Bulkley (Jonathan D.) Collection of Illustrated Billheads and Letterheads: Finding Aid priBulkley
Mari Khasmanyan
The Huntington Library
February 2022
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Jonathan D. Bulkley collection of illustrated billheads and letterheads
Creator:
Bulkley, Jonathan D.
Identifier/Call Number: priBulkley
Physical Description:
44.58 Linear Feet
(214 binders)
Date (inclusive): 1758-1952, bulk 1840-1910
Abstract: The Jonathan D. Bulkley collection of
illustrated billheads and letterheads contains about 36,000 billheads, letterheads, flyers,
and other ephemera relating to commerce and industry in the United States from 1758 to 1952,
with the bulk of the items dating from 1840 to 1910. Most of the items are engravings, but
some lithographs are also included. Imagery, logos, and decorative typography on the
documents relate to the history of American and international trade, production, finance,
and printing and graphic design in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
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.
[Identification of item]. Jonathan D. Bulkley collection of illustrated billheads and
letterheads, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Jonathan D. Bulkley, December 2011.
Jonathan Duncan Bulkley (1930-2012) was born in Port Chester, New York and grew up in North
Salem, New York. In 1947, he graduated from Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts.
From 1948 to 1950, Bulkley served in the Marine Corps Reserve, then studied at Yale
University. In 1957, he earned an architecture degree from the Illinois Institute of
Technology, where he studied under the modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. In
1958, Bulkley moved to San Francisco, California, and in 1960, he established Jonathan
Bulkley and Associates, his architecture firm where he specialized in designing commercial
and residential buildings. In the early 1970s, he founded the real estate property company,
Round Hill Pacific and worked as an investor in the San Francisco area where he resided
until his death in 2012.
In addition to being an architect, Bulkley was a prominent collector of prints and
ephemera, an interest developed after receipt of his uncle's personal stamp collection in
the 1930s. From buying at auctions, to antique and ephemera shows, he concentrated on
collecting graphic materials that documented the history of commerce and printing in the
United States. During his lifetime, he amassed a large collection of 19th and 20th century
letterheads, billheads, advertising trade cards, and stamps.
The Jonathan D. Bulkley collection of illustrated billheads and letterheads contains about
36,000 billheads, letterheads, flyers, and other ephemera relating to commerce and industry
in the United States from 1758 to 1952, with the bulk of the items dating from 1840 to 1910.
While most of the items document products or services manufactured by American companies,
countries such as Cuba, France, Great Britain, Germany, and Mexico are represented as
well.
Imagery and text on the materials pertain to the history of production, finance,
consumerism, and advertising. Many of the items include graphic logos, decorative images of
views of storefronts and factories, and detailed representations of the various products
manufactured for sale. Typography on the materials also include visual motifs of varying
text styles and printing techniques. The collection contains items that are both engraved,
as well as lithographed.
Some of the recurrent printers and lithographers of items in the collection include:
Baldwin & Gleason Co.; Geo. D. Barnard & Co.; Britton & Rey; J.H. Bufford's
Sons; Calvert Lithography Co.; Clay & Richmond; Cosack & Company; H.S. Crocker &
Co.; George F. Frauenberger; Fuchs & Lang Manufacturing Co.; A. Gast & Co.; Gies
& Co.; Gillies Lithographing and Printing Co.; Heinecke-Fiegel Lithographing Co.;
Henderson Lithographing Co.; A. Hoen & Co.; Krebs Lithographing Co.; Charles Magnus
& Co.; Mayer & Merkel; W.J. Morgan & Co.; J. Ottmann Lithographing Co.; Henry
Seibert & Brothers; Sage, Sons & Co.; and Sarony, Major & Knapp.
The collection was organized and rehoused by Krystle Satrum in 2018-2019. A preliminary
finding aid was prepared by Krystle Satrum in February 2021. In April 2022, Mari Khasmanyan
completed the finding aid and processing.
Organized in the following series:
- Series 1. United States, 1797-1949, bulk 1840-1910
- Series 2. Other countries, 1758-1952, bulk 1840-1920
- Series 3. Printing-related companies, 1840-1933
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Billheads
Business enterprises
Ephemera
Intaglio prints
International business enterprises --
History
Letterheads
Lithographs
Manufacturing industries
Printing -- History
Printed ephemera
Series I. United States 1797-1949, bulk 1840-1910
Physical Description: 41.46 Linear
Feet (199 binders)
This series contains approximately 33,500 billheads and letterheads from various
manufacturers and companies within the fifty U.S. states.
Materials are arranged alphabetically by geographic location (state or city), then by
name of company.
Binder 5
Binder 6
Binder 7
Binder 8
Binder 9
Binder 10
Binder 11
Binder 12
Binder 13
Binder 14
Binder 15
Binder 16
Binder 17
Binder 18
Binder 22
Binder 23
Binder 24
Binder 29
Binder 32
Binder 34
Binder 35
Binder 36
Binder 37
Binder 39
Binder 41
Binder 43
Binder 49
Binder 50
Binder 51
Binder 53
Binder 55
Binder 56
Binder 57
Binder 58
Binder 59
Binder 64
Binder 65
Binder 66
Binder 67
Binder 68
Binder 69
Binder 70
Binder 71
Binder 72
Binder 73
Binder 74
Binder 75
Binder 79
Binder 80
Binder 81
Binder 82
Binder 83
Binder 85
Binder 86
Binder 87
Binder 88
Binder 89
Binder 90
Binder 91
Binder 93
Binder 99
Binder 100
Binder 101
Binder 102
Binder 107
Binder 109
Binder 110
Binder 112
Binder 113
Binder 114
Binder 115
Binder 116
Binder 117
Binder 118
Binder 119
Binder 120
Binder 121
Binder 122
Binder 123
Binder 124
Binder 125
Binder 126
Binder 127
Binder 128
Binder 129
Binder 130
Binder 131
Binder 132
Binder 133
Binder 134
Binder 135
Binder 136
Binder 137
Binder 141
Binder 149
Binder 150
Binder 151
Binder 152
Binder 155
Binder 158
Binder 159
Binder 165
Binder 168
Binder 169
Binder 170
Binder 171
Binder 172
Binder 173
Binder 174
Binder 175
Binder 176
Binder 177
Binder 178
Binder 179
Binder 180
Binder 194
Binder 196
Binder 198
Binder 199
Series II. Other countries 1758-1952, bulk 1840-1920
Physical Description: 1.67 Linear
Feet (8 binders)
This series contains approximately 1,500 billheads and letterheads from international
manufacturers and companies. Materials in the Europe binder include items from Austria,
Czech Republic/Slovakia, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and
more. Materials in the World binder include items from Argentina, Australia, Brazil,
Columbia, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and more.
Materials are arranged alphabetically by geographic location (country, continent,
province, or city).
Binder 200
Binder 204
Binder 205
Binder 206
Binder 207
Series III. Printing-related companies 1840-1933
Physical Description: 1.46 Linear
Feet (7 binders)
This series contains approximately 1,000 billheads and letterheads from printing and
publishing companies and related businesses. The billheads and letterheads include
transactional information, correspondence, and promotional advertisements from
printing-related companies. Items from various job printers, publishers, stationers,
lithograph companies and engraving companies throughout the world are included.
Series is arranged according to the existing order of the materials. Items are
organized alphabetically by company name.
Binder 208
Binder 209
Binder 210
Binder 211
Binder 212
Binder 213