Finding Aids

Abstract:

Bailey, Banks & Biddle (BB&B) was a renowned upscale jewelry firm that made and sold high quality merchandise in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Bailey Banks & Biddle records were collected and maintained in-house as a combination of archival documents and historical research files and used primarily for public relations purposes. The collection primarily documents the sales and remounting of diamonds between 1879 and 1962.

Abstract:

F. Weber & Company, Inc. is an American manufacturer and supplier of artists' materials. Ernest Gustav Weber (1888-1965) was owner Frederick Theodore Weber (1845-1919)'s son. After their father's death, Weber and his brother, Frederick William Weber (1890-1972), were business partners running the supply store. This item is Ernest Gustav Weber's journal. The journal contains income and expenses from 1905 and 1906. There are also some lists of correspondence, addresses, and travel information.

Abstract:

John Krider (1813-1886) was one of Philadelphia's most prominent gunsmiths during the nineteenth century. This collection consists of two bank books and a ledger.

Abstract:

John Krider (1813-1886) was one of Philadelphia's most prominent gunsmiths during the nineteenth century. This collection consists of fifty-nine account books (1840-1939), including wage accounts (1853-1857), accounts for the repairs of guns (1904-1909), records of daily powder sales (1891-1893), and the treasurer's record for an unidentified gun club.

Abstract:

Philadelphia Bookstore Company was a wholesale and retail bookseller incorporated in 1902 in New Jeresey. The store was located on the 1000 block of Race Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This item is one volume of meeting minutes dating from 1902 to 1903. By-laws are included.

Abstract:

The Soo Hardware Company was a full-service hardware wholesale and retail store located in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. It carried a complete line of building materials, plumbing and electrical supplies, stoves and furnaces, major and minor domestic appliances, housewares, sporting goods, and bicycle and auto parts. The records consist of inbound correspondence received between the years 1911 and 1918. The bulk of the correspondence consists of sales letters and invoices from manufacturers and wholesalers, covering the wide range of semi-finished and manufactured goods sold by the Soo Hardware Company. A large number appear to be unsolicited mailings from salesmen, while others document a long working relationship.

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...