The Grace Jeffers Collection of Formica Materials 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 (AC0005)
DuPont Nylon Collection, 1939-1977 (AC0007)
J. Harry DuBois Collection on the History of Plastics, circa 1900-1975 (AC0008)
Earl Tupper Papers, circa 1914-1982 (AC0470)
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.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Early Aeronautical Newsclippings (Alexander Graham Bell) Collection, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0086, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection documents Jane and Michael Stern's travels across the United States collecting data for their books on American material culture subjects, with particular emphasis on food and dining.
Scope and Contents:
Collection primarily consists of the raw materials amassed by Jane and Michael Stern as they traveled the United States, researching for their books on American material culture subjects, with particular emphasis on food and dining. These materials include writings and notes from their various stops while traveling; photographs and slides of places they visited; vintage postcards collected in their travels; paper ephemera such as take-out menus, placemats, etc.; large quantities of trade literature such as product cookbooks (some dating back to the 1920s), food packaging and brochures on food related subjects, under headings such as "Meat, Fish, Game", "Parties, Etiquette, How-To", "Baking" and numerous others; trade literature on other material culture subjects the Sterns wrote books about with headings which include Rodeo, Cowboys, Indians" and many others; correspondence; business records, articles, and clippings. The collection is arranged into five series: Series 1, Research Documentation and Writings, 1975-2015, undated; Series 2, Product Cookbooks, and Trade Literature, 1890-1993, undated; Series 3, Photographic Materials, 1947-2008, undated; Series 4, Subject Files, 1910-1995; and Series 5, Vintage Postcards, undated.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into five series:
Series 1, Research Documentation and Writings, 1975-2015, undated
Series 2, Product Cookbooks, and Trade Literature, 1890-1993, undated
Series 3, Photographic Materials, 1947-2008, undated
Subseries 3.1, Photographs, 1947-2002, undated
Subseries 3.2, Slides and Transparencies, 1965-2008, undated
Series 4, Subject Files, 1910-1995
Series 5, Vintage Postcards, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Jane Grossman Stern (1946-) and Michael Stern (1946-) are American writers best known for their popular series of books titled Roadfood. These publications provided recommendations of restaurants, truck stops, diners, delis, bakeries, and other food-related establishments in the United States who served classic American regional specialties. The Sterns are also authors of books about American material culture subjects including truckers, cowboys, kitsch, and dog shows. They have been guests on public radio, contributors to magazine columns, and have won numerous awards for their work.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Jane and Michael Stern, 2016.
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.
2.8 Cubic feet (consisting of 6 boxes , 1 folder, 4 oversize folders, plus digital images of some collection material. )
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Menus
Date:
1852-1965
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:
Menus consists of approximately 700 menus from restaurants, principally within the United States. The material dates from 1852 to 1963, with the bulk of the material from 1880s to the 1920s. Most menus are from dining establishments and includes day-to-day fare and pricing, plus some special menus. Some are standard issued menus, others are souvenir menus. Prix fixe and a la carte menus are both present. A number of the menus are from railway and shipboard travel. Special event menus often contain additional details or listings of persons honored or attending, with some including background information. Menus are predominantly paper, but a few examples are printed on textiles or wood and a couple are leather bound. Menus may have decorative covers; some are embossed, hand-painted or decorated with ribbon or gilt. There are a few menus printed on satin ribbon. Menus from ships, railroads and the Christmas menus from the United States Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts offer good examples of decorative covers.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into six subseries.
Blank Menus
Events and Celebrations
Holidays
In Transit, Travel-Based
Location
Named Honoree
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:
Menus 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: Menus, 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).
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist at ACMarchives@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist at ACMarchives@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The papers of California Photorealist painter Ralph Goings, measure 4.1 linear feet and date from circa 1950 to 2005. The collection is comprised of biographical material, professional correspondence with artists, dealers, museums, and other art organizations, project files, inventory and sales records dating from 1970 to 1975, and printed material featuring Goings and his artwork. There is a 1.7 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2020 that includes slides and photographs used for paintings (source material and subjects) and images and photographs of works of art; inventory of works of art; correspondence; and project and exhibition files. Materials date from circa 1957-2008. A portion of the addition is in electronic format.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of California Photorealist painter Ralph Goings, measure 4.1 linear feet and date from circa 1950 to 2005. The collection is comprised of biographical material, professional correspondence with artists, dealers, museums, and other art organizations, project files, inventory and sales records dating from 1970 to 1975, and printed material featuring Goings and his artwork. There is a 1.7 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2020 that includes slides and photographs used for paintings (source material and subjects) and images and photographs of works of art; inventory of works of art; correspondence; and project and exhibition files. Materials date from circa 1957-2008. A portion of the addition is in electronic format.
Biographical material includes interview transcripts, personal photographs, teaching records, notes on Realism, and other material. Photorealist artists and dealers represented in the correspondence include Richard McLean, Glennray Tutor, Davis Cone, Daniel Tennant, OK Harris Works of Art, and Ivan Karp. Project files include photographic material used as preparation for Goings's paintings, a work progress notebook, and photographs of finished work.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into six series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1955-circa 1990s (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1950-2005 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet )
Series 3: Project Files, 1967-1978 (Boxes 1-3;1.2 linear feet )
Series 4: Inventory and Sales Records, 1970-1975 (Box 3; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Materials, circa 1970s-2005 (Box 3; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 6: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1957-2008 (Boxes 4-5; OV 6-7;1.7 linear feet )
Biographical / Historical:
Ralph Goings (1928-2016) was a Photorealist painter active in Santa Cruz, California.
Goings attended Hartnell College before enrolling in the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California, where he studied alongside artists Richard McClean, Nathan Oliveira, and Robert Bechtle. Goings continued his studies at Sacramento State College where he received a Master of Fine Arts in 1965. He was known for the paintings of diners, trucks, and everyday scenes that established him as one of the originators of the Photorealist movement. His work has been exhibited and is in collections throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Goings died in 2016 in Sacramento, California.
Related Materials:
Also found at the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Ralph Goings, conducted on September 10-11, 2009, by Judith Olch Richards for the Archives of American Art.
Provenance:
The Ralph Goings papers were donated in 2009 by Ralph Goings and in 2020 by Shanna Goings, Ralph Goings' widow.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
The collection is open for research but is stored offsite. Arrangements must be made with the Archives Center staff two weeks prior to a scheduled research visit.
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.
Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark.
Collection Citation:
Donald J. Stubblebine Collection of Musical Theater and Motion Picture Music and Ephemera, 1866-2009, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
The collection is open for research but is stored offsite. Arrangements must be made with the Archives Center staff two weeks prior to a scheduled research visit.
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.
Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark.
Collection Citation:
Donald J. Stubblebine Collection of Musical Theater and Motion Picture Music and Ephemera, 1866-2009, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
