Garfield & Company Records, 1919-1952
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Garfield & Company Records, 1919-1952 NMAH.AC.0820 Alison Oswald August 2011 Archives Center, National Museum of American History P.O. Box 37012 Suite 1100, MRC 601 Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 [email protected] http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Biographical / Historical.................................................................................................... 2 Arrangement..................................................................................................................... 4 Scope and Contents........................................................................................................ 2 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 5 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 6 Series 1: Historical Background, 1915-1969, undated............................................. 6 Series 2: Customer Materials, 1909-1952................................................................ 7 Series 3: Correspondence, 1937-1952.................................................................. 50 Series 4: Advertising and Packaging Materials, 1923-1968, undated.................... 52 Series 5: Financial Materials, 1918-1941............................................................... 56 Series 6: Drawings/Diagrams, 1920, 1958, undated.............................................. 62 Series 7: Photographs, circa 1950s....................................................................... 63 Garfield & Company Records NMAH.AC.0820 Collection Overview Repository: Archives Center, National Museum of American History Title: Garfield & Company Records Identifier: NMAH.AC.0820 Date: 1909-1969 Extent: 15 Cubic feet (17 boxes, 11 oversized folders) Creator: United States. War Production Board. National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Science, Medicine, and Society Garfield & Co. Language: Collection is in English. Some advertising materials in Spanish. Summary: The collection documents Garfield and Company, a pharmaceutical manufacturer in New Jersey during the twentieth century. Garfield and Company, founded by Isidor Z. Garfield (1863-1951), made Seidlitz Powder, a commonly known medication composed of tartaric acid, sodium bicarbonate, and potassium sodium tartrate that was used as a mild cathartic by dissolving it in water and then drinking it. Materials include customer files, invoices, correspondence, advertising and packaging materials, calendars, posters, financial records, and an oral and video history with Julius Garfield, son of Isidor Z. Garfield. Administrative Information Acquisition Information This collection was donated by Julius and George Garfield in 1979. Provenance Collection transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Science, Medicine and Society (now Division of Medicine and Science), 2002. Related Materials Packaging equipment used by Garfield and Company is located in the Division of Medicine and Science. See Accession #1979.1144. Processing Information Processed by interns Kim Bassett, Griffin Brown, Richard Green, Kim Kennedy, Stacey Kniatt, Marisa Kritikson, and Amanda Loeb; supervised by Alison Oswald, archivist. Finding aid authored by Alison Oswald. Page 1 of 63 Garfield & Company Records NMAH.AC.0820 Preferred Citation Garfield and Company Records, dates, Archives Center, National Museum of American History Restrictions Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Reference copies of audio visual materials must be used. Contact the Archives Center for information at [email protected] or 202-633-3270. Conditions Governing Use Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions. Accruals The Division of Medicine and Science transferred three cubic feet of material consisting of advertising, packaging, and audio visual documentation in February, 2011. Biographical / Historical Garfield and Company of Edison, New Jersey, was the largest manufactures of Seidlitz Powders in the United States. Garfield and Company was founded by Isidor Z. Garfield (1863-1951), a New York pharmacist, who began manufacturing powders in 1908. Garfield was born in Russia and graduated from the University of Moscow with a degree in chemistry. He came to the United States in 1888 with his wife Frances and their first-born son, Louis. Three other sons, George, Julius, and Henry, were born in the United States. Garfield developed an automated process to package reactive ingredients (US Patent 1,091,568) in March, 1914. The process separately packaged the powders in moisture-proof wrappers so druggists no longer had to mix the compounds. In 1916, Garfield patented a machine for measuring and compressing powders (US Patent 1,177,854). Both of Garfield's patents were assigned to Samuel Loewy of New York City. After Garfield died, his sons, Julius and George Garfield inherited the business. The New Jersey manufacturing plant closed in 1980. Scope and Contents The Garfield Company Records are divided into seven series: Series 1, Historical Background; Series 2, Customer Materials; Series 3, Correspondence, 1937-1952; Series 4, Financial Records, 1918-1950; Series 5, Advertising and Packaging Materials, 1923-1968 and undated; Series 6, Drawings/Diagrams, 1958; and Series 7, Photographs, circa 1950s. The collection documents Garfield and Company, a pharmaceutical manufacturer in New Jersey during the twentieth century. Garfield and Company made Seidlitz Powder, a commonly known medication composed of a mixture of tartaric acid, sodium bicarbonate, and potassium sodium tartrate that was used as a mild cathartic by dissolving it in water and then drinking it. The records include customer files, correspondence, advertising, packaging, audio visual materials, photographs, packaging, advertising and financial records. The collection provides good insight into the company during the World War II period and the hardship conditions under which they operated, such as delays in receiving raw materials and difficulty with labor. Page 2 of 63 Garfield & Company Records NMAH.AC.0820 Series 1, Historical Background, 1915-1969 and undated, consists of newspaper clippings and articles, corporate identity pieces (letterhead and envelopes), correspondence, and audio visual materials about Garfield and Company. The majority of the correspondence relates to machinery companies and their ability to provide equipment and expertise to manufacture powders and handle packaging issues. Other correspondence relates to advertising agencies and the State of New Jersey Division of Employment Security. The correspondence with Seil, Putt and Rusby, Inc., documents an analytical, consulting and research chemists firm that conducted testing for Garfield. The audio visual materials contain an oral history with Julius Garfield, son of Isidor Garfield on ½" VHS video footage (OV 820.1-2) and a demonstration of how Seidlitz powders are manufactured. The video footage, of which there are two copies, is approximately one hour in length and is divided into two segments. The first segment features the manufacturing equipment producing Seidlitz powders and the second segment features an informal interview with Julius Garfield discussing his father's background and his father's automation of the process of packaging Seidlitz powders. The audio cassettes (OTC 820.1-2) contain a more detailed oral history with Julius Garfield. He provides additional information about his father's background, his brother's (especially George's) background, and the history of the company. Curator Ray Kondratus, of the Division of Medicine and Science, National Museum of American History, conducted the oral history interview, circa 1970s. Series 2, Customer Materials, 1909-1952, includes materials about customers who had a business relationship with Garfield and Company. The materials are divided into two subseries, Subseries 1, Index Card Files, 1909-1939 and Subseries 2, Customer Files, 1949, 1951-1952. Subseries 1, Index Card Files, 1909-1939, contains customer names, addresses, and order history from 1909 to the 1920s. They are arranged geographically by city and alphabetically by customer name. They adhere to a color coding schema. Department stores are designated yellow; wholesalers pale blue; second jobbers buff; and chain drug stores are pink. The cards are annotated revealing information about the customer's personality, job information, and the specific salesman for that account. Subseries 2, Customer Files, 1949, 1951-1952, is arranged alphabetically by customer name. The files contain invoices/receipts for companies, department stores, drug stores, and other organizations that ordered Seidlitz powder from Garfield and Company. The receipts include the name and address of the company and the cost for each order. Also included are bills of lading documenting where the shipment was sent and who received it. Series 3, Correspondence, 1937-1952,