New-York Historical Society museum store records

The New-York Historical Society museum store records include documents related to the management of the store, development of its product lines, and marketing. There are also examples of some of the products sold at the store, especially small format items like postcards and greeting cards. Correspondence files, primarily involving Director of Store Management Lorelei Rowars, concern proposals from vendors for products and services, arrangements for the creation and stocking of items in the store (including in connection with exhibitions), agreements to conduct sales in locations outside of N-YHS, and customer orders (including expressions of interest from Japan). Financial and royalty arrangements and results are documented in the series, with vendors such as Princeton Audubon Ltd. (Audubon prints) and the Adirondack Store (temporary shop at N-YHS during the Forever Wild exhibition.

The record group also includes detailed documentation of the store's inventory from 1985-1991, which is the principal period documented in these records. The store's first catalogs, from the mid to late 1980s, are in the records, as are some earlier order forms, book lists, and other marketing material. The records include sales results, again especially for the period around 1990. Products included postcards, books, and posters that tied in to the installed exhibitions.

The bulk of the products are cards from the 1970s and later. Yet there are also a small number of items that were sold in the 1930s-1940s, including packets of images and a souvenir booklet (1949).