The L. & R. Organic Products Co., Inc. records consist of invoices for imports as well as business and personal correspondence.

The invoice files document the company’s imports and the marine insurance and customs declarations associated with them. They span the depth of the Depression and also reflect the disruptions caused by the beginning of World War II in Europe. They show that L. & R. Organic Products relied on a few large chemical producers in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, including I.G. Farben, and that the shipments were consigned through chemical trading houses, especially Kabbur & Company, Limited, of Manchester. The company also imported dyestuffs from Japan. The shipping papers are often on illustrated or decorative letterheads and reflect the use of most of the large transatlantic and transpacific steamship lines serving the port of New York.

The surviving correspondence gives a wider view of the firm’s activities. By 1944, the import business had become a casualty of war, but Lobsenz continued to obtain dyestuffs from domestic producers. These files document the importance of the Latin American export market and the linkages with other small dyestuffs firms in the New York area. They also show that the company was probably taking advantage of Britain’s absorption in the war effort by arranging exports to Egypt and India. Some of the files contain dyed yarn and cloth samples.

The personal correspondence of Harry L. Lobsenz deals primarily with the maintenance of rental properties and a summer home he owned. There are a few items dealing with family expenses and religious life. There is a smaller file of personal correspondence from Office & Export Manager Robert U. Copland.