Messmore and Damon Company Records
name: label: Creator
content: Messmore, George Harold
label: Creator
content: Messmore and Damon Company
label: Creator
content: Damon, Joseph
topic: label: Topic
content: Parades
label: Topic
content: Dioramas
label: Topic
content: Parade float designers
label: Topic
content: Parade floats
label: Topic
content: Exhibitions
label: Topic
content: Theaters -- Stage-setting and scenery
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated by Pamela Messmore Tobiason, granddaughter of George H. Messmore, in 2003.
creator: label: Creator
content: Messmore, George Harold
label: Creator
content: Messmore and Damon Company
label: Creator
content: Damon, Joseph
setName: label: See more items in
content: Messmore and Damon Company Records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The records document Messmore and Damon's work in the design and construction of parade floats, museum dioramas, exhibitions, displays and scenery. The materials include business records, photographs, patents, scrapbooks, promotional materials, sound recordings and moving image.
accruals: label: Accruals
content: Additional materials (one cubic foot) were added in 2007.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Messmore and Damon, Inc. was founded in 1914 by George Harold Messmore (1884-1961) and Joseph A. Damon (1882-1962). Messmore and Damon met in 1916 while working on floats for the Elks Convention in New York City. The two formed a partnership and in 1914 opened Messmore and Damon, Inc., a small shop where they initially constructed animal displays, but quickly expanded to theatrical scenery, parade floats, props for television, amusement park operations, seasonal displays, special effects in stores, advertising and promotional work, window displays, dioramas, and other exhibit work.  Most of their parade and department store work featured mechanical devices which animated the animal and human figures involved, pioneering in what became known as "animatronics." The firm did the first Macy's Day Parade in 1924 and attained world-wide fame with their exhibit, The World a Million Years Ago at the 1933-1934, Chicago Century of Progress Exposition. A separate company, Messmore, Inc., was created to manufacture and sell a cardiology patient simulator, "Harvey," later known as "George," for use in medical schools. 

Joseph A. Damon, born in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, attended art school in St. Louis.  A scenic artist by training he worked at Lee Lash Studios and built floats for the Hudson/Fulton Celebration in 1909. Damon married Olga Schaufelberger and had one daughter named Olga C. Damon (1922-2000). 

George H. Messmore, known as "GH," started his career working backstage in theaters and built displays for the Panama-Pacific Exposition (1915). Messmore married Meta Decker (1890-1985) and they had one son, Francis (1916-1997), known as "Fran." Fran joined Messmore and Damon in 1946, working on department store displays and ran the company until his death in 1997.  The company was dissolved on September 2, 1998.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 16 Cubic feet (40 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1892 - 1998
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Six (6) drawings by Williard G. Levitas were transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Cultural and Community Life in 2022.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0846
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Clippings
label: Type
content: Business records
label: Type
content: Phonograph records
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is divided into eleven series. 

Series 1: Background/Biographical Materials, 1925-1996

Series 2: Business Files, 1918-1997

Subseries 2.1: Messmore and Damon, Inc., 1918-1988

Subseries 2.2: Messmore, Inc., 1971-1989

Series 3: Patents, 1892-1952

Series 4: Projects/Exhibitions, 1924-1997

Series 5: Parades, 1960-1997

Series 6: Product Literature, circa 1930s-1992

Series 7: Heart Patient Simulator Materials, 1977-1998

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1925-1947

Series 9: Photographs, 1900-1997

Subseries 9.1: Family, 1900-1997

Subseries 9.2: Subjects, 1930-1995

Subseries 9.3: Chronological, 1957-1985

Subseries 9.4: Ephemera, undated

Subseries 9.5: Postcards, undated

Subseries 9.6: Negatives, undated

Series 10: Oversize Materials, 1930-1989

Series 11: Audiovisual Materials, 1933-1937, 1997

Subseries 11.1: Audio Discs, 1933-1937

Subseries 11.2: Moving Image, 1997
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, 2013. Pamela Messmore Tobiason and Dana McKelvy provided additional biographical information and identified some photographs in Series 9: Photographs, July 2017.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Clippings -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Phonograph records
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of papers relating to Messmore and Damon's work in the design and construction of parade floats, museum dioramas, exhibitions, displays and scenery. The materials include business records, patents, photographs, scrapbooks containing clippings and photographs, promotional materials, sound recordings, and moving image.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials in the Archives Center

William L. Bird Holidays on Display Collection (AC1319)

Michael Cipriano Papers (AC1274)

Landy Hales Papers (AC0906)

John Nicholson Papers (AC1279)

Edward J. Orth Memorial Archives of the World's Fair (AC0560)