Finding Aids

Helen Baker Cushman (1922-) was the founder and manager of H.M. Baker Associates, consultants in business archives and records from 1958 to 1993, headquartered in Westfield, New Jersey. In the course of conducting her business, Cushman collected a wide variety of business publications, trade cards, ephemera, and other memorabilia with special emphasis on world expositions. She also assembled her own general picture archive for use in her business.

The C.A. Edgarton Manufacturing Co. was a textile manufacturing company based in Shirley, Massachusetts, founded in 1881 by Charles A. Edgarton (1826-1891). It distributed Shirley President Suspenders, also known as Perry suspenders. This small collection consists of a single display card advertising Shirley President Suspenders, meant to be placed in store windows. It is number four in a set of six, titled "Bowling Girl." (The other pictures in the set are "Golfing Girl," "Ball Playing Girl," "Tennis Girl," "Fishing Girl," and "Billiard Girl.")