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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 feetconsisting 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
Forms Part Of
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
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
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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