Archives Center, National Museum of American History

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

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Shoes
Creators:
Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969
Dates:
1794-1961
Languages:
Collection is in
English
. Some items are in
German
.
Physical Description:
5.57 Cubic feet
consisting of 11.5 boxes, 1 folder, 5 oversize folders, 3 map case folders, 1 flat box (partial).
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
Materials relate to the manufacturing and sales of footwear primarily in the United States. This includes shoes, boots, sandals, slippers, moccasins, tip shoes, orthopaedic modified designs (extension shoes), storm boots, gaiters, foul weather rubbers, plus accessories or replacement parts like laces, heels, soles, and slip on rain/mud guards, cobblers and the repair of shoes.
Design improvements such as the "standard screw fastened" often appears in ads. Some common themes appear regularly in ads and images: people living or being transported in footware (Old Mother Hubbord, shoes as boats, sleds), cats (a la Puss in Boots), and horseshoes. However, this category only covers footwear for men, women, and children, both casual styles and for dress. For actual horseshoes, see subject category Horses. While there make be an incidental exception, lacking also is the presence of shoes specifically for certain professions (nursing, steel-toed workboots), dance (ballet, tap), or sports (cleats, riding boots, hiking, waders for fishing or hunting).
The bulk of the subject category comprises of business records, advertisements, and catalogues created by manufacturers and distributors of shoes. Oversize material included with the series comprise of additional business records including price lists, printed advertisements, and catalogues. Material includes import and export documents and records of patents.
Additional material includes serial publications from trade magazines, and realia in the form of shop signage and token coins. Material related to specific subject areas provides brief overviews of the shoe trade history, shoe construction, and shoe care intended for a general audience, as well as shoe and leather information intended for tradesmen.
No particular depth is present for any singular subtopic though some publications may provide general and historical overviews of various aspects of the shoe industry. A small number of German language material is within the collection and is indicated in folder descriptions when present.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Shoes 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).
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Shoes 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 reservation 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.

Digital Content


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: Shoes, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Legal documents Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Commercial correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Consumer goods -- Catalogs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sales letters Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising mail Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Shoe machinery Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Print advertising Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sales catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business letters Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Patents Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trade catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printed material Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printed ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Retail trade Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manufacturers' catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trade associations Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Illustrations Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mail order catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Catalogues Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Periodicals Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Letterheads Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Invoices Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trade literature Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Reports Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Realia Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ephemera Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Shoe industry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Orthopedics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Publications -- Business Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bootmakers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sales records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Shoemakers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Signs (declaratory or advertising artifacts) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trade cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Shoes -- Sizes Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Receipts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Commercial catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manuals Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printed materials Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising fliers Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Publications Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Shoes -- Fitting Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertising Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Advertisements Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
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