The H.O. Sooy (1875-1927) papers contain a diary photocopy that is either a typed original or transcript of a diary that Sooy kept from the time of his employment with Eldridge R. Johnson (1867-1945) from 1898 to the end of 1925. Also included are four miscellaneous items: formula for grading and grinding precious stones, regulations governing the Victor Cooperative Beneficial Association, Red Cross benefit concert, and United War Work Campaign concert.

In the diary, Sooy describes early working conditions in Johnson's establishment when it was a small machine shop, particularly the craft culture and the pranks and practical jokes played by workmen, himself included. Brief notes mark the enlargement of the plant and the development of recording studios in Philadelphia and New York.

Sooy lists the many famous artists who recorded for the Victor labels, often with the dates they were first engaged, the selections they recorded, and what they were paid. These include Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), Arthur Pryor (1870-1942), Emma Eames (1865-1952), Nellie Melba (1861-1931), Paul Whiteman (1890-1967), and John Philip Sousa (1854-1932). He also describes the many road trips taken to demonstrate Victor's equipment or record foreign artists or famous political and literary figures in their homes. One such trip landed Sooy in the midst of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Sooy gives his estimates of such subjects as Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916), Will Rogers (1879-1935), and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.