Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subject Categories: Bakers and Baking

Summary
Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Bakers
Creators:
Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969
Dates:
1790-1967
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
1.57 Cubic feet
consisting of 3 boxes, 2 folders, 7 oversize folders, 2 map case folders.
Repository:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Bakers and Baking 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
Scope and Contents
The subject category Bakers and Baking relates to the manufacturing and distribution of baked goods in the United States. Subject matter largely covers breads, but also includes cakes, pies, cookies, crackers, and pretzel.
Bakers and Baking includes business records, advertisments, company catalogues, patents, realia, import and export documents, and subject records. The series contains images depicting baking, possibly for use in advertisements. Images frequently depict children carrying, eating, or making baked goods, anthropomorphic animals, factory workers, and baked goods. Oversized material includes advertisements, price lists, and a serial publication.
Material related to specific subject areas includes information on the history of bread and pretzel, background on companies and processes that emerged in the baking industry post-industrialization, as well as a recipes and small cookbooks.
No single subtopic is explored in particular depth, though Bakers and Baking offers a broader perspective on aspects of bread baking, as well as a wide range of baking images in the advertisements and unattributed images.
Arrangement
Arrangement
Bakers and Baking is arranged in three subseries.
  • Business Records and Marketing Material
  • Genre
  • Subject
Administration
Author
Kendra Jae 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
Bakers and Baking 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, and it 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 since Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
Processing Information
In 2016, with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund, the Archives Center at the National Museum of American History implemented the use of minimal level processing standards to increase information about and facilitate access to more of our collections.
For this subject, minimal processing included arrangement to the folder level, based on prior processing and preservation action, with retention of the pre-existing arrangement when possible, if applicable. Otherwise, an order was imposed by the Processing Archivist. Some materials were consolidated to eliminate excess bulk but items within folders were not arranged further. The guide may or may not include a more refined lists of folder contents. Non-archival housing was replaced for long-term stability, but staples and other fasteners have not all been removed.
Minimal level processing and machine-readable finding aid completed by Kendra Jae, April 2017. A large portion of stored material from the original acquisition received minimal level processing, which resulted in additions to this Subject category. This effort included basic arrangement and replacement of non-archival housing for long-term stability, but staples and other fasteners have not all been removed. Revisions to the encoded finding aid were made to reflect the added content in context to the previously processed material.
Supplemental processed material and partial list of names note added by Nicole Blechynden, August 2017.
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Preferred Citation
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Bakers and Baking, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Use
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.
Forms Part Of
More Information
Partial List of Companies in the Oversize Materials
Partial List of Companies in the Oversize Materials
Oversize materials include, but are not limited to the following companies:
American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company
American Pastry and Manufacturing Company, Biscuits and Crackers, Location unknown
Continental Biscuit Company, Graham Wafers, New Orleans, LA
Crouch, F.B. , New York, NY; Chicago, IL; London, England; Paris, France
Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, Grandmother's Bread, New York, NY
Harris-Holmes Bakery, Location unknown
Holmes, F. M. , Brown Bread Mixture, Boston, MA
Horsford's, Bread Preparation, Cambridge, MA
Knickerbocker Biscuit Company
Larrabee, E.J. and Company
Longstreet, Morton and Company, Fine Crackers and Fancy Biscuits, Newark, NJ and New York, NY
Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company
Magna Baking Company, New York, NY
National Biscuit Company
Old Grist Mill, Health Bread and Brown Bread, Boston, MA
Peters & Saurie
Poughkeepsie Cracker Bakery
Smith, F.F. , Manufacturers of Fine Crackers and Biscuits, Newark, NJ
Thurston and Hall Biscuit Company, Cambridge, MA
Wilson, Walter G. and Company, Beef Fibrive Biscuit, Philadelphia, PA
Keywords
Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Business records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Publications -- Business Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Receipts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Print advertising Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Importers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Baked products Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Commercial correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Invoices Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Recipes Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Patents Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Letterheads Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sales catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bakers and bakeries Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printed ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bakery equipment and supplies industry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Exports -- 19th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Price lists Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Baking Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Realia Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cake Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trade catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cookies Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Publications Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Food preparation -- Cooking Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Consumer goods -- Catalogs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business letters Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Repository Contact
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
archivescenter@si.edu