Businesses ephemera subject files, 1856-2012 (bulk 1945-1970)
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Arrangement: Alphabetical by business name. Personal names used as corporate names are filed in direct order (e.g. Percy Cohen Furniture Showrooms filed under P; Thomas Nelson Publishing filed under T). Personal names used by individuals in small shops and trades are filed under surnames (e.g. A. Setliff, bookseller filed under S; W.G. Thuss, photographer, filed under T). On rare occasions, items may be filed by type of industry, when treated collectively.

Materials housed in the Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

Companies include: American Bread Company; Avco Corporation; Beech, Baker & Johnston, druggists; Buford Brothers; Burke & Co.; Cain-Sloan Department Store; Carlsbad Manufacturing; Castle Recording Laboratory Studio; Castner-Knott Department Store; Conner Producing Co.; Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (restaurant chain); Cramer Dry Plate Co.; Crescent Amusement Co.; Daisy Studio (embroidery patterns); Davis and Corson, insurance agents; Davis-Kidd Booksellers; Dorris Milling Co.; Dury's; Eastland Floral Shop; Ernest Tubb Record Shop; General Shoe Co.; Gerst Brewing; Grimey's (record shop); H. G. Hill; Hatch Show Print; W. T. Henderson (cotton factor and commission merchant); Herbert Materials; Ideal Laundry; Ingram Book Co.; Joy's Flowers; Kimbrough Phillips Co.; Life and Casualty Insurance Company of Tennessee; Loveman, Berger & Teitlebaum Department Store; Loventhal Bros.; Marathon Motor Works (Southern Motor Works); Marshall & Bruce Printing Co.; Maxwell House Coffee; Murdock Mendelsohn; Nashville Bridge Co.; Nashville Coal Co.; Nashville Electric Service; Nashville Gas Co.; Nashville Pure Milk Co.; National Life and Accident Insurance Co.; Nissan (Smyrna, Tenn.); Oshi (florist); Otey's Corner; Parnassus Books; Peanut Shop; Percy Cohen Furniture Showrooms; Phillips & Buttorf; Phoenix Oil and Mineral Co.; Purity Dairies; W.S. Riddle notions and clothing; L. Rosenheim, Brother and Co.; Sawtooth Printhouse; A. Setliff, bookseller; Shockley Research, Inc.; Southern Bell Telephone Co.; George W. Stockell, agent for Fearless Railway Threshing Machines; Stokes and Stockell Bookshop; Thomas Nelson Publishing; W.G. Thuss, photographer; Vultee Aircraft; Western Electric.

Condition note: The Daisy Studio booklet has two patterns and the letter C cut from it on page 7, noted at time of acquisition.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: Includes company histories; company publications and newsletters; annual reports; brochures; catalogs; advertisements; speeches; correspondence; biographies of local business leaders; and related materials. Emphasis is upon businesses in Nashville and nearby areas. Some items provide community information such as population and industry figures, and in some instances, include information about war industries during World War II.

Several posters featuring photographs of the Marathon automobile, produced in Nashville, are part of the collection. Materials concerning the National Life and Accident Insurance Company include a variety of company publications issued from 1926-1979 (bulk 1955-1970). The Nashville Bridge Company materials include pamphlets from 1943-1978, drawings of boat plans c.1944-1952, and numerous scattered issues of the company newsletter, Na-Bri-Co News, 1942-1952. A single item from the Conner Producing Co. reveals a movie-making operation in Nashville, which produced the five-reel film, "Sam Davis: The Hero of Tennessee" around 1915. Their brochure is illustrated with photographs from the film. General fields of business documented in the collection include: booksellers, florists, manufacturing, department stores, and the insurance industry.

Cite as: [business name, folder title, or item description], Businesses Ephemera Subject Files, Ephemera Collections, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library.

This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code)

Intentionally assembled by Nashville Room staff, beginning at an unknown date, probably in the late 1960s, and collected on an ongoing basis.

In English.

Finding aid available in the repository;,folder level control,https://catalog.library.nashville.org/Record/CARL0000259142/DownloadSupplementalFile?fileId=167

Additional accruals are expected.

ESF - Bus - Marshall & Bruce