Business Files
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Messmore, George Harold
label: Collection Creator
content: Messmore and Damon Company
label: Collection Creator
content: Damon, Joseph
setName: label: See more items in
content: Messmore and Damon Company Records
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1918-1997
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0846, Series 2
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This series is divided into two subseries: Subseries 1, Messmore and Damon, Inc. and Subseries 2, Messmore, Inc.

Subseries 2.1: Messmore and Damon, 1918-1988 consists of corporate identity materials, certificate of incorporation, employee information, correspondence, financial statements and reports, and sales information. The corporate identity materials contain business cards, letterhead, blank forms, press kit folders, and envelopes branded with the Messmore and Damon, Inc. company name. 
There is a list detailing all of the facilities and major equipment located at the 530 West 28th Street warehouse space. The employee information contains documentation about the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, a Division of Industrial Safety Service (New York State) requirement form (1951) requesting Messmore and Damon comply with a cover/guard for a lathe sand radial saw. Brief biographical sketches for some company employees are included. 

There is some correspondence with other businesses for machines and machining services, as well as an agreement between Messmore and Damon and the Diaroma and Display Workers. 

The rolodex maintained by the company provides insight into the "who" Messmore and Damon worked with. Typed or handwritten on an index card, and in some instances, a printed business card, the rolodex information is arranged alphabetically and provides a name, address, telephone number and other data, such as account numbers.  Presumably maintained by Dorothy Messmore and other clerical staff, there are card index entries for theatres, attorneys, government officials and offices, repair services, funeral homes, electricians, plumbers, and lumber companies, and union organizations. Many of the index cards are annotated reflecting updated and/or edited information.  The notation "deceased" is used.  

The correspondence, 1918-1988, is arranged chronologically and consists of letters to Messmore and Damon, many of which are testimonials expressing  gratitude and praise for the company's work on parade floats.  These include, but are not limited to, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, Central Asiatic Expeditions, the Miss America Pageant, the Confederate Memorial Literary Society, Canada's Victory Loan, and President Gerald Ford. 

The inquiries, 1991-1995, include correspondence with individuals and organizations who contracted or sought to contract with Messmore and Damon for their services. 

The financial statements, 1989-1997, consist of bound statements prepared by Konigsberg Wolf and Co., certified public accountants. These statements detail Messmore and Damon's balance sheet and do not constitute an audit or review. 

The "Valuation Opinion of John W. Hanes, Jr.," is a typescript document from 1986 discussing the financial health of Messmore and Damon, presumably in preparation for selling the company. In addition, there are several copies of Report and Analysis of Messmore and Damon. These documents provide an overview of the company's work, problems it faces, competitors, and client lists. 

The sales information includes order books and revenue information.  The sales orders include correspondence, licensing agreements, receipts, purchase orders, faxes, and other documents that are arranged chronologically. 

The outgoing shipments documentation consists of typescript shipping labels arranged in a notebook chronologically.  The labels are annotated with a brief description of what shipped, the date, cost, and size. 
The quotes for work include correspondence and typescript and handwritten estimates for work to prospective clients. 

Subseries 2.2: Messmore, Inc includes stock certificates, the first board meeting minutes (November 1977), a distributorship agreement with Unitrade Ltd., to manufacture and sell the cardiology patient simulator, certificate of dissolution (1989), and by-laws.  A 1956 copy of the articles of incorporation for Messmore and Damon, Inc. is also included.