New-York Historical Society museum store records
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The New-York Historical Society museum store records include documents related to the management of the store, development of its product lines, and marketing. The files include correspondence, sales catalogs, inventories, sales results, reproduction licensing, orders, and photographs of catalog items. There are also examples of some of the products sold at the store, especially small format items like postcards and greeting cards. The bulk of the material relates to the period 1985 to 1991.
Arrangement Note
The New-York Historical Society museum store records (NYHS-RG 26) are organized in three series:
Series I. Correspondence Files
Series II. Catalogs and Inventories
Series III. Products
Scope and Contents Note
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).
Subjects
Genres
Topics
Access Restrictions
Materials in this collection are stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation Note
This record group should be cited as New-York Historical Society museum store records (NYHS-RG 26), The New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
About this Guide
Processing Information Note
This record group was processed by project archivists Margaret Kaczorowski and Larry Weimer in December 2016.
Sponsor Note
Repository
Series I. Correspondence Files, 1977-1994
Extent
Scope and Contents Note
This series includes two sets of correspondence files. The first includes correspondence related to the management of the store's product line, with most of the letters directed to Lorelei Rowars, the Museum Store Director from the mid-1980s to mid-1991, when the store temporarily closed for almost five months. Subject matter includes arrangements for products to be developed and sold in the store, such as posters, catalogues, postcards, holiday cards, and other items; product proposals from vendors; arrangements for sales of museum store products through outlets other than N-YHS itself (e.g., holiday gift sales for local company employees), and related matters. These files were found during processing in 2016 as a complete set.
The second set of correspondence also relates to store management, but was compiled from various store files by the processing archivist. Principal subjects in this set include arrangements for the Adirondack Store to have a space at N-YHS during the exhibition Forever Wild, arrangements with Princeton Audubon Ltd for printing Audubon reproductions, store catalog production files, sales of the Phelps-Dodge Family book, and a sampling of mail orders received for store items.
Arrangement Note
The series opens with a set of files in their original alphabetical order by correspondent or topic. These are followed by a second set of correspondence compiled by the processing archivist and arranged in alphabetical order by topic.
Processing Information Note
The series was processed to a minimal extent in December 2016. The files in set 1 remain in their original folders.
Set 1. A - Ca, 1977-1991
Scope and Contents Note
Includes exchanges with advertising agencies and outlets (e.g., Forbes Magazines, New Yorker); product development proposals from vendors (e.g., postcards, tee-shirts, bookmarks, calendars); Audubon-related products; book print promotions for the Audubon series, "The Birds of America" and "Immigration to New York"; permissions for American Heritage; Birchrun Mint license regarding John Rogers sculptures; documents from architects Charles E. Broudy & Associates concerning redesign of the store; and poster distribution rights with Bruce Teleky.
Set 1. Cl - Lu, 1984-1994
Scope and Contents Note
Includes requests for museum store catalogs; exchanges in regard to N-YHS items to be included in the Museum Shops of the World Catalog; production of circus, theatrical, and Tiffany postcard books (Dover Publications); store consultant Tom Aageson invoices; vendor proposals for various product possibilities (e.g., textiles, notecards, puzzles by Galison Books, address book); arrangements for sale of products, such as posters and catalogues, associated with particular exhibitions (e.g., Arnold Newman, Irving Browning, Government by Choice, Childe Hassam Flag Paintings, Jasper Cropsey, Jackie Robinson, Pageant of Heraldry); Hudson River Book project; and various design proposals for the store itself (e.g., banners, brochures, catalog).
Set 1. Mc -Sca, 1984-1992
Scope and Contents Note
Includes production of Audubon poster; N-YHS participation in holiday gift shops at Morgan Guaranty and the Municipal Art Society; N-YHS's participation with a booth at the "New York is Book Country" book fair; store purchases for a Paris 1889 exhibition shop; publication of Tales of the Phelps-Dodge Family; product design work by Stephen Saitas; arrangements with Sandak for Audubon and other Slide-Paks; postcard project with Eastern Press; orders for posters for various objects (e.g., Bulls and Bears in the Market) and exhibitions including Government by Choice and Audubon; royalty fees to N-YHS for poster sales; sales of remainders.
Set 1. Sch -W, 1985-1991
Scope and Contents Note
Includes book signing for Simon Schama's History and Imagination: The Storyteller and the Detective; invoices for tote bags; production costs for slide-paks from Sandak for various exhibitions; N-YHS's participation in the Holiday Gift Fairs for Port Authority employees and at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center; receipts of store montlhy sales; press release in regard to the alliance between the Hudson River Club and N-YHS to celebrate the opening of the Luman Reed Gallery; and Tiffany-related products.
Set 2. Adirondack Store (2 folders), 1992
Set 2. Administration, 1988-1992
Scope and Contents Note
Includes schedules and procedures.
Set 2. Audubon/Princeton Audubon Ltd. (2 folders), 1985-1991
Set 2. Bulls & Bears Poster Printing, 1985-1992
Set 2. Catalog Production. Museum Store (3 folders), 1986-1991
Set 2. Catalog. Luman Reed Collection, 1989
Set 2. Columbian Iconography, 1991
Scope and Contents Note
Includes sketches of design for exhibition-related sales space.
Set 2. Course of Empire Reproduction Rights, 1985, 1992
Set 2. Damages in Store, Undated
Set 2. Memorandums, 1987-1991
Set 2. Phelps-Dodge Family Book Orders, 1988
Set 2. Requests for Catalogs and Sales Orders (5 folders), 1986-1992
Set 2. Requests and Orders from Japan [Asia], 1991
Set 2. Temporary Closing Letters (2 folders), 1991-1992
Series II. Catalogs and Inventories, 1966-1993, 2001
Extent
Scope and Contents Note
The series includes documents that illustrate the items offered for sale by the museum store, publicity about those items, and sales records. The series includes the periodic inventories taken of stock through the 1980s into 1991, advertising flyers and order forms, descriptions and photographs of items, and the first five catalogs issued by the store (circa 1985-1991). There is also one catalog from a later period (2001). The period of 1990-1991 is especially well-documented as the store closed temporarily in late 1991 and underwent an analysis of its product line and sales; accordingly, there are detailed inventory and sales records for the 1990-91 period.
Arrangement Note
The series is arranged roughly by document type, ranging from internally-focused materials, such as inventories, to public documents, such as publicity materials and catalogs.
Store Inventories (9 folders), 1982-1992
Store Inventory (Oversize), 1989 June 30
Scope and Contents Note
Includes the complete store inventory taken at June 30, 1989.
Daily Log of Purchases, 1991-1992 June
Store Sales Records, 1990-1993 February
Book Lists (3 folders), 1980s-1992
Holiday Sale Prices, 1991?
Audubon Mailing (Princeton Audubon Prints), 1980s
Order Form with Item List, 1980s
General Publicity Materials, circa 1990?
Christmas Holiday Cards and Flyers (3 folders), 1980s
Jewelry Descriptions, Undated
Catalog Photographs (9 folders), 1987-1991
Scope and Contents Note
Includes primarily photographs used for the store catalogs spanning 1987-1991. Also includes one photograph of the interior of the store and photographs for a Luman Reed publication.
Catalogue of Books, Pamphlets, Prints, & Postcards for Sale by N-YHS, 1966-1970s
Christmas Card Catalog, 1980s
Museum Store Catalogs, Numbers 1-5 (5 folders), circa 1985-1990
Museum Store Catalog, 2001
Series III. Products, 1930s?-1995
Extent
Scope and Contents Note
The series includes a small number of products sold by N-YHS, mostly postcards and holiday cards. Most of these items date from the 1970s and later, but the series also holds three sets of images sold in the 1930s (which were likely those donated to school groups; see New-York Historical Society General Correspondence, Series V [NYHS-RG 2]) and a 1949 souvenir booklet.
Arrangement Note
The series is arranged with the oldest items first, followed by those from the late twentieth century, roughly by type of item.
N-YHS Picture Series I-III, 1930s-1940s?
Scope and Contents Note
Consists of three sets of images: "Old New York in Pictures," "Leaders in American Democracy," and "John Rogers and his Statuette Groups."
N-YHS Picture Series I, 1930s?
Scope and Contents Note
Consists of fragile "Old New York in Pictures" materials.
N-YHS Picture Series II, 1930s?
Scope and Contents Note
Consists of fragile "Leaders in American Democracy" materials.
N-YHS Souvenir Booklets, 1949
Scope and Contents Note
Consists of three N-YHS souvenir booklets made for mailing and printed by Richard Bennett Talcott.
Holiday Cards by N-YHS, undated
Postcards, undated
Scope and Contents Note
Consists of several postcards printed by Arthur Jaffe Heliochrome Company.
Proofs for Product, 1949, 1985?
Scope and Contents Note
Proofs include images reproduced by Cartier. It is unclear if these proofs were turned into product.
Antique Advertising Postcards, 1985
Scope and Contents Note
Consists of a booklet of 24 Ready-to-Mail Postcards from the Bella C. Landauer Collection, published by Dover Publications.
Rare Birds of China Postcards, 1995
Scope and Contents Note
Consists of two booklets of artist J. Fenwick Lansdowne's Rare Birds of China prints.
Declaration of Independence on Reproduced Parchment, 1977
Scope and Contents Note
Consists of three reproductions of the Declaration of Independence.
Moving In The City: Three Centuries of Transportation in New York Portfolio, Circa 1977
Scope and Contents Note
Consists of four portfolios of posters, postcards, greeting cards, and other reproductions related to the Transportation exhibition. The contents of two of the four portfolios are enclosed and complete. One portfolio is enclosed and complete except for its contents list. The fourth portfolio is open, with missing content.