Overview
Although more the exception than the rule, the records of some small businesses have survived. Such records are generally held by a local library, archive or historical society. If your ancestor was affiliated with a larger company, records of the company are more likely to exist.
Even if you are not able to locate the records of a specific business, it may also be worth looking for records of a similar business operating in the same time period, which may shed light on your ancestor's work experiences and help you understand the types of business activities that were common at the time.
Company records
Locating business records can be challenging. If the business is still operating, the company may retain its own archives, which may or may not be available to researchers.
Records of defunct businesses are scattered in various repositories, so it can be hard to know where to look. The best place to start is with a library or historical society in the area where the business operated.
Most libraries with archival collections and historical societies hold at least some business records. Here is a sampling from NYPL’s Manuscript and Archives Division:
- Alanson T. Briggs Business Records, 1858-1867 (bills and accounts of a New York City cooper operating at 64 Rutgers Street)
- Brewster and Company Records, 1837-1924 (Long Island City manufacturer of fine carriages and later, automobiles)
- Bard & Calkins Records, 1876-1960 (New York City law firm that practiced corporate and estate law)
To locate additional collections of business records at NYPL, try searching our Archives and Manuscripts portal.
To locate collections of business records held by other institutions, try searching the following:
- Directory of Corporate Archives in the United States and Canada, created by the Society of American Archivists
- ArchiveGrid, a "union catalog" that searches the archival collection of multiple institutions
Business ephemera
In the library world, the word "ephemera" (defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "one who or something which has a transitory existence") is used to describe "throw-away" documents produced for short-term use, such as programs, menus, greeting cards, and advertisements. Libraries and museums have become increasingly interested in preserving these types of documents and making them available for historical research.
NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 4037316
Advertising ephemera includes trade cards, flyers, calendars, brochures, and any other item printed as a business giveaway. “Trade cards,” distributed by business owners to advertise their goods, were in use as early as the 18th century, but became especially popular in the late 19th century. Between 1870 and 1900, these colorful cards were widely used by businesses, and collecting them became a national pastime. As a result, Although used by all types of businesses, the products most often advertised on trade cards include medicine, food, tobacco, clothing, household products, farm machinery, and sewing supplies.
If you are interested in a business that was operating during this time period, it may be worth checking to see if you can find a trade card or other loose advertisement relating to it. Even if you don’t find a trade card for your own family’s business (and chances are, you won’t! this falls into the category of research long-shots), these early advertisements are fun to look at and reveal a lot about American culture in the late 19th century.
NYPL holds a small number of trade cards, and a more extensive collection of trade catalogs. To locate these, try searching our online catalog:
- By the subject heading Advertising cards
- By the keywords Advertising ephemera
- By the genres Trade cards and Trade catalogs
Large collections of trade cards and other advertising ephemera are available at a few other institutions, including the following:
- The New-York Historical Society holds The Bella C. Landauer Collection of Business and Advertising Ephemera, one of the largest collections of advertising ephemera in the United States
- The Baker Library at Harvard University Business School created an online exhibition on The Art of American Advertising, 1865-1910, which provides an excellent overview of trade cards and other types of advertising developed in the 19th century. Many of the trade cards from the Baker Library’s large Advertising Ephemera Collection have also been digitized and can be viewed online.
- Duke University Libraries has also digitized a large collection of advertising materials in its digital repository Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920.