Finding Aids

Abstract:

The Erie City Iron Works was founded by Pennsylvania capitalist Bethuel Boyd Vincent (1803-1876) as the Presque Isle Foundry in 1840. The Works was a major manufacturer of boilers, stationary and portable engines and machinery for sawmills and steam riveting as well as railroad freight and passenger cars. Their records are largely comprised of accounting records.

Abstract:

Henry Bower Chemical Manufacturing Company was a chemical manufacturing company that primarily produced ammonia. The company was formed in 1906 by the merger of three existing companies. The records include account books, production records, sales records, and inventories.

Abstract:

Henry Disston & Sons, Inc. was a major manufacturer of saws and other woodworking tools and one of the largest industrial firms in Philadelphia. The Henry Disston & Sons, Inc. had a number of subsidary companies, these records contain a small number of account books from only three of the firms subsidaries. There are accounts for: the Tacony Fuel Gas Company, the Henry Disston & Sons File Company, Limited, and the Henry Disston & Sons Iron & Steel Works, and an insurance ledger from the Estate of Henry Disston.

Abstract:

North Pennsylvania Railroad was a railroad company which served the Pennsylvania counties of Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, and Northampton. It was incorporated as the Philadelphia, Easton and Water-Gap Railroad Company on April 6, 1852, and renamed the North Pennsylvania Railroad Company on October 3, 1853. Their records consist of corporate records such as minute books, annual reports, account books and statements.

Scope and Content: The Strawbridge & Clothier records are not a complete corporate archive but rather a mix of corporate and legal documents and materials collected for a two-volume anniversary history. Nevertheless, they give a good overall picture of the evolution of retailing in the Philadelphia area, particularly in the twentieth century.The Corporate records include incorporation papers, board and committee minutes, and annual reports, which give an overall view of the firm's operations.The Management records are limited to very fragmentary correspondence of the corporate secretaries and president Herbert J. Tily. Much of it concerns bank financing, authorizations, and accounts. There are also executive payrolls (1931-1950), employment contracts for top executives, and notes on executive development programs.Financial and accounting records include fragmentary runs of journals and ledgers, including a sales ledger (1881) and a sales & salaries ledger (1903-1906); financial statements for S&C and the rival Lit Brothers chain; and tax papers.Legal records include trial records relative to the failed hostile takeover attempt made by Ronald Baron in 1985-1986. There are transcripts of testimony from the major parties on both sides. This subgroup also contains a variety of miscellaneous legal papers, including settlements with S&C's foreign offices and various suppliers in London, Paris, and Berlin (1921-1926); merchandising agreements with domestic and foreign manufacturers (1896-1907); and claims case files (1906 and 1911).Real estate records include title papers for the company's flagship store at 8th & Market Streets (1793-1922); contracts for store construction; and some plans for twentieth century construction. Four linear feet of store appraisals for the flagship store are detailed lists for insurance purposes of the store, its fixtures, and contents (1948-1970).Branch store records include plans, publicity articles, brochures, and scrapbooks, plus leases, mortgages, contracts, and insurance appraisals of store and contents for the following branch stores beginning in 1930: Ardmore, Jenkintown, Springfield, Neshaminy, Plymouth Meeting, and Exton, Pennsylvania; Cherry Hill and Echelon, New Jersey; and Wilmington and Christiana, Delaware. This subgroup documents the growth of suburban shopping strips and shopping malls during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, including malls...