Emil T. Bertelsen family papers

Title: Emil T. Bertelsen family papers

Dates: 1907-1972

Collection Number: SFH 551

Creator/Collector: Bertelsen, Emil T., 1889-1923

Extent: 2 boxes

Repository: San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco History Center

Abstract: Papers of Emil T. Bertelsen, his wife Florence Volz, her second husband Louis Grundwick, and Florence’s son-in-law Albert A. Baker, Jr.

Language of Material: English

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Emil T. Bertelsen family papers. San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco History Center

Gift, 2018-77.

Emil Bertelsen, son of German immigrant Adolph F. Bertelsen, was born in 1889 and married Florence Volz in 1913. An accountant for a San Francisco lithography company, Emil died in 1923, and Florence married Louis (Lars) Grundwick, a San Francisco candy maker. Emil and Florence had one daughter, Lucille, who married candy company executive Albert A. Baker, Jr. in 1953.

One box includes a scrapbook compiled by Emil Bertelsen, featuring Schmidt Lithograph printing samples, as well as a small amount of records documenting Bertelsen’s position as a liaison between Schmidt Litho and the local war effort 1914-1918; as a member of Modern Woodmen of America; and, as an elections inspector in Alameda, 1916-1917. It also includes material relating to Bertelsen’s war time YMCA activities, clippings relating to family and friends in Alameda, ephemera of German-American associations, some photographs, printing samples from other companies, and other ephemera. Florence Volz report cards, diplomas and a baptismal certificate are included, as are chain letters, comic valentines, and a Schmidt Litho map of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, 1914. A second box includes a family photograph album compiled by Emil and Florence, dating 1907-1917, which includes snapshots of the Presidio, Fort Point, Golden Gate Park, Land's End, Goat Island, Ocean View, Sloat Boulevard, the Schmidt Lithograph offices, Modern Woodmen picnics, and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, as well as photographs of family and friends at various places in Marin, Napa, Sonoma, San Jose, Sacramento, and Alameda. Photographs of various Southern California locations visited on Emil and Florence's 1913 honeymoon are included, as well as a 1908 trip to Oregon. Photographs of the construction of the Bertelsen home in Alameda, 1914 are included. Most photographs are captioned in handwriting by Emil. The box also holds one folder of Emil Bertelsen personal papers, 1911-1920; a folder of news clippings, 1918-1920; and a folder of ephemera, 1914-1921, all loose items removed from the large scrapbook. Box includes one folder of photographs of Grundwick’s Confectionery, San Francisco, c. 1937; one folder of ink and pencil cartoons and drawings, c. 1919-1928 by Carl Hugo Beetz, a nephew of Florence’s; two folders of material relating to the Golden Nugget Candy Company, San Francisco, c. 1940-1972, of which Albert Baker, Jr. was general manager and special partner; and five folders of issues of candy trade journals, 1959-1969 which feature articles mentioning Albert Baker and Golden Nugget, including Western Confectioner, Western Confectioner and Tobacconist; Candy Industry and Confectioners Journal; and Good Packaging.