Archives Center, National Museum of American History

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

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Scales
Creators:
Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969
Dates:
undated
1791-1943
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
3.25 Cubic feet
consisting of 7 boxes, 1 folder, 2 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: Accounting and Bookkeeping 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
Scales contains business records and advertisements created by manufacturers and distributors of scales, as well as companies employed to weigh items for communities. Additional materials include scale design patents and educational material on weights and measures.
Extensive business documentation for the Riehlé Brothers is present. The Riehlé Brothers were a scale and testing-machine manufacturer based in Philadelphia. In 1865, Frederick Riehlé purchased two-fifths of interest in the Banks, Dinmore and Company and later helped coordinate the purchase of the Abbott Scale Works company. Frederick's brother Henry later purchased another three-fifths of interest in Banks, Dinmore and Company and the brothers changed the company name to the Riehlé Brothers in 1867.
Material concerning specific subject areas within the topic of scales provides a narrow window into the field of scales, weights, and measures but nonetheless a unique one. The subject category contains a broad view of the business of manufacturing scales and measuring goods for communities, as well as a small amount of social commentary on the necessity of the field in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Scales is arranged in three subseries.
  • 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).
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. Nonarchival 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 February.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Scales 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


Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Scales, 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.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Invoices Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising fliers Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Publications -- Business Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising mail Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Commercial correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printed ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business letters Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Publications Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Exhibition catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Receipts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sales letters Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trade literature Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Consumer goods -- Catalogs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sales records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manuals Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sales catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Illustrations Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trade catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Print advertising Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Technical manuals -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertisements Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Periodicals Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Measuring instruments Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Measuring instruments industry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scales (Weighing instruments) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Reports Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mail order catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Catalogues Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Letterheads Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Patents Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trade cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manufacturers' catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Retail trade Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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