Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Almanacs

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Almanacs
Creators:
Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969
Dates:
1733-1981
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
3.21 Cubic feet
consisting of 7 boxes, 2 folder, 1 oversize folder.
Repository:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Almanacs forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana

Scope and Contents note

Scope and Contents note
Almanacs have long been an important publication since the seventeenth century . Often filled with such varied information as the planting and harvesting of crops, social advice and home health care, people have respected these books as reliable resources. By the nineteenth century merchants realized the advertising potential of almanacs. Almanacs were seen as a significant form of advertising because they were so widely distributed. Thus began the advent of the advertising almanac. For the most part, complimentary almanacs were given away free of charge and contained less general information ยท than the previous publications. The research value of these almanacs is in the social issues, concerns, practices and customs of a particular period as portrayed through the advertisements, quick remedies and cures, and social advice.
Most of the publications in this collection are almanacs. There are also a number of diaries, memorandum books, family manuals, ladies' handbooks and a few medical guides . Beginning in 1800-1940 there is an almanac or similar publication for each year. The publications are arranged in chronological order by date. For more information on a particular company that is represented among these materials, researchers should consult the appropriate subject category. Most of the companies are in patent medicines, medicine, and agriculture. The publications among these materials tend to be duplicates of materials found in the subject categories.

Administration

Author
Vanessa Broussard-Simmons and Nicole Blechynden
Sponsor
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Almanacs 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.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation note
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Almanacs, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Conditions Governing Access note
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Conditions Governing Use note
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.

Materials in the Archives Center

Materials in the Archives Center
Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)

Forms Part Of


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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