It would be difficult to find a person who has displayed a greater amount of assiduity in unearthing papers and manuscripts on business history than has the Society's president, Mr. Charles H. Taylor. Corporation records, shipping and whaling papers, log books, estate management papers, indentures, deeds, and in fact manuscripts and documents on almost all phases of business history have been lodged in the Baker Library as a result of Mr. Taylor's activities. Among the countless historical documents brought to light by him is an item that does not have a great deal of business significance, nevertheless is sufficiently entertaining to justify its publication.

An interesting chapter in the currency history of this country is called to mind by one original document and several photostatic copies of original documents concerning the Merchants' Note scheme of 1733, found in the archives of the Society.

For at least twenty years prior to the formation of this Society, there were men in this country interested in the collection of records pertaining to the history of the railroads. Many of them the writer knew by personal acquaintance or through the medium of correspondence. With the Great War came the high price of scrap paper, and the railroads seized this opportunity of disposing of many of their old records in such fashion. Realizing that the individual could do but little toward the preservation of these records, two close friends, living in or near Boston, together with the writer, formed this Society.

The eastern merchant who dealt with the West in the early nineteenth century was faced with many problems. But the western merchant was still worse off. Both sets of difficulties, particularly those of the latter, are illustrated in the correspondence between Christian Shultz and his various partners, of Maysville, Kentucky, and the metal-selling firm of Nathan Trotter & Co., of Philadelphia. These letters are found in the Trotter collection in the Baker Library.

The rapid growth of the sales tax movement in the United States and the results and implications of this development are discussed in a recently published book, “The Sales Tax in the American States,” by Robert Murray Haig and Carl Shoup.

Since this issue of the Bulletin marks the eighth anniversary of the publication, it provides a fitting time to review the activities of the Society in the last eight years.

There has developed within the city limits of Pittsburgh, and the adjoining territory that rounds out the boundaries of Allegheny County, and for more than a score of miles along the three rivers that converge at the Point, a region that is known as “the workshop of the world.” The tremendous industrial and commercial expansion of this area in recent years is well known, but “the roots of the present lie deep in the past” and the origin or background of this development is somewhat shrouded in obscurity.

Business may connote a humdrum, monotonous routine, and yet it need not necessarily do so. Romance and adventure were tied up closely with the shipping business of the middle nineteenth century. Especially was this true when that shipping business happened to center around romantic Hawaii as was the case with the James Hunnewell enterprise, the papers of which are available in the Baker Library.

The records of one of the first joint railroad operating agreements in this country, made between the Boston and Worcester Railroad and the Western Railroad in 1839, may be found in the archives of the Society. Under the agreement, freight and traffic was to be handled cooperatively over the lines of the two roads. The contract covered such items as the through fare on the two roads from Boston to Springfield, division of profits on fares and tariffs collected, joint operation of passenger and freight trains, and reimbursement for services performed for each other.

Who discovered the first Baldwin apple tree? A reminder of this much mooted question, which was apparently settled some years ago, was brought to light recently, when a map of Wilmington, Massachusetts, showing the site of the original tree was found among the Baldwin papers of the Baker Library.

For over forty years at the beginning of the railroad era, the Taunton Locomotive Works constructed engines of all shapes and sizes for railroads in every section of the country. Fragments of the fascinating history of this company may be recaptured by reading the two locomotive record books and one sales book now in the possession of the Baker Library.

In the development of our modern industrial society, the form of marketing institutions have constantly been in flux. New types of distribution have been brought forth to meet changing conditions only to become obsolete as a result of further change. An institution that became influential after the War of 1812, reached its heyday by 1825, and then declined into relative unimportance by 1840 was the wholesale auction system. In the Society's possession are the records of Jacob Peabody and Company, a Boston auction and commission house that operated in this era of the auctioneer. Study of the papers of this collection not only gives considerable detail on methods of conducting an auction business, but also discloses much on the historical development of the auction system in this period.

That the Boston collector of custom in the year 1843 was a proverbial “Jack of all trades” is revealed in a letter-book of the Boston Custom-House in the files of the Baker Library. Detector of criminals and smugglers, benefactor of sailors in distress, counsel for importing merchants, and adviser for foreign consuls — these were all tasks within the range of duties of this custom-house.

For several years the Society has been active in securing action photographs of industrial processes for deposit in the Baker Library, and during the past year the organization has carried on an intense campaign to enlarge this collection. Because of these efforts, the number of pictures has been increased to a point where there are now over two thousand items.

In the history of America, war has proved a powerful stimulus to industry. Naturally, hostilities will bring forth increased activity in most branches of trade, which enhancement of activity lasts only during the persistence of the war stimulus. However, there have been a few industries in each major war that have been permanently advanced. A survey of the diversified collections in the Society's possession calls to mind certain industries that normal development would have caused to bloom at a much later date and others that might never have been developed had it not been for the exciting influence of war.