Columbia Conserve Co. mss., 1903-1953
Summary Information
Repository:
Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
Indiana University
1200 E. Seventh St.
Bloomington, IN 47405-5500
Phone: 812-855-2452
Fax: 812-855-3143
Email: liblilly@indiana.edu
http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly
Creator
Columbia Conserve Company
(Indianapolis, Ind.)
TitleColumbia Conserve Co. mss., 1903-1953
Collection No.
LMC 2244
Extent
56,321 items
Language
Materials are in English
Abstract
The Columbia Conserve Co. mss.,
1903-1953, consists of the papers of the Columbia Conserve Company, a cannery in
Indianapolis, Indiana.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Biographical Note
In 1903 Charles Hutchins Hapgood, a successful plow manufacturer, bought the
controlling interest in the Mullen, Blackledge Company. His three sons, William
Powers, Hutchins, and Norman, became stockholders. William, who had had nine years
experience with Franklin MacVeagh's Wholesale Grocery in Chicago, first as assistant
shipping clerk and later as head of the manufacturing department, assumed the
managerial responsibilities of the company.
After losing the original investment, the company was reorganized in 1910 and moved
to Lebanon, Indiana. Two years later the company moved back to Indianapolis locating
on Churchman Avenue. Following the death of Charles H. Hapgood in 1917, the company
adopted a program of workers' management and ownership operating through a workers'
council. In 1932 following the employment of Powers Hapgood, John Brophy, Daniel
Donovan, and Leo F. Tearney, labor troubles developed and culminated in the
dismissal of the last three named leaders. A committee of four composed of Jerome
Davis, Paul Howard Douglas, Sherwood Eddy, and James Myers was then appointed by the
Council and Board of Directors to investigate the difficulties and submit a plan of
settlement. On September 1, 1942, the employees struck for higher wages and the
following year Marion County superior judge Hezzie B. Pike, dissolved the trust and
ordered the stock distributed individually to all who had worked at Columbia for at
least six months since January 1, 1925. From 1943 to 1953 the company again was back
in the hands of the Hapgoods. In 1953 the plant was sold to John Sexton and Company,
Chicago, which took possession on May 1. At that time the formulas were purchased by
Venice Maid Company, Vineland, New Jersey.
Among long-term employees of the company were C. Estella Franz, a member of the
Mullen, Blackledge Company, who joined the Columbia Conserve Company staff in 1903
heading the order department and Howard Herner, a member of the shipping department,
who was engaged as bookkeeper in 1918, a few years later assumed the duties of
treasurer of the company.
For fifty years the company manufactured twenty-seven varieties of condensed soup,
twenty-one varieties of Ready-to-Serve soup, and other fancy products such as
catsup, boned chicken, salad sprouts, and brown gravy with beef, which were sold
under buyers' labels.
In addition to the material found in the collection, information on the company
appears in Devere Allen's
Adventurous Americans... (New
York, [c.1932]), pp. 217-32; William P. Hapgood's "The
High Adventure of a Cannery,"
Survey, LXVIII:655-58, 682, Sept. 1, 1922; John Bartlow
Martin's
Indiana: An Interpretation (New York, 1947),
pp. 159-73; and Elfrieda Lang, "The Columbia Conserve
Company Papers,"
The Indiana University Bookman, November 1957, pp.
18-23. Another account of the company is by Russell Edward Vance, "An Unsuccessful Experiment in Industrial Democracy: The
Columbia Conserve Company," Ph.D. dissertation, Department of History,
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, 1956. (D40 .V222)
Arrangement
The collection is organized into the following series: I. Correspondence; II.
Business.
Scope and Content Note
The Columbia Conserve Co. mss., 1903-1953, consists of the papers of the Columbia
Conserve Company, a cannery in Indianapolis, Indiana. Included are correspondence
and papers related to business.
Note on Indexing Term - "Labor unions and socialism": In 1917 Columbia was
one of the earliest companies in the U.S. to put into action a plan of workers' co-operative ownership and
management. One of the most revolutinoary aspects of the company during the years of worker
management was the adoption of many social benefits, commonplace today but practically unheard of at
that time, this included pensions, vacations with pay and free medical, dental, and eye care.
Note on Indexing Term - "World War, 1939-1945": Of interest are papers dated 1944-1945 and 1947 which discuss the use of German
prisoners of war for employment at the company.
-
Indexing Terms
-
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
IUCAT, the IU Libraries'
online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by
searching the catalog using these terms.
-
-
Names
-
Columbia Conserve Company
(Indianapolis, Ind.)
-
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Acquired: 1953, 1955
Usage Restrictions
Photocopying permitted only with permission of the Curator of Manuscripts, Lilly
Library.
Preferred Citation
[Item], Columbia Conserve Co. mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University,
Bloomington, Indiana.
Series:
Box 1
Correspondence
Arranged chronologically by year and alphabetically within the year.
1911 -
1946 Bi
Box 2
1946 Bu-S
Box 3
1946 T - 1947 M
Box 4
1947 N - 1948 L
Box 5
1948 M - 1951 B
Box 6
1951 C - 1953 P
Box 7
1953 Q-Z
Series:
Business
Arranged alphabetically by subject, followed by large bound and disbound
volumes and oversized materials. Large volumes are arranged alphabetically
after the general ledgers.
Box 7
Accountant’s report, 1917
Agreements to sell common stock, 1922,
1952
(6 folders)
Articles of Incorporation
(see also: Box 75)
Auditor’s reports, 1919-1953
Balance sheets, 1916-1918
Brokers, list of names
Brokerage statements, 1940-1948
(9 folders)
Alphabetically arranged within each year.
Box 8
Brokerage statements, 1949
(2 folders)
Common stock certificates, 1944-1953
(4 folders)
Common stock proxies, 1953
(4 folders)
Common stockholders, list of names, 1953
Company experience unemployment compensation plans, 1928
Corporation reports
(see also: Box 75)
Customers, list of names, 1953
Employees’ earnings sheets, 1947-1950
(8 folders)
Box 9
Employees’ earnings sheets, 1951-1952
(1 volume)
Employees’ earnings sheets, 1952-1954
(1 folder)
An Experiment in Industrial Democracy, by William P.
Hapgood.
Typescript, 68 pp.
Form letters to brokers, 1941-1946
Form letters to customers, 1933-1953
(9 folders)
Form letters to salesman, 1933-1945
Form letters and reports to stockholders, 1943, July 19 –
1953, July 10
Invoices, 1947-1948, Jan.- July, A-F
(14 folders)
Box 10
Invoices, 1948, Jan.-July, G-Z –1948, Aug.-Dec., A-Z
(17 folders)
Labels, 1946-1953
(13 envelopes)
Box 11
Loading tallies, 1946 - 1953
(11 folders)
Minutes:
Annual meetings: 1917 (3
copies), 1919
1923,
1924,
1927-1929
(6 volumes, 3 folders)
Board of Directors: 1903-1940
(1 volume, 2 folders)
Box 12
Board of Directors: 1941-1942,
1953
(3 volumes)
Council: 1920-1930, Nov. 24
(10 volumes)
Box 13
Council: 1930, Dec. 1 - 1933;
1936,
June
(5 volumes, 4 folders)
Box 14
Council: 1936, July - 1939, July
(6 volumes)
Box 15
Council: 1940-1942
Council meetings and Stockholders’ Reports, 1933-1944
(3 folders)
Executive: 1933,
1934, May -
1943
(12 folders)
Human Relations Council: 1928-1929
(1 volume)
Stockholders: 1903, May - 1940,
July;
1920, Jan.
6;
1927, July
9;
1939, July
21;
1941, July-1954, Mar.
(1 volume, 4 folders)
Photographs
Box 16
Preferred Stockholders, loose pages, 1919-1953
Preferred Stockholder certificates, 1929-1951
Price lists, 1930-1951
Printed
(see also: Box 75)
By CCC. Advertisements; "A Business
Without a Boss"; "An Experiment
in Workers Ownership and Participation in Management of The
Columbia Conserve Co. of Indianapolis, Indiana"; "Ready To Serve Soups"; "Summary of important factors in the
progress of The Columbia Conserve Company…"
1938,
1939,
1941
About CCC. Mostly clippings
(2 folders)
Bushey, Morea & Wright, 1946-1953
Canners Exchange Subscribers, Quarterly List of, 1946-1948
Canners’ Market Report, 1946-1948,
1950
(2 folders)
Canning, miscellaneous
Catsup and Tomato Juice packers Association
Clover Farm Stores, Corporation, 1942-1953
(5 folders)
Commonwealth College Fortnightly, 1937-1938; Commoner, 1940
Consumers’ Cooperation, 1937-1939
Continental Can Co.
Co-op News, 1937-1941
Co-operative Productive Review, 1935,
1937-1938,
1947
Co-operatives, miscellaneous
Employment, miscellaneous
The Facts in Food Distribution, 1933
Box 17
Indiana Canners Association, Inc., 1935-1953
(10 folders)
Kimberly-Clark Corp.
Myers Spalti Mfg. Co.
National Canners Association
National Meat Canners Association
Plee-Zing, Inc.1942-1953
(4 folders)
Red & White
United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing and Allied Workers of
America reports
United States government publications on canning
The Voluntary Chains, 1931
The Voluntary Chains, An Evolution in Distribution, 1931
Voluntary Grocery Chains, Directory, 1932,
1934
Weekly Digest, 1946-1948,
1950
(4 folders)
Miscellaneous publications and clippings
(2 folders)
Box 18
Production
Carrots, 1934-1942
(4 folders)
Comparative sales data, 1939-1943
Daily, 1929,
1931-1941
(1 volume, 11 envelopes. 1 folder)
Formulas
Material costs, 1941-1942
Monthly analysis, 1936-1937,
1943
Non-tomato, 1938-1939,
1943-1945
Report of orders to Executive Committee, 1936-1942
(3 envelopes)
Tomato, 1930-1931,
1933-1945
(13 folders, 5 envelopes)
Box 19
Tomato Farms, 1944
Weekly schedules, 1933,
1939-1941,
1943-1944
(4 envelopes)
Yearly schedules, 1934-1936,
1946
1947
Miscellaneous
Publicity articles obtained by Inter Ocean Syndicate, July 29, 1930 and August 13, 1930
(2 volumes)
Revenue and expense statement, 1921
Sales journal, 1946, Jan. 9 – 1953, Apr.
30
Sales report, 1927-1939
(7 folders)
Box 20
Sales report, 1940-1949
(8 folders)
Sales report, Clover Farm Stores Corp., 1946-1953
(8 folders)
Sales representatives, 1946-1952
(6 folders)
Scrapbook, 1930-1932
(5 folders)
Shipping sheets, 1945 A-S
(17 folders)
Box 21
Shipping sheets, 1945 T - 1946 S
Box 22
Shipping sheets, 1946 T - 1949 Z
Box 23
Shipping sheets, 1950 A - 1951 K
Box 24
Shipping sheets, 1951 L - 1953 Z
Box 25
Shipping sheets, John Sexton & Co., 1950-1952
Stabilizing employment and income, by E.S. Cowdrick
Stockholders ledger, 1926-1953
Box 26
Tax returns, federal, 1933-1953
(2 folders)
Tax returns, state and local, 1933,
1946-1953
(5 folders)
Tax returns
(see also:Box 75)
"Your Job Today Broadcast" script
featuring CCC.
Miscellaneous – Council, trustees, and executive committee,
1938-1946
(5 folders)
General ledgers
1910-1919,
1931-1934
(1 folder, 2 volumes)
Box 27
1920-1931
Box 28
1935-1943
Box 29
1935-1953
(4 volumes)
Box 30
Combined Journal, Cash and Daily Financial Statement
(see also:Box 75)
1917,
Apr.-Dec.
Box 31
1918
Box 32
1919
Box 33
1920
Box 34
1921
Box 35
1922
Box 36
1923
Box 37
1924
Box 38
1925
Box 39
1926
Box 40
1927, Jan. -
June
Box 41
1927, July -
1928, June
Box 42
1928, July -
1929, June
Box 43
1929, July -
1930, June
Box 44
1930, July -
1931, June
Box 45
1931, July -
1932, June
Box 46
1932, July -
1933, June
Box 47
1933, July -
1934, June
Box 48
1934, July -
1935, June
Box 49
1935, July -
1936, June
Box 50
1936, July -
1937, June
Box 51
1937, July -
1938, June
Box 52
1938, July -
1939, June
Box 53
1939, July -
1940, June
Box 54
1940, July -
1941, June
Box 55
1941, July -
1942, June
Box 56
1942, July -
1944, June
(2 volumes)
Box 57
1944, July -
1946, June
(2 volumes)
Box 58
1946, July -
1948, June
(2 volumes)
Box 59
1948, July -
1950, June
(2 volumes)
Box 60
1950, July -
1952, June
(2 volumes)
Box 61
1952, July -
1954, June
Box 62
Common Stock Certificate Books
1903, May
1-1920, Dec. 20;
1922, Apr.
21-1943, Aug. 5
(2 volumes)
Box 63
25 April 1933-5 August 1943
(2 volumes)
Box 64
1933, June
20-Aug. 3;
1944, August 22-1953, February 9
(2 volumes)
Box 65
Payroll summaries
1947, Apr.
24-1951, Dec. 26
Box 66
1952, Jan.
2-1953, June 24
Box 67
Preferred Stock Certificate Books
1925, Mar.
4-1929, Feb. 19
(2 volumes)
Box 68
1929, Feb.
22-1941, Dec. 18
(2 volumes)
Box 69
1930, Aug.
20-1943, July 15
(2 volumes)
Box 70
1944, June
13-1953, Jan. 10
(2 volumes)
Box 71
Registers
Invoice. 1923, July-1942, June
(2 volumes)
Box 72
Invoice. 1942, July - 1953, Apr.; Distribution. 1940-1949
(3 volumes, 1 folder)
Box 73
Social Security Payroll Record
1937, Jan.
7-1946, June 27
Box 74
1937, Jan.
7-1946, June 27 (cont.)
Box 75
1937, Jan.
7-1946, June 27 (cont.)
Box 76
1937, Jan.
7-1946, June 27 (cont.)
Box 77
1937, Jan.
7-1946, June 27 (cont.)
Box 78
1946, July 4-1947, Apr. 17 (cont.)
Box 79: Oversize
Articles of Incorporation. 1910,
1912,
1917,
1925,
1928
Combined Journal, Cash and Daily Financial Statement. 1917,
Jan.-Mar.
Corporation Reports. 1921,
1922,
1924-1953
Printed
Midland Cooperator, Feb. 1939
(2 issues)
The Co-operative Builder, 1936-1939
Tax Returns, corporation income and excess-profits. 1930-1951