Business records and legal documents in the form of correspondence, agreements and contract, business cards, patent and trademark applications (some with accompanying design drawings or schematics). Three royalty stamps authorizing use of a patent, a partial portion of a disbound text discussing patent suits, a schematic for gas masks (1918), and one novelty facsimile patent application dinner program for a Patent Centennial dinner held in DC on November, 23, 1936. One memo in French.
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series 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.
Series Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Patents, 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).
Correspondence, patents, photographs, newspaper clippings, and subject files about various inventors and ideas. Collection documents women inventors, American culture, 1950s-1970s, and products designed for women and the home. Donovan's papers offer a near complete invention record, including both successes and failures, as well as patent and trademark correspondence.
Scope and Contents:
The Donovan papers offer a near complete invention record, including both successes and failures, and include correspondence, photographs, patents, newspaper clippings, and subject files about various inventions and ideas. This collection documents direct marketing techniques for products designed especially for women and the home. It may be useful for researchers interested in women inventors and entrepreneurs, American culture from the 1950s through the 1970s, and advertising history.
Series 1: Personal Papers and Biographical Materials, 1917-1999
Subseries 1.1: Biographical Materials, 1917-1999 includes newspaper clippings, biographical materials, and memorabilia relating to Marion Donovan's early life, family, and social activities. Note: Original clippings have been photocopied, and researcher copies are available.
Subseries 1.2: Magazine Publications, 1953-1999 includes original magazines which featured articles on Marion Donovan.
Series 2: The Boater, 1949-1995
Includes United States and foreign patents, notes, clippings, correspondence, photos, press releases and scrapbooks that document the invention of the Boater diaper cover.
Series 3: Other Ideas and Inventions, 1941-1993
Subseries 3.1: Marion Donovan's Subject Files, 1941-1995 are arranged chronologically and contain advertisements, articles, correspondence, sketches, notes, United States and foreign patents, photo materials, press releases, publications, and some artifacts documenting her ideas and inventions.
Subseries 3.2: Barbara Walters' Television Special, Not For Women Only, [1975] features an episode highlighting "Inventors and Invention," with a panel that includes Marion Donovan, Jacob Rabinow, and Henry Kloss, demonstrating their inventions.
Series 4: Dentaloop, 1979-1996
Subseries 4.1: Manufacturing Files, 1979-1996 contains files relating to the manufacture and packaging of DentaLoop, and includes photo materials, correspondence with various manufacturers including Johnson & Johnson, clippings, craft materials, and reports.
Subseries 4.2: Patents and Patent History, 1985-1996 contains files kept by Marion Donovan documenting the patent history of her and others' dental inventions.
Subseries 4.3: Marketing Files, 1989-1995 includes a substantial mailing list compiled over the years by Marion Donovan Associates, various order forms, advertising drafts, press releases, correspondence with Procter & Gamble, photo materials, personalized questionnaire responses, and a "How-To" videotape demonstration.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into 4 series.
Series 1: Personal Papers and Biographical Material, 1999
Series 2: The Boater, 1949-1999
Series 3: Other Ideas and Inventions, 1941-1993
Series 4: DentaLoop, 1979-1996
Biographical / Historical:
Twentieth-century inventor, Marion O'Brien Donovan (1917-1998), made a career of designing solutions to everyday, domestic problems. Her career is framed by her invention in 1949 of the "Boater," a diaper cover made of surplus parachute nylon, and her invention in 1993 of DentaLoop, individual precut circles of two-ply dental floss. As an inventor and entrepreneur, Donovan created products that addressed problems in personal health, beauty, and household needs.
Marion O'Brien was born into a family of inventors on October 15, 1917, in South Bend, Indiana. Marion's father, Miles O'Brien, with his identical twin brother John, developed an industrial lathe for manufacturing gun barrels and founded the South Bend Lathe Works in 1906. After her mother died when she was seven, Marion spent a majority of her time at her father's factory, even inventing a "tooth powder" while in elementary school. She graduated with a B.A. in English from Rosemont College in 1939, and worked briefly for both Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. In 1942, she married James F. Donovan and moved to Westport, Connecticut.
A Connecticut housewife and mother of two in 1946, Donovan was unsatisfied with the options available to her to keep her babies dry. To her, cloth diapers "served more as a wick than a sponge," and rubber pants assured a nasty case of diaper rash. Looking for a way to hold the dampness in without keeping air out, she experimented by clipping a panel from her shower curtain, sewing a moisture-proof diaper cover, and replacing safety pins with snaps. Three years later, she introduced the "Boater." Donovan's attempts to sell her idea to leading manufacturers failed, but her product became an instant sensation and commercial success when she began selling the Boater at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1949. In 1951, Donovan sold both her company, Donovan Enterprises, and her diaper patents to children's clothing manufacturer Keko Corporation, for one million dollars.
Marion Donovan's interest in design and invention manifested itself in a Master's degree in architecture which she received from Yale University in 1958, at age forty-one. According to her obituary, she was one of three women in her graduating class. In the decades that followed, Donovan would go on to invent "The Ledger Check," a combined check and record-keeping book; "The Big Hang-Up," a garment hanger and closet organizer; and "The Zippity-Do," an elasticized zipper pull.
Marion Donovan was involved in every aspect of product development, serving as creator, designer, manufacturer, and marketer. Often, designing the product also meant designing the machinery that could construct the product to her unique specifications. While working on the development of DentaLoop, for example, she and second husband, John Butler, traveled to a factory in Germany to explore floss-producing machinery ideas. Donovan also went to great lengths to market her floss product. Between the years 1991 and 1995, in collaboration with daughter Christine, she launched her largest promotional campaign, marketing DentaLoop directly to hundreds of dental professionals and pharmacists all over the country. Always envisioning improvements, she continued to correspond with companies specializing in oral hygiene products until her husband suffered a stroke, and she focused her attentions on caring for him. Following his death in July, Marion O'Brien Donovan Butler died four months later on November 4, 1998.
Related Materials:
Artifacts were donated to the National Museum of American History in March of 2000. The "Boater" diaper cover (1949), a key chain bracelet, and "The Zippity-Do" (1970) were donated to the American Costume Collection of Social History Collection. "DentaLoop" (1993) materials were donated to the Science, Medicine, and Society Division.
Provenance:
Ms. Donovan's daughters, Christine Donovan and Sharon Donovan Dodd, and son, Dr. James F. Donovan, Jr., donated the collection to the Archives Center, March 2000.
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.
2.58 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.
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:
Minimally covers the terminus of the wind-powered (sail) era and more fully documents the peak of the engine (steam) era of commercial cargo and passenger vesselsk, including freight and dockage services, maintenance and provisioning, ferry service, navigation (tug and tow) assistance, plus leisure cruising and touring. There is not a significant amount of material on battle or war ships. Includes both short distance routes such as lakes, rivers, and islets, and longer trans-oceanic crossings.
Documents within the collection consist of handbills, broadsides, leaflets, books, business cards, advertisements, insurance forms, wreck reports, passenger lists, baggage tags, freight manifests, rate cards, correspondence on letterhead stationery, booklets, newspaper clippings, postcards, menus, periodicals, manuals, photographs, engravings, woodcuts, sketches, bills of lading, receipts, catalogues, ledgers, journals, purchase orders, broadsides, brochures, custom forms, schedules, shipping and receiving documents, early steam guides, timetables, lithographs, announcements, etc. There are no navigational nautical maps. There is very little in the way of international import/export records. However, domestic and North American freight services are well-covered through invoices, bills of lading, manifests, and receipts for goods and services.
Some materials cover the history and development of steamships, particularly in the latter half of the nineteenth century with the iron screw replacing the wooden paddle steamer in the 1850s. The late 1860s brought the compound engine, which led to the steamship, previously used for the conveyance of mails and passengers, to compete with the sailing vessel in the carriage of cargo for long voyages. The 1870s brought improvements in accommodation for the passenger, with the midship saloon, conveniences in state-rooms, and covered access to smoke rooms and ladies cabins.
Ownership of specific lines and vessels was very fluid throughout shipping history, including the renaming of vessels. Mergers, dissolution, and absorption of fleets were frequent. Thus, researchers should independently seek out a more detailed history for any entity of particular interest.
The general maritime business series focuses on good and services related to maritime operations such as repair, shipbuilding, parts, ticket agents, chandlers, groceries, coal supply, dockage, wharfs/marinas, etc.
Operation records of named vessels contains primarily bills of lading and similar receipts for the movement of material goods or in-water services such as tow and tug assistance.
The largest series covering shipping lines and conglomerates offers a wide assortment of miscellaneous, nonexhaustive operation records for cargo and passenger lines and corporations, typically those with multiple holdings. These documents may include receipts, bills of lading, correspondence, and financial ledgers, plus promotional material for services and routes offered. Passenger sailings and luxury cruise documentation may contain menus, passenger lists, itineraries, shore excursion information, souveniers such as luggage tags, ticket stubs, and postcards. See also the subject category Menus, for additional examples of passenger and cruise ship menus.
When not associated with any of the above, general examples of materials related to the industry have been by arranged by their material type such as images, reports, and serial publications. More formal documentation, especially legal and reports, can be found here.
Narrative type materials related to lore, history, and building and design specifications have been sorted by subject. A scarce amount of material covers ships used for military service. Likewise, there are a few examples of maritime related material from the art world, mostly in the form of catalogues for exhibits or auction of paintings and scale models.
A note on vessel names: those used as contract carriers of mail and when in service, were entitled to unique prefix designations such as Royal Mail Ship (RMS.), otherwise, the ship name may be preceded by the more generic S.S. for single-screw steamer or steamship, SV for sailing vessel, PS for paddle steamer, RV for research vessel or similar type prefix. USS is the standard for the United States Navy commissioned ships while in commission, with HMS used for His/Her Majesty's Ship of the British Royal Navy.
Some of the major lines/companies represented in the collection include: American Line, American Steamship Company, Anchor Line, Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, Cunard-Anchor Line, Cunard Line, Cunard Steam Ship Company, Limited, Cunard White Star Line, Eastern Steamship Lines, Furness, Withy & Company, Hamburg American Line (HAPAG) / Hamburg Amerika Linie, Holland America Line (N.A.S.M. / HAL), Inman Line, International Mercantile Marine Company (IMM), International Navigation Company, North German Lloyd (Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen), Panama Pacific Line, Peninsular and Oriental, Red Star Line, Royal Mail Steam Packet, U.S. Mail Steamship Company, United States Lines, White Star Line.
Arrangement:
Ships, Boats, and Vessels is arranged in three subseries.
Business Records and Marketing Material
General Maritime Businesses
Operation Records of Named Vessels
Shipping Lines/Conglomerates
Miscellaneous Business Records and Marketing Material
Genre
Keepsakes
Images
Ledger
Legal
News Clippings
Regulatory
Reports
Serial Publications
Stamps/Cigarette Cards
Associations and Societies
Images, Artwork, Racing, Technical Literature
Subject
Battleships, Warships
Destination Guides
Employment and Licensing
Insurance
Maritime History
Maritime Models and Art
Revue Generale Des Sciences
Warshaw Administrative Records
Related Materials:
Several other Warshaw Subject Categories may have closely related material such as Submarines and Transportation. For casual and recreational boating see Boats and Boating Equipment and Yachts. Other subject categories that may have related materials include: Canals, Dredging, Engines, Menus, Railroads (point of common transportation transfer), and Tours. .
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:
Steamboats [Ships, Boats, and Vessels] 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: Ships, Boats, and Vessels, 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).
Patents, trademarks, product design/prospectus, some include drawings/schematics.
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series 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.
Series Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Ships, Boats, and Vessels, 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).
12.77 Cubic feet (consisting of 26.5 boxes, 1 folder, 7 oversize folders, 2 map case folders, 1 flat box (partial), plus digital images of some collection material.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Print advertising
Periodicals
Publications
Advertising cards
Advertising mail
Printed ephemera
Patterns
Catalogues
Designs (textile)
Sales catalogs
Business cards
Legal records
Contracts
Textiles
Trade catalogs
Exhibition catalogs
Advertising
Advertisements
Mail order catalogs
Business records
Designs
Printed material
Labels
Instructional materials
Trademarks
Legal documents
Trade cards
Legislation (legal concepts)
Ephemera
Samples
Manuals
Sample books
Design patents
Advertising fliers
Illustrations
Catalogs
Sales letters
Business letters
Correspondence
Manufacturers' catalogs
Commercial correspondence
Letterheads
Invoices
Photographs
Sales records
Printed materials
Fabrics
Trade literature
Business ephemera
Receipts
Commercial catalogs
Date:
1784-1970
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:
This material is concentrated on the 19th century United States textile manufacture and trade, and the sale of textiles in the form of bale, bolt, roll, and fabric to commercial vendors or consumers as source material to make other goods. The first series contains day-to-day records of dealers and vendors, plus advertising and marketing material. Artisan and home production of goods are virtually not covered but are a couple of incidental publications related to arts, crafts (rugs, weaving, looms), and more refined work such as tapestry. The import/export of textiles is well represented with a large volume of records, which may also provide some insight into the shipping industry.
There is not much on the infrastructure of the industry in the way of directories, trade journals, trade associations, along with manufacturing and plants, though there are a few examples of each. There are virtually no catalogues, except for a few thin ones that were filed by company name. While not extensive, the sample books and swatches offer a glimpse into product lines. Material types offers limited, specific information on certain varieties such as cotton, wool, linen, rayon, etc. Thread might be incidentally present but is not specifically included since there is already a dedicated subject category for it.
There is a healthy sampling of product labels. A handful of intellectual property related documents cover protections of designs, plus patents and trademarks. There is a small bulk of publications related to tariffs and the wool industry.
Clothing patterns, home economics, sewing and seamstresses, household use of textiles (furniture covering, as a cleaning tool, bedding/pillows, etc.) are not covered within this category. Researchers should also look at any of a number of other Warshaw categories, particularly those related to clothing, hosiery, dry goods, furniture, curtains, etc. for period popularity of certain materials and patterns.
Arrangement:
Textiles is arranged in three subseries.
Business Records and Marketing Material
Genre
Subject
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:
Textiles 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: Textiles, 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).
5,211 trademark for cigars, cigarettes, and smoking and chewing tobacco
5,247 trademark for cigars, cigarettes, and smoking and chewing tobacco
7,386 trademark for cigars
13,337 design for a cigar lighter
13,810 design for a cigar lighter
New York, New York
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series 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.
Series Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Tobacco Trade and Industry, 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 is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series 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.
Series Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Tobacco Trade and Industry, 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).
60.54 Cubic feet (consisting of 131 boxes, 13 folders, 17 oversize folders, 20 map case folders, 2 flat boxes (1 full, 1 partial), plus digital images of some collection material.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Business ephemera
Ephemera
Date:
1832-1977
Summary:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Railroads 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:
Railroad materials comprise the largest subject category in the Warshaw Collection. These materials document a major industry and important transportation system that was instrumental in the western expansion of the United States. Railroads opened the way for the development of many other industries including mining, farming and manufacturing. The earliest materials document railroad lines operating on the east coast of the United States in the 1830s. The United States did not have the technical and manufacturing capabilities of some of the European nations. Cheaper land for railroad right of way and a government policy that guaranteed loans and provided grants to railroad companies based on the amount of track laid, however, encouraged rapid growth. Railroad companies in turn would sell land to settlers. Materials in this collection include the advertisements created to lure settlers west by promising this cheap and abundant land.
The railroads were instrumental in transporting goods from the farm belt to the east coast and to Europe thus making the country a major trading post. Railroads also expedited the movement of troops during the Civil War which was the first war to employ the rails. Later in the century the growth of the far west is facilitated by passenger trains linking east and west. As the rail network became more efficient and capable of transporting raw materials, the United States became a world leader in coal and pig iron production. Evidence of the transporting of goods is found among these materials.
The affluence of the late nineteenth century is reflected in the amount of materials in the collection that promoted luxury travel by rail. The rise of great railroad fortunes such as those of Vanderbilt, Harriman and Gould soon followed industry growth, as did scandal and corruption which in turn was followed by government regulation in the form of the Interstate Commerce Act and railroad legislation during Theodore Roosevelt's administration.
The twentieth century witnessed great efficiencies in locomotive car and track design and large increases in freight ton mileage as is reflected in the materials. There was, however, failure or downsizing of many railroad lines. Total passenger mileage declined over the years due to competition from other forms of transportation, the rise of the labor movement, increasing government control, a reduction in profits and the
The material consists primarily of correspondence, reports, patent records, pass books, resort guides, timetables, maps, periodicals, articles, printed advertisements, tickets, photographs, postcards and images from railroad companies. There is also a substantial amount of material from manufacturers and dealers of railroad equipment and supplies and from railroad organizations. Reference materials including articles and periodicals are also included among the materials. The materials are divided into six series.
Railroad Companies forms the largest amount of material in this category. This series is divided into two subseries. Subseries one is American railroad companies and subseries two is foreign companies.
American Companies document transportation service throughout the United States by the railroad lines including Albany and Susquehanna Railroad Company, Northern Railroad Corporation, Concord and Claremont, Contoocook River Railroad, Illinois Central Railroad, New York Central Railroad Company, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Sullivan, Central Vermont, Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road Company, Providence and Worcester Railroad Company, Pennsylvania Rail Road Company, Southern Pacific, Vermont Central Railroad Corporation and Union Pacific Railroad. There is a substantial amount of material from each company. The materials are arranged in alphabetical order by the name of the company or railroad line (s).
Foreign Companies includes companies servicing countries outside of the United States. Countries include Canada, England, France, India, Ireland, Scotland, Mexico and Switzerland. The materials are arranged in alphabetical order by the name of the company or railroad line (s).
Manufacturers and Distributors of Railroad Cars, Equipment and Supplies includes scattered correspondence on letterhead stationery, printed advertisements, patents, catalogues, bills and receipts. Many of the companies produced cars for the railroad companies but also supplied equipment and parts. The materials are arranged in alphabetical order by the name of the company.
Organizations, Associations and Clubs includes material from groups that represented the interests of railroad companies, employees and tradesmen. Organizations include American Association of General Passenger and Ticket Agents, American Association of Passenger Traffic Officers, American Association for Railroad and Locomotive History, American Electric Railway Association, American Electric Railway Manufacturers Association, American Electric Railway Transportation and Traffic Association, American Iron and Steel Association, American Railway Association, American Railway Bureau, American Railway Master Mechanics Association, American Street and Interurban Railway Accountants Association, Association of American Railroads, Association of General Freight Agents of New England, Association of Railway Executives, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen- Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Brotherhood Railroad Signalmen of America, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, Convention of Railroad Commissioners, Eastern Railroad Association, International Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Master Car Builders' Association, National Association of General Passenger and Ticket Agents, National Council of Traveling Salesmen's Association of America, New England Association of Railroad Superintendents, New England Association of Superintendents of Steam Railways, New England General Ticket and Passenger Agents Association, New England Railroad Club, New England Railway Car Accounting Association, New England Summer Resort Association, North-Western, Railroadmen, Railroadians of America, Railway Business Association, Railway Car Accountants' Association, Railway Clearing House Association, Railway Club of Pittsburgh, Railway Educational Association, Railway Officials of America, Railway Storekeeping Association, Railway and Supplymen's Mutual Catalog Company, South-Western Passenger Association, South-Western Railway Association, Street Railway Association, Terminal Railroad Association of Saint Louis, Train Central Corporation of America, Transcontinental Association, United American Mechanics, United States Railroad Administration, Western Association of General Passenger and Ticket Agents, Western Land Association of Minnesota, Western Railroad Association, Western Railways' Committee on Public Relations, Western States Passenger Association and the Yard Master's Mutual Benefit Association.
Images includes unidentified photographs, postcards, lithographs and sketches of locomotive cars, bridges, tunnels, accidents, collisions, depot stations, equipment, freight and shipping alternatives, Hancock Junction, horse-drawn railroads, memorials featuring trains, menus, tracks, employees working with trains, trademarks, cartoons, caricatures, illustrations from children's books, West Point and the second locomotive built in the United States. The materials that can be identified to a railroad company or line are found in series one. Most of the material are undated and is arranged in alphabetical order by subject.
General Files includes audit reports, Windsor Vermont Convention, income and expense accounts, mortgage bonds, bond offerings, export and import documents, financial records and stock lists, Florence and Keyport Company charter, Interstate Commerce Commission, legal records from states such as Connecticut, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, United States and Vermont patent records, Philadelphia Company balance sheets, Railroad Administration, Rand's Rating Agency, taxation documents, Thompson and Bachedler track and switch specifications, pass, time sheets, freight documents, maps, destination literature, tours, ticket sales, passenger rate sheets, checks, receipts and invoices, tickets, guides, maps, timetables, transportation of freight documents, pass books, passenger proportions, freight rates, free pass policy of numerous railroad companies, freight rates, freight transportation documents for Empire Line Great Western, Great Central, Bitner's Despatch Line, Merchant's Despatch line, National Despatch line, and various companies, time sheets, transportation of freight documents, maps and destination literature, maps and destination literature, map of Great Britain, Dinsmore, map of the United States and Canada Railways, fares and schedules, official documents, special trip offers, tariffs for passengers, freight and grain, tariffs for livestock and merchandise, passenger rate sheets, Walker's Railway tables, baggage checks, checks, receipts and invoices, ticket sales, Dover, ticket agents, tickets,
Publications includes articles, reports, clippings, histories, fiction, periodicals for the railroad trade and general periodicals. The series is divided into three subseries: Subseries 1, Articles, Reports, Clippings, Histories, and Fiction; Subseries 2, Periodicals for the Railroad Trade; Subseries 3, General Periodicals.
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:
Railroads 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:
Business ephemera
Ephemera
Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Railroads, 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).
3.66 Cubic feet (consisting of 8 boxes, 1 folder, 1 oversize folder, 1 map case folder.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Business ephemera
Ephemera
Date:
1855-1909
Summary:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Carpets 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 illustrated catalogues, price lists, business cards, bills/receipts, order forms, import/export documents, printed advertisements, leaflets, pamphlets, patent and trademark design specifications, memorandum books, scattered correspondence on letterhead stationery, articles, and books from manufacturers, distributors and importers of floor coverings. These floor coverings include rugs, linoleum, oil cloth, floor cloths, sheepskin mats, rubber mats, steel mats, and carpets. Most of the floor coverings were manufactured for home use but there are a few companies who supplied office buildings, hotels, steamboats, lodge rooms and churches. Some of these companies manufactured carpet beating machines, brushing machines and rug anchors. Other products manufactured and sold by these companies include carpet sweepers, tapestries, curtains, floor linens, Japanese screens, mat tresses, furniture, paper hangings, stair-rods, table and piano covers, backings, window shades, brooms, willow ware, upholstery, oil cloths and mattings.
There is also a substantial amount of material from carpet cleaners, dyers and weavers. There are a number of catalogues with color illustrations showing different patterns and available colors and sizes of the floor coverings.
Arrangement:
Arranged in two subseries. The first is organized alphabetically by company and the second is arranged by subject.
Subseries 1: Manufacturers, Distributors, and Importers
Subseries 2: General Subjects
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:
Carpets 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, 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 is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series 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.
Series Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, 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).
This collection consists of several thousand clippings of trade marks, labels, etc., taken from magazines and newspapers, and labels. Many of them are quite small and a very few have dates and sources noted on the reverse side. Most of them appear to have been clipped in the 1920 1940 period. They were classified by the collector on the basis of the insignia, symbol or design of the trademark (not the product or organization which it represents). Subgroups include living things (animals, humans, plants) represented, objects (architecture, clothing, etc.) and symbols. Business and other organizations, trademarks are subdivided by industry or sector. Publications, including some of the U.S. Patent Office, which deal with trademarks are included.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into eight series
Series 1: Trademarks: Living Things
Series 2: Trademarks: Objects
Series 3: Trademarks: Symbols
Series 4: Trademarks: Business and Organizations
Series 5; Trademarks: Other Trademark Material
Series 6: Trademarks: Labels
Series 7; Trademarks: Publications
Series 8: Patent Office Gazette Material
Provenance:
Collection donated by John H. White, November 14, 1985.
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.
The materials in this collection span the years from the late 1920s to the 1970s and document Metzig's work in Germany and the United States. Little background and biographical information is available.
Project files : More than 500 examples of the designer's work, including letterheads, logos, trademarks, brochures, book jackets, magazine covers and layouts, certificates, awards, and product labels.
Printed Materials : Includes articles written by Metzig and a copy of his publication, "Art Lettering and Design," which was done for the International Correspondence Schools of Pennsylvania in 1957. This collection does not include any business records or correspondence.
Other Visual Materials : Photographs, slides, and transparencies of many of Metzig's designs.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into three record groups: 1) printed materials; 2) project files; and 3) other visual materials. Project files are arranged in alphabetical order by name of client. Extensive files for projects done for distilleries and publishing companies are alphabetized separately.
Biographical / Historical:
Graphic designer and artist. Born Hanover, Germany, 1893. Metzig apprenticed with a lithographer prior to establishing his own studio in the 1920s. He designed trademarks, logos, letterheads, brochures, and posters for clients. He is best known for his work for Pelikan Ink Company.
He also designed book covers, magazine covers, and page layouts. In the 1930s, Metzig became known as a leading calligrapher and advertising artist in Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1939 and settled in New York where he taught calligraphy and did freelance graphic design until his death in 1989.
Provenance:
Gift.
Restrictions:
Permission of staff required to photograph materials.
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.
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:
Charles Baldwin White Trademark Collection, 1920-1940, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
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:
Charles Baldwin White Trademark Collection, 1920-1940, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
A. (Arthur) Bernie Wood (1921-1986) was an advertising designer, consultant, and inventor actively involved in the development of the restaurant franchise industry in America during the 1960s and 1970s. Particularly notable is his work with marketing, promotion, and merchandising for the McDonald's Corporation during its formative years.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents the post-war development of the franchise business system from an insider's view. Wood participated in almost all aspects of franchising activities from design to ownership. The materials consist of a wide variety of corporate identity elements--primarily visual--developed by Wood under contract to various corporations in the food service industry. Wood delivered his services in design concepts and graphics for advertisers and industrial firms using photo graphics and lithographic media.
Series 7: Audio and Moving Image Materials, 1963, 1964, 1968
Subseries 1: Audio Materials, 1963, 1964, 1968
Subseries 2: Moving Image Materials, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Arthur Bernie Wood (1921-1986) was born in Council Grove, Kansas. Wood graduated from Central High School in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1939 and subsequently attended several junior colleges and business and trade schools. Wood held a variety of positions in typesetting and lithographic services from 1940 until military service in the United States Navy (1942-1945). In the Navy, Wood served as a Laboratory Technician, 1st Class Photographic Specialist at the Naval Air Station, Glenview, Illinois. While in the Navy, Wood produced patentable material for a photo-litho process for instant printing techniques through photosynthesis. After being discharged from the Navy, Wood worked for an art studio that serviced advertising agencies. This work involved reproduction art, direct mailing services, mail order books, and newspaper art for Marshall Field's. From 1958 to 1960, Wood established the A. Bernie Wood Studio in Chicago to provide finished photographic art for leading advertising and print publications and television.
In 1961, Wood founded Admart, Inc., Advertising. As the president and creative director of Admart, he created, promoted, and merchandised the new fast-food corporate image of McDonald's Carry-Out Restaurants. While working for McDonald's, Wood designed interior food service floor plans, a logotype, direct mailing materials, posters, newspaper mat campaigns, and radio taped productions (1963-1964). Wood obtained several patents--beverage cup holder (1964), candy box (1967), finger-grip food product containers (1967), and a refreshment tray-forming template (1964) and trademarks--"Chick'n-2-Go" (1968);"NEATRAE" (1967); and "Ma and Pa's Country Candy Store" (1966). Wood, and Donald Conley formed Neat Containers Associates to promote the use of "Neatrae" and license it.
In 1965, Wood founded a franchise business called Ma and Pa's Country Candy Stores in Arlington Heights, Illinois, which he owned and operated with his wife Marilyn until 1972. They also owned another unit in Long Grove, Illinois. As the director and co-founder of this franchise, Wood was responsible for creating names, trademarks, copyrights, and image materials. He sold franchise rights to others, and there were other Ma and Pa's Country Candy Stores located in the United States, especially in St. Louis. He also designed store interiors and exteriors for other clients and supervised construction. From 1964 to 1965, Wood was a freelance designer and consultant on design, marketing, and franchising issues for restaurants and drive-ins. Other corporate images designed by Wood include: Prince Castle, Neba Roast Beef, and Friar Fish's Fish and Chips. Wood expressed his goal to design an image/logo as one "that would be recognized and one that would relate to products, packaging, properties, people, procedures and promotion. Put together, these elements communicated and coordinated the corporate image."
Wood also developed the concept Dial "All Wood," the use of a memorable association of letters rather than phone numbers (255-9663) and requesting specific phone numbers from the local Illinois Bell Telephone.
Wood married Marilyn Dewar (1923-1981) on May 27, 1942, in Kansas City, Missouri. They had five children: Ronald W.; Rhonda C.; Randall S.; Rayne Ann; and Rodger L.
Wood died on April 5, 1986.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Rayne Ann Wood, daughter of A. Bernie Wood, on February 25, 2007.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
1,150 Cubic feet (approximately. Series 1 contains approximately 1108 cubic feet consisting of approximately 2050 boxes, approximately 326 oversize boxes, and map case material. Additional material in Series 2-4 is unquantified. With also, some digital images of select collection materials.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Posters
Letterheads
Advertisements
Maps
Business ephemera
Calendars
Trade cards
Broadsides
Ephemera
Stationery
Advertising cards
Sheet music
Photomechanical prints
Sales catalogs
Chromolithographs
Place:
business ephemera -- Adirondack Mountains (N.Y.)
Albany (N.Y.)
Date:
circa 1708-1977
Scope and Contents:
The Warshaw Collection consists of approximately 1,150 cubic feet of material currently contained in approximately 2,050 vertical document boxes, approximately 326 flat oversize boxes, 34 map case drawers of oversize materials, 56 volumes of photographic photo prints, 17 boxes of 4 x 5 color transparencies and black and white photonegatives, 11 boxes of stereographs, and a videodisc. It consists of a large body of business ephemera. Ephemera is used to refer to the transient everyday items which are usually printed on paper however in some cases fabric, leather and wood have been used. This material is manufactured for a specific limited use and then meant to be thrown away. The collection also contains samples of ephemera that were meant to be saved for a short period of time and discarded later such as stock certificates. This material dates from the late eighteenth century to about 1977, but the bulk of the material is late from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The largest advertising history collection in the Archives Center, the Warshaw Collection is organized into five major categories: I. Business Ephemera -- - Vertical Files, II. Business Ephemera - - Oversize, III. Other Collection Divisions, IV. Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers and V. Photographic Reference Materials. Scope and content notes and a detailed description of the contents for all of these divisions are found in the following sections of the register.
Series 1: Business Ephemera, circa 1724-1977, makes up the largest portion of the collection. It is divided into 538 subject and geographic categories created by Mr. Warshaw and is contained in 2,050 vertical document boxes. Materials include vast numbers of advertising cards, scraps, stock cards, trade catalogs, price lists, menus, pamphlets, labels, lithographs, photographs, business letterheads, bills, receipts, greeting cards, post cards, calendars, printed advertisements, periodicals, newspaper clippings, broadsides, shipping documents, handbills, premiums, promotional items, announcements, business cards, packaging and point of purchase displays.
II. BUSINESS EPHEMERA - - OVERSIZE FILES, ca. 1850-1960, consists of approximatley 326 flat oversize boxes and 34 map case drawers of materials. Materials include posters, newspapers, point of purchase displays, packaging, printed advertisements, periodical illustrations, lithographs, labels, shipping documents, promotional items, trade catalogs, pattern sheets, maps, art reproductions, fashion design drawings, membership certificates and price lists. The material is organized by the same subject and geographical categories as materials in the vertical document boxes.
III. OTHER COLLECTION DIVISIONS, ca. 1790-1957, represents a significant accumulation of one type of material rather than a mix of various types of ephemera. Materials generally relate to one subject. Most of the material is stored in flat oversize boxes. Materials include cinema lobby cards, fire insurance maps, photographs and scrapbooks of liquor and wine labels.
IV. ISADORE WARSHAW PERSONAL PAPERS, ca. 1917-1966, consists of three document boxes of materials relating to how Mr. Warshaw maintained the collection as a business. Most of this material is correspondence sent to him in response to his research inquiries. A smaller portion of the material is printed advertisements and circulars created by Mr. Warshaw to advertise his services and the collection. Magazine articles, letterhead stationery and photographs make up the remainder of the material.
V. PHOTOGRAPHIC REFERENCE MATERIAL, consists of photographs, slides and transparencies of items found in the collection. These materials were created for a number of purposes. Some were created in response to requests by researcher for images to be used in publications, exhibitions, and for other purposes. Others were created as a quick reference source for researchers. Several thousand photographic images from the Warshaw Collection were also transferred to an experimental videodisc by the Institution's Office of Photographic and Printing Services (OPPS). The videodisc is available for viewing on equipment in the Archives Center.
Use of the prints, slides, and videodisc reduces wear and tear on the collection, permits rapid searching through many images, and assures the researcher - - in most cases that a photographic negative of transparency already exists, and that copies can be reproduced relatively quickly and inexpensively. Searching the collection's photographic reproductions is especially appropriate for researchers who want to see general images of subjects such as "women in advertising" or an advertisement from a particular year.
The Warshaw Collection originally contained books, three-dimensional objects and food crate labels. Those books that did not directly relate to the collection were transferred to the Smithsonian Libraries. Remaining publications are stored in the Business Ephemera-Vertical Files document boxes within the appropriate subject category.
Mr. Warshaw collected three-dimensional objects to illustrate packaging, to convey information about product content, shape and size, and to document advertising in three-dimensional forms. Such items included hair product packaging, games, patent medicine containers, cosmetics, tobacco tins, food containers, and liquor bottles. There were also a number of objects, mostly made of glass, tin, and wood, including trays and stained glass signs advertising products such as patent medicine, tobacco, phonographs, refrigerators, stoves, hair products, meat, agricultural tools and implements, whiskey, bakery goods, and beer. Some of these objects were framed. All these objects have been transferred to the appropriate divisions in the Museum. Information on the locations of these items can be obtained in the Archives Center reference room.
Food crate labels were once an important advertising device. Used to develop loyalty to particular growers, these labels were appealing because of the commercial artwork. Some of the labels were mounted on wood. These labels also were transferred to a curatorial unit. The un-mounted labels are in the "foods" section of the Business Ephemera - - Vertical Files.
Research Strengths and Limitations
The strength of the Warshaw Collection lies in its size, its variety, and its extraordinarily rich visual imagery. These images illustrate how Americans perceived themselves or wished to be perceived, how they saw others, their work patterns, their recreation habits, and other aspects of American culture from the late eighteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries. They provide an alternative source to written and printed historical materials, sometimes conveying information about values and practices not otherwise documented. These images stand as a powerful reminder that the origins of modern, visual mass communications go much farther back than the invention of television.
Most of the imagery, of course, is a vision of American life as seen through the eyes of advertising agencies and of the businesses they represented. Researchers working with the collection find it an especially rich source for examining the dynamic relationship between advertising and American culture over the centuries.
There are some problems, however, interpreting American culture through these materials. Most of the advertisements in the collection represent Anglo-American mainstream culture. African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans and members of other ethnic groups are only occasionally depicted in the advertisements. Much of this imagery is stereotypical and fails to recognize ethnic groups as consumers. Despite these limitations the ethnic imagery offers penetrating insights into American culture and its changing values and tastes. The Archives Center's Ethnic Imagery Project has identified thousands of items within the Warshaw Collection, and in other Center collections, which depict race and ethnicity. The Project also is seeking to expand the range of such imagery within the Center's collections to provide a better rounded view of how Americans see themselves and each other.
There are few indications in the collection of consumer response. The materials mostly consist of end products, what customers received. Testimonials and celebrity endorsements are among the materials but do not constitute a large portion of it, nor do they appear in every subject category. There is also little documentation on the success or failure of advertisements. Evidence about advertisers' decisions to use specific advertisements is extremely rare.
There is no complete history of any one company represented in the collection. For many of the businesses, the material consists of fragments of the advertising materials created to sell their products or services. Biographical information on founders or the early developments of the company may be included on letterhead stationery or bills and receipts but not always. Occasionally one finds company publications that discuss the history of the business. These were usually produced for anniversaries and more often for larger companies that had existed for a long time, such as Proctor & Gamble.
Most of the businesses represented in the Collection were east of the Mississippi River. This is probably due to the collecting possibilities for Mr. Warshaw. It also may be due to the concentration of many industries in this region.
Despite its limitations, the Warshaw Collection is the most heavily used collection in the Archives Center. Researchers in the Collection often find information unavailable elsewhere. Researchers in the Collection have included academic historians, Smithsonian curatorial staff , and outside museum staff interested in the collection for exhibition purposes. Smithsonian Shops buyers and others interested in motifs for licensed products, collectors and hobbyists find the collection a rich source for such research.
Series 1: Business Ephemera:
Dates -- circa 1544-1988
Contents -- Series 1: Business Ephemera1.1: Subject Categories1.2: Geographical Categories
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions:
Dates -- circa 1850-1957
Contents -- Series 2: Other Collection Divisions2.1: Business Records [Obsolete as of 2017]2.2: Cinema Lobby Cards2.3: Fire Insurance Maps2.4: Liquor and Wine Labels and Advertisements2.5: Photographs2.6: Stereographs2.7: Sheet Music2.8: Rewards and Wanted Posters
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers:
Dates -- circa 1917-1966
Contents -- Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers3.1: Correspondence3.2: Secondary Writings about Warshaw and the Collection3.3: Business Materials3.4: Miscellaneous
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material:
Dates -- undated
Contents -- Series 4: Photographic Reference Material4.1: Photoprints4.2: 35mm color slides4.3: Color transparencies4.4: Videodisc
Arrangement note:
The collection is divided into four series.
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Biographical / Historical:
The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana is the result of the foresight and energy of Isadore Warshaw. Warshaw believed that the history of America was closely tied to the history of American business. He observed, however, that the business community often looked to the future rather than the past and tended not to retain historical company records. As a result, a number of businesses had no coherent record of their past. Warshaw realized that these records could be of value one day.
"Sonny" Warshaw, as he was known to family and friends, was born June 12, 1900 and reared in Albany, New York, the second youngest of ten children of Rubin and Ray (Mackler) Warshaw. Although he received little formal education, he started in business as a book scout in 1915 searching for rare publications for dealers and collectors. Later he became a rare book dealer and collector himself. His hobbies included sketching and painting, and several pieces of this self-taught artist's work were exhibited in local banks.
Warshaw's interest in collecting business ephemera began in 1928 when an important event inspired him. In the process of searching for books, he often ran across various pieces of ephemera. In these posters, labels, ledgers, invoices, calendars, business cards, correspondence on letterhead stationery, and advertising cards, he could see the romantic side of big business. One day he ran across an invoice signed by John Forsythe, founder of a New York haberdashery, and sent it to the store. In reponse, he received a thank-you note along with an invitation to select six shirts in appreciation for the item he found. This combination of events encouraged Warshaw to begin a lifelong mission. He opened an office at 61 Columbia Street in Albany, New York, announcing to the business community that he had their history and would make it available.
In 1942, Isadore Warshaw moved from Albany to New York City where he opened an office at 752 West End Avenue. In 1944, he married Augusta Levy, a former buyer for a group of women's ready-to-wear shops in Miami, Florida. They had no children. A portion of their apartment was used as an office where Mrs. Warshaw handled all the correspondence. The Warshaws lived with the fear of a fire destroying the collection because this was their sole source of income. Insurance companies informed them that in order to insure the collection, each piece would have to be counted. As a result, the collection was never insured. A fire did occur once in the building but only a small portion of their vast holdings suffered from smoke damage.
Warshaw spent a great deal of time at the New York Public Library, museums, and historical societies, gathering ideas and information relating to his business pursuits. He never referred to his time spent researching and collecting as a hobby. As his business began to grow, he relied on as many as forty scouts across the country to hunt for material. He acquired material from companies going out of business, buildings about to be demolished, garage sales, auctions, antique shows, stamp dealers and collectors, old safes, small country merchants, and bookstores. He also advertised in catalogues for the book industry throughout the country.
Warshaw's approach at first was to purchase pieces of Americana in hope of finding a buyer. He mailed thousands of advertisements to his five hundred corporate clients. Rejected items went to a brownstone building that he referred to as his warehouse. Warshaw later discovered that there was more profit in renting materials or selling reproduction rights to the very materials he had once carted away. Companies rented objects or entire packaged displays to commemorate anniversaries, for sales conventions, annual reports, trade shows, lectures, and window displays. A few of his major clients included Johnson & Johnson, Kaiser Steel Company, the Riegel Paper Company, the American Can Company, and the Western Electric Company. Reward posters and gold-rush prints were used as props for TV westerns.
Warshaw used the collection to do various kinds of research for a number of businesses. Sometimes he investigated the history of a firm to supply it with founding dates. He found evidence of expansion and product diversification in various documents in the collection. For example, company records showed that Procter and Gamble began as a soap and candle manufacturer before it expanded to a wide variety of products.
Warshaw also had clients outside the business community. Members of the legal profession relied on his collection for various purposes. Lawyers contacted him when they wanted to convert personal property from estates to cash, and he also served as an expert witness, providing evidence in disputes involving trademarks, copyrights, and slogans.
American Heritage, Life, and other publications wishing to illustrate articles found graphics in the collection. Warshaw swapped items with local libraries and historical societies. Joseph N. Kane used the collection to document information for his book, Famous First Facts. Commenting on the many uses of his collection, Warshaw stated:
I have been fortunate. As a collector of things that now document the rapid growth of industry, I have been able to find wide use for my collection. People are beginning to realize that while the romance of war, fashion and science, for instance, is well preserved in swords, wax dolls, and fascinating models...the romance of business in the form of ledgers, sample books, posters, and tin cans tends to perish in debris. Now people come to me to illustrate histories and to get pictures of things as they were.
As Warshaw aged, he began to look for a buyer for the collection. Ralph M. Hower, at one time a professor of business at Harvard, recommended that the collection be purchased and indexed by the Baker Library at Harvard's Business School. He regarded it as a wealth of evidence on such topics specialization, diversification, and integration of business firms and the location of trade and industry.
Discussions about the Warshaw Collection among the staff of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History (then the Museum of History and Technology) began in 1961. The primary reason for the Museum's interest in purchasing the collection was to prevent the dispersal of a unique resource that could never be assembled again. In the opinions of Smithsonian staff, it provided evidence of things that could be found nowhere else.
Although negotiations for buying the collection and bringing it to the Museum began in 1966, the collection was not actually purchased and transported to the Museum until August 1967. Warshaw had moved his business several times and at the time of the sale, it was located in three rooms on the second floor of 270 West 96th Street in New York. Packing the collection took four days and it was transported to Washington by two tractor trailers.
When the collection arrived at the Museum, it consisted primarily of advertising ephemera. There were also a number of three-dimensional objects, including shoes, clothing, jewelry, furs, ashtrays, coffee and tobacco tins, carpets, patent medicines, cosmetics, hair products, paperweights, whiskey bottles, and food packages. The collection was divided into hundreds of subject headings created by Warshaw. Some of Warshaw's personal papers revealing his business transactions were included, as well as advertisements used by Warshaw to solicit business from manufacturers and retailers. Most of the rest of Warshaw's own papers were destroyed by Mrs. Warshaw when she left New York in 1973.
Following the sale of the collection to the Museum, Warshaw found himself unable to relinquish his life's work. He continued to do research for a number of old clients, relying on such sources as the public library, historical societies, collectors, and dealers in this type of material. In the process he acquired additional material. The volume of this portion of the collection was equal to the size of a station wagon. It was offered to the Museum by Mrs. Warshaw in 1971, and Museum staff went to the New Jersey home of Mrs. Warshaw's brother to pick up the new collection in November 1971.
Curators from the Museum were encouraged to spend time with the collection after its arrival to determine its content in their subject areas. At that time the collection was stored in shirt boxes. Efforts were made to put the materials in vertical document boxes, keeping them in the subject categories created by Warshaw. As time went on, it was clear that the method used by Warshaw was not adequate for research use. Warshaw located materials by hunch rather than by system and there was little cross-referencing in the collection. Not only was it inaccessible to outside researchers, but many of the objects were fragile and required more protection than they had in their original storage containers.
When the Archives Center was established in 1982, it was intended to be a repository for documents and other archival material in the Museum, assuring proper storage and a place where researchers could come to use collections.
The Warshaw Collection was one of the greatest concerns of the Archives Center because of its heavy use. In 1983 the Archives Center and the Division of Conservation worked together to develop a plan to integrate archival principles with conservation methods and techniques, thus taking the first steps in creating a re-housing project.
The first part of the re-housing project began with a survey of the collection to analyze content and condition of the materials. Faith Zieske, a conservator, conducted the survey. She chose a standard statistical analytical method, randomly using 70 vertical document boxes as samples, to analyze the entire collection. Zieske consulted both the Library of Congress Preservation Office and the conservation staff of the Folger Shakespeare Library. A plan was then developed for implementing the survey. After examining the results of the survey, Zieske developed a phased plan for reorganizing and preserving the collection.
Conservation technician Carolyn Long and museum specialist Lorene Mayo began the pilot project in the summer of 1983, testing recommendations made in the survey. During this period Long wrote guidelines for handling the collection. Long and Mayo also developed new storage containers for housing objects of unusual shape.
As the re-housing project developed, finding aids were created for the processed portions of the collection. This was a crucial step that allowed staff and researchers to find items without actually going through the collection. Archives Center staff continue to develop means of making the collection more accessible to researchers who come to the Museum to use the collection, as well as to increase awareness of the existence of the collection in the research community outside the Museum.
List of Sources
"Cashing In On Old Office Records." Business Week, (December 6, 1958).
"A Glimpse at Industrial Advertising of the 80's." Industrial Marketing, (February 1946).
Interview by Vanessa Broussard-Simmons with Mrs. Augusta Levy Warshaw and Correspondence in Control File for Warshaw Collection.
Kahn, Joseph. "Trademark Detective: The Colorful Past of American Business is the 'Beat' of a Sleuth Who has Pioneered a New Kind of History." The Rotarian, ( December 2, 1957) .
Kramer, A. Stanley. "What's Old on Madison?" Madison Avenue. (March 1961).
Menuez, Caroline Bird. "There's Gold in Your Attic." Esquire, (1946).
General:
Several specific companies or proprietors repeatedly appear in various subseries of this collection. These records were dispersed through many subseries and prior arrangement efforts, including those done by the collector as well as post-acquisition staff, which focused on a category or business name of the vendors rather than retaining the record source original provenance and order. As of 2016, there is not a plan to cull through the collection and reconstitute such records, however if such an effort was made, it would likely result in reasonably comprehensive business records for several entities. A few have been noted here but an exhaustive survey of the collection in regards to the this trend of dispersal has not been conducted.
Jacob House (occasionally with variant spellings), which often account for some of the earliest business record within the Warshaw Business Americana Collection, particularly those documents dating in the 1700s and early 1800s.
Luddington, F.L. ... (see Hardware)
Stemmeler...(see Whiskey...)
[Note to be completed, NB 2016-10-18]
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)
Provenance:
The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060, was 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:
Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalogs restricted due to fragile condition. Researchers should consult microfilm in NMAH library for 1880-1983 editions, drawer 692.
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, 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).
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0060
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Nathaniel Mathis Collection of Barbering and Beauty Culture
Creator:
Mathis, Nathaniel, 1946- (barber, motivational speaker) Search this
Extent:
5.5 Cubic feet (18 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Correspondence
Awards
Interviews
Certificates
Oral history
Videotapes
Place:
Washington (D.C.) -- Small business -- 20th century
Date:
1946-2004
bulk 1970-2004
Summary:
Nathaniel Mathis is a Washington, D.C., hairstylist, inventor, motivational speaker, and entrepreneur. His papers document his business life and community involvement.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents the work of a hairstylist, inventor, entrepreneur, and public figure whose career reflects significant changes in the African American community in the later 20th century. It is rich in visual imagery created by and for this community. Business papers, correspondence, publicity, photographs, awards and certificates documenting Mathis's work as a highly regarded barber and hairstylist in Washington, D.C., and as member of the D.C. Board of Barbering and Cosmetology are included. Business papers offer insight into the workings of a small privately-owned business. Numerous publicity items and photographs offer evidence of African American style and fashion in New York and Washington, D.C., from the late 1960s through today. Additional material documents Mathis's activities as a community activist, motivational speaker and distance runner. The collection also includes photographs, oral history interviews, and audio-visual materials.
Series 1, Biographical Information and Activities, 1946-2001, undated
This series includes all biographical statements, Mathis's autobiography, high school and college diplomas (including his GED), and other school and religious papers. Also included are advertising and programs for his various community events and motivational speaking engagements. Mathis participated in and sponsored many athletic, religious, community and children's events, which are documented here. Of note is his autobiography, Portrait of a professional: The Nat the Bush Doctor story as told to Jim Link, published in 1986.
Series 2, Beauty Business Documents and Advertising, 1969-2002, undated
Included in this series are papers related to Mathis's hair salon and clinic, his patent (United States Design Patent No. 237,022) for a Barber's Apron, associated marketing materials, and Bush Doctor advertising. Many of the materials are self-produced; both promotional items for customers and advertisements placed in publications such as phone books and newspapers. Documents for his School of Beauty, which ran from 1980 to 1992, include course material, the salon philosophy and the curriculum. His appointment books show the day-to-day life of the Bush Doctor. Also included are events where he appeared as the Bush Doctor.
Series 3, Publicity, 1963-2002
Clippings from newspapers and magazines, as well as entire magazines and newspapers where Mathis was mentioned on the front page. Several magazine covers and fashion spreads were collected because he was responsible for doing the hair of one or more of the models in the photo shoot. He also appeared at many education, trade, fashion, and hair shows, both as a competitor and as a speaker or panel member. Many of the newspapers showcase his inclusion in the Smithsonian collections in 1999 and from his graduation from Prince George's Community College, Maryland, 2001.
Series 4, Washington, D.C. Barbering and Cosmetology Boards, 1966-1997, undated
Mathis was appointed to the Examiner's Board as the chairperson in 1987 by Mayor Marion Barry of Washington, D.C., and to the Barbering and Cosmetology Board in 1994, after delivering a personal statement as to why he should be selected. The Board was significant because it was the first to license hair braiders in the country.
Series 5, Correspondence, 1967-2002, undated
Mathis maintained correspondence from many areas of his life. Topics covered include personal and professional matters, motivational speaking, and applications to appear in hair and trade shows as a competitor and panelist. Correspondents include the International Guest Artist Men's Hairstylist Association, the Red Cross, the Girl Scout Council, Shoptalk Trade publication, children at the Young School, and many beauty supply companies. He also promoted Soft Sheen beauty products and was a spokesperson for them at various events.
Series 6, Awards and Certificates, 1969-2001, undated
Mathis also received many awards, not only for his barbering skills, but for athletic events and for mentoring and providing support to various community organizations. Included are diplomas and certificates of completion for classes that he took related to barbering. He received medals at competitions such as the Coupe de la Paix in Egypt and the Coupe de l'Europe de le Coiffure in Paris, among others.
Series 7, Photographs, 1966-1989, undated
Photographs are comprised of modern color prints and gelatin developing-out paper (modern black and whites). The photographs document both Mathis's public and private life, from family snapshots to publicity photographs for his book and his television appearances. Of note are photographs with celebrities, including Muhammed Ali, Danny Glover, Robin Williams, Morgan Freeman, Whoopi Goldberg, George Foreman, Chris Rock, Bill Cosby, and Don King.
Series 8, Video materials, 1983-2002, undated
Video materials include ½" VHS, DVD and Minidisc formats and document Mathis's motivational speaking, athletic events, and barber training tapes. He made a promotional tape about his life entitled "From Hair to the Throne," which is undated but in DVD format. Much of his motivational speaking took place at high schools and colleges in the Washington, D.C. area. There are also interviews by local television stations. Included are notes about the tapes taken by Fath Davis Ruffins, a curator at the National Museum of American History.
Series 9, Audio Tapes, 1998-2004, undated
Fath Davis Ruffins, a curator at the National Museum of American History, recorded several oral history interviews with Mathis around the time the collection was acquired in 1998. These make up the bulk of the audio tape series and range from 1998 to 2004. Also included are tapes from radio appearances, as well as a motivational business tape which showcases Mathis's vocal talents.
Series 10, Memorabilia, 1992-1998, undated
Included in this collection is the Game of Life (playing pieces, cards, dice) and bags with the Bush Doctor logo on them. Mathis gave gift bags at the 2002 Black History Month convention, which included information about him and his salon, as well as a pick and a hair comb. He also collected political pins and kept many of his name badges and pins from shows and events he attended.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into 10 series:
Series 1, Biographical Information and Activities, 1946-2001, undated
Series 2, Beauty Business Documents and Advertising, 1969-2002, undated
Series 3, Publicity, 1963-2002
Series 4, Washington, D.C. Barbering and Cosmetology Boards, 1966-1997, undated
Series 5, Correspondence, 1967-2002, undated
Series 6, Awards and Certificates, 1969-2001, undated
Series 7, Photographs, 1966-1989, undated
Series 8, Video materials, 1983-2002, undated
Series 9, Audio Tapes, 1998-2004, undated
Series 10, Memorabilia, 1992-1998, undated
Biographical / Historical:
"Nat Mathis (b. 1946) is a native Washingtonian. He is a man of many talents and measures his success in many ways: innovative hairstylist, entrepreneur, inventor, community activist, motivational speaker and distance runner. Mathis opened his first barber shop in 1969. He is the winner of many national and international hairstyling awards and competitions and was the first African American to win the International Hair Styling competition in Cairo, Egypt in 1981. Mathis was among the first African American hairstylists to embrace and popularize the Afro and, later, cornrows -- hairstyles which many view as expressions of black empowerment. Mathis himself seldom expresses a political ideology of hair, but by 1970, Nat was known among his many satisfied clients and peers as "the Bush Doctor" for his expertise in Afro style and maintenance. He has styled hair for many celebrities; made numerous television appearances; and has been a stylist for several productions at the Kennedy Center, and for two major motion pictures, including Nixon, for which he re-created period hairstyles. He is active in community affairs, gives motivational speeches throughout the Washington, D.C., area, and is particularly interested in mentoring young people. He currently operates a barber shop adjacent to his home in Capitol Heights, Maryland."
*Biographical information provided by Nat Mathis's Official Website, "A Man of Many Talents." http://www.natmathis.com (accessed 02 August, 2006).
Separated Materials:
Mr. Mathis donated three of his patented barbering vests (See Accession # 1998.0114) to the Division of Home and Community Life.
Provenance:
Collection donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History by Nathaniel Mathis on April 9, 1998. An additional .3 cubic feet was donated to the Archives Center in 2004; 3 audio cassettes, 1 DVD and 2 mini discs added in 2006.
Restrictions:
Physical Access: Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves.
Technical Access: Series 8, Video materials and Series 9, Audiotapes may not be used by researchers unless reference and viewing copies are made available.
Rights:
Copyright held by the Smithsonian Institution. Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: fees for commercial use. The Archives Center does not own rights to the patent, trademark or any related interest in the artifacts.
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