Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Automobile Industry

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Automobile
Creators:
Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969
Dates:
circa 1860-1967
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
12.49 Cubic feet
consisting of 24 boxes, 2 half boxes, 4 folder, 18 oversize folders, 3 flat boxes (partial), plus digital images of some collection material.
Repository:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Automobile Industry 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
This material dates from the late nineteenth and early twentith century and consists primarily of catalogues, scattered correspondence on letterhead stationery, printed advertisements (particularly from Town and Country), instruction manuals, periodicals, newspaper clippings, handbooks, pamphlets, company histories, photographs, caricatures, road maps, tour guides, tickets, membership cards, and articles and books--mostly from manufacturers and dealers of automobiles. A large amount of the material is from pioneer manufacturers including Ford., Reo, Duryea, Packard, Auburn, Studebaker, Hupmobile, Franklin, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Oldsmobiles, and Buick.
There is a substantial amount of material from manufacturers and dealers of parts and accessories for automobiles which include horns, tires, windshield wipers, paints, autometers, springs, automobile tops, telephones, chains, clocks, heaters, transmissions ' carburetors, engines, spark plugs, anti-freeze, license plates and gasoline. Samples of permits, operator's licenses, titles, registrations and traffic rules and regulations are also documented. Companies that provide services such as car rentals, garages and maintenance of automobiles are also included. There are a number of images of automobiles, including photographs and illustrations in catalogues which document the developement of automobiles. Images include: Andrew Carnegie, J. Pierpont Morgan, John Jay Gould, John Jacob Astor, the Vanderbilts and their cars.
Scope and Contents note
Series 1: Manufacturers and Dealers of AutomobilesandSeries 2: Manufacturers and Dealers of Automotive Parts and Accessoriesare arranged alphabetically by name of company.Series 4: Related Publicationscontains periodicals which relate directly to the automobile industry and are arranged alphabetically by name of publication. The images inSeries 5: General Worksare arranged by type (i.e. photographs, caricatures). This series also includes applications for operators' licenses and permits, titles for automobiles, registrations, traffic legislation, traffic rules and regulations, patents, information from insurance, car rental, taxi service, and limousine service companies, schools, various clubs and associations, museums, and shows. The general materials are arranged by type and clubs and associations are organized alphabetically by name.
Series 4: Related Publications, ca. 1896-1950, contains publications including pamphlets, reports, books and periodicals of general interest. Articles from Town and Country are numerous, and other magazines are represented. The articles cover a variety of topics including automobile racing (1906), the development of the automobile (1903), women as motorists (1906), types of imported automobiles (1907), legal rights of automobilists (1904), automobiling as a sport (1926), insuring automobilists (1907), building motor parkways (1908), closed automobiles for winter traveling (1909), winter coats for motoring (1904) and taxi cabs replacing the hansom (1907). The articles are arranged alphabetically by name of magazine and then chronologically by date. Business cards, blotters, trip passes, fabric samples, stock cuts, newspaper clippings, abstracts of papers, reports, guide books, miscellaneous correspondence and pamphlets are also well documented. Handbooks, manuals and books covering mostly the history of the automobile but also maintenance and tour guides and maps are arranged alphabetically by location.

Scope and Content Note on Oversized Material

Scope and Content Note on Oversized Material
The oversize materials primarily consist of printed advertisements and other promotional materials, including in-house publications, brochures, and catalogs for automobile manufacturers and dealers. Some material was created by dealers of automobile parts and accessories, including motor clothing. Several general images of automobiles, articles, and printed ads for automobile publications are also available as well as some correspondence and periodicals related to automobile clubs and correspondence associations. Materials are arranged alphabetically by company or by publication and follow the same order of the vertical file materials.

Arrangement note

Arrangement note
The collection is divided into five series:
  • Series 1, Manufacturers and Dealers of Automobiles
  • Series 2, Manufacturers and Dealers of Automotive Parts and Accessories
  • Series 3, Miscellaneous Materials, undated
  • Series 4, Related Publications, circa 1896-1950;
  • Series 5, General Works, circa 1680-1965.

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
Automobile Industry 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.

Digital Content

More …

Using the Collection

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


More Information

Brand name index

Brand name index
The following is a list of the brand or trade names for various automobiles. The names that appear in this list are a compilation of those found on materials in the vertical document boxes.!It is not a complete list of all the names for automobiles. The list is intended to assist researchers locate desired materials when only the brand name is known. The names of automobiles are arranged in alphabetical order. The following information is included for each product when available: (1) the brand name and (2) the manufacturer.
  • Missing Title
  • Brand Name
    Manufacturer
    33
    Hudson Motor Car Company
    Airflows
    Chrysler Corporation
    Alco
    American Locomotive Automobile Company
    Ambassador
    Nash Motor Company
    Auto Meter
    Warner Instrument Company
    ?
    Beacon-Little Paul Rubber Company
    Berliet
    American Locomotive Company
    Chadwick
    Fairmount Engineering Works
    Chau Phone
    Western Electric Company
    Columbian
    Electric Vehicle Company
    Commer
    Wyokoff, Church & Partridge
    Continental-Mark IV
    Ford Motor Company
    Cord
    Auburn Auto Company
    DKW
    Mercedes Benz
    DeSoto
    Chrysler Corporation
    Detroit
    Anderson Electric Car Company
    Electrette
    Lansden Company
    Elk-Hart
    Crow Motor Company
    Emco
    Emery Manufacturing Company
    Essex
    Hudson Motor Company
    Everitt 30
    Metzger Motor Car Company
    Fairlane
    Ford Motor Company
    Falcon
    Ford Motor Company
    Flurd Drive
    Chrysler Corporation
    Galaxie
    Ford Motor Company
    Golden Airflyte
    Nash Motors
    Hupmobile
    Hupp Motor Car Company
    Jeep
    Will-Overland Company
    Jenny
    Homestead Value Manufacturing
    Jericho
    Randall-Faichney & Company
    La Salle
    Cadillac Motor Company
    Lambert
    Buckeye Manufacturing Company
    Lancia
    Adama-Lancia Company
    Lancia
    Hol-Tan Company
    Leak Proof
    McQuay-Norris Manufacturing Company
    Leavitt
    ?
    Lincoln
    Ford Motor Company!Unras Specialty Co.
    Little Six
    Locomobile Company
    Mack
    International Motor Company
    Menominee
    D.F. Poyer Company
    Meritasstandard
    Textile Products Company
    Model F
    Ford Motor Company
    Model K
    Ford Motor Company
    Model N
    Ford Motor Company
    Model S
    Ford Motor Company
    Neverout
    Rose Manufacturing
    New Yorker
    Chrysler Corporation
    Old Sol
    James Bailey Company
    Orient
    Walth Company
    Overland
    Willys-Overland Company
    Plymouth
    Chrysler Corporation
    Pungs-Finch
    Sintz Gas Engine Company
    Queen
    C.H. Blomstrom Cars
    Rambler
    Nash Motors
    Rambler
    S. Thomas B. Jeffrey
    Rockne
    Studebaker
    Royal
    Chrysler Corporation
    S.G.V
    Gotham Motor Company
    Schluter
    E.F. Elmberg Company
    Silent Six
    Matheson Auto Company
    Snow Bird
    Arps Corporation
    Snow Bird
    F.S. Manufacturing Company
    Speed-Wagons
    Reo Motor Car Company
    Stepney
    Spare Motor Wheel Company
    Stewart
    Stewart-Warner Speedometer Company
    Terraplane
    Hudson Motor Company
    The Marmon
    Nordyke & Mormon Company
    Thuderbird
    Ford Motor Company
    Truffault-Hartford
    Hartford Suspension Company
    Twenty-Two
    Metz Company
    V Belt
    Graton & Knight Manufacturing
    Valiant
    Chrysler Corporation
    Victor
    Overman Auto Company
    Waverley
    Indian Bicycle Company
    Whiz
    Hollingshead, R.M. Company
    Windsor
    Chrysler Corporation
    Yale
    Kirk Manufacturing Company


Keywords

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

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