The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center
CredoResearch digital collections in Credo

Collecting area: Manufacturing

Hubbard and Lyman

Hubbard and Lyman Daybook

1844-1847
1 vol. 0.1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 237 bd

Partners who manufactured harnesses, saddles, and trunks in Springfield, Massachusetts. Includes the prices paid for harnesses, whips, trunks, valises, and a variety of repair jobs such as splicing, coupling, and repairing of the hoses of the Springfield Fire Department. Also contains method and form of payment (principally cash, but also wood, leather, and leather thread in exchange) and twenty pages of clippings with the names of Lyman’s daughters, Mary and Frances, written on them.

Subjects

Aaron P. Emerson Co. (Orland, Me.)Barter--Massachusetts--Springfield--History--19th centuryHarness making and trade--Massachusetts--Springfield--History--19th centuryHarnesses--Prices--HistorySpringfield (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centurySpringfield (Mass.). Fire DeptTrunks (Luggage)--Prices--HistoryWages--Leatherworkers--Massachusetts--Springfield--History--19th centuryWhips--Prices--History

Contributors

Hubbard and LymanHubbard, Jason, b. 1815Lyman, Moses, b. 1815

Types of material

Daybooks
Joseph D. Norton and Son

Joseph D. Norton and Son Account Book

1851-1881
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 103 bd

Father and son wood turners, manufacturers of ladders, and general wood workers from the Loudville section of Westhampton, Massachusetts. Includes names of customers and businesses (bulk of the accounts are with local lumber and furniture dealers S.M. Smith Co., E.H. Lyman, Medad Pomeroy, and Charles Loud & Co.), items sold (such as bureaus, tables, and lumber), furniture that they repaired, and supply items which they acquired (such as varnish, stain, glass, tacks). Also contains documentation of employee payment, flour, tow, sugar, and coffee purchases, and employee lost work days.

Subjects

Charles Loud and CoE. H. Lyman (Firm)Furniture industry and trade--Massachusetts--Northampton--History--19th centuryFurniture industry and trade--Massachusetts--Westhampton--History--19th centuryFurniture--Repairing--Massachusetts--Loudville--History--19th centuryLaddersLoudville (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryLumber trade--Massachusetts--Northampton--History--19th centuryLumber trade--Massachusetts--Westhampton--History--19th centuryMedad Pomeroy (Firm)S.M. Smith Co.Wages--Furniture workers--Massachusetts--Loudville--History--19th centuryWages-in-kind--Massachusetts--Loudville--History--19th centuryWoodworkers--Massachusetts--Loudville--Economic conditions--19th century

Contributors

Norton, Joseph D.Norton, Leonard

Types of material

Account books
Judice, Edward

Edward Judice Photograph Collection

1973-2010
281 digital images, 2 videos
Call no.: PH 046
Depiction of Lathe operator, Rodney Hunt co., 1974
Lathe operator, Rodney Hunt co., 1974

Raised on Long Island, Ed Judice embarked on a path in photography at the age of 13 when he took a job sweeping floors in a local photo studio. After picking up work photographing locally and a stint in the army, he moved to New York city, Judice began doing commercial work for ad agencies and magazines and eventually with Polaroid. Through Polaroid, he began developing contacts in western Massachusetts, eventually moving to Wendell in the early 1970s. He maintains an active studio in Northampton.

The Judice collection consists of a series of 59 digital images relating to a photo documentation project at the Rodney Hunt factory in Orange, Mass., in 1973 and 1974; a series of photographs documenting the bicentennial of Wendell in 1981; and two video documentaries of the Three County Fair, Northampton, Mass., 2007, and “Benny and Joe: A friendship,” 2010.

Subjects

Foundry workers--Massachusetts--OrangeNorthampton (Mass.)Rodney Hunt Machine CompanySerrazina, JoeShoemakers--Massachusetts--NorthamptonShu-Fix (Northampton, Mass.)Strojny, Benny.Wendell (Mass.)--Centennial celebrations, etc.

Contributors

Judice, Edward

Types of material

Digital imagesVideo recordings
Kress, Claude Washington

Kress Political Economy Collection

1673-1925 Bulk: 1750-1850
2,934 items 46.5 linear feet
Call no.: D8 .A2

The heart of the Kress Collection lies in the lively pamphlet literature regarding Anglo-American political economics in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Although somewhat miscellaneous, the collection contains thousands of titles touching on many of the major issues in trade, finance, political reform, and public policy in Britain and to a lesser degree America. Topics range from tariffs and free trade to public debt and taxation, imports and exports, banking, unionism, and socialism. Nearly three quarters of the collection dates from before 1848.

Subjects

Economics--History--18th centuryEconomics--History--19th centuryGreat Britain--Politics and Government--18th centuryGreat Britain--Politics and Government--19th century
Lamson and Goodnow

Lamson and Goodnow Records

1837-1911
23 boxes, 14 vols. 38 linear feet
Call no.: MS 662
Depiction of Lamson and Goodnow
Lamson and Goodnow

Access restrictions: Temporarily stored offsite; contact SCUA in advance to request materials from this collection.

In 1834, Silas Lamson devised a curved snath that greatly improved the efficiency of the scythe, and riding the commercial success of his invention, Lamson, his sons Ebenezer and Nathaniel, and partner Abel Goodnow, founded the manufacturing firm of Lamson and Goodnow in Shelburne Falls, Mass., in 1837. Early in its history, Lamson and Goodnow recruited skilled workers from cutlery centers in England and Germany and began manufacturing the high quality knives and tableware that have remained the center of their production ever since. The firm was a major contributor to the region’s transformation from a primarily agricultural to an industrial economy, and by the time of the Civil War, they helped establish the Connecticut River Valley had emerged as the center of American cutlery production. At vartious points during their history, Lamson and Goodnow have been involved in the manufacture of arms (e.g. the Springfield Rifle), sewing machines, agricultural implements, and other tools. They remain active in the production of cutlery, trade tools, and kitchenware.

The Lamson and Goodnow records contain relatively dense documentation of a major manufacturer of cutlery and agricultural implements from roughly the time of its founding in 1837 through shortly after the turn of the twentieth century. In addition to account books, records of orders, sales, and production, and a dizzying array of canceled checks, receipts, and trade cards, the collection includes correspondence from field agents and customers that document the growth of the company during the first 75 years of its operation.

Subjects

Cutlery trade--MassachusettsShelburne Falls (Mass.)--History

Contributors

Lamson and Goodnow

Types of material

Account books
Lyman, Frank

Frank Lyman Papers

1927-1980
6 boxes 9 linear feet
Call no.: MS 735
Depiction of Frank Lyman, ca.1945
Frank Lyman, ca.1945

A manufacturer of electronics and radio communications, Frank Lyman was a native of Northampton and graduate of the Williston Academy and Harvard (class of 1931). The grandson of Joseph Lyman and great-nephew of Benjamin Smith Lyman, Lyman joined Harvey Radio in the late 1930s, during a time when it was building radio transmitting equipment, purchasing the company in 1940 and becoming its president. An investor in Boston-area radio stations, Lyman oversaw the company’s post-transition into the manufacture of of autmomatic machines and tooling and its merger into the electronics firm, Cambridge Thermionic Corporation (later renamed Cambion) in 1968. Lyman died in 1992, followed by his wife, Jeanne (Sargent), in 2005.

The Lyman Papers contain business correspondence and associated documents relating to both Harvey Radio Corporation and Cambridge Thermionic Corporation, along with associated materials pertaining to Frank Lyman’s investments and personal interests. Beginning during his time at the Williston Academy and extending through his adult life, the collection includes Lyman’s diaries and a small amount of personal correspondence.

Subjects

CambionCambridge Thermionic CorporationHarvey Radio CompanyRadio industry and trade--Massachusetts

Contributors

Lyman, Frank

Types of material

DiariesLetters (Correspondence)Photographs
Northampton Cutlery Company

Northampton Cutlery Company Records

1869-1987
113 boxes 55.75 linear feet
Call no.: MS 058

The Northampton Cutlery Company was among the major firms in a region known for high quality cutlery manufacture. Incorporated in 1871 with Judge Samuel L. Hinckley, its largest stockholder, as its first President, the company was located along the Mill River in Northampton, Massachusetts, where operations continued until its closing in 1987.

Records document company operations and technology used in the cutlery manufacturing process, as well as details about employment of immigrant and working class families in the region. Includes administrative, legal, and financial records; correspondence; personnel and labor relations files; and production schedules and specifications.

Subjects

Cutlery trade--MassachusettsNorthampton (Mass.)--History

Contributors

Northampton Cutlery Company
Otis Company

Otis Company Records

1846-1847
2 folders 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 310

The Otis Company of Ware, Massachusetts, was founded in 1839 and became a major producer of textiles, including checks, denims, and cotton underwear. At the height of their operations, the company operated three mills with a workforce of over 1,300.

The collection contains correspondence between Otis agent Henry Lyon and the firms of Parks, Wright & Co. (1846-47) and Wright, Whitman & Co. (1847), both of Boston. It includes bills, invoices, letters, and memos, covering orders for such goods as lamp glasses, patent starch, whale oil, gas pipes, bales of cotton, pot and pearl ashes, fish glue, sour flour, fire buckets, potato starch, tar, sheet copper, and indigo.

Gift of John Foster, May 1990

Subjects

Mills and milling--Massachusetts--WareTextile industry--MassachusettsWare (Mass.)--History

Contributors

Otis Company
Pine Beach Association

Pine Beach Association Collection

1922-1980
1 box 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 666
Depiction of Woman on a zip line at Lake Rohunta, ca.1925
Woman on a zip line at Lake Rohunta, ca.1925

Founded in Athol, Mass., prior to1922, the Pine Beach Association operated a summer resort on the northern end of Lake Rohunta, a 383-acre reservoir owned largely by the Rodney Hunt Company. Recognizing the touristic and recreational opportunities, the Association built Pine Beach into a facility that included the Rohunta Inn (the former Elm Lodge Clubhouse), a restaurant, camping facilities, and a lifeguard-patrolled swimming area with water slides and other recreational facilities, all with the intent of becoming the “leading inland bathing beach of New England.” Although the hurricane of 1938 washed away Rodney Hunt’s dam and hydroelectric station, Pine Beach remained a popular destination, freely available to the company’s employees. In the 1980s, the properties were sold to the not-for-profit Lake Rohunta Beach Association, an association of 15 residential properties.

This small collection contains postcards, photographs, and ephemeral material relating to the Pine Beach Association, concentrated in its early years.

Gift of the Harris family, 2010.

Subjects

Athol (Mass.)--HistoryHotels--Massachusetts--AtholLake Rohunta (Mass.)Picnics--Massachusetts--AtholRodney Hunt Machine Company--Employees--RecreationSummer resorts--Massachusetts--OrangeTaverns (Inns)--Massachusetts--Athol

Types of material

Photographs
Ponakin Mill

Ponakin Mill Ledger

1910-1916
1 vol. 0.1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1073 bd

A textile manufacturer, Ponakin (or Ponikin) Mill was established on the north branch of the Nashua River, half a mile from North Lancaster, in 1861, near the site of an earlier cotton mill. By the end of the Civil War, it boasted 40 employees who produced 500,000 yards of brown sheeting, but by the time it was incorporated in 1888, specializing in the production of cotton yarn, manufacturing in Lancaster was already on the decline. The company survived at least into the 1920s.

This survival from a central Massachusetts textile manufacturer contains miscellaneous business records copied into a letterpress (or wet press) copy book, in which a combination of moisture and pressure was used to transfer ink from the original onto a sheet of tissue paper. This records cover a wide terrain, including inventories of stock on hand, accounts payable, insurance and IRS tax information, payroll data (without names), shipping lists and lists of customers, and a few copies of business letters.

Acquired from Charles Apfelbaum, 1987

Subjects

Lancaster (Mass.)--Economic conditions--20th centuryTextile manufacturers--Massachusetts--Lancaster

Types of material

Letterpress copybooks