Research Library Update, 2/29/2016

Today saw more progress at the Research Library. Most of the focus was on cleaning and organizing containers of letters and invoices from about 1896 to 1916. The cabinet containing these volumes was a lot like a circus clown car- no matter how much we removed from the cabinet there never seemed to be an end to it. Here's about half of what was organized and cleaned. These will ultimately be in archival storage boxes and protected from light damage:

So what's in these boxes? Just about every invoice and piece of correspondence that came to Noble & Cooley. It is an amazing collection of business documents as well as customer letters and even appeals from other companies urging Noble & Cooley to invest in their gold and silver mines. Here's just one example from 1907:

The 1892 catalog yielded these specification sheets for rolling hoop toys:

And what kind of archive collection wouldn't still have original examples of the real thing, these equipped with bells?

On the more human side of the business correspondence is the following letter to Mr. Noble from a doting mother expressing how much joy her young son derived from his Noble & Cooley drum, and looking to purchase another for "a little poor child" (click on the images to view larger versions). As touching as the letter is, Mr. Noble was not so emotionally moved as to forget to send her the bill!

Letter from Mary H. Scott Davis, December 12, 1907

 

Reply from Noble & Cooley, with notation from Mrs. Davis, enclosing payment.

On a different topic, our recent eBay auctions brought in nearly $100 toward the needed inventory software so we'll be auctioning a few more duplicate items from the archives collection. If you bid on any of the items NCCHP greatly appreciates your help!