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INVENTORY OF THE F. WEBER & COMPANY, INC. RECORDS, 1865-1973
950018
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Title: F. Weber & Company, Inc.
records
Date (inclusive): 1865-1973
Collection number: 950018
Creator:
F. Weber & Co.
Extent:
18 lin. ft.
(41 boxes)
Repository:
Getty Research Institute
Research Library
Special Collections and Visual Resources
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California 90049-1688
Abstract:
Manufacturer of artists' materials, including paints, papers, and other supplies. Records contain trade catalogs and price
lists, paint formula books, sample books, and business papers, trade catalogs and sample books of other companies, and lectures
written and delivered by F. Weber.
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Language: Collection material in English
Open for use by qualified researchers.
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Library Rights and Reproductions
F. Weber & Co., Inc. Records, 1865-1973, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Accession number 950018.
The archive was accessioned by the Getty Research Library, Special Collections in 1995, although received prior to 1995.
Pamela Johnson, library assistant at the Getty Conservation Institute, began processing the collection in early 1994. Jill
Markman, also from the library of the Conservation Institute, took over the processing in 1995. Jocelyn Gibbs assisted her
in the processing and arrangement of the papers, and compiled the finding aid March 1996.
Successors to Janentzky & Weber Manufacturers & Importers, F. Weber & Company, Inc. was established in 1853 and incorporated
in 1920. The company manufactured artists supplies, including painting and drawing supplies, mathematical instruments, materials
for gilders, sign and coach-painters, china decorators, engineers, lithographers, etchers and engravers, as well as materials
for pyrography or wood burning, and wax and paper flowers. Their main office was located at 1125 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia,
and branch houses existed at 709 Locust St., St.Louis, Missouri, and 5 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland.
Frederick Weber was a chemist, author, lecturer and painter.
Scope and Content of Collection
The archive of F. Weber & Company, Inc. contains printed catalogues and brochures, ledgers with financial and technical information
(including paint formulas), correspondence and other business papers, manuscripts of lectures and photographs from trade fairs.
The material dates from 1865-1971, with the bulk of the material from the first 3 decades of the 20th-century.
Paint formula books, ca. 1865-1967, undated (ca. 30), are handwritten ledgers documenting most aspects of F. Weber & Company's
manufacture of paint, including special orders and customers. Many of the ledgers include inserted paint samples. All of the
ledgers cover a span of years; some as many as 20 years. All of the ledgers are fragile.
Sample books, 1925-1951, (ca. 30 items) include printed books, brochures and cards which provide samples of artists' materials
for sale by Weber. These include samples of canvas, various types of paints, inks, papers and colored pencils.
Business papers (2.5 lin. ft.) 1870-1973, n.d., include 4 small wage and expense account books from the 1870s; a ledger of
Weber Co. stock on hand for 1897; 3 stock certificate books, 1921-1963; blueprints, drawing and specifications for an F. Weber
manufacturing building, 1917; and by-laws and incorporation papers, 1920-1921. The F. Weber & Company's participation in trade
fairs and expositions (1922-1941, n.d.) is documented with some correspondence, printed material and ca. 15 photographs. There
are also ca. 15 lectures (and announcements for lectures) by F. Weber, ca. 1922-35, in mss. and printed form, on the technical
aspects of artists materials, especially paints. A scrapbook contains clippings, brochures and flyers about his lectures.
Other companies' trade catalogs and price lists (ca. 40 items) were collected by the F. Weber & Company in the course of doing
business, and date from 1870-1951.
Monographs from the collection have been accessioned to the Reseach Library's general collection.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in 5 series:
Series I. Trade catalogues and price lists, ca. 1876-1962
Series II. Paint formula books, ca. 1865-1967
Series III. Sample books, ca. 1925-1951
Series IV. Business papers, ca. 1870-1973
Series V. Other companies' trade catalogues and sample books, ca. 1870-1951
Artists' materials
Artists' materials—Formulae
Artists' materials industry
Paint
Paint—Catalogs
Paint industry and trade—United States
Paint materials
Painting—Materials
Pigments
Weber, Frederick, d. 1944
Janentzky and Weber, Manufacturers and Importers