This collection includes ephemera, postcards, films, advertisements, photographs, documents and objects relating to the history of salt. The collection was assembled by Carol Litchfield (1936-2012), a biologist and biochemist with an interest in halophiles and salt history. These items document the history and development of salt manufacturing throughout the world. Historic and modern methods of salt harvesting are depicted from various areas around the world.

Additionally, this collection includes documentation of Carol’s personal research and participation in salt related conferences and programs.

Caspar Wistar (1696–1752) was a German-born Philadelphia merchant and brass button maker. He also founded the first glassworks in America near Salem, New Jersey, in 1739. The single volume contains a cash book of receipts of Wistar's estate (1752-1765).

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. Established in 1802, the company began with the production of gunpowder. This collection consists of two copies of items, a letter and a receipt, from the DuPont Company to John Mason (1766-1849), superintendent of the Office of Indian Trade.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. The company was established in 1802 by Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) and his son Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834) for the production of gunpowder. The papers in this collection date from the lifetime of E.I. du Pont and document important aspects of the early history of the DuPont Company.

Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), with his father Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817), was the founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. This collection includes his recipts for hotel and livery stable bills.

Elise Simons du Pont (1849-1919) was the wife of Francis Gurney du Pont (1850-1904), a vice president of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. The records consist of itemized household receipts, primarily from three Wilmington, Delaware grocers and one from John Wanamaker's department store in Philadelphia. The receipts give descriptions of goods and prices.

This series contains the official financial records of John McShain, Inc., as well as John McShain's personal financial statements. Trial balances (1935-1951) document work on most major Washington and Philadelphia projects. Statements for John McShain, Inc., of Philadelphia are complete for the years 1934-1947 and 1960-1979. Statements for John McShain, Inc., of Trenton document the years 1938-1947 and 1960-1974. Similarly statements for John McShain, Inc., of Maryland contain data for the years 1938-1946 and 1960-1975.

Personal financial statements, 1935-1981, include bound financial statements prepared by John McShain's accountant as well as statements of receipts and disbursements prepared by office personnel. McShain's own calculations are included in these volumes. Unfortunately, the statements for the 1940s and 1950s are missing. The series also includes financial records from John McShain's hotels, Barclay Stables, Killarney estates, and other corporate interests. The Columbia Plaza records contain financial documents relating to the changeover from a single owner corporation to limited partnership.

This series holds Lancaster County Court papers (1770-1795), consisting of court record books and dockets.

John Krider (1813-1886) was one of Philadelphia's most prominent gunsmiths during the nineteenth century. L. C. Siner & Co. was the successor company that continued Krider's business into the 1930s. This small collection of business papers documents Krider's and L. C. Siner & Co.'s gunsmith and sporting goods shop. It includes bills and receipts for guns, fishing equipment, ammunition, lumber, and other items sold in the store.

John Krider (1813-1886) was one of Philadelphia's most prominent gunsmiths during the nineteenth century. This item is a receipt book containing the signatures of numerous Philadelphia merchants.

Joseph Dugan (1766-1845) was a Philadelphia merchant of the early nineteenth century. The collection is a receipt book of Dugan's household expenses, including fuel (cordwood), specialty foodstuffs such as wine, and furniture.

Peter Arnold Karthaus (1765-1840) immigrated to the United States from Hamburg, Germany in 1796 and established a mercantile business in the West Branch of the Susquehanna River Valley. The collection documents Karthaus' mercantile business, land development in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and his partnership with fellow German immigrant, Frederick W. Geissenhainer, a pioneer in using coal to smelt iron.

The New England Fireworks Manufacturing Co. manufactured fireworks and created displays for theatrical performances and civic celebrations throughout New England. The company was incorporated in 1925. Its headquarters were located on Union Street in Springfield, Massachusets. The company also had a plant in neighboring North Thompsonville, Connecticut. This collection documents the business transactions of New England Fireworks Manufacturing Co.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. The collection contains miscellany relating to du Pont, including testimonial from Union League of Philadelphia, receipt for newspaper subscription, envelopes, and a poem.

The correspondence between Sophie Dalmas du Pont and her husband E.I. du Pont dates from 1792 through 1817. Much of the correspondence was written prior to the family's emigration to the United States in 1799 and contains details of their life in France. The letters include information on child rearing, health and medicinal recipes, and diet. The correspondence documents her domestic responsibilities and supervison of the family's farm and vineyards. The letters, affectionate in tone, express the couple's mutual sadness at being apart and reflect a companionate marriage.

Her papers include three household account ledgers dating from 1819 to 1827, which were used to record expenses for groceries, clothing, and domestic servants' wages. The ledgers also document production at the family's farm. Bills and receipts date from 1803 to 1827, document purchases of groceries, fabrics, and shoes.

This series includes personal accounts; student copy books and notes on the subjects of botany, physics, chemistry, natural history, Latin, and horticulture; botanical notes, including an essay on the culture of American corn; memoranda on the manufacture of gunpowder and the construction of the Brandywine mills; memoranda on American manufactures and the tariff; and notes on travels to Pittsburgh (1806) and Angelica, New York (1808).

Also included are papers concerning the South Brandywine Rangers (a militia unit during the War of 1812); legal agreements concerning the acquisition of property for the Delaware powder mills and the importation of Merino sheep; du Pont's shares in the Wilmington & Philadelphia Turnpike Co.; rules and regulations of the Philadelphia & Wilmington Steam Boat Co. (1829); patents and lists of lands owned by du Pont near Pittsburgh and in Virginia; estate papers of Dr. Pierre Didier; and a letter from Louis McLane regarding information from Delaware for his census of manufactures.

William H. Horstmann & Co. was a manufacturer and retailer of civilian and military equipment. The material is primarily receipts, a small amount of correspondence related to inspection of goods or contracts, and a newspaper clipping of an engraving of the Horstmann's Manufactory.

The Morris family of Philadelphia were brewers, merchants, land speculators, manufacturers, and prominent participants in public affairs. Their papers are primarily from Samuel and Isaac W. Morris. However, the collection includes papers from other family members from the first Anthony Morris to John Thompson Morris (1847-1915), the founder of the Morris Arboretum in Germantown. There are also papers from members of the Wistar, Paschall, and Mifflin families allied by marriage.

The Lea family were among the largest flour mill operators at the Brandywine Fills, near Wilmington, Delaware, beginning in the 1770s until 1927. The mill operated under multiple company names, including Tatnall & Lea, William Lea & Sons, William Lea & Sons Company, Lea Milling Company, and Lea & Company. The records consist of letters, orders, receipts, and advertisements of the William Lea & Sons Company and its predecessors.

William W. Morris (1869-1931) was a farmer in Greenwood, Sussex County, Delaware. This is a collection of miscellaneous bills, checks, and receipts that was preserved primarily as a sample of late nineteenth century letterheads and billheads, although it also documents the typical purchases of a downstate Delaware farmer.