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Central New York Trade Catalogs and Business Ephemera

An inventory of the collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 11 Jun 2007

Biographical History

Central New York has been the home of many companies that went on to become known nationwide, among them Smith Bros. Cough Drops, L.C. Smith Typewriter Company (which later became Smith Corona), Oneida Silverware, Clark Music Company and the Franklin Automobile.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Central New York Trade Catalogs and Business Ephemera consists of correspondence, financial material, legal material, printed material, and miscellany related to businesses and industries in and around Central New York. Counties represented include Auburn, Cortland, Monroe, Oneida, Onondaga, and Oswego.

Correspondence contains business communications from Central New York retailers.

Financial material consists of account books, checks, ledgers, promissory notes, sale receipts, and stocks and bonds. Also present is a small collection of merchant scrip - non-legal tender issued by local merchants as a substitute for currency.

Legal material contains insurance policies, Cayuga County liquor and wine license applications, and various indentures, such as mortgages, road warranties, and warranty deeds. The series also contains miscellaneous court documents, including records from an 1889 murder trial.

Printed material consists of calendars, maps, promotional materials for the New York State Fair, and various forms of advertising such as broadsides, fliers, pamphlets, and trade catalogs. Objects of interest include several hundred highly stylized lithograph trade cards and sample books from printing companies demonstrating various paper weights and colors available for advertisers. Please note that the State Fair promotional materials folder contains material that some researchers may find objectionable due to racist content. This material is preserved and retained with the collection for its historic and research value.

Miscellaneous contains a copper printing block, photographs of Central New York businesses and events, and assorted ephemera such as postage stamps, theater tickets, bottle caps, and a solar eclipse viewing lens sent out by the Syracuse Herald in 1900. Also present are the design proofs for a souvenir booklet and postcard for Eighteen Mile Creek.

Arrangement of the Collection

The collection is arranged alphabetically.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

L. C. Smith Typewriter Company material has been removed and is now part of the L.C. Smith & Bros. Typewriter Co. Collection.

See also the Central New York Local History Collection and Central New York Cultural Ephemera. There are also separate collections related to a number of businesses and companies, such as Oneida Silverware (Oneida Community Collection), Endicott-Johnson (Charles F. Johnson and related collections), and Clark Music Company (Melville Clark); please refer to the SCRC Subject Index under "Business and Industry" or under "New York State" for a full listing.

For full descriptions of the merchants' scrip, see New York State scrip and private issues by Gordon L. Harris (S.l. : G.L. Harris, c2001), call no. New York HG627 .N4 2001 (refer to Libraries Search to locate).

Subject Headings

Persons

Akin, John W.
Chace, A. Frank B.
Evans, Mary Elizabeth.
Osborne family.

Corporate Bodies

J.R. Clancy.
American Seating Company.
Baker Dash Works.
Birdsall Engine company.
Candy Kitchen.
Elmwood Stud.
Lipes Machine Shop.
National Banker's Express Company.
Perry Seed Store.
Protectall Safes.
Syracuse Cart Company.
Syracuse Chilled Plow Company.

Subjects

Advertising layout and typography.
Advertising.
Business enterprises -- New York (State) -- History.
Commercial catalogs.
Industrial promotion -- New York (State)
Insurance.
License system -- New York (State)
Liquor laws -- New York (State)
Marketing.
Retail trade -- Law and legislation -- New York (State)

Places

Cayuga County (N.Y.) -- Commerce.
Elbridge (N.Y.) -- Commerce.
Finger Lakes (N.Y.) -- Commerce.
Syracuse (N.Y.) -- Commerce.
Utica (N.Y.) -- Commerce.

Genres and Forms

Advertisements.
Brochures.
Correspondence.
Deeds.
Fliers (printed matter)
Insurance policies.
Judicial records.
Letterheads.
Maps (documents)
Printed ephemera.
Receipts (financial records)
Scrip.
Trade cards.
Trade catalogs.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Central New York Trade Catalogs and Business Ephemera,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Scrip gift of Gordon L. Harris, July 2003. Other material purchased.

Table of Contents

Correspondence

Financial material

Legal material

Printed material

Miscellaneous

Inventory