Early Office Museum
Antique Office Interior Photographs
~ 1880-1889 ~
When no date is provided in the Description column below, we do not know
the date of the image or photograph.
We have placed undated images and photographs in their likely chronological
order.
If the source in the right-hand column is anything other than "Early Office
Museum Archives,"
we do not have the ability to grant permission for use or to provide a high
resolution image.
| Click Image to Enlarge | Description | Source |
 |
Two men in an office with gas lighting. Stereoview by Geo. W. Hennigar, Middletown, CT. George Wainwright Hennigar (1832-1910) was active as a photographer in Middletown during at least 1865-81, according to dated photographs on the Penn State University Libraries web site. He may have been active as a photographer until his death in 1910. He is buried in Middletown. | Early Office Museum Archives |
 |
"Marquis of Lorne in His Private Office at Rideau Hall," Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 1880. The Marquis of Lorne (1845-1914), who was a commoner, married Princess Louise, a daughter of Queen Victoria, in 1871 and was Governor-General of Canada during 1878-83. | Canadian Illustrated News, Feb. 7, 1880. Library and Archives Canada. |
 |
"First Maccabee Office 1881." The Knights of the Maccabees was a fraternal and benevolent society founded in London, Ontario, Canada, in 1878. A substantial minority of its membership was in Michigan. The society provided life and disability insurance to ordinary citizens, provided they were white and did not make, sell, or consume alcohol. The fraternal aspect of the organization ended in 1962, leaving an insurance company. | Early Office Museum Archives |
 |
Lawyer in Office, Minnesota, stereoview, 1882. | Private collection |
 |
Lost Property Office, Metropolitan Police Department, Scotland Yard, London, England, 1883. | London Illustrated News, 1883. |
 |
Convict Office, Scotland Yard, London, England, 1883. | London Illustrated News, 1883 |
 |
Clearing House, 1883. | . |
 |
Interior, First National Bank, Chicago, IL, 1883. | . |
 |
Interior, R. G. Dun Co., New York, NY, 1883. Founded as the Mercantile Agency in 1841, R. G. Dun & Co. was the leading U.S. credit reporting agency during the second half of the 19th century. Mercantile agencies evaluated the credit-worthiness of businesses that were potential borrowers. The revenues of mercantile agencies were derived mainly from annual subscriptions purchased by merchants and firms that gave credit and made loans. R. G. Dun also provided other types of commercial information to subscribers. | . |
 |
Office with stock or commodity price tickers, 1883. | . |
 |
Two men in office with desk, 1883. | . |
 |
Office, 1883. | Private collection. |
 |
Mr. Kimball's Room, Internal Revenue Office, US Treasury Department, Washington, DC, 1884. | National Office Furniture Catalog, 1884. In Early Office Museum Archives. |
 |
General Business Office, Bryant & Stratton Commercial School, Boston, MA, 1884. There is a roll-top desk, a safe, and gas lighting. "No stoves are allowed to be used in the building, or lights of any kind except city gas." | Twenty-Fourth Annual Prospectus of the Bryant & Stratton Commercial School, Boston, MA, 1884, pp. 28, A9. In Early Office Museum Archives |
 |
Office, 1884. | National Office Furniture Catalog, 1884, cover. In Early Office Museum Archives. |
 |
Interior of Gordon Edward Corbould's law office, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada, c. 1885. Date estimated by NWPL. Corbould (1847-1926) was a lawyer from Toronto, Ontario, who began working in British Columbia in 1880, and who was a member of the Canadian House of Commons during 1890-96. | New Westminster
Public Library, New Westminster, BC, Canada, Accession No. 2912. |
 |
Governor's room, Minneapolis, MN, c. 1885. Date estimated by MHS. | Minnesota Historical Society, Loc. no. FM6.121 p1, pf046008 |
 |
Shipping department, possibly at C. A. Pillsbury Co., Minnesota, MN, c. 1885. Date estimated by MHS. In 1869 Charles A. Pillsbury (1842-1899) borrowed money to buy a one-third interest in a Minneapolis flour mill, which was renamed the C. A. Pillsbury Company in 1871. By 1886, the company was the largest flour milling company in the world. | Minnesota Historical Society, pf027066, Loc. no. HF3 r37 |
 |
Office interior, possibly at C. A. Pillsbury Co., Minnesota, MN, c. 1885. Date estimated by MHS. | Minnesota Historical Society, pf027065, Loc. no. HF3 r36 |
 |
Office interior, possibly at C. A. Pillsbury Co., Minneapolis, MN, c. 1885. Date estimated by MHS. | Minnesota Historical Society, pf067694, Loc. no. HF3 r32 |
 |
Office interior, possibly at C. A. Pillsbury Co., Minneapolis, MN, c. 1885. Date estimated by MHS. | Minnesota Historical Society, pf121285, Loc. no. HF3 r31 |
 |
Office interior, possibly at C. A. Pillsbury Co., Minneapolis, MN, c. 1885. Date estimated by MHS. | Minnesota Historical Society, pf121284, Loc no. HF3 r33 |
 |
Office interior, possibly at C. A. Pillsbury Co., Minneapolis, MN, c. 1885. Date estimated by MHS. | Minnesota Historical Society, pf121283, Loc. no. HF3 r34 |
 |
Office interior, possibly at C. A. Pillsbury Co., Minneapolis, MN, c. 1885. Date estimated by MHS. | Minnesota Historical Society, pf121282, Loc. no. HF3 r35 |
 |
Corner in office, H. M. Deal. The typewriter is a Caligraph. H. M. Deal (b. 1854) was an assistant clerk in his father's Bucyrus, OH, company, which made grain-cleaning machines, during 1876-78. He became general manager in 1878. He was active in the First Methodist Episcopal Church in the late 1880s and in the Republican League in the early 1890s. | Early Office Museum Archives |
 |
Office, Kidder, Peabody & Co. Kidder, Peabody was founded as a banking company in 1865 and existed until 1994. | Early Office Museum Archives |
 |
Office of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Co., Pier B Grain Elevator, Philadelphia, PA. There are three kerosene lamps and no electric lights in this office. On the desk is a ribbon dating/canceling machine; we have not previously seen this particular model or an advertisement for it, but many models were introduced between 1865 and the late 1870s. "Pier B, Port Richmond (above Cambria Street), owned by the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company. Used by foreign, coastwise and river steamers carrying grain; 140' wide x 645' long; capacity, 1,500,000 bushels; four tracks, capacity 40 cars." (Port of Philadelphia: Its Facilities and Advantages, Harrisburg, PA, 1914) | Early Office Museum Archives |
 |
Thomas M. O'Brien, Notary Public, at his Wooton desk. | Early Office Museum Archives |
 |
Main Office, Connecticut Fire Insurance Co., Hartford, CT, 1887. The company was incorporated in 1850 and became one of the largest fire insurance companies in the U.S. | Early Office Museum Archives |
 |
Stenographers' Room, Connecticut Fire Insurance Co., Hartford, CT, 1887. | Early Office Museum Archives |
 |
Head Office, A. & F. Pears Ltd., London, England, 1888. Andrew Pears began selling Pears transparent soap in London, England, in 1789. His soap company became A. & F. Pears Ltd. in 1835. | National Monuments Record, English Heritage. |
 |
Main Operating Room of the Western Union Telegraph Company, New York, NY, 1889. Western Union was formed in 1856 through a merger of telegraph companies, and it dominated the telegraph industry in the U.S. Western Union ceased to offer telegraph service in 2006. | Scribner's Magazine, 1889. In Early Office Museum Archives. |
 |
Office of Leonard Moody Real Estate & Insurance, Brooklyn, NY. This office has gas lighting and a wall telephone. | Early Office Museum Archives |
Photographs are copyrighted. All rights are reserved by the copyright holder, the owner of the photograph, and the Early Office Museum.