Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subject Categories: Engines

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Engines
Creators:
Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969
Dates:
1829-1957
Languages:
Collection is in
English
. A few items are in
German
,
French
.
Physical Description:
3.01 Cubic feet
consisting of 6.5 boxes, 2 folders, 2 oversized folders.
Repository:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Engines 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
Covers all manner of engines including: boilers, gasoline, steam, water motors, automatic shut off, self-oiling, portable, vertical, mining, marine, diesel, crude oil, stationary, generators, compound, pumping, silent, alcohol, turbine, kerosene, hydrolic, caloric pumping, sectional, gasolene, iron man, single cylinder, slide valve, apparatus, cut-off, wind, horse, air cooled, valueless, two cycle, and the Corliss engine. Some of the following include engines used in portable sawing outfits, powered mills for grinding grain, feed cookers, boilers, injectors, and generators.
Materials represent a sampling of catalogues, correspondence, invoices, receipts, advertising and marketing material, bulletins, advertising cards, caricatures, seals, product specifications, booklets, price lists, company histories, order forms, prospectus, a few photographs, contracts, a legal opinion on a patent dispute (Novelty Iron Works, 1856), an operations guide 80-foot Elco Submarine Chacer Instructions, Care and Operations of Machinery Plant (Standard Motor Construction Company, 1917), patents and patent circulars, and a promotional diary. Many items are illustrated with print drawings and schematics of engines and associated equipment, plus some images of manufacturing facilities. No extensive runs or complete records exist for any single company or brand, and no particular depth is present for any singular subtopic, although some publications may provide general and historical overviews of a person, company, or a facet of industry.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Engines is arranged in three subseries.
  • Business Records and Marketing Material
  • Genre
  • Subject

Administration

Author
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
Engines 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.
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 list 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 Nicole Blechynden, 2016 September.

Using the Collection

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

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Trade cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Diesel engines Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business records -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Commercial catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Engines Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
advertising -- Business ephemera Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
advertising -- Brand name products Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Steam engineering Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Marine engines Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Reports Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rotary steam engines Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Periodicals Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Legal documents Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manufacturers' catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Invoices Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising mail Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printed ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sales promotion Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Publications Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sales records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trade catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sales letters Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manuals Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Publications -- Business Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business letters Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Letterheads Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Corliss steam-engine Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Receipts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertisements Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Print advertising Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Commercial correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Patents Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising, Direct-mail Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Steam-engines Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising fliers Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printed materials Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printed material Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sales catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Illustrations Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Diesel motor Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Catalogues Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business records -- 19th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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