Available for use in the Manuscripts Division reading room. Advance notice is requested.
There are no restrictions on the use of materials in this collection. Copies can be requested if the condition of the originals warrants it.
Trade catalog collection (N 100), Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.
This collection was assembled by the Northwest Architectural Archives for reference and research purposes.
The collection is organized alphabetically by author/publisher.
Trade literature--catalogs, pamphlets, and booklets that manufacturers publish to advertise and describe their products--is highly useful for not only providing information about the products themselves which can be applied to restoration projects or to the study of the history of American technology, but may also illustrate the factories where the products were made and the buildings in which they were installed. Thus, they constitute a unique source for certain types of information vital to the study of architectural history.
This collection consists of over 7,000 trade publications. It concentrates on goods and services which were used in architecture and all aspects of the building arts and trades. An extremely wide range of products is represented in the literature, including linoleum, plumbing and heating fixtures, structural steel, millwork, lighting systems (both gas and electric), construction machinery, greenhouses, metal ceilings, office furniture, prefabricated buildings, doors, windows, household appliances and bank vaults, among many others. The collection is primarily from companies located outside Minneapolis, but includes St. Paul as well as the entire United States.
Companies included are Alcoa, Armstrong Cork Company, Artistic Metal Ceiling Company, Coffin Valve Company, Corbin, Crane, Cincinnati Fly Screen Company, Ar-Ke-Tex Tile, Atlantic Terra Cotta Company, General Electric, Heatencook Stove Company, Johns-Manville, Kansas City Radiator Company, Kewanee, Kohler, Lennox, Link-Belt, New York Terra Cotta Company, Pittsburgh Plate Glass, Pratt & Whitney, Shaw-Walker, Vitrolite and Westinghouse, to name a few. The collection is a particularly rich source of catalogs from furnace and boiler manufacturers and suppliers of heating and plumbing accessories and equipment.
An unpublished finding aid with detailed contents is available in the Manuscripts Division.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.