverage labels
Business cards
Business letters
Business ephemera
Business records
Caricatures
Catalogues
Commercial catalogs
Commercial correspondence
Correspondence
Ephemera
Invoices
Illustrations
Labels
Instructional materials
Legal documents
Legislation (legal concepts)
Letterheads
Mail order catalogs
Manuals
Manufacturers' catalogs
Menus
Periodicals
Printed ephemera
Print advertising
Publications
Recipes
Receipts
Sales catalogs
Sales letters
Sales records
Signs (declaratory or advertising artifacts)
Trade catalogs
Trade cards
Trade literature
Date:
1743-1963
bulk 1846-1962
Summary:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Accounting and Bookkeeping forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
Scope and Contents note:
In 1953, Warshaw launched a year-long collecting campaign, soliciting material on whiskey and wine. He expanded this effort to also include items related to the drinking habit of notable persons. This category was originally labeled "whiskey" but has been retitled as the content covers a wide variety of distilled beverages, spirits, liquors, liqueurs, and hard alcohol.
The bulk of the content is print material in the form of advertising, circulars, price lists, marketing and promotional items with also a sampling of business records consisting of transactional documents such as receipts, invoices, correspondence, and import/export paperwork. Some bottle labels and a couple of packaging examples are present, as are drink recipe booklets and entertainment/pairing guides. Only a small portion of this series covers regulatory aspects such as licensing and taxation, including a Prohibitionists' Text-Book from 1880. The rich volume of advertising provides much in the way of visuals regarding the culture of drinking and entertainment through several 19th and 20th Century eras.
The Warshaw Survey Campaign Records series provides insight to his collection building strategy. Samples of his outbound solicitations exist and to a greater extent, the inbound replies help demonstrate his process and some of the relationships he had with institutions, businesses, and individuals. Of particular note are some of the anecdotal responses, plus several essays and memoir pieces related to the effects of alcohol consumption; not always positive, not always negative.
See also Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Series 2: Other Collection Divisions, Liquor & Wine Labels and Advertisements, 1893-1905, which contains two additional boxes of scrapbooks filled with printed advertisements, dealers' receipts, labels and drink recipe books.
Arrangement note:
Whiskey, Liquor, and Spirits is arranged in five subseries.
Business Records and Marketing Material
Genre
Subject
Warshaw's Whiskey and Wine Survey and Collecting Campaign Records
Oversize Material
Brand Name Index:
The following is a list of brand names for various alcoholic beverages and related names that appear on this list is a compilation of those found on materials in the vertical document boxes. It is not a complete list of all the brand names for whiskey.
Brand Name Index
Brand Name -- Manufacturer
Adam Schneider's Dutch -- Seagram Distillery
Alleghany -- Phoenix Mills Dist.Co.
Ambassador -- Taylor & Ferguson
Ancestor -- John Dewar & Sons
Anderson Co. Club -- Phoenix Mills Dist. Co.
Angostura Bitters -- Philip Goldberg
Antiquary -- Jas. Hardie
Apry -- Schieffein & Co.
Arkansas Traveler -- Seagram Distillers
B & B -- Wright & Taylor
Bailey' s -- Huey & Christ
Banquet -- Ginter Co.
Barton -- Revere Distilling Co.
Bay State -- Revere Distilling Co.
Beechwood -- Applegate & Sons
Beefeater -- Kobrand Corp.
Big Cat -- General Distillers Corp.
Black & White -- Fleischmann Dist.
Black Warrior, The -- Seagram Distillers
Blue Blood Club -- Kentucky Liquor Co.
Blue Ribbon -- Altschul Distilling Co.
Bombay -- A. M. Penrose
Bond & Lillard -- W.H. McBrayer
Bonnie Brae -- Cobb Hersey Co.
Bos -- Pease Son & Co.
Bottoms Up -- Brown-Forman Distillery Co.
Briar Mint -- Cincinnati Distillers
Briar Mint -- General Distillers Corp.
Brunswick Club -- H.& H.W. Catherwood
Buckingham -- Venable & Heyman
Burks Spring -- Thos. L. Smith & Sons
Cabinet -- Woodrow & George
Canadian Club -- Hiram Walker & Son
Cap'n Jack -- Cincinnati Distillers
Carioca -- Schenley Co.
Carstairs -- Stewart Distilling Co.
Cedar Brook -- Wm.H. McBrayer
Cedar Valley -- Weideman, Holmes & Co.
Cee Bee Sloe Gin -- Cook & Bernheimer Co.
Celery -- Cook & Bernheimer Co.
Charteuse -- Shieffein & Co.
Cherry Heering -- Schenley Import Co.
Chivas Regal -- General Wine & Spirits Co.
Churchill 88 -- Fleischmann Distilling Corp.
Clover Club -- Boyle & McGlinn
Club, The -- G.F. Heublein & Bros.
Club House -- M. Shaughnessy & Co.
Cold Spring Jockey Club -- John Kissel & Son
Commodore -- J. Brown & Co.
Commonwealth Club -- Cobb Hersey Co.
Corby's -- Jas. Barclay & Co.
Cordon Bleu -- Martell
Coates Plymouth -- Schiefflin & Co.
County Chairman -- General Distillers Corp.
Courvoisier -- W.A. Taylor & Co.
Crcaker Jack -- General Distillers Corp.
Creme Yvette -- Sheffield Co.
Cuckoo -- Rex Distilling Co.
Cutty Shark -- Berry Bros . & Rudd Ltd.
Dekuyper -- National Distillers Products
Dewey's Victory -- A.B. Sheaffer
Dews of Erin -- Cobb Hersey Co.
D.J.A. -- David & John Anderson Ltd.
D.O.M. Benedictine -- Julius Wile Sons
Drambuie -- W.A.Taylor & Co.
Drip Rock -- Cold Spring Distilling
Duff Gordon -- Munson G. Shaw Co.
Eagle Liqueur -- Rheinstrom Bros .
Early Times -- Brown-Forman Distillery
Gold Dust -- A.R. Champney Co.
El Bart -- Camberwell Distillery
Embassy Club -- Continental Distilling
Empire Club -- G.F. Coshland & Co.
Everett Spring -- Cobb Hersey Co.
Fairfax County -- Austin, Nichols & Co.
Fairview -- Schmidt & Ziegler, Ltd.
Fellsglen -- John E. Fells
Fenbrook -- Charles S. Gove Co.
Fig Rye -- F. Madlener
Four Roses -- Frankfort Distilleries
Fulton -- Myers & Co.
Fundador -- Canada Dry Import Co.
Gair Loch -- Stromness Dist. Co.
Galliano -- McKesson & Robbins
Gaston Fontaine's -- Cobb Hersey Co.
Geneva -- United Dist. Co.
George Mills -- Woodrow & George
Geyser -- Peoples Distilling Co.
Gilbey' s Gin -- National Distillers Prod.ucts
Gold Fax -- Clune & Torpy
Golden Seal -- W. Scott Gillespie
Golden Truth -- Despres Distilling Co.
Grand Marnier -- Carillon Importers Ltd.
Grant 63 -- Revere Distilling Co.
Grandpa' s Delight -- Pembrook Distilling Co.
Grant's Stand Fast -- Austin, Nichols & Co.
Green River -- McCulloch
Greensboro -- Cobb Hersey Co.
Grouse -- Seggerman Slocum
Harrisville -- Cobb Hersey Co.
Harvest Home -- Seagram Distillers
Hazel Dell -- Rheinstrom Bros.
Heather Blossom -- B.H.R. Distilling Co.
Hennessy -- Schieffein & Co.
Hillside -- Steinhardt Bros. & Co.
Hine Cognac -- 21 Brands Inc.
Hoffman House -- P.H. Hamburger
Holland Process -- Rosenberger Bros.
Home Comfort -- Max Stiner & Co.
House of Lords -- Wm.Whitely & Co.
House of Lords -- W.A. Taylor & Co.
Hunter -- Wm. Lanaham & Sons
Imperial -- Hiram Walker & Sons
Inverness Club -- J.W. Cheesman Co.
Irish Mist -- Munson G. Shaw Co.
Jackson Club -- O'Bryan Bros.
Jefferson -- Seagram Distillers
Jessie Moore -- General Distillers Corp
Joel Hill -- Woodrow & George
Jockey Club -- Excelsior Distilling Co.
J.& F. Martell's Brandy -- G.S.Nicholas & Co.
Kenton Belle -- Simon Kenton Co.
Kentucky Favorite -- United Dist. Co.
Kentucky Gentleman -- Barton Distilling Co.
Kentucky Nectar -- General Distillers Corp
Kentucky Tavern -- Glenmore Distillers
Keuka Club -- O'Dea Home Supply Co.
Keystone -- Wm.H.Graham & Co.
Kilty -- R.Thorne & Sons, Ltd.
King -- Brown-Forman Distillery
King's Ransom -- Edradour Distillery
King's Ransom -- Wm. Whitely & Co.
Kuban -- General Distillers Corp
Laganda Club -- Altschul Distilling Co
Lamplighter -- J.& w . Nicholson Co.
Latonia Club -- Sheldon Co.
La Rojena (Jose Cuervo) -- Young' s Market
Lechmere -- Doyle, F.M. & Co.
Lemon Hart -- Julios Wile Sons
Lick Run -- General Distillers Co.
Lindenwood -- Spiess & Bachenheimer
London Dry -- Sir Robert Burnett & Co
London Gin -- Wm. Reed
Lorraine Club -- Felix Coblentz & Co.
MacNaughton -- Schenley Co.
Maker' s Mark -- Star Hill Distilling Co
Mammoth Cave Springs -- Seagram Distillers
Manhattan Club -- Mac Stiner & Co.
Maryland Club -- John Belt & Co.
Mentor -- Ginter Co.
Monitor -- J.C. Childs & Co.
Mosaic -- People's Distilling Co.
Mount Vernon -- Cook & Bernheimer
Mount Vernon -- Mannis Distilling
Mouquin -- Austin, Nichols & Co.
Myers -- General Wine & Spirits Co. Thos. Smith Co.
M & Z -- Thos. Smith Co.
Nectar -- Woodrow & George
Nelson County -- Wm.S.Turner Dist.Co.
Novena -- Rheinstrom Bros.
Number 30 -- General Distillers Corp.
O.F.C. -- Geo. T. Stagg Co.
O.F.C. -- Schenley Co.
Old Amor Rye -- H.W .Huguley Co.
Old Angus -- Train & Mcintrye, Ltd.
Old Anvil -- General Distilleries Corp.
Old Benton -- Excelsior Distilling C
Old Boone -- Wm.S.Turner Dist.Co.
Old Charter -- Wright & Taylor
Old Chuck -- General Distilleries Corp.
Old Crow -- Hermitage Distillery
Old Crow -- H.B.Kirk & Co.
Old Elk -- Stoll, Vanatta & Co.
Old Fitzgerald -- Stitzel-Wellwe Distillery
Old Forester -- Brown-Forman Distillery Co.
Old Goodenough -- United Distributing Co.
Old Grain Belt -- Pure Food Dist. Co.
Old Grist Mill -- John F.Gillespie
Old Hickory Hollow -- Wm. S.Turner Dist.Co.
Old Homestead -- Seagram Distillers
Old Home Still -- Sheldon co. Cocktail
Old Hundred -- Wm.S.Turner Dist.Co.
Old Judge -- Altschul Distilling Co.
Old Lanark -- York Distilling
Old Maid -- Irene Parker Co.
Old Maysville -- Manufacturer Unknown
Old Minden -- Revere Distilling
Old Pilgrim -- Revere Distilling Co.
Old Prentice -- J.T.S.Brown & Sons
Old Pugh -- R.S.Strader & Son
Old Rampart -- General Distillers Corp.
Old Richmond -- Thos. L. Smith Co
Old Rip -- J.C. Childs & Co
Old Saratoga -- Rosskam, Gerstley & Co.
Old '67 Rye -- Wm.S.Turner Dist. Co
Old Star -- A & G J.Caldwell
Old Talent -- Cobb Hersey Co
Old Time -- John N.Thomas & Co.
Old Tom -- Wm.Reed
Old Tom Gin -- DuVivier & Co.
Old Underoof -- Chas.Dennehy & Co
Old Valley -- Woodrow & George
Owl Club -- Wm.S.Turner
Oxford -- Simon Kenton Co.
Paddy -- Cork Distributer
Paddy -- York Distilleries
Paddy -- Austin, Nichols & Co
Paul Jones -- Frankfort Distilleries
Perfection -- D.& J. Mc Callum's
Pernod -- Julius Wile Sons
Pilgrimage -- W.H.McBrayer
Pioneer, The -- Seagram Distillers
Pimm's Cup -- Julius Wile Sons
Pointer -- Gottschalk Co.
Pot Still Gin -- Milshire
Prince Hurbert Polignac -- Dennis & Hippert
Private Stock -- Cincinnati Distillers
Queen Louise -- Rose City Importing Co
Ramshead -- Hannah & Hogg
Red Top Rye -- Ferdinand Westheimer & Sons
Remy Martin -- Renfield Importers Ltd
Richwood -- W.H. McBrayer
Robin Olg -- Geo. Beer & Son
Rock Hill -- Wm.S.Turner
Rock Spring -- Dudley P.Ely
Rock & Rye -- Sheldon co.
Rogers -- United Distributing Co
Ronrico -- General Wine & Spirits Co
Rose Annoo -- Henry Hollander
Rosebud -- Applegate & Sons
Rose Wood -- General Distillers Corp.
Royal Club -- John N.Thomas & Co.
Secrestat Bitters -- G.S.Nicholas & Co.
Sheridan Club -- Despres Distilling Co
Silver Lake -- Seagram Distillers
Silver Thistle -- Hannah & Hogg
Stag -- A.M. Bininger & Co
Stand Fast -- Grant's
Standard -- Steinhardt Bros. & Co.
Sterling -- Steinhardt Bros, & Co.
Storm King -- J.C. Childs & Co.
Strega -- Canada Dry Imprt Co.
Summerfield -- Cobb Hersey Co.
Sunbeam -- Cobb Hersey Co
Sunny Valley -- Revere Distilling Co.
Susquehanna -- W.H. McBrayer
Swan Gin -- Ferd.Ruttman & Son
Sweet Home -- Altschul Distilling Co
Tea Kettle -- W.H.McBrayer
Tia Maria -- W.A.Taylor & Co.
Trimble -- White, Hentz & Co.
Tullamore Dew -- Munson G.Shaw Co.
Upper Ten -- H.& H.W Catherwood
Usher's Whiskey -- G.S.Nicholas & Co.
Virginia Gentleman -- Austin, Nichols & co.
Waterfill & Frazier -- W.H. McBrayer
Whipple Creek -- General Distillers Corp
White Dove -- Revere Distilliing Co.
White Label -- John Krissel & Son
White Label -- John Dewar & Sons
White Lily -- Cobb Hersey Co.
White Horse -- Mackie & Coy
White Seal -- Carstairs
Wild Cat -- Seagram Distillers
Wolf Creek -- Frankfort Distilleries
Woodland -- Crigler and Crigler
w.w.w -- Angela Myers
Forms Part Of:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Whiskey, Liquor, and Spirits is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
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.
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Whiskey, Liquor, and Spirits, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
The Formica Collection consists of textual files, photographs, slides, negatives, drawings, blueprints, posters, advertisements, product brochures, newsletters, and informational pamphlets documenting the history of the Formica Corporation and the use of Formica brand plastic laminate.
Scope and Contents:
The Formica Collection, 1913-2003, consists of textual files, photographs, photo slides, drawings, blueprints, posters, advertisements, product brochures, informational pamphlets, and research notes documenting the history of the Formica Corporation and the use of Formica brand plastic laminate.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into ten series.
Series 1: Corporate Records, 1920-1992, 2003
Subseries 1.1: Annual reports, 1949, 1966, 1988
Subseries 1.2: Correspondence and company identity, 1920-1988
Subseries 1.3: Corporation histories and timelines, 1949-1991, undated
Subseries 1.4: Newspaper clippings and articles, 1934-2003
Subseries 1.5: Awards, 1940s-1987
Subseries 1.6: Patent information, 1925-1994
Subseries 1.7: Photographs, 1927-1966
Series 2: Personnel Records, 1943-1992
Series 3: Newsletters, Magazines, and Press Releases, 1942-1990
Subseries 3.1: Newsletters, 1942-1988
Subseries 3.2: Press releases, 1973-1990
Series 4: Product Information, 1948-1994
Series 5: Advertising and sales materials, 1913-2000
Subseries 5.1: Advertising materials, 1913-2000
Subseries 5.2: Sales materials, 1922-1993
Series 6: Subject Files, circa 1945, 1955-1991, 2002
Series 7: Exhibits, 1981-1994
Series 8: Grace Jeffers Research Materials, 1987-1997
Series 9: Audio Visual Materials, 1982-1995, undated
Series 10: Martin A. Jeffers Materials, 1963-1999
Subseries 10.1: Background Materials, 1965-1999
Subseries 10.2: Employee Benefits, 1963-1998
Subseries 10.3: Product Information, [1959?]-1997
Subseries 10.4: Advertising and Sales Records, 1987-1999
Biographical / Historical:
Since its founding in 1913, the history of the Formica Company has been marked by a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship. The history begins with the discovery of Formica by two men who envisioned the plastic laminate as breakthrough insulation for motors. Later, Formica became a ubiquitous surfacing material used by artists and architects of post-modern design. The various applications of the plastic laminate during the twentieth century give it a prominent role in the history of plastics, American consumerism, and American popular culture.
The Formica Company was the brainchild of Herbert A. Faber and Daniel J. O'Conor, who met in 1907 while both were working at Westinghouse in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. O'Conor, head of the process section in the Research Engineering Department, had been experimenting with resins, cloth, paper, and a wide array of solvents in an effort to perfect a process for making rigid laminate sheets from Kraft paper and liquid Bakelite. O'Conor produced the first laminate sheet at Westinghouse by winding and coating paper on a mandrel, slitting the resulting tube, and flattening it on a press. The finished product was a laminated sheet with the chemical and electrical properties of Bakelite that were cut into various shapes and sizes. O'Conor applied for a patent on February 1, 1913, but it was not issued until November 12, 1918 (US Patent 1,284,432). Since the research was done on behalf of Westinghouse, the company was assigned the patent, and O'Conor was given one dollar, the customary amount that Westinghouse paid for the rights to employees' inventions.
Herbert Faber, Technical Sales Manager of insulating materials, was excited about O'Conor's discovery. Faber saw limitless possibilities for the new material. However, he quickly became frustrated by Westinghouse's policy limiting the sale of the laminate to its licensed distributors. After failing to persuade Westinghouse to form a division to manufacture and market the new material, Faber and O'Conor created their own company. On May 2, 1913, the first Formica plant opened in Cincinnati, Ohio. On October 15, 1913, the business incorporated as the Formica Insulation Company with Faber as president and treasurer and O'Conor as vice-president and secretary. The company began producing insulation parts used in place of or "for mica," the costly mineral that had been used in electrical insulation.
Like most new companies, Formica had modest beginnings. Faber and O'Conor faced the challenge of looking for investors who would let them maintain control over the company. Finally, they met J. G. Tomluin, a lawyer and banker from Walton, Kentucky, who invested $7,500 for a one-third share in the Formica Company. Renting a small space in downtown Cincinnati, Faber and O'Conor began work. The company's equipment list consisted of a 35-horsepower boiler, a small gas stove, and a variety of homemade hand screw presses. By September 1913, Tomluin had brought in two more partners, David Wallace and John L. Vest. With the added capital, O'Conor, Faber, and Formica's eighteen employees began producing automobile insulation parts for Bell Electric Motor, Allis Chalmers, and Northwest Electric.
Initially, the Formica Company only made insulation rings and tubes for motors. However, by July 4, 1914, the company obtained its first press and began to produce flat laminate sheets made from Redmenol resin. Business gradually grew, and by 1917 sales totaled $75,000. Fueled by World War I, Formica's business expanded to making radio parts, aircraft pulleys, and timing gears for the burgeoning motor industry. In the years that followed, Formica products were in high demand as laminate plastics replaced older materials in washers, vacuum cleaners, and refrigerators. By 1919, the Formica Company required larger facilities and purchased a factory in Cincinnati.
During this time, patent battles and legal suits emerged to challenge Formica's success. On June 11, 1919, Westinghouse sued Formica for patent infringement on its laminated gears; Formica won. Later that year, Westinghouse brought two new lawsuits against Formica. The first was for a patent infringement on the production of tubes, rods, and molded parts; the second was over an infringement based on a 1913 patent assigned to Westinghouse through O'Conor. Formica prevailed in both suits.
Legal battles did not deter the company. Having to defend itself against a giant corporation gave Formica a reputation as a scrappy contender. Finally, Faber and O'Conor made a quantum leap in 1927, when the company was granted a U.S. patent for a phenolic laminate utilizing lithographed wood grains of light color, forming an opaque barrier sheet which blocks out the dark interior of the laminate. In 1931, the company received two more patents for the preparation of the first all paper based laminate and for the addition of a layer of aluminum foil between the core and the surface, making the laminate cigarette-proof. These patents would allow Formica to move from a company dealing primarily with industrial material to the highly visible arena of consumer goods.
In 1937, Faber had a severe heart attack which limited his activity within the company. O'Conor continued as president, encouraging new product lines, including Realwood, as a laminate with genuine wood veneer mounted on a paper lamination with a heat-reactive binder. With the introduction of Realwood and its derivatives, manufacturers started using Formica laminate for tabletops, desks, and dinette sets. By the early forties, sales of Formica laminate were over 15 million dollars. The final recipe for decorative laminate was perfected in 1938, when melamine resins were introduced. Melamine was clear, extremely hard, and resistant to stains, heat, light, less expensive than phenolic resins. It also made possible laminates of colored papers and patterns.
Due to World War II, Formica postponed the manufacturing of decorative laminate sheets. Instead, the company made a variety of war-time products ranging from airplane propellers to bomb buster tubes.
The post-World War II building boom fueled the decorative laminate market and ushered in what would come to be known as the golden age for Formica. The company, anticipating the demand for laminate, acquired a giant press capable of producing sheets measuring thirty by ninety-six inches for kitchen countertops. Between 1947 and 1950, more than 2 million new homes were designed with Formica brand laminate for kitchens and bathrooms.
Formica's advertising campaigns, initially aimed at industry, were transformed to speak to the new decorative needs of consumer society, in particular the American housewife. Formica hired design consultants, Brooks Stevens, and, later, Raymond Loewy who launched extensive advertising campaigns. Advertising themes of durability, cleanliness, efficiency, and beauty abound in promotional material of this time. Advertisers promised that the plastic laminate, known as "the wipe clean wonder," was resistant to dirt, juices, jams, alcohol stains, and cigarette burns. Atomic patterns and space-age colors, including Moonglo, Skylark, and Sequina, were introduced in homes, schools, offices, hospitals, diners, and restaurants across America.
The post-war period was also marked by expansion, specifically with the establishment of Formica's first international markets. In 1947, Formica signed a licensing agreement with the British firm the De La Rue Company of London for the exclusive manufacture and marketing of decorative laminates outside North America, and in South America and the Pacific Basin. In 1948, Formica changed its name from the Formica Insulation Company to the Formica Company. In 1951, Formica responded to growing consumer demand by opening a million square foot plant in Evendale, Ohio, devoted to the exclusive production of decorative sheet material. In 1956, the Formica Company became the Formica Corporation, a subsidiary of American Cyanamid Company. A year later, the international subsidiaries that Formica formed with De La Rue Company of London were replaced by a joint company called Formica International Limited.
The plastic laminate was not merely confined to tabletops and dinette sets. Formica laminate was used for skis, globes, and murals. Moreover, well-known artists and architects used the decorative laminate for modernist furniture and Art Deco interiors. In 1960, Formica's Research and Development Design Center was established, adjacent to the Evendale plant, to develop uses for existing laminate products. In 1966, the company
opened the Sierra Plant near Sacramento, California. Such corporate expansion enabled Formica to market its laminates beyond the traditional role as a countertop surface material.
In 1974, Formica established its Design Advisory Board (DAB), a group of leading designers and architects. DAB introduced new colors and patterns of laminate that gained popularity among artists and interior designers in the 1980s. In 1981, DAB introduced the Color Grid, a systematic organization of Formica laminate arranged by neutrals and chromatics. The Color Grid was described as the first and only logically arranged collection of color in the laminate industry. DAB also developed the Design Concepts Collection of premium solid and patterned laminates to serve the needs of contemporary interior designers.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the corporation continued to produce laminates for interior designers, artists, and architects. In 1982, Formica introduced COLORCORE, the first solid-color laminate. Due to its relatively seamless appearance, COLORCORE was adopted by artists for use in furniture, jewelry, and interior design. The introduction of COLORCORE also marked the emergence of a wide variety of design exhibitions and competitions sponsored by the Formica Corporation. In 1985, Formica Corporation became independent and privately held. Formica continues to be one of the leading laminate producers in the world with factories in the United States, England, France, Spain, Canada, and Taiwan.
For additional information on the history of the Formica Corporation, see:
DiNoto, Andrea. Art Plastic: Designed for Living. New York: Abbeville Press, 1985.
Fenichell, Stephen. Plastic: The Making of a Synthetic Century. New York: Harper/Collins, 1996.
Jeffers Grace. 1998. Machine Made Natural: The Decorative Products of the Formica Corporation, 1947-1962. Master's thesis. Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts.
Lewin, Susan Grant, ed. Formica & Design: From Counter Top to High Art. New York: Rizzoli, 1991.
Related Materials:
Materials at the Archives Center
Leo Baekeland Papers, 1881-1968 (NMAH.AC.0005)
DuPont Nylon Collection, 1939-1977 (NMAH.AC.0007)
J. Harry DuBois Collection on the History of Plastics, circa 1900-1975 (NMAH.AC.0008)
Earl Tupper Papers, circa 1914-1982 (NMAH.AC.0470)
The Division of Medicine and Science holds artifacts related to this collection. See accession # 1997.0319 and #1997.3133.
Provenance:
This collection was assembled by Grace Jeffers, historian of material culture, primarily from materials given to her by Susan Lewin, Head of Formica's New York design and publicity office when the office closed in 1995. The collection was donated to the Archives Center by Grace Jeffers in September 1996.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
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.
An extensive collection of magazine advertisements featuring celebrities from entertainment, sports, royalty, and the arts.
Scope and Contents:
A wide-ranging collection of over 1,000 celebrity advertising endorsements, ca. 1897-1979. The endorsements were culled by a collector/hobbyist from high-end magazines publications such as Fortune, McCalls, Playbill and Vogue. They feature a wide range of celebrities from the fields of performing arts, sports, business, politics and "society." The products endorsed vary greatly with heavy concentrations of cigarettes, beauty products and electronic equipment predominating. The bulk of the collection covers the 1920s-1970s with an especially high concentration of material from the 1930s-1940s. The majority are in color.
Advertisements are filed according to the profession or background of the endorser Thereunder, ads are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the endorser. Where more than one endorser is featured, the advertisement is filed under the last name of the endorser most prominently featured in the advertisement. If they are all of equal status within the advertisement, the advertisement is filed under the last name appearing earliest in the alphabet.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into five series.
Series 1: Performing Arts
Series 2: Business/Politics
Series 3: Sports
Series 4: Society, fashio, Royalty
Series 5: Writers, Musicians, Artists, Singers
Biographical / Historical:
The use of celebrities for promoting a product is an advertising device that has been used with increasing frequency since the latter part of the 19th century. Personalities from all walks of life, society, sports, and entertainment have regularly lent their image for product endorsement. These products have ranged from alcohol to moth crystals to cigarettes and a variety of other products. The trend continues to grow and refine itself expanding from the realm of print media into television, radio, motion pictures, and the internet.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History by Gary and Sandra Baden, of Chevy Chase, D.C., in 1997.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
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.
Spanish Advertising and Marketing Service Search this
Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies Search this
Extent:
3.5 Cubic feet (3 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Storyboards
Video recordings
Posters
Photographs
Advertisements
Audio cassettes
Clippings
Date:
1962 - 2000
Summary:
The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies Collection includes advertisements, research, and publications produced by SAMS (Spanish Advertising and Marketing Service), which was founded by Luis Diaz Albertini in 1963.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents the work of SAMS (Spanish Advertising and Marketing Service). It contains advertising campaign materials such as print advertisements, storyboards, proofs of print advertisements, point of purchase advertisements, audio recordings of radio advertisements, and video footage of television commercials. SAMS created advertising for manufacturers of tobacco, movies, cosmetics, watches, toothpaste, cleansers, food products, and alcoholic beverages, to name a few. SAMS was founded during a time in which the "Spanish speaking" consumer was of growing significance in the American market, and American advertisements increasingly catered to and targeted this audience.
The collection contains extensive explanatory notations written by Sara Sunshine, a Cuban immigrant, who created advertising print, audio, and visuals from the 1960s to 1990s and founder of the co-founder of Spanish Advertising and Marketing Services, the nation's first Latino ad agency.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into seven series.
Series 1: Storyboards and Scripts, 1970-1995
Series 2: Advertisements, 1962-1974
Series 3: Publications, 1976-1988
Series 4: Marketing Research, 1962-1984
Series 5: Packaging, 1962
Series 6: Ephemera, 1980-1989
Series 7: Audiovisual Materials
Biographical / Historical:
Luis Diaz Albertini founded SAMS (Spanish Advertising and Marketing Service) in 1963. Sara Sunshine was the head copywriter and art executive. The agency had a staff of just four employees. It was the first full-service Spanish language advertising agency in the United States. In 2007, the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies was formed. Among its goals was preserving the industry's past and preserving the history of Hispanic advertising. The first archival collection they accepted was the records of SAMS. Originally housed at the University of Maryland, it was transferred to the National Museum of American History in 2015.
Related Materials:
Materials at the Archives Center
Goya Foods, Inc. Records (AC0694)
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives Center in 2015 by the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies, through Horacio Gavilan.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark. Contact the Archives Center for details.
Archives Center, National Museum of American History Search this
Extent:
3 Cubic feet (9 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
undated
Summary:
Collection consists primarily of cookbooks and similar forms of literature containing recipes and - or information relating to food customs, created by producers and manufacturers of foods products, cooking utensils, kitchen appliances and equipment.
Scope and Contents note:
The collection was created by the Archives Center to form a body of material from producers and manufacturers of food products, cooking utensils, kitchen appliances and equipment. It consists primarily of cookbooks, recipe booklets, circulars, recipe cards, and clippings containing recipes or information relating to food customs. Most of these materials were published in the United States by producers and manufacturers of foods, seasonings, and condiments. Some of the materials were created by manufacturers of both small and large kitchen appliances and include operating instructions for these products. There are also materials created by electric and gas utility companies. Some of the materials relate to the canning and freezing processes. Materials created by manufacturers of alcoholic beverages also contain recipes for both food and drinks. All bound materials have soft covers with the exception of The Victory Binding of the American Woman's Cookbook, Wartime Edition, 1943.
The collection is arranged in two series. Series One consists of bound materials including cookbooks and recipe booklets. These materials are arranged in alphabetical order. Series two are unbound materials including recipe flyers, folders, recipe cards, cooking class recipe sheets, recipes clipped from publications, and hand written recipes. The materials are arranged first in alphabetical order by name of company and then in order by genre.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into two series.
Series 1, Bound Materials, 1920-2004, undated
Series 2, Unbound Materials, 1938-2003, undated
Biographical / Historical:
The food industry and manufacturers of cooking utensils and equipment create cookbooks or other forms of literature to assist the consumer with their products. These materials document food customs and provide very valuable information about the production of food; preparation and consumption; long term storage and preservation; new cooking techniques and instructions for using cooking utensils, appliances and equipment. Such materials are often included in the packaging, available upon request or with the purchase of a particular product.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Product Cookbooks Collection, circa 1874-1990
Frances S. Baker Product Cookbooks, circa 1900-1993
Nordic Ware Records, 1940-2006
Archives Center Business Americana Collection, circa 1900-present
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, circa 1724-1977
Pillsbury Bake-Off Collection, 1949-1999
NW Ayer Advertising Agency Records, 1849-2001
Food Preservation and Home Canning Literature Collection, 1883-1980
Provenance:
Found in collections, gifts from Museum staff and unsolicited gifts from the public.
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.
34.05 Cubic feet (consisting of 60 boxes, 14 half boxes, 9 folders, 38 oversize folders, 12 map case folders, plus digital images of some collection material.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Ephemera
Business ephemera
Date:
1832-1966
Summary:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Patent Medicines forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists primarily of advertising cards, pamphlets, leaflets, booklets, calendars, post cards, printed advertisements , medical newspaper articles, blotters, almanacs, cookbooks, scattered correspondence on letterhead stationery, medical journals, labels, bills/receipts, business cards, import/export documents, recipe books, reports, reviews, editorials, lectures, family manuals, notices, circulars, memorandum & account books, order forms, lithographs, photographs, caricatures song books and articles from manufacturers of proprietary medicines and wholesale and retail drug dispensers. There is a substantial amount of material from each company relating to the medical treatment of various diseases. Companies with a large amount of material include James C. Ayer, Foster, Milburn Company, C. T. Hood, Johnson and Johnson, Lehn and Fink, Lyons Manufacturing Company, Miles Medical Company, Parke Davis, Lydia Pinkham, Power Taylor Drug Company, Rumford Chemical Works, S. T. W. Stanford and Son, Seabury and Johnson, W. H. Schieflein and Company, E. R. Squibb and Sons and H.H. Warner.
Included within the collection are pamphlets on various disease entities, societies and institutes, chiropractic, homeopathy, hygiene and health and martial behavior. Doctors are listed in a separate section. Most of the material is organized by name of company. The first 51 boxes contain material from manufacturers of proprietary medicines and is arranged in alphabetical order. This material consists mostly of advertising cards, testimonials and various advertising leaflets. Many manufacturers published almanacs and other publication s with health and household hints. This material covers the nineteenth century; however, most of it is undated. Boxes 52 thru 58 are documents from wholesale and retail drug dispensers including invoices, booklets, almanacs and leaflets dating from 1800 thru 1926. Box 59 contains a large ledger with pasted cards and advertising material from various manufacturers, wholesalers and druggists. Medical publications are in boxes 60 to 64 and consist of journals with multiple articles regarding various diseases and their treatment. This material dates from 1859-1937. Contained in boxes 65 and 66 are pharmaceutical publications, state journals, national journals and other pharmaceutical booklets dating from 1856-1933. In box 66 folder number 13 there is a publication by Abbott Laboratories, printed in 1956, is a comprehensive summary of the first 50 years of the Pure Food and Drug act. Also in box 66 folders 14, 15, and 16 are journals of the Homeopathic News from 1895 to 1902, and Homeopathic Envoy dated 1901. In the last folder is an 1804 issue of Phrenology and Physiognomy. The entire box number 67 contains only copies of the Pharmaceutical Era with dates from 1890 to 1903. A collection of medical pamphlets, leaflets and booklets cover a variety of medical problems as well as diagnosis and their medical treatment in boxes 68 and 69. Miscellaneous materials in box 70 include prescription s, photographs, chromolithographs, etchings and engravings and information about the Pasteur Institute and vaccines developed at that facility. In box 71 there are some medical- legal papers and import export documents. Box 72 contains many miscellaneous medical materials. Newspaper clippings, medical economics, U.S. revenue order forms and instructions. Treatment articles and forms for ordering journals and other medical publications. Printing companies, catering to druggists for labels, letterheads and other related printing needs, along with labeling samples are contained in box 73. The last box contains foreign language medical material. In this group are articles and advertising written in Chinese, German, French, Hungarian, Spanish and Swedish.
Additional information may be found in the subject labeled medicine.
This material contains information on diseases, x-ray, instruments, insanity, tuberculosis, cancer, female medicine, medical schools, anesthetics (ether).
Biographical / Historical:
Before the Pure Food and Drug Administration was instituted in 1908 there were no restrictions on the claims or contents of medications available to the public without a physician prescription. This is reflected in the advertisements and testimonials as seen in this material. Many of the companies manufactured and distributed other products such as cosmetics, hair preparations and dyes; therefore researchers interested in chemical substances other than medical treatments would also be interested in this subject. The material dates from ca. 1800-1956 but, the bulk is late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Many diseases in the 19th century were known by names not currently used at this time. Throughout much of the material consumption which is known as tuberculosis was of great concern. Other diseases include kidney ailments (renal disease) referred to as Bright's disease, catarrh referred to the common cold, bronchitis, or sinusitis, gleet discharge from any body area used for example in gonorrhea and syphilis and scrophula glandular diseases many times accompanied by eruptions. Diseases that were considered curable by many of the medications described in this collection were catarrh, Bright's disease, anemia, syphilis, female diseases, gonorrhea, nervousness, tiredness and listlessness, headaches, weight loss, backaches, alcoholism, masturbation, typhoid, malaria, children's diseases and narcotic addiction.
Materials in the Archives Center:
Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)
Forms Part Of:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Patent Medicines is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
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.
Genre/Form:
Ephemera
Business ephemera
Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Patent Medicines, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Engines forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
Scope and Contents:
Covers all manner of engines including: boilers, gasoline, steam, water motors, automatic shut off, self-oiling, portable, vertical, mining, marine, diesel, crude oil, stationary, generators, compound, pumping, silent, alcohol, turbine, kerosene, hydrolic, caloric pumping, sectional, gasolene, iron man, single cylinder, slide valve, apparatus, cut-off, wind, horse, air cooled, valueless, two cycle, and the Corliss engine. Some of the following include engines used in portable sawing outfits, powered mills for grinding grain, feed cookers, boilers, injectors, and generators.
Materials represent a sampling of catalogues, correspondence, invoices, receipts, advertising and marketing material, bulletins, advertising cards, caricatures, seals, product specifications, booklets, price lists, company histories, order forms, prospectus, a few photographs, contracts, a legal opinion on a patent dispute (Novelty Iron Works, 1856), an operations guide 80-foot Elco Submarine Chacer Instructions, Care and Operations of Machinery Plant (Standard Motor Construction Company, 1917), patents and patent circulars, and a promotional diary. Many items are illustrated with print drawings and schematics of engines and associated equipment, plus some images of manufacturing facilities. No extensive runs or complete records exist for any single company or brand, and no particular depth is present for any singular subtopic, although some publications may provide general and historical overviews of a person, company, or a facet of industry.
Arrangement:
Engines is arranged in three subseries.
Business Records and Marketing Material
Genre
Subject
Forms Part Of:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Missing Title
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Engines is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
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.
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Engines, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
