Last (Jay T.) Collection of Transportation: N.N. Hill Brass Company Business Correspondence, 1892-1919, bulk 1894-1900

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Summary

Title:
Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation: N.N. Hill Brass Company Business Correspondence
Dates:
1892-1919, bulk 1894-1900
Creators:
Last, Jay T.
Abstract:
The N. N. Hill Brass Company business correspondence, a subset within the Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation, contains records of the N.N. Hill Brass Company, a bell manufacturing company in East Hampton, Connecticut, that date from the early 1890s through the 1910s. The approximately 770 pieces of incoming correspondence and related documents focus on the company's manufacture, advertisement, and sale of bicycle bells, and their involvement with the bicycle industry and related trade associations and bicycle clubs.
Extent:
approximately 770 items in 9 binders
Language:
English.
Preferred citation:

[Item title]. Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation: N.N. Hill Brass Company Business Correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The N. N. Hill Brass Company Business Correspondence, a subset within the Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation, contains approximately 770 pieces of incoming correspondence, and some related documents, written to the N.N. Hill Brass Company of East Hampton, Connecticut, from the early 1890s through the 1910s that focus on the company's manufacture, advertisement, and sale of bicycle bells, and their involvement with the bicycle industry and related trade associations and bicycle clubs. The letters were received primarily from bicycle manufacturers and sellers and concern the purchase of bicycle bells including issues related to orders; shipments; invoice and payment matters; and requests for price quotes, catalogs and price lists. The collection also includes correspondence related to advertising, requests for donations of prizes by bicycle clubs, correspondence from trade associations, and bicycle shows related to exhibits and exhibit programs.

The materials include both handwritten and typed correspondence primarily on company stationery from a variety of companies across the United States and in other countries. Some of the letterhead has engraved or lithographed images of bicycles or commercial or industrial scenes.

Biographical / historical:

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 N. N. Hill Brass Company of East Hampton, Connecticut, manufactured bells, and later toys. Norman Newton Hill (1863-1950) founded the company in January 1889, and it operated until the early 1960s.

Acquisition information:
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 N.N. Hill Brass Company records described in this finding aid were originally acquired along with a small amount of additional business correspondence to the company. This additional material was received by the Library as part of other ephemera series within the Jay T. Last Collection and is organized according to the industry associated with the correspondent.
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in binders according to the general type of correspondent (such as bicycle manufacturers, parts manufacturers, bicycle retailers, other retailers etc.) and then alphabetically by company within each section.

Rules or conventions:
Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Note:

Finding aid last updated on September 22, 2015.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Diann Benti.
Date Prepared:
© 2013
Date Encoded:
Machine readable finding aid encoded by Diann Benti in April 2013 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Terms of access:

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.

Preferred citation:

[Item title]. Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation: N.N. Hill Brass Company Business Correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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