Collection Guide
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Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation: Railroad Stock and Bond Certificates: Finding
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priJLC_TRAN_Stocks
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Title: Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation: Railroad Stock and Bond Certificates
Dates (inclusive): 1835-1976
Collection Number: priJLC_TRAN_Stocks
Collector:
Last, Jay T.
Extent:
approximately 1,180 items in 6 binders, 4 flat boxes, and 7 oversize folders
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Prints and Ephemera
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: The railroad stock and bond certificates in the Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation consist of more than 1,100 railroad
stock and bond certificates primarily issued by American railroad companies to individuals in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Language: English.
Note:
Finding aid last updated on September 22, 2015.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities.
The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the
researcher.
[Item title, Call number]. Jay T. Last Transportation Collection: Railroad Stock and Bond Certificates, The Huntington Library,
San Marino, California.
This collection forms part of the Jay T. Last Collection of Graphic Arts and Social History, which was
donated to the Huntington Library by Jay T. Last in 2005 as a gift in progress. The bulk of the transportation ephemera was transferred to the Library in 2010.
The Jay T. Last Collection is an unparalleled archive of printed paper artifacts that documents American lithographic, social,
and business history. The collection began in the early 1970s when
physicist and Silicon Valley pioneer Jay Last moved to Southern California and started collecting citrus box labels he found
at local flea markets and rummage sales. As his collection grew,
Last realized that these labels conveyed important information about commercial printing, graphic design, and social history,
and he expanded his collection to include other forms
of American visual culture. Today this collection contains more than 200,000 lithographic prints, posters, and ephemera of
mostly nineteenth and early twentieth century American
origin and represents works by more than five hundred lithographic companies.
The railroad stock and bond certificates in the Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation consist of more than 1,100 railroad
stock and bond certificates primarily issued by American railroad companies to individuals in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Among the earliest certificates in the collection was issued by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on July 4, 1835, and one of
the most recent items is a 1976 bond issued by the Canadian National Railway Company.
The decorative details of specific documents vary across the collection, though many items contain engraved and lithographed
designs and images. Visual decorations include ornate patterned borders,
embossed corporate and gold seals, logos, and vignettes primarily depicting railroad locomotives and trains, as well as landscapes
and views of the American frontier, eagles, Columbia, Native Americans,
farmers, miners, political surveyors, wheat bundles, and portraits of political figures and railroad company executives.
The certificates range in size from approximately 6 x 7 inches to 28 x 17 inches and some of the bonds still have coupons
attached. Most of the printed certificates have been filled in by hand with the shareholder or bondholder's name, shares or
bond information,
and authorizing signatures of company executives, though some are unissued and blank.
Related materials in the Huntington Library
- Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation Prints and Ephemera
- Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation: Railroad Passes
The collection is physically arranged according to the general size of the item with small certificates in six binders (approximately
685 items),
medium-sized certificates in four flat boxes (approximately 400 items), and large and oversized certificates seven flat-file
folders (approximately 90 items); within these groups, items are arranged alphabetically by company name.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Business records.
Business records -- United States -- 19th century.
Business records -- United States -- 20th century.
Legal documents -- United States -- 19th century.
Legal documents -- United States -- 20th century.
Bonds (legal records).
Stock certificates.
Stock certificates -- United States -- 19th century.
Stock certificates -- United States -- 20th century.
Railroad companies.
Railroads -- Pictorial works.
Railroads -- United States -- History -- 19th century.