MS COLL 00686 BATA SHOE COMPANY CREATOR: Bata Shoe Organization (also known as the Bata Shoe Company and Bata Limited), Toronto. DATES OF CREATION: [189-?]-2014. PHYSICAL STORAGE: Downsview Offsite Storage; OVS in Basement 1B and 2B Annex. EXTENT: 282 bankers boxes of textual, visual and audio-visual records (plus 19 flat/oversize boxes, and items on shelf). SCOPE AND CONTENT: Includes corporate files from the Canadian Bata Shoe Company (including correspondence; legal and financial records; product development, marketing and promotional files; technical and production-related files, and human resources files). The bulk of the material was created by the Canadian Bata company, however many records relate to several of the oraganization’s international outposts, including companies headed in Africa, India, Asia and Europe. The collection also includes press clippings and other publications about the Bata Company and its historical significance. There are also a small number of Bata family records, primarily for Thomas J. Bata (1914-2008), Sonja I. Bata, Tomáš Baťa (1876- 1932) and Marie Bata. The collection is comprised of textual records, digital records, photographs and slides, as well as a large volume of audio-visual material: audio recordings on magnetic tape reels and cassette tapes, and video recordings on DVD, VHS, Beta, and U-matic tapes, as well as 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm film. ARCHIVAL HISTORY: The material in this collection was selected, gathered and described over a period of several years by Bata employees and professional archivists hired by the company as part of their internal Bata Archives Canada initiative. Many records have been excluded and, at various points, rearranged, thus this collection should not be considered a complete archive of the Canadian Bata Shoe Company. The collection was acquired by the Library directly from Bata Limited in 2014, then arranged by an archivist. It is important to note that the descriptions were generated by Bata archivists (at times with input from Sonja Bata and other Bata employees), so many of the notes included below may provide important contextual detail. The Office of Thomas J. Bata series is composed of material removed from the Toronto office of Thomas J. Bata. The Bata Shoe Museum Fonds and the Philip Nutt private collection Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto 1 MS COLL 00686 BATA SHOE COMPANY contain material accumulated by the Bata Shoe Museum and former Bata executive Philip Nutt respectively. These three collections have been kept separate – therefore some material from these groupings will overlap. (For example, Marketing and Promotional Material can be found in the Office of Thomas J. Bata Fonds, the Bata Company Records, the Bata Shoe Museum AND in the Philip Nutt Collections.) All of the other series are comprised of files that have been brought together from multiple sources, thus the exact archival history of each item in the general collection cannot readily be determined. NOTE: Each series below contains some audio-visual material – however, the bulk of the collection’s audio-visual material is listed in a separate finding aid. HOW TO USE THIS FINDING AID: *To request material, please cite BOX NUMBERS ONLY. The ‘Bata ID’ is not necessary for retrieval, but will help to match the folders to the descriptions on this list. 1. Using the “Search/Find” tool, use the series numbers from the ARRANGEMENT/QUICK BOX list on pages 3-7 below, to skip to a particular series. For example, if you are interested in Human Resources records, search the document using “B2” to skip to that section. 2. Using the “Search/Find” tool, use keywords to locate individual records. For example, if you are looking for legal records, search for the keyword “legal.” If you are looking for material on Thomas J. Bata, search “Thomas J. Bata”, but also try the initials “TJB”, etc. 3. Alternatively, if you are not sure what you are looking for and wish to browse the material in person, you can request a range of boxes by referencing the box numbers listed on the ARRANGEMENT/QUICK BOX LIST on pages 3-7. For example, if you are generally interested in advertising-related files, you can request boxes 155-160. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto 2 MS COLL 00686 BATA SHOE COMPANY ARRANGEMENT / QUICK BOX LIST A. OFFICE OF THOMAS J. BATA FONDS A1 THOMAS J. BATA PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES Biographical Material Box 1-5 Speeches and Presentations (Internal and External) Box 7-10B Conferences and Committee Meetings Box 11-23 Travel and Business Tours Box 24-35 Miscellaneous Professional Activities Box 36-38 A2 BATA COMPANY RECORDS Corporate Records Box 39-50 BIAC / OECD Material Box 79-83 Financial and Legal Records Box 51-66 Marketing and Promotional Material Box 67 Company Events Box 67-68 Bata Reports and Publications Box 68-69 Press and Other Publications Regarding Bata Box 69-79 Records re: Other Companies Box 83-84 A3 CORRESPONDENCE Correspondence with Individuals Box 85-86 General Company Correspondence Box 86-95 Internal Memos Box 95-99 A4 PERSONAL & FAMILY RECORDS Box 99-101 A5 AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIAL A/V – Recorded Conversations Box 103-107 (+119) A/V – Recorded Interviews Box 107-108 (+119) A/V – Music (Commercial Department) Box 108-110 (+119) A/V – Recorded Speeches and Presentations Box 110-115 A/V – Miscellaneous Box 115-118 (+119) B. BATA SHOE COMPANY FILES Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto 3 MS COLL 00686 BATA SHOE COMPANY B1 CORPORATE FILES General Box 124-126 Thomas J. Bata Speeches Regional Files: Box 126-236 Africa Kenya Box 126 Nigeria Box 126 South Africa Box 126 Zambia Box 126 Asia Bangladesh Box 126 India Box 126 Indonesia Box 126 Singapore Box 126 Europe Czech Republic Box 127-129 Germany Box 129 The Netherlands Box 130 Slovakia Box 130 Sweden Box 130 Switzerland Box 130 United Kingdom Box 130 Latin America Box 130-131 North America Canada (Batawa) Box 131-136 United States Box 132 Miscellaneous War Files Box 132 Audio-Visual Material Box 132A-132F B2 HUMAN RESOURCES BOX 137-151 Policies and Guidelines Box 137 Training Box 138-145 Management Box 145-148 Company Events Box 149 Miscellaneous Files Box 149-150 Audio-Visual Material Box 151 Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto 4 MS COLL 00686 BATA SHOE COMPANY B3 PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT BOX 152-154 B4 MARKETING / RETAIL BOX 155-160 (+ OVS) Advertising and Promotional Material Box 155-156 (+OVS) Retail Material Box 156-159 (+OVS) Miscellaneous Material Box 159 (+OVS) Audio-Visual Material Box 160 B5 TECHNICAL FILES BOX 161-183 (+ OVS) Manuals and Other Training Material Box 161-172 (+OVS) Technical Files Box 172-173 (+OVS) Bata Newsletters Box 174-175 Factories (Photos) Box 175-178 Miscellaneous Material Box 178-179 Audio-Visual Material Box 179-183 B6 LEGAL FILES BOX 184-201 Legal and Financial Records Box 184-189 Litigation Files Box 189-190 Nationalization Files Box 190-198 War Claims Box 198-201 Reports Box 201 B7 PRESS and OTHER PUBLICATIONS BOX 202-204 (+OVS) B8 CORRESPONDENCE BOX 205-217 Thomas J. Bata Correspondence Box 205-214 Internal Company Communications Box 214 Correspondence with Individuals / Groups Box 214 B9 PHOTO COLLECTIONS BOX 218-225 (+OVS) Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto 5 MS COLL 00686 BATA SHOE COMPANY C. BATA FAMILY RECORDS C1 FAMILY RECORDS BOX 226-244 General BOX 226-228 Thomas J. Bata Material BOX 228-235 Sonja I. Bata Material BOX 236 (+OVS) Social Activities BOX 236 (+OVS) Miscellaneous C2 MARIE BATA FONDS BOX 237-238 Personal Documents Box 237 (+OVS) Correspondence Box 237 Notebooks Box 237 Photos Box 237-238 Miscellaneous Box 238 (+OVS) C3 AWARDS BOX 239-244 Awards Received – Thomas J. Bata Box 239-241 (+OVS) Awards Received – Sonja I. Bata Box 241-244 (+OVS) Commemorative Gifts Box 243-244 D. PRIVATE COLLECTIONS D1 BATA SHOE MUSEUM COLLECTION BOX 245-252 Press and Other Publications Box 245-246 (+OVS) Product Development and Marketing Files Box 246 (+OVS) Miscellaneous Corporate Files Box 247-247 (+OVS) Bata Newsletters Box 247 Photos Box 247 (+OVS) Miscellaneous Material Box 247 Book Collection Box 248-250 Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto 6 MS COLL 00686 BATA SHOE COMPANY Audio-Visual Material Box 251-252 D2 PHILIP NUTT COLLECTION BOX 253-258 Miscellaneous Corporate Files Box 253 Bata Product Development and Marketing Files Box 253-256 (+OVS) Correspondence Box 256 Photographs and Slides Box 256-257 Press and Other Publications About Bata Box 258 Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto 7 MS COLL 00686 BATA SHOE COMPANY A. OFFICE OF THOMAS J. BATA FONDS BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Thomas J. Bata (1914-2008) was the son of Tomáš Baťa (1876-1932), who founded the Bata Shoe Company in Zlin, Czechsolovakia in 1894. Thomas J. Bata was the Chairman and CEO of the Bata Shoe Organisation from 1944 until 1984, becoming Chairman from 1984 to 1994, and remaining as Honorary Chairman until his death in 2008. In 1939, the company’s Czech holdings were nationalized during the Second World War. Thomas J. Bata immigrated to Canada with his wife Sonja Bata (1926- ), where he established Bata Limited, the Canadian offshoot of the Bata enterprise, as well as the company town ‘Batawa’ (located outside of Trenton, Ontario). Batawa employed and housed some 1500 people before closing in 2000. In 1962, the Bata Show Organisation moved its headquarters from London, UK to Toronto, where it was based until 2003. Since then, the company’s head operations have gradually shifted back to Europe, to Bata Brands SA (based in Lausanne, Switzerland). Though this fonds originates from the Office of Thomas J.