Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries
Guide to Business Records Collection
1865-1925
Cage 15
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries
- Title
- Business Records Collection
- ID
- Cage 15
- Date [inclusive]
- 1865-1925
- Extent
- 34.0 volumes.
- General Physical Description note
- 5 linear feet of shelf space.
- Language
- English
- Abstract
- Journals, ledgers, cash books, inventories and other account books of general merchants, farmers, saloonkeepers, as well as a hardware merchant, a hotel operator, a farm machinery dealer and a laundry operator, primarily in the State of Washington. Some partially identified, including Knapp, Burrell Co., and Lippitt Brothers.
Preferred Citation note
[Item Description]. Cage 15, Business Records. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Scope and Contents note
The Business Record Collection consists of unidentified or partially identified journals, cash books, ledgers, inventories and other account books kept by general merchants, farmers, grain buyers, saloonkeepers, a hardware merchant, a hotel operator, a farm machinery dealer, and a laundry operator. These businesses were at various locations within the state of Washington, although some appear to be from locales outside this region.
Arrangement note
These materials are loosely organized according to what type of business they derive from.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries © 1975
http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/mascTerrell Library
P.O. Box 645610
Pullman, WA, 99164-5610
509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Conditions Governing Access note
This collection is open for research use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
The miscellaneous account books which comprise this collection of business records were acquired by the Washington State University Library from various sources over a forty year period. Most items can be identified by type of business, place, or date, but the names of the small firms and proprietorships whose operations are recorded are not fully clear. Accordingly, the records cannot be treated in the same manner as most manuscript materials which are identified by creator, but require description according to content.
Processing Information note
This collection was processed by Lawrence Stark in February and March 1975.
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
- Knapp, Burrell Company
- Lippitt Brothers
Subject(s)
- Business records--Washington (State)
- Business, Industry, and Labor
- Washington (State)
General note
To some degree, these items are more properly regarded an three-dimensional museum objects than as manuscripts. That is to say, their form is of more interest than their contents. Nevertheless the records are not simply surviving specimens of l9th century bookkeeping, but also contain documentation of historic matters. This documentation is not simply of the small businesses which created the records, but, in some cases, of the communities in which they were located. For instance, the records of an unidentified general merchant in Vancouver, Washington contains many accounts with military personnel and may give some idea of the way of life among the professional military in the 1870s. In another case, the records of a grain dealer on the Snake River in Southeastern Washington contain actual documentation of events in the wheat trade which are otherwise little documented, despite the easy availability of gross statistical data about this trade.
Collection Inventory
General Merchants |
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| Volume | ||||
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Ledger. Place unknown, but suggestive of frontier south or west. 1865-1867 1.0 item. |
1 | |||
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Journals and ledgers. Vancouver, Washington. 1868-1880 11.0 items. |
2-11 | |||
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Sales Journal. Lippitt Brothers, Colfax. 1896-1898 1.0 item. |
11 | |||
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Inventory. Colfax. 1891 1.0 item. |
12 | |||
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Farmers |
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| Volume | ||||
|
Personal accounts. Pullman (includes records kept while working as teacher and laborer in Wisconsin, 1873-1879). 1877-1896 1.0 item. |
13 | |||
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Journal and ledger/payroll. Colfax. 1879; 1891-1895 2.0 items. |
14-15 | |||
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Chain Buyer |
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| Volume | ||||
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Sales and consignment record. Albion. 1912-1913 1.0 item. |
16 | |||
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Grain Buyer / Farm Machinery Buyer |
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| Volume | ||||
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Journals. Colfax, Moscow, and points on the Snake River (probably local manager for Knapp, Burrell & Co., Walla Walla). 1881-1885 3.0 items. |
17-19 | |||
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Hardware Merchant |
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| Volume | ||||
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Journal. Dayton. 1914-1915 1.0 item. |
20 | |||
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Saloonkeepers |
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| Volume | ||||
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Ledgers (4), Journal (1), and Bar Tabs (3). Spokane. 1900-1905 9.0 items. |
21-28 | |||
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Ledger. Vancouver, Washington (card parlor and billiard hall). 1884-1891 1.0 item. |
29 | |||
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Hotel Operator |
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| Volume | ||||
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Journals. Vancouver, Washington. 1891-1694 4.0 items. |
30-33 | |||
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Laundry |
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| Volume | ||||
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Journal. Dayton. 1924-1915 1.0 item. |
34 | |||
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