Archives Center, National Museum of American History

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

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Petroleum
Creators:
Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969
Dates:
1838-1981
Languages:
Collection is primarily in
English
, though contains
French
,
German
, and
Japanese
language material.
Physical Description:
4.38 Cubic feet
consisting of 9.5 boxes, 4 oversize folders, 1 map case folder.
Repository:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Petroleum 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 Petroleum relates to the manufacturing, refining, and sales of petroleum and other oil-based products including use in motors, spindles machinery, cylinders and by painters
Within these materials there exists producer and supplier overlap with other fuel, oil, and lubricant product lines such as linseed, rosin, whale, and refined vegetable oils. See also subject categories Automobile Industry, Aviation, Coal, Engines, Gas, Oils and Lubricants, plus other related topics, as applicable.
Petroleum includes business records, serial publications, guides and histories of specific companies, patents, images, realia, as well as widely-varied subject records. Business records also include import and export documentation and records of patents. Oversize material included with the series comprises of additional serial publications and business records.
Material related to specific subject areas provide overviews of several subjects pertaining to the petroleum industry. This includes the general history of the petroleum industry, chemistry and science related aspects of oil recovery and production, and literature about aspects of the petroleum trade intended for tradesmen. Materials extend to gas and electric companies, the automobile, aviation, and maritime industries, as well as addressing issues within the oil recovery trade such as procedures, storage equipment, and balancing safety and cost considerations.
No particular depth is present for any singular subtopic though Petroleum offers a breadth of general information about various aspects of the petroleum and its related industries.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Petroleum is arranged in three series.
  • Business Records and Marketing Material
  • Genre
  • Subject

Administration

Author
Max Howell
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
Petroleum 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 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 Max Howell, 2017 March.

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: Petroleum, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Marine engines Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Synthetic lubricants Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Marine engineering Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cotton industry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertisements Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business letters Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lubrication and lubricants Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Automobile industry and trade Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mines Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Marine machinery Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Automobiles Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Filters and filtration Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Engines, automobile Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Distillation, Fractional Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Legal documents Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Caricatures Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Publications -- Business Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printed material Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Letterheads Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Technical manuals -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Receipts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Design patents Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Patents Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manuals Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising fliers Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Reports Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printed ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printed materials Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Petroleum -- Prospecting Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Petroleum chemicals Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Petroleum refineries Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Petroleum industry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Petroleum industry and trade Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gasoline Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Exports -- 19th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Coal Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oil spills Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Automobile supplies industry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Importers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gas Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gas industry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oil-shale industry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Petroleum -- Distillation Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Petroleum, Synthetic Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oil wells Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oil industries Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oil fields Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oil well drilling rigs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oil Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Technical reports Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Whaling Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Periodicals Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Commercial correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Publications Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newsletters Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Illustrations Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
advertising -- Petroleum industry and trade Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Print advertising Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Invoices Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising mail Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Esso Standard Oil Company Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Standard Oil Company Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-3270
Fax Number: Fax: 202-786-2453
archivescenter@si.edu