Norcross Greeting Card Collection
name: label: Collector
content: Norcross, Arthur Dickinson, d. 1968
label: Designer
content: Tuck, Raphael, fl. 1880s
label: Manufacturer
content: Norcross Greeting Card Company (New York (N.Y.))
label: Manufacturer
content: Rust Craft Publishers (Boston, Mass.)
label: Collector
content: Rust, Fred Winslow, 1877?-1949
label: Designer
content: Prang, Louis, fl. 1880-1900
label: Designer
content: Chase, Ernest Dudley, fl. 1920s
label: Collector
content: Rust Craft Greeting Card Company (Dedham (Mass.))
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Extractive Industries
place: label: Place
content: New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century
label: Place
content: Boston (Mass.) -- 1910-1950
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Norcross Greeting Card Company, West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1982-1985.
creator: label: Collector
content: Norcross, Arthur Dickinson, d. 1968
label: Designer
content: Tuck, Raphael, fl. 1880s
label: Manufacturer
content: Norcross Greeting Card Company (New York (N.Y.))
label: Manufacturer
content: Rust Craft Publishers (Boston, Mass.)
label: Collector
content: Rust, Fred Winslow, 1877?-1949
label: Designer
content: Prang, Louis, fl. 1880-1900
label: Designer
content: Chase, Ernest Dudley, fl. 1920s
label: Collector
content: Rust Craft Greeting Card Company (Dedham (Mass.))
setName: label: See more items in
content: Norcross Greeting Card Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: Collections consists of the records of both the Norcross Greeting Card Company founded in New York City in the 1920s and The Rust Craft Greeting Card Company, founded in Kansas City, Missouri, 1906. Both the Norcross and Rust Craft companies collected antique greeting cards. Also includes a small number of modern cards by other manufacturers, circa 1930-1980. Collection represents development of the greeting card industry, social trends in the United States and technology of the printing industry from 1924 through 1978.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Arthur D. Norcross founded the Norcross Greeting Card Company in New York City in the nineteen twenties.  From the start Norcross cards had a "look" which contributed to their selling success although, through the years, the company commanded only a small share of the greeting card market.  In 1974 the company relocated to West Chester and Exton, Pennsylvania, where in 1981 Norcross and the Rust Craft Greeting Card Company merged to form divisions of a parent company.

At some point, Norcross executives realized the value of collecting and preserving antique greeting cards.  The company built a large collection of antique cards, a number of which traveled in shows around the country bringing attention not only to the cards themselves but also to the Norcross Company.

Arthur Norcross died in 1968, and the company had four owners from then until 1982.  One of the owners, the Ziff Corporation, a New York publisher, picked up the Norcross Company to augment the floundering Rust Craft Greeting Card Company that it had purchased primarily for its television holdings.  Finally the Norcross and Rust Craft combination was acquired by Windsor Communications, Inc., a privately held company.  In August 1981 Windsor entered into Chapter 11 proceedings under the Federal bankruptcy law and ceased producing greeting cards.  Factors leading to bankruptcy included the expensive consolidation of Norcross and Rust Craft, a doubtful marketing strategy, and unsuccessful efforts to continue producing two distinct lines of greeting cards.

The Rust Craft Greeting Card Company, some of whose records are contained in this collection, was begun as a little bookshop by Fred Rust, (1877? 1949) in Kansas City in 1906.  Later that year he created a plain Christmas folder which he called a "letter," perhaps a forerunner of the greeting card.  These "letters" proved successful sellers prompting Rust to increase his publications over the years and expand his line to include post cards, greeting cards with envelopes, calendars, and blotters, in addition to lines of cards for New Year's and birthdays.
 
Donald Rust, his brother, soon joined him to take over manufacturing, and in 1908, Fred Rust, seeking to increase distribution, carried his line to Boston while Donald carried his to California.  The original bookshop was retained until 1910 when all retailing was discontinued. After building a considerable volume of business, the firm was consolidated in Boston in 1914 and became known as Rust Craft Publishers.

Sales mounted as the company issued cards for various seasons.  Many of the sentiments were written by Fred Rust himself.  Around 1927 Ernest Dudley Chase joined the firm as an associate in charge of creation and advertising.  In the 1950s the company relocated to Dedham, Massachusetts and finally in 1981 merged with the Norcross Company in West Chester and Exton, Pennsylvania.

A popular innovation of the Rust Craft Company was a card bearing the sentiment printed on the card itself with four or five extra sentiments tucked in as part of the message and design.  This card was so popular that it was patented with the name Tukkin.  The Rust Craft Company also collected some antique greeting cards.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1,200 Cubic feet (3,010 boxes, 362 volumes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1800-1981
label: Date
content: bulk 1880-1881
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Extractive Industries.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0058
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Lithographs
label: Type
content: Business records
label: Type
content: Chromolithographs
label: Type
content: Color slides
label: Type
content: Greeting cards
label: Type
content: Valentines
label: Type
content: Trade cards
label: Type
content: Postcards
label: Type
content: Motion pictures (visual works)
label: Type
content: Advertisements
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Slides (photographs)
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is divided into six series.

Series 1: Norcross Company Records, 1920-1981

Series 2: Antique Greeting Card Collection, circa 1800-1930 (bulk 1880-1990)

Series 3: Rust Craft Company Records, circa 1920-1980

Series 4: Greeting Cards by Other Manufacturers, 1939-1960

Series 5: Norcross Company Permanent Files, 1911-1981

Series 6: Rust Craft Company Permanent Files, 1927-1981
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Jane H. Odom, archivist, August 1986; Mary Jane Appel (intern), August 1992; Craig A. Orr, archivist, September 1992; Stacy Coates (intern), September 1996; Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist, September 1997, December 1999, November 2002; and Jennifer Snyder, June 1999-December 1999; supervised by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, Archivist.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Lithographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Chromolithographs -- 1880-1900
label: Genre/Form
content: Color slides
label: Genre/Form
content: Greeting cards -- ca. 1800-1980
label: Genre/Form
content: Valentines
label: Genre/Form
content: Trade cards
label: Genre/Form
content: Postcards
label: Genre/Form
content: Motion pictures (visual works) -- 1960-1980
label: Genre/Form
content: Advertisements
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Slides (photographs) -- 1950-2000
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Norcross Greeting Card Collection consists of cards and a few records of both the Norcross Greeting Card Company and the Rust Craft Greeting Card Company, circa 1911 1981; antique greeting cards, circa 1800 1930 (bulk 1880 1900) collected by both these companies and their executives; and a small number of modern cards by other manufacturers, circa 1939 1960.  According to Norcross Company officials in 1978, this collection represents "not only a history of the development of the greeting card industry but also a history of social trends in the United States" and gives "an indication of the quality and technology of the [printing] industry from 1924 through 1978."
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials in the Archives Center

AC0109 Division of Domestic Life Greeting Card Collection, circa 1854-1975

AC0126 Burris and Byrd Family Card Sample Case, circa 1920

AC0263 Susie Paige Afro-American Greeting Card Collection, 1900-1984

AC0376 Olive Leavister 19th Century Handmade Valentine Collection, 1830-1880

AC0404 Archives Center Business Americana Collection, circa 1900-present

AC0530 Beatrice Litzinger Postcard Collection, 1900-1990

AC0468Archives Center Scrapbook Collection, circa 1880-circa 1960

AC0579 Greeting Card Collection, 1920s-1970s

AC0886 Ernest Dudley Chase Papers, 1930s-1940s

AC1198 Beatrice Morgan Steyskal Collection of Greeting Cards, 1958-1970

AC0060 Warshaw Collection of Business Americana

AC1251 L.F. Pease Greeting Card Company Collection, circa 1908-1913

AC 1252 Sandford Greeting Card Company and Family Papers, circa 1840-1990

AC 0062 Hoffmania (or Hoffman Collection

AC0295 Rocky Herosian Collection, 1910-1943

AC0674 Jean Clairmook Radio Scrapbook, 1930-1932 

AC0136 Celia K. Erskine Scrapbook of Valentines, Advertising Cards, and Postcards, circa 1882-1884

The Valentine & Expressions of Love [videocassette], 2000 within the 	
Archives Center Miscellaneous Film and Videotape Collection,  (AC0358)