Early Office Museum

Antique Office Photographs 
~ 1910-1914 ~
 

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Description Source
1910_Sales_Dept_Gen_Office_Swift__Co.jpg (252576 bytes) Sales Department, General Office, Swift & Co., Chicago, Ill., postcard, postmarked 1910. Swift & Co., a meat packing company, was incorporated in 1875.   Over 100 people are working in this office.  In 1905, "Swift's Chicago headquarters employed a clerical force of over a thousand."  (Alfred D. Chandler, Jr., The Visible Hand, 1977, p. 392) Early Office
Museum Archive
EHS Nelson Durand with Ediphone nd 10133012.JPG (43194 bytes) Nelson Durand with Edison dictating machine, West Orange, NJ.  On wall top center is a 1908 photograph of Thomas A. Edison at his desk with an Edison dictating machine. That photograph of Edison is included in the Early Office Museum exhibit on office photographs for 1904-1909. Edison National Historic Site, Image 14.225/172.
1910_After_Cotton_Deal_Slade__Boyer_two_tickers.jpg (170312 bytes) "After Cotton Deal," Office, Slade & Boyer, 1910.  Two tickers in front of the windows received securities and commodities prices.  Prices of securities, including AT&T's, are posted on the board right rear. Early Office
Museum Archives
1910_Customs_Division_with_African_American_Nat_Archives.JPG (151459 bytes) Customs Division, Washington, DC, 1910. The man closest to the front of the photo on the left side is African American.  The remaining workers are white. National Archives
1910_Office_in_Cincinnati_OH.jpg (139184 bytes) Office with two men, Cincinnati, OH, 1910.  Includes typewriter, kerosene lamp, safe, letter copying press with a copying book, candlestick phone, rolltop desk, and cast iron stove. Early Office
Museum Archives
1910 Paymaster's Office PA RR Altoona.JPG (57790 bytes) Paymaster's Office, Master Mechanics Building, Pennsylvania Railroad, Altoona, PA, 1910. Behind the man using a Burroughs Class 1 Adding Machine is a safe labeled "Pittsburgh Safe Co., Pittsburgh, Pa."  Photograph dated by wall calendar. Early Office
Museum Archives 
1910_White_Brothers_Hardwood_Lumber_San_Francisco_CA.jpg (207962 bytes) "Office, White Brothers Hardwood Lumber, San Francisco, Cal," 1910.  Dated by wall calendar.  Early Office
Museum Archives
1910_Office_of_GA_Johnson_Brownsburg_IN_Law_Real_Estate_Loans_Insurance_postmarked_OM.JPG (39900 bytes) Office of G. A. Johnson, Brownsburg, IN, 1910. Johnson advertised law, real estate, loans and insurance. Advertising postcard dated by postmark. Early Office
Museum Archives
1910_Court_House_Wilmington_DE_metal_files.jpg (54817 bytes) "Metal Files in Court House, Wilmington, Delaware," from The Hoskins Company, Catalog, Philadelphia, c. 1910. Room with metal document files and ledger cases furnished by the William H. Hoskins Company, office outfitters, a company that sold office furniture, equipment and supplies. Early Office
Museum Archives
1910_Noyes_Bros__Cutler_Gen_Office_St_Paul_MN_pharma_etc_importer_and_wholesaler.jpg (91651 bytes) General Office, Noyes Brothers and Cutler, St. Paul, MN, 1910.  Noyes Brothers & Cutler, a wholesale drug company, was in business by 1870 and still in business in 1924.  Its 1887 catalog indicates that the company was an importer and wholesaler of drugs, chemicals, patent medicines, paints and oils, varnishes, window glass, druggists' sundries, etc. Private Collection
1910_Minnesota_1910_pf026731_Y.jpg (46749 bytes) Office of Janney, Semple, Hill and Co., Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1910. Janney, Semple, Hill and Co., which was founded in 1866, was a wholesale hardware company. Minnesota Historical Society, Neg. No. 10430.
1911_Minnesota_1911_pf026733_Y.jpg (47017 bytes) Western Freight traffic office, 1911. Dalton adding machine, front-strike typewriter, safe. Minnesota Historical Society, Neg. No. 4709-B.
1911_Minnesota_1911_pf027166_Y.jpg (57871 bytes) Interior of L. L. May Company, Como Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1911. Minnesota Historical Society, Neg. No. 19333.
1911_Minnesota_1911_pf027167_Y.jpg (49409 bytes) Interior of L. L. May Company, Como Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1911. At left a woman is operating a small telephone switchboard. Minnesota Historical Society, Neg. No. 19345.
1911_Tellers_Office_Burroughs_Adding_Machine.jpg (135431 bytes) Teller's office, 1911.  There are two men, a teller's cage, a Burroughs adding machine, letter filing cabinets, vertical filing cabinets, a candlestick telephone, and a 1911 calendar advertising Singer Sewing Machines. Early Office
Museum Archives
1911_Office_Salida_CO.jpg (187682 bytes) Office with two men, Salida, CO, 1911. May be a railway office because the 1911 calendar advertises locomotive parts.  Office has an Underwood typewriter, letter copying press, candlestick phone. Early Office
Museum Archives
York Foundry NE 1911.jpg (36069 bytes) "Office Room, York Foundry," York, NE, postcard, postmarked 1911. Wales adding machine, probably Model 10. The York Foundry was established in 1882. Early Office
Museum Archives
1911_rkaycol_Three_Men_in_Office_2550.JPG (120714 bytes) Three men in office, Iowa, 1911. Location based on map of Iowa on the wall. Date based on wall calendar. Through the window a two-horse buggy is visible. Ronald Beck
rkaycol Office with 1911 Royal Typewriter.JPG (67974 bytes) Man at roll-top desk with 1911 Royal No. 5 flatbed typewriter, combination filing cabinet with two document files and many legal blank files, electric fan and stuffed bird. No date. Ronald Beck
M W of  A Lincoln NE 1911.jpg (51171 bytes) "Auditing and Book-Keeping Department, Head Consul's Office, Modern Woodmen of America, Lincoln, Nebr.," postcard, postmarked 1911. Photograph includes Burroughs adding machine and a combination filing cabinet. Modern Woodmen of America is a fraternal organization that was founded in 1883. Early Office
Museum Archives
1911_Office_Sykes_Reynoldsville_PA.jpg (57747 bytes) Syke's, Reynoldsville, PA, 1911. Office contains a safe made by Cary Safe Co., Buffalo, NY, and a 1911 wall calendar advertising the Reed Harness & Mill Supply Co., Allentown, PA.  Most dated internet references to Cary Safe Co. (other than this photo) date from between 1902 and 1907. Early Office
Museum Archives
1911_Winter_Branch_Coal_Office_62nd__2nd_Ave_NYC_Wm_Winter_Sr_and_Jr..JPG (116661 bytes) Branch Office, William A. Winter Coal Co., New York, NY, 1911.  William Winter Sr. is seated while William Winter Jr. is standing.  Early Office
Museum Archives
1911_Banking_Room_Security_Savings_Bank_Los_Angeles_x.JPG (128561 bytes) "Banking Room, Security Savings Bank, Los Angeles, California," postmarked 1911. Private collection
1911_Office_Roll-top_Safe_Copying_Press_OM.jpg (191875 bytes) Office with roll-top desk, safe, and letter copying press, 1911. Early Office
Museum Archives
Office_Two_Dictating_Machines_detail_Sante_Fe_Railroad.JPG (120030 bytes) Sante Fe Railroad office with two wood-cased dictating machines. This photograph was taken by G. M. Hamilton, Official Photographer, Sante Fe Employees' Magazine, Chicago, IL. Early Office
Museum Archives
1912_Employment_Desk_Albany_Business_College.JPG (152149 bytes) Employment Desk, Albany Business College, Albany, NY, 1910-12.  The Employment Department of the college placed graduates with employers. Annual Catalogue, Albany Business College, Albany, NY, 1912.
Office_in_with_Montana__Union_Pacific_Overland_Route_maps.jpg (231341 bytes) Office with seven men, probably in Montana.  On the wall are maps of Montana and the Union Pacific Railroad's Overland Route.  Front right is a Gammeter Multigraph. Early Office
Museum Archives
Railroad_Office_7_Men_1_Woman.jpg (141914 bytes) Office with seven men and one woman.  This office was probably at a railroad, because the pictures on the wall show locomotives. Early Office
Museum Archives
Office_Vienna_Austria.jpg (42662 bytes) Office, Vienna, Austria.  Secretary at left is using a typewriter, which  may be an Ideal Model A.  The Ideal was made in Germany by Siedel & Naumann and introduced in 1900.  Office also has a letter copying press. Early Office
Museum Archives
Office_with_many_Bar-Locks_England_low.jpg (89166 bytes) Office with eleven typists using Bar-Lock typewriters, England, 1912. Dated by wall calendar. Early Office
Museum Archives
Curtis Publishing Co. Circulation Dept. Postcard nd.JPG (37102 bytes) Correspondence Division, Circulation Department, Curtis Publishing Co., Philadelphia, PA, postcard, postmarked 1912. Cyrus H. K. Curtis began a publishing business in Philadelphia in 1876 and started publishing The Ladies Home Journal in 1883. In 1890, Curtis formed the Curtis Publishing Co. and took over publication of The Saturday Evening Post. On left, workers, virtually all male, are using dictating machines. On right, other workers, all female, are using transcription machines and typewriters. Early Office 
Museum Archives
Order Entry Dept Sears, Roebuck & Co, Chicago, c. 1913, NMAH.jpg (55145 bytes) Order Entry Department, Sears, Roebuck & Co., Chicago, IL, c. 1913. Workers are using Oliver typewriters. Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History
Salem 1913 SJ790.JPG (35693 bytes) Office of the Statesman Journal, Salem, OR, c.1913. Co-owner Carl Abrams reads at desk on far right while Mrs. Abrams types at a roll-top desk center and O.K. DeWitt, smoking a cigar, reads copy. Salem Public Library Historic Photograph Database, Salem Public Library, Salem, Oregon, Record No. SJ790.
Office_Gaint_Clothing_Store__Muskegon_MI.jpg (137029 bytes) Office of Gaint Clothes Store, Muskegon, MI, photograph by Ladd & Son. There is a Comptometer Model A calculating machine (sold 1904-06) in front of the woman on the left. The man behind her is working on a Burroughs Class 1 Adding Machine. Early Office
Museum Archives
DPL Office interior 1914 20003472 Looks earlier Y.jpg (33973 bytes) Office interior, Denver, Colorado. 1914. Photograph includes a letter copying press and a safe with the lettering "The Colorado Mattress Factory" and "The Sharpiot Safe Co., Denver, Colo." Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, William W. Cecil Collection, codhawp 10001445.
1914 W. K. Boudreau Ewing MO e.JPG (44289 bytes) Office at agricultural business, Ewing, MO, 1914. Large sign on desk reads "W. K. Boudreau, Ewing, MO." Date is from wall calendar advertising a St. Louis, MO, grain merchant. Other advertisements on wall are for seed and a livestock merchant. There are two wall telephones. Early Office
Museum Archives
1914 County Commissioners Cincinnati OH e.JPG (51761 bytes) County Commissioners' office in Court House, probably Cincinnati, OH, 1914. Date and location are from a wall calendar advertising a Cincinnati, OH, business. Early Office
Museum Archives
1914_Sadalia_music_store_Oliver_copying_press.jpg (75946 bytes) Office at Sedalia Music Store, Sedalia, MO, 1914. Office contains a roll-top desk, safe, Oliver typewriter, and letter copying press. Ragtime pianist Scott Joplin was active in Sedalia around 1900. Early Office
Museum Archives
1914_Tax_Office_Barber_County_KS.jpg (175812 bytes) Barber County Tax Office, Medicine Lodge, KS, 1914.  Barber County is located in southcentral Kansas, near the border with Oklahoma.  Three ledgers on the counter have the title "Tax Roll 1914 Barber County."  A Baby Defiance Check Protector, which was advertised during 1902-15, is on the counter in front of the woman.  A Burroughs adding-listing machine is on a stand front right in the photo.. Early Office
Museum Archives
1914_Office_with_Two_Women_at_Desk.jpg (152206 bytes) Office with two women working at a long desk, 1914.  There is a Hotchkiss No. 1 stapler on the desk, an interesting file cabinet, and a set of three glass front sectional bookcases. Early Office
Museum Archives
Two Women in Office with Pencil Sharpener OM.jpg (32602 bytes) Two women in office. The woman at the right is using a manual adding machine, perhaps a Burroughs Class 3. Above the elbow of the woman at the left is a Universal check protector manufactured by the Universal Manufacturing Co., Boston, MA. On a post on the right edge of the image is a Dexter Pencil Sharpener, a machine that was introduced in 1914 by the Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co., Chicago, IL. Early Office
Museum Archives
Peoples Bank Woodhull IA.jpg (34632 bytes) "Interior of the Peoples Bank, Woodhull, Ill.," postcard. Photograph includes Oliver typewriter, adding machine, date stamp, seal press, and coin machine. Early Office
Museum Archives
Office_Three_Men_Lots_of_Papers.jpg (207894 bytes) Office with three men and lots of papers. Early Office
Museum Archives
Franco_American_Hygienic_Co_Office_Chicago_perfumes_and_toilet_articles.jpg (260380 bytes) General Offices, Franco-American Hygienic Company, Chicago, IL.  The company manufactured and distributed perfumes and toilet articles.  There is a Burroughs adding machine front right in the photo. Early Office
Museum Archives
1917_Bookkeeping_Dept_Nat_Benefit_Assoc_Wash_DC_Progress.jpg (253548 bytes) "Bookkeeping Department, National Benefit Association, Washington, DC," c. 1911-1916. Kelly Miller & Joseph R. Gay. Progress and Achievements of the Colored People, 1913, 1917.
1917_Stenographers_Progress.jpg (254033 bytes) "Stenography in a Well Equipped Office," c. 1911-1916.  The two typists are using Oliver typewriters. Kelly Miller & Joseph R. Gay. Progress and Achievements of the Colored People, 1913, 1917.
1917_Lawyer_Presents_Case_to_Judge_Wash_DC_Progress.JPG (253094 bytes) "A Prominent Lawyer Presenting his Case to Judge R. H. Terrell, who is a Colored Judge of a Municipal Court in Washington, DC," 1911 or 1916.  Assuming the photograph was taken in the 1910s, it was taken in 1911 or 1916 because a wall calendar shows that September began on Friday. Kelly Miller & Joseph R. Gay. Progress and Achievements of the Colored People, 1913, 1917.
Office_Railroad_Station_Worcester_2.jpg (191636 bytes)

Office_Railroad_Station_Worcester_1.jpg (186778 bytes)

Offices, "Railroad Station, Worcester."  These two photos show different areas in which the desks, light fixtures, and paneling match.  The two photos show 23 men, most of whom are working at large partner desks, and 3 women, one of whom is at a typewriter. The top photo contains a map of the New York Central Lines.  The bottom photo contains a calendar advertising Northwestern Mutual.   Early Office
Museum Archives
General_Office_Alexander_Hamilton_Institute_NYC_c_1914_OM.jpg (308470 bytes)
General OfficeService_Dept_Alexander_Hamilton_Institute_NYC_c_1914_OM.jpg (264481 bytes)
Service DepartmentStatistics_Room_Alexander_Hamilton_Institute_NYC_c_1914_OM.jpg (291786 bytes)
Statistics DepartmentFile_Room_Alexander_Hamilton_Institute_NYC_c_1914_OM.jpg (294005 bytes)
File Room
Interiors of four offices at the Alexander Hamilton Institute (AHI), New York, NY.  The AHI, which was founded in 1906, sold books designed to enable businessmen to study business subjects at their homes and offices without going to a college.  The books were also used in some business colleges.  AHI advertisements had a motivational, self-help message. Three of the photographs include APSCO Dexter Pencil Sharpeners, which were introduced in 1914. The AHI still exists, but its orientation has changed.  It now sells to employers services relating to labor relations. Early Office
Museum Archives

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