The Marvin E. Mundel Industrial Engineering Collection contains correspondence, reports, data, notes, publications, books, charts, certificates, awards, writings, photographs, films and videos that document the life and career of Marvin Mundel, a well-known expert in the field of work management and productivity enhancement.
Scope and Contents:
The Marvin E. Mundel Industrial Engineering Collection contains correspondence, reports, data, notes, publications, books, charts, certificates, awards, writings, photographs, films and videos that document the life and career of Marvin Mundel and demonstrate his work practices and teaching techniques.
The collection is organized chronologically into eleven series: Biographical Materials, Writings, Industrial Engineering, Work Methods, Purdue University, Time and Motion Study, Government Work, Japanese Consulting, Asian Productivity Organization, Dupont Case Study, and Films and Videos. While the years in each series may overlap, the separation of series demonstrates the evolution of Mundel's work and teachings. Photographs can be found throughout the collection. Information about the film and video series is located in Appendix A.
Series 1, Biographical Materials, 1953-1996, consists of documentation about Mundel and his career. The series contains bibliographies and curriculum vitae, correspondence, documentation on his memberships in Industrial Engineering groups, photographs, and certificates.
Series 2, Writings, 1937-1994, brings together Mundel's papers, speeches, books, and publications. When possible, the writings are arranged chronologically. The remaining writings are arranged by topic. This series should not be considered a definitive bibliography of Mundel's writings.
Series 3, Industrial Engineering, 1954-1995, combines Mundel's research with correspondence to and from other Industrial Engineers. It also includes Mundel's contributions to the Encyclopedia Britannica on "Industrial Engineering," "Work Measurement," and "Memomotion."
Series 4, Work Methods, undated, contains documents such as forms, office procedure manuals, visual aids, and printed matter about office equipment that offer insight into Mundel's work methods and innovative methods of making his own office more efficient.
Series 5, Purdue University, 1951-1957, documents his teaching career at the Industrial Engineering Department as well correspondence from his trip to England where he taught classes on industrial engineering.
Series 6, Time and Motion Study, 1952-1984, includes notes, data, printed matter, correspondence, charts, and photographs from his consultant work for various companies. This series contains seven subseries: Subseries 1, Consulting Work, 1954-1966; Subseries 2, Correspondence, 1956-1960; Subseries 3, Course work, undated; Subseries 4, Equipment, undated; Subseries 5, Film, 1952-1984; Subseries 6, Memberships, 1970-1977; and Subseries 7, Research, 1957.
Subseries 1, Consulting work, 1954-1966, contains correspondence and data from the corporations that hired Mundel as a consultant. Subseries 2, Correspondence, 1956-1960, the contains letters to and from people with diverse interests in time and motion study. Many people wrote to Mundel asking for advice with projects. Visual aids and handouts make up Subseries 3, Course work. In order to create memomotion, Mundel needed to refine certain electrical and motor parts on the cameras and projectors with which he worked. Subseries 4, Equipment, undated, have brochures on many different kinds of motors and switches. Subseries 5, Film, 1952-1984, contains most of the documentation that relates directly to films and video cassettes in this collection. Mundel was active in many organizations related to industrial engineering that shared his interests in time and motion study. Finally, copies and clippings make up the research subseries, 1957.
Series 7, Government Work, 1952-1971, documents Mundel's work for the government, from his work at Rock Island Arsenal to seminars for NASA. This series contains correspondence, data, reports, course work, visual aids, and photographs. The consulting work is arranged in a chronological manner and, in some instances, alphabetically.
Series 8, Japanese Consulting, 1959-1987, documents Mundel's consulting work for Japanese corporations. The files are arranged alphabetically by company and contain research, data, charts, notes, reports, and correspondence about each manufacturing firm. His notebooks and trip files give insight into his cultural understanding of Japanese firms and his teaching practices. Of special interest are the notebooks that contain photographs and firsthand experiences of adapting to Japanese culture and understanding Japanese work practices.
Series 9, Asian Productivity Organization, 1973-1994, consists of year and country files of Mundel's seminars throughout the Far East. The course work, notes, visual aids, reports, and photographs demonstrate Mundel's shift in emphasis from work measurement to managerial organization. This series also contains books published by the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) that give a context to Mundel's work and writings.
Series 10, Dupont Case Study, 1978-1984, contains correspondence, data, notes, reports, research, and visual aids concerning one of the many American companies where Mundel consulted. Dupont was selected because of its prominence in the American business world.
Series 11, Films and Videos, circa 1939-1973, is comprised of 16mm films and 1⁄2" VHS videocassette tapes. The bulk of the series is 16mm films. The films relate to the documents in Series 6: Time and Motion Studies. There are six subseries: Rating Films, 1939-1973; Memomotion Films, circa 1948-1959; Multi-Image Loops, circa, 1956-1958; Instructional Films, circa 1939-1962; Travel Films, circa 1955-1958 and Papers, undated.
Films are labeled either OF, RF, OV, or RV, for Original Film, Reference Film, Original Video, and Reference Video, respectively. [Example: For "676.24 OF Roll Edge on Sheet Metal Disc, circa 1960 (REF. FILM 676.24 and REF. VIDEO 676.70)," 676 is the collection number; 24 is the item number; OF means original film; "Roll Edge on Sheet Metal Disc" is the title; 1960 is the date followed by any reference copies. In this case there are both a reference film and a reference video. The Archives Center will eventually have reference copies for all of the films. for researchers to view.
Subseries 1, Rating Films, circa 1939-1973, represents Mundel's work with rating or pace films. This technique films a worker doing a repetitive work unit and allows trained motion study analysts to establish time standards. These films show a wide variety of jobs held by both men and women, American workers and Japanese workers. There are three groups of films:
Demonstration Rating Films: These films have the same format as titles with 10 scenes of workers doing a work unit at different paces. The films are arranged according to Mundel's numerical system and retain the original titles. These films should be projected at 1000 frames per minute.
Poultry Rating Films: These are rating films that Mundel did for the USDA and the Consumer Protection Programs.
Miscellaneous Films: These are Mundel's rating films for Tung Sol, ASF, Woods Veterans Hospital, and Montfort. There is also a rating film taken by an English company.
Subseries 2, Memomotion Films, circa 1948-1959, includes memomotion examples that were incorporated into instructional films. Memomotion is a filming technique created by Mundel. Time and motion analysts film a non-repetitive or extended crew activity at one frame per second and then project the film at normal speed. In this manner, the analyst can record a longer work period at a fraction of the cost and be able to analyze the film much more quickly. Memomotion is often used in conjunction with work flow diagrams.
Subseries 3, Multi-Image Loops, circa 1956-1958, combines seven of Mundel's multi-image loops onto one film core. The films display twelve images of rating films at the same time. The worker in each image is working at a different pace (fastest in the top left-hand corner and the slowest in the bottom right-hand corner). Time and motion study analysts could watch the loops for as long as they needed to get an idea of what the range of paces for a certain job could be. The loops were disassembled and spliced together for preservation and viewing purposes.
Subseries 4, Instructional Films, circa 1939-1962, includes Mundel's attempts to educate others about his filming techniques and overall industrial engineering themes. The films teach ways to improve productivity through motion studies, how to make memomotion films, and the College of Technology, Birmingham, England's method of making microscope slides.
Subseries 5, Travel Films, circa 1955-1958, includes films that combine Mundel's love for travel and different cultures with film documentation of Japanese seminars.
Subseries 6, Papers, undated, contains papers directly related to the films. Of importance are the rating sheets which associate different percentages of efficiency to the paces in the film.
Arrangement:
This collection is divided into eleven series.
Series 1, Biographical Materials, 1953-1996
Series 2, Writings, 1937-1994
Subseries 1, Books, 1942-1994
Subseries 2, Papers, 1959-1989, undated
Subseries 3, Publications, 1937-1993, undated
Subseries 4, Speeches, undated
Subseries 5, University of Iowa Studies, 1938-1940
Series 9, Asian Productivity Organization, 1973-1994
Subseries 1, Annual Reports, 1973-1994
Subseries 2, Books, 1985-1989
Subseries 3, General, 1976-1995, undated
Subseries 4, Seminars, 1973-1989
Subseries 5, Presentation Album of Jakarta Seminar, 1973
Series 10, DuPont Case Study, 1978-1984
Series 11, Films and Videos, circa 1939-1973
Subseries 1, Rating Films, circa 1939-1973
Subseries 2, Memomotion Films, circa 1948-1959
Subseries 3, Multi-Image Loops, circa 1956-1958
Subseries 4, Instructional Films, circa 1939-1962
Subseries 5, Travel Films, circa 1955-1958
Subseries 6, Papers, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Marvin Everett Mundel, born April 20, 1916, was a major figure in the fields of industrial engineering and time and motion studies. He is known particularly for his consulting work, seminars and teaching, as well as numerous publications based on his expertise in work management and productivity enhancement. He began his engineering career in 1936 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from New York University (1936), followed by an M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering earned in 1938 and 1939, respectively, from the State University of Iowa.
In the late 1930s and 1940s, work measurement studies were considered the state-of-the-art method for improving industrial production. Mundel continued and built upon the achievements of pioneers Frank and Lillian Gilbreth during his teaching career at both Bradley and Purdue Universities. He also conducted seminars at Marquette University Management Center and the University of Wisconsin's Extension Center in Milwaukee. In addition to his American teaching career, Mundel was a visiting professor at both the University of Birmingham in England and Keio University in Tokyo, Japan.
In 1952, Mundel started a consulting firm which aided corporations and governments in either work measurement consulting or, later in his career, industrial engineering consulting. His first clients were United States government agencies that wanted to gain control over lost revenue or manpower. His position from 1952 to 1953 at the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois, as the first Director of the Army Management Engineering Training Program, transformed management techniques in the Army.
After his employment at Rock Island, Mundel began a series of consultant roles with corporations eager to standardize labor practices and make production more efficient. From 1953 to 1963, Mundel conducted time and motion studies at various manufacturing companies and developed techniques to measure work units. His most important contribution to the field of time and motion study was the development of memomotion, a stop-action filming technique used to determine time standards for work tasks.
Following his refinements of time and motion study, Mundel took his expertise to Japan where he offered his consultant services to various Japanese manufacturing firms during the 1960s. His interests evolved from time and motion studies to include work management and overall management organization consulting. During the 1960s and 1970s, Mundel also returned to government consulting in the United States with these new techniques, in offices such as the Bureau of the Budget and United States Department of Agriculture. This period marked an important evolution in Mundel's career, from time and motion study to work measurement and then to industrial consulting. Mundel was among the first consultants to export American management techniques to Japan, and, in his later career, to other Asian countries. He became an integral part of the Asian Productivity Organization, a group that helped developing Asian countries learn how to increase productivity. His seminars sought to provide corporations and governments with efficient management techniques so that Asia would become a strong economic center. Mundel was sensitive to cultural differences as well as varied methods of management and standards of productivity.
Mundel won the Gilbreth Award in 1982. He continued conducting seminars and writing books and articles well into the 1980s, until failing health prevented him from traveling. When Mundel died in 1996, he was well respected in the field of industrial engineering for his many contributions.
Provenance:
This collection was donated to the Archives Center at the National Museum of American History by Marvin Mundel's wife, Takako Mundel, in January, 1999.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Rights:
Copyright held by the Smithsonian Institution. Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
2.35 Cubic feet (consisting of 5 boxes, 1 folder, 1 oversize folder, 3 map case folders, plus digital images of some collection material. )
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Print advertising
Correspondence
Recipes
Advertising mail
Trade cards
Commercial catalogs
Advertising fliers
Mail order catalogs
Advertising cards
Advertising
Illustrations
Printed materials
Business records
Business letters
Trade literature
Trade catalogs
Printed material
Reports
Periodicals
Invoices
Sales catalogs
Receipts
Ephemera
Letterheads
Manuals
Business cards
Sales records
Printed ephemera
Catalogs
Sales letters
Legal documents
Publications
Catalogues
Business ephemera
Date:
1791-1964
bulk 1840-1925
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:
The meat category primarily covers beef, pork, and seafood. Material related to seafood, including clams, oysters, fish, and shellfish, is significant. Additional animal protein sources may be present, especially within the recipes. Several professional associations documents and promotional materials are included. For chicken and other fowl, see subject category Poultry.
Materials represent a sampling of transactional records such as bills, invoices and receipts, marketing material, shipping services for goods, butchering, and preparation for consumption.
Arrangement:
Meat 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:
Meat 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: Meat, 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).
14.46 Cubic feet (consisting of 30.5 boxes, 1 folder, 11 oversize folders, 1 map case folder, 1 flat box (partial).)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Business ephemera
Ephemera
Recipes
Date:
circa 1795-1970
Summary:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Food 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 material consists primarily of advertising cards, bills/receipts, printed advertisements, catalogues, price lists, business cards, circulars, scattered correspondence on letterhead stationery, import/export documents, fruit crate and other types of labels, publications of various types and pamphlets and books from companies involved in the food industry. These businesses include manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers of food and food products, growers, commission merchants, importers and stores selling food either exclusively, as in grocery stores or food emporiums, or together with other products in general stores. The bulk of the material consists of bills and receipts and trade cards.
The large collection of fruit crate labels consists of three boxes, primarily from growers of apples and pears in the Pacific Northwest. The images on these labels range from caricatures, primarily of Indians, to lush images of the fruits being sold. There are numerous pictures depicting or related to the names of the growers or the brand name being used, such as Mountain Brand, Pyramid Brand, Eskimo Brand, a wren for F.O. Renn or a strongman for E.C. Sampson. Some of the more common images in addition to the Indians and fruit include cowboys, children, flowers, birds and river and mountain views. Several of the images and/or brand names appear on the labels of more than one company.
There are a number of publications included in the materials. There are magazines and journals, both for the trade and for the general public. There are books published about a particular type of food, often by a manufacturer or distributor of that food. There are also histories of some of the companies, usually written by or for the company. Also, in this category, are catalogs of large metropolitan food stores such as S.S. Pierce of Boston, the Joseph R. Peebles' Sons Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Park & Tilford and Francis H. Leggett, both of New York.
Materials in boxes one through eighteen are organized alphabetically by name of company. All materials relating to a particular company, with the exception of import/export documents, publications (if that is the only material) and fruit crate labels, are included with the company related materials.
Boxes eighteen through twenty-one contain the fruit crate labels. These are arranged alphabetically by company. The first folder of each letter contains labels of companies for which there is only one label. The last folder contains labels with no company name. Box twenty-two contains other food labels which are primarily from cans and jars. They are arranged alphabetically, first by type of product such as corn and corn products, ketchup, pasta and peaches, then alphabetically by company for companies with a large number of labels and lastly a folder containing labels with no company name. The labels in the product folders are arranged within the folder first alphabetically by company followed by labels with no company name.
Boxes twenty-three through twenty-seven contain import/export documents. These are also arranged alphabetically by company in the same manner as the fruit crate labels. The import/export documents are primarily from the Port of Philadelphia. The documents cover goods coming into the port on sailing ships and, starting in the 1870's, steam ships and leaving the port on rail and river conveyances. The products were imported from such places as Cuba, Antigua, Trinidad, England, Italy, Germany and Singapore and included cocoanuts, pineapples, dried fruit and nuts, macaroni, cheese, sausages, cooked meats, pickled fish, spices and coffee and tea.
Box twenty-eight contains magazines and periodicals. Some of the publications include What to Eat from 1896 and 1899, The Dietetic Gazette from 1889, Culinary Review from 1943 and Wholesale Grocer. This box also contains correspondence and order forms relating to magazines and periodicals.
Box twenty-nine contains miscellaneous food publications. These are such things as account books, articles from other publications, publications on diet and infants and children and newsletters. Box thirty contains food related publications that are published by or about specific companies for which there is no other material. Box thirty also contains material relating to food equipment and manufacturing. This is arranged initially by company and then contains folders on canning and preserving and patents. The equipment manufactured includes such things as evaporators, sorters and washers.
Box thirty-one consists of publications about specific types of food and general works. The food types include publications about such foods as asparagus, milk and rice. These folders are arranged alphabetically by food type. General works consists of material which is not, or cannot be, related to a specific company or do not fit into one of the major categories set forth above. These are: general images which are not labels, advertising cards, correspondence, food instructions, legislation, miscellaneous price lists, railroad receipts and claims, recipes, shipping and tax stamps.
Arrangement:
Food is arranged in nine subseries:
Manufacturers and Distributors of Food and Food Products
Labels
Import/Export Documents
Magazines and Periodicals
Menus
Publications
Law & Legislation
Food Types
General Works and Miscellaneous
Partial List of Company and Proprietor Names, General Materials:
American Fruit Growers Incorporated Ana-Co
Apple Growers Association
Associated Fruit Company Barnhill Fruit Company Bear Creek
Blue Mountain Fruit Exchange
Boehmer Incorporated Bolinger Orchards
Brewster Distribution Unit
Brewster-Bridgeport Growers Incorporated
Butler Trading Company Incorporated Buck Fruit Company
Casca Growers
Cascadian Fruit Shippers Incorporated
Cashmere Fruit Exchange Cashmere Fruit Growers Union Chelan Falls Orchards
Clark-Baker Company Columbia Basin Orchards Connell Brothers, Company D
Dahn, Floyd Fruits Incorporated
Davidson Fruit Company Del Rio Orchards
Denison, H.S. and Company
Denney and Company Dow Fruit Company
Duddy-Robinson Incorporated/ Thompson-Duddy-Robinson Company
Duthie and Company Earl Fruit Company
East Wenatchee Fruit Growers
Entiat Fruit Growers League
Fairview Ranch Company
Foster's, Myron Hesperian Orchards Fruitland Fruit Association
Fruit Sales Company Incorporated
Gellatly Fruit Company
Greig, W.M.-Bonanza Orchard
Growers Service Company
Hafener Fruit Company
Haskell Packing Company
Hood River Fruit Company
Hood River Produce Exchange
Independent Fruit Shippers
Jennings Fruit Company
Kelly Brothers Company Incorporated
Koon Tai and Company
Koop, The C.M. Company
Lake Chelan Fruit Growers
Lake Chelan Fruit Growers Union
Lake Entiat Growers, Incorporated
Lippmann, J & G
Lockwood, C.M.
Mad River Orchard
Malott Growers Union
Manson, A. Fruit Growers
Marsh, A.E. Company
Methow-Pateros Growers Incorporated
Mojonner & Sons
Monitor Federated Growers
Mutual Sales Agency
Nellis, F.E. & Company
North Pacific Sales Company
Northern Fruit Company
Northwest Wholesale
Northwestern Fruit Exchange
Nuchief Sales, Incorporated
Okanogan Growers Union
Olive Apple Company
Omak Sookum Growers
Oneonta Trading Corporation
Onnail Fruit Growers
Orando Community Packing
Pacific Fruit & Produce company
Paddock, C.R. & Company
Palmer Corporation
Paxton Rivers Company Incorporated
Perhann Fruit Growers
Peshastin Fruit Growers Association
Plummer & Edwins
Renn, F.O. Fruit Company
Richey & Gilbert Company
Rivers, Burnand & Rivers
Robertson, D.O.
Rock Island Unit
Ryan Fruit Company
Sampson, E.G.
Segerstrom, H.N.
Sellers, Ben F. /Spinner Fruit Corporation/Sellers & Spinner
Sgobel & Day
Sisler, J.A.
Smith & Holden
Spokane Fruit Growers Company
Stadelman Fruit Incorporated
Standfield Fruit Growers Union
Steinhardt & Kelly Incorporated
Sterlin-Slater Fruit Growers
Stratford Orchards Company
Stubbs Fruit & Storage Company
Sunnyslope Fruit Exchange
Tedford, R.A. & Company
Tonasket Federated Growers
Trunkey-Wolfe Company, Incorporated
Vernon Orchards
Wade, J.M. Fruit Company
Wagner, E. & Son
Washington Fruit & Produce Company
Weaver, C.H. & Company
Wells & Wade Company
Wenatchee Apple Land Company
Wenatchee District Co-Op Association
Wenatchee Fruit & Storage Company
Wenatchee Fruit & Warehouse Company
Wenatchee North Central Fruit Distributers
Wenatchee Produce Company
Wenatchee Valley Fruit Exchange
Wenatchee-Beebe Orchard Company
Wenatchee-Northern Warehouse and Marketing Company
Wenatchee-Okanogan Warehouse Company
Wenatchee-Skookum Growers
Western Fruit & Produce Company, Incorporated
White Brothers & Crum
Wright Fruit Company
Yakima County Horticultural Union
Yakima Fruit Growers Association
Yakima Fruit Growers Exchange
Partial List of Company and Proprietor Names, Oversize Materials:
An & Company, Shredded Coconut, Location unknown
Armour Packing Company, White Label Soups, Kansas City, MO
Price, Joseph J., Dealer in Family Groceries, Wines, Liquors, and Imported Cigars, Albany, NY
Procter & Gamble Company Crisco, Cincinnati, OH
Rowland, James and Company Fancy Groceries, Teas, and Coffees Location unknown
Royal Cocoanut Company, New York, NY
Schepp, L. and Company Schepp's Cocoanut, New York, NY
Snow, F.H. Canning Company
Stickney & Poor's, Premium Spices and Mustards Location unknown
Stone, Arthur and Company Wholesale Grocers, New Orleans, LA
Thurber, H.K. & F.B. and Company Grocer, New York, NY
United Fruit Company Bananas, Boston, MA
Washington Dehydrated Food Company Washington Brand Dehydrated Apples Yakima, WA
Washington Frosted Foods, Inc.
Wells, Miller & Provost Wholesaler Warehouse New York, NY
Wendell, Jacob L. Pickling and Preserving Philadelphia, PA
Wholesale Grocers and Commission Merchants Petersburg, VA
Worth, William E. and Company Wilmington , NC
Young & Lyon, Providence, RI
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:
Food 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: Food, 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).
Collection documents, primarily through trade literature, catalogs, and photographs, and films, a major meat manufacturer of machinery and equipment for the meat processing industry.
Scope and Contents note:
Collection includes business records, photographs, films, and trade literature documenting the company's meat packing operations.
The single most striking feature of the American meat processing industry has been its mechanization and industrialization. The Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company was at the heart of that process. The company invented and developed innovative equipment including its revolutionary hog dehairing machine and subsequent inventions which made the company one of the major suppliers to the American meat industry.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into six series.
Series 1: Historical Background Materials, 1928-1960s
Series 2: Catalogs, Price Lists, and Trade Literature, 1890s-1990s
Series 3: Meat Industry Materials, 1937-1987
Series 4: Patent Materials, 1934-1997
Series 5: Photographs, 1900s-1990s
Series 6: Motion Picture Films, 1950-1974
Biographical/Historical note:
The Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company was incorporated in February 1895 by Charles Gottleib Schmidt (1851-1930) to manufacture meat packing equipment in the United States. Originally known as the Cincinnati Butchers' and Packers' Supply Company, "Packers" was eventually dropped from the company name because Schmidt felt it was too long and he thought the packing industry would be replaced by something else. The company was first located at the corner of Central and Kindell Avenues in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1870, Schmidt previously founded and co-owned the C. Schmidt Company with his uncle Carl Leonhard Schmidt (d. 1894) and brother George Oskar Schmidt. The company made refrigerator display cases and had a butcher supply department, opened to supply the needs of butchers and packing houses. Carl Leonhard Schmidt's son-in-law, John H. Ahrens also joined the business, and ultimately, bought out Charles G. Schmidt.
Schmidt founded the Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company as a way to provide equipment designed exclusively for the meat industry. Schmidt operated a meat market and identified the need to provide standardized equipment and machinery to ensure consistent quality and efficient production. The lines of equipment expanded at the turn of the twentieth-century from dealing with only prepared meat to include the activities of slaughtering and dressing. The equipment was marketed under the "Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company" name as well as the "BOSS" trademark (June 1917) which depicted a large bull. Some of the first systems included a hog hoist and a hog dehairer, introduced in 1903 and 1904. The sons (Oscar, Sr., and Gustave) of Charles Schmidt entered the business and established themselves with equipment design and patents of their own. The machinery and equipment was designed to streamline the production process and to move the hogs through the processing lines more quickly and efficiently, thereby minimizing labor costs and increasing production output. Specialized items such as a "BOSS" Hog Dehairer, a "BOSS" Hog Hoist, a Belly Roller, and a "fat skinning" machine were patented and produced to allow for a more mechanized and therefore more standardized processing system.
After Charles Schmidt died in 1930, the company was led by his sons: Oscar, Sr., vice-president of packinghouse machinery, treasurer and chief engineer; Gustave (Gus), who headed the woodworking ("Beauty" brand refrigerators, cabinets, display cases) department; and Herman, who became president. A daughter, Mathilde Schmidt, also worked in sales and advertising. In 1947, Schmidt's grandsons C. Oscar Schmidt (1909-1993) and William C. Schmidt took over the family business and expanded it by buying other companies that complemented their meat equipment line. The company's main lines were slaughtering equipment (dehairers and
restrainers), sausage equipment (mixers, choppers, cutters), and rendering machinery. Among Oscar, Jr.'s thirty-five patented inventions was an electric hog stunner and the humane V-restrainer, originally intended for hogs, but then adapted to other animals. In 1980, Oscar, Jr. bought out his brother William to become sole owner.
Charles Gottleib Schmidt was born in Thüringen, Germany and he immigrated to the United States in 1870. He married Helene Meyer (1858-1926) in 1878. The couple had eight children: Frieda (b. 1880), Gustave (1882-1932), Oscar (b. 1886), Herman (b. 1888), Matilda (b. 1890), Emma (b. 1891), Hedwig (b. 1894), and Helene (b. 1923). In addition to founding a company, he was an active member of the Cincinnati community and was a member of the North American Saenger-Buend, United Singers Club, Hanselmann Lodge No. 208, Erwin Cicrcle Literary Club, Cincinnati Turner Society, Pioneer Club, Germanistic Society, Cincinnati Altenheim, and the German Protestant Ophan Home Society.
Sources
U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Joel E. Harrell and Son Suffolk, Virginia, nomination form, 2005
(last accessed on January 24, 2023, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/133-5138_JoelEHarrell_2005_NR_nomination_final.pdf)
Cincinnati Enquier, November 12, 1939, page 11.
Cincinnati Enquirer, November 11, 1986, page 62.
Schmidt, Christoph R. Company History, unpublished, 2002.
Related Materials:
Materials at the Archives Center
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Series: Meat (NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Meat)
Materials at the Smithsonian
Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Trade Literature Collection
Collection holds trade catalogs from the Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Co.
Materials at the University of California, Davis, Special Collections
Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company Collection, 1928-1980
Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company was a manufacturer of meat packing equipment. The collection contains material regarding supply business operations including accounts, blueprints, and catalogs.
University of Cincinnati, Archives and Rare Books Library
Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company catalogs and photographs, 1915-1933
This collection consists of catalogs for the Cincinnati Butchers Supply Company and a panoramic photograph of the Institute of American Meat Packers.
Ohio History Center
Cincinnati BOSS Company Collection Audiovisual Materials [graphic], circa 1900-1970
Photographs and drawings of Cincinnati BOSS Company equipment.
Collection donated by Cincinnati Boss Company, through Christoph R. Schmidt, 2000.
Restrictions:
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Athena Tacha papers, 1959-2019. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received federal support from the Collections Care Initiative Fund, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative and the National Collections Program
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:
Blanche Stuart Scott Collection, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0062, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. 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. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. 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. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. 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. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. 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. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
