The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera
– The Winterthur Library
Overview of the Collection
- Creator: C. Schrack & Company.
- Title: Business records
- Dates: 1827-1888
- Call No.: Col. 90
- Acc. No.: [numerous – see listings on folders]
- Quantity: 9 folders (ca. 155 items)
- Location: 9 D 1
Biographical Statement
Schrack & Co. was a major manufacturer and distributor of paint, putty, and varnish in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The firm was founded in 1815 by Christian Schrack, a carriage painter and merchant, and it supplied varnish to local carriage builders and to Delaware River shipbuilders. In 1830, Schrack took Joseph Stulb, a former apprentice, into the business as C. Schrack & Co. By 1850, the firm offered artists’ supplies and colored and plate glass as well as its best known product, varnish. When Schrack died in 1854, Stulb continued the business under its old name. An 1863 Philadelphia city directory lists Stulb, Welling Schrack, S.K. Felton, and Townsend Willits as co-partners. In 1880, Stulb’s eldest son, Edwin H., became a partner and subsequently another son, Joseph, joined the firm. The business expanded with a customer network from New England to Georgia and west to Wisconsin. Edwin H. became the sole proprietor in 1911 and was succeeded by his sons, Edwin H., Jr. and Joseph Reichert.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of bills for items bought and sold by Schrack & Co.; orders received by them; trade cards; an account book kept by the firm from 1863 to 1864; a monthly account of sales and purchase, 1853-1877; and price lists and advertising circulars put out by competing companies. The bills are for freight, hardware, glass, chemicals, colors, opium, wrappers, a full array of brushes used for painting and varnishing, shellac, mastic, chalk, paint cans, putty knives, pure lead, sand paper, and other material required for operating a paint and varnish manufactory. Many are on printed billheads. Orders are for paint, varnish, and colors. The account book further documents Schrack’s product line and customers. Typical entries read “10 Bbl Celestial Blue,” “1/2 gl. Magnolia Turpentine,” “1/2 gal. Wright’s Japan,” and “1 Sett Graining combs 13 inch.” In the 1863 and 1864 period, sales were made to 221 individuals and firms. Most customers were in or near Philadelphia, but they ranged as far away as Pittsburgh; Wilmington and Newark, Delaware; Washington, D.C.; Kalamazoo, Michigan; and Weston, West Virginia.. Corporate accounts include the Academy of Music, Eden Hall Institute and the “W. Va. hospital for the Insane, Weston, Lewis Co., W. Va.” The monthly account book provides totals for income and expenditures by month and by year. Entries in this manuscript indicate that annual sales exceeded $100,000.
Organization
The papers are arranged chronologically.
Provenance
Gifts and purchases from various sources.
Access Points
- People:
- Schrack, Christian, 1790?-1854.
- Stulb, Edwin H. (Edwin Hunter), 1851-1920.
- Stulb, Edwin H. (Edwin Hunter), b. 1885.
- Stulb, Joseph, 1821?-1898.
- Stulb, Joseph, b. 1861.
- Stulb, Joseph Reichart, b. 1883.
- Schrack, Welling.
- Felton, S. K.
- Willits, Townsend.
- Topics:
- Lacquer and lacquering.
- Paint.
- Paint shops – Equipment and supplies – Pennsylvania – Philadelphia.
- Paint materials.
- Paint industry and trade – Pennsylvania – Philadelphia.
- Varnish industry – Pennsylvania – Philadelphia.
- Varnish and varnishing.
- Stains and staining.
- Graining.
- Artists’ materials.
- Freight and freightage.
- Business records – Pennsylvania – Philadelphia.
- Orders.
- Bills of sale.
- Account books.
- Invoices.
- Trade cards.
- Manufacturers.
- Suppliers.
- Merchants.
Related Materials
- Two trade catalogs are in Printed Book and Periodical Collection, Winterthur Library.
- Account books and letterbooks are in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19017, listed as C. Schrack & Company records.
- Additional material is in the Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library, 298 East Buck Road East, Greenville, De. 19807, listed as C. Schrack & Company records.
Detailed Description of the Collection
- Location: 9 D 1
- Folder 1: Price lists and advertising circulars from various companies, mostly for paints and varnishes
- Folder 2: Trade cards for C. Schrack & Co.; F.A. & J.C. Black; and Otton Martin & Co.
- Folder 3: C. Schrack & Co.: correspondence, bills, shipping receipts, 1854-1888
- Folder 4: Christian Schrack: bills, 1827-1869
- Folder 5: Christian Schrack: bills
- Folder 6: Christian Schrack: bills
- Folder 7: C. Schrack & Co.: monthly account of sales and purchases, 1853-1877
- Folder 8: Loose items from account book (in Folder 9)
- Folder 9: C. Schrack & Co.: account book, 1863-1864; name index in front
-
Name index to acc. 75×209.1-.49 [these items are scattered through several folders; see listings of accession numbers on the folders]
- Barton, R. .42
- Bowlby & Brenner .43
- Brenner – see Bowlby & Brenner
- Brown & Shock .44
- Campion, T. .41
- City of Richmond (steamer) .44
- Cooper – see Manly & Cooper
- Dull & White .30
- Elliott .41
- Evans .43
- Evans, David .49
- Loper, R. F. .40
- Manly & Cooper .48
- McCoy(?), Judson .44
- McGrath – see Siddons & McGrath
- New Express Line .45-46
- Ralston, A. & G., & Co. .38-39
- Schrack .42
- Schrack, C., & Co. .44-48
- Schrack, C. .1-2, .4-5, .8-9, .13, .21-22, .24-32, .34, .36-41, .43
- Schrack, Charles .3
- Schrack, Christian .6-7, .10-12, .14-20, .23, .33, .35
- Shock (of Brown & Shock) .44
- Siddons & McGrath .49
- Swiftsure Transportation Co. .47
- Tanner’s, B., Stereograph .30
- Thompson, Isaac .2-3, .8-9, .13, .25-26, .28-29
- Tiller .27
- Union Line of New York Packets .40
- Wetherill & Brothers .22, .24, .31, .32-37
- Wetherill, Samuel P. & Co. .4-7, .12, .14-15
- Wetherill, Charles .10-11, .16-21, .23
- Wetherill, Geo. D. .27
- Wetherill, Jno. P. & Chas. .10-11, .16-21, .23
- White – see Dull & White
- Yarnall’s, Benjn. H., Hardware Store .1
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