United Shoe Machinery Corporation Records
name: label: Creator
content: United Shoe Machinery Corporation
label: Names
content: Emhart Corporation.
place: label: Place
content: Massachusetts
label: Place
content: Beverly (Mass.)
label: Place
content: New England
topic: label: Topic
content: Industrial workers
label: Topic
content: Photography, Industrial
label: Topic
content: Tanners
label: Topic
content: Shoe machinery industry
label: Topic
content: Industrial history
label: Topic
content: Baseball
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated by United Shoe Machinery Corporation, through Kevin Cochrane on November 20, 1987.
creator: label: Creator
content: United Shoe Machinery Corporation
setName: label: See more items in
content: United Shoe Machinery Corporation Records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The collection documents the activities of the United Shoe Machinery Corporation of Beverly, Massachusetts, manufacturers of shoe machinery equipment.  The collection consists of engineering records, legal records, research and development records, employee/personnel records, correspondence, company catalogs, product literature, advertising materials, photographs, and moving images.
accruals: label: Accruals
content: Five (5) cubic feet of archival materials from Carlene Durgin were added on September 7, 1993. The Durgin donation consists of United Shoe Machinery Corporation records that belonged to W. Clark Goodchild. Eleven (11) cubic feet from Emhart Industries, Inc. was donated through Bruce Paul, site manager, November 9, 1993.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: The United Shoe Machinery Company was formed in 1899 by the consolidation of the most important shoe machinery firms in the industry: Goodyear Shoe Machinery Company; Consolidated McKay Lasting Machine Company;  and McKay Shoe Machinery Company. By this merger, conflicting patents were eliminated and patents supplementing each other were brought under United control to permit their prompt combination in a single machine or process.  To ensure efficiency, the new company also continued the practice previously followed by its constituent firms of renting machinery that it manufactured instead of selling it.  The authorized capital of the new company was twenty five million dollars.  After the 1899 merger, United grew quite rapidly.  In 1903, it began construction of a new factory in Beverly, Massachusetts about thirty-five miles from Boston. At its peak, this company employed 9,000 workers and produced eighty-five percent of all shoemaking machines in the United States. By 1910, it had an eighty percent share of the shoe machinery market with assets reaching forty million dollars, and it had acquired control of branch companies in foreign countries.

In 1911, the first of three civil anti-trust suits was brought against United by the United States government.  It charged that the 1899 merger had restrained trade and violated the Sherman Act.  The Massachusetts District Court ruled that the 1899 merger was not an attempt to restrain trade, only an attempt to promote efficiency.  The court also said that the five companies that were merged to form United were not competitive with each other.  The government appealed to the Supreme Court, which only affirmed the District Court's verdict.

In 1917, the United Shoe Machinery Corporation, incorporated in 1905, absorbed the United Shoe Machinery Company.  The United Shoe Machinery Corporation had its headquarters in Boston and its main manufacturing plant in Beverly, Massachusetts.

The second government suit was brought against United Shoe in 1915.  The government claimed that United Shoe's leasing system restricted the shoe manufacturer to exclusive use of United Shoe's products and that it was a violation of the newly enacted Clayton Act.  The Massachusetts District Court ruled in favor of the government.  The Supreme Court, hearing United Shoe's appeal case, only affirmed the District Court's ruling.  In 1923, United modified its leasing policy.

The last government suit against United was filed in 1947 and charged United with monopolizing the trade, manufacture, and distribution of shoe machinery from 1923 to 1947.  During this period, United had bought all shares, assets, and patents of twenty one companies that dealt in the shoe machinery manufacture.  The court ruled that United had clearly violated the Sherman Act, and United was forced to modify its leasing policies and restrict its purchases of other shoe machinery businesses and its acquisition of patents.  In 1968, the United Shoe Machinery Corporation changed its name to USM Corporation. In 1976, United Shoe Machinery Company merged with Emhart Industries and produced the modern-day Emhart Corporation.

In 1989, in order to resist a two billion dollar takeover attempt by a New York investment group (which included oil heir Gordon P. Getty), Emhart merged with Black & Decker Corporation. The merged company operates from Black & Decker's headquarters in Towson, Maryland. The company headquarters in Farmington, Connecticut, were closed in June 1989.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 145 Cubic feet (296 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1898 - 1987
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0277
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Papers
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: House organs
label: Type
content: Catalogs
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Commercial catalogs
label: Type
content: Albums
label: Type
content: Magazines (periodicals)
label: Type
content: Advertisements
label: Type
content: Clippings
label: Type
content: Research
label: Type
content: Legal records
label: Type
content: Motion pictures (visual works)
label: Type
content: 16mm motion picture film
label: Type
content: Business records
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into seventeen series.

Series 1: Historical and Background Materials, 1901-1985

Series 2: Executive Records, 1927-1987

Subseries 2.1: United Shoe Machinery, 1927-1975

Subseries 2.2: Emhart Corporation, 1976-1987

Series 3: Correspondence, 1890, 1901-1915

Series 4: Wilson Palmer Files, 1925-1952

Series 5: Research and Development Department Records, 1914-1980

Subseries 5.1: Background, 1947-1974

Subseries 5.2: Financial Information, 1947-1975

Subseries 5.3: Reports, 1962-1973

Subseries 5.4: Facilities, 1947-1975

Subseries 5.5: Personnel, 1942-1979

Subseries 5.6: Labor, 1961-1970

Subseries 5.7: Subject Files, 1943-1977

Subseries 5.8: Project Files, 1914-1968

Subseries 5.9: New Development (ND) Project Files, 1924-1970

Subseries 5.10: Experimental (EX) Project Files, 1931-1938

Subseries 5.11: Automatic Controls Project, 1939-1979

Subseries 5.12: Baseball Stitching Machine Projects, 1949-1973

Subseries 5.13: Component Inserting Projects, 1954-1960

Subseries 5.14: Automatic Control Research Notebooks, 1939-1976

Subseries 5.15: Baseball Stitching Machine Research Notebooks, 1942-1956

Subseries 5.16: Component Inserting Research Notebooks, 1956-1965

Subseries 5.17, General Research Notebooks, 1939-1968

Series 6: Legal Records, 1900-1968

Subseries 6.1: Court Exhibits for Machine History, 1910-1951 (bulk 1948-1950)

Subseries 6.2: Leases, Cancellation Letters, Shipments, and Transfers (Microfilm), 1900-1958

Subseries 6.3: Patent Search, 1949

Series 7: Engineering Records, 1904-1979

Series 8: Employee/Personnel Materials, 1908-1981

Series 9: Mutual Relief Association Incorporated, 1902-1951

Series 10: Athletic Association, 1929-1962

Series 11: Industrial School Records, 1909-1938

Subseries 11.1: English for American Citizenship (Industrial Series), 1912, 1919-1921

Subseries 11.2: English for American Citizenship (Intermediate Series), 1921

Subseries 11.3: Text Books, 1909-1938

Series 12: Northwestern University Students' Cooperative Work, 1951-1960 

Series 13: Aberthaw Construction Company Records, 1918-1920

Subseries 13.1: Correspondence, 1918-1919

Subseries 13.2: Reports, 1919-1921

Subseries 13.3: Purchase Orders, 1919-1920

Subseries 13.4: Receiving Records, 1919-1920

Series 14: Publications, 1898-1987

Subseries 14.1: United Shoe Machinery Corporation Catalogs, circa 1899-1961

Subseries 14.2: Beverly Today, 1979-1985

Subseries 14.3: Machinery Division Newsletter,1969-1970

Subseries 14.4: The Three Partners,1914-1920

Subseries 14.5: USM Today,1968-1976

Subseries 14.6: Quarter Century Club News, 1977-1987

Subseries 14.7: H.E. Smith & Company Catalogs, 1898-1930

Series 15: Product Literature, 1952-1979

Series 16: Advertising and Marketing Materials, 1902-1981

Series 17: Photographs, 1907-1960s

Subseries 17.1: Employees, 1907-1981

Subseries 17.2: Equipment/Products, 1961-1972

Subseries 17.3: Factories/Buildings, 1920s-1960s

Subseries 17.4: Trade Shows, 1954, 1968-1973

Subseries 17.5: Miscellaneous, undated

Subseries 17.6: Postcards, 1906-1938

Subseries 17.7: Prints from Glass Plate Negatives, undated

Subseries 17.8: Albums, 1915-1950s

Subseries 17.9: Film Negatives, 1956-1958

Subseries 17.10: Glass Plate Negatives, 1915-1923

Series 18: Audio-Visual Materials, 1934-1972
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: A portion of the collection was processed by Craig A. Orr, 1987; revised by Alison Oswald, archivist, 2012-2013; processing of glass plate negatives completed by Vanessa Broussard- Simmons, archivist; Alison Oswald, archivist; Franklin Robinson, archives technician; Joe Hursey, archivist; David Peterson, volunteer; and Anne Jones, volunteer.  

Trade literature documenting the United States shoe industry was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, National Museum of American History Branch in January 2001. 

The finding aid was authored by Craig A. Orr and Alison Oswald.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: A digital access copy for "Shoes on the Move" available in the Smithsonian Digital Asset Management System (DAMS). Do not use physical VHS or Betacam SP copies.
bibliography: label: Bibliography
content: Aberthaw, A Quarter Century of Fulfilment, 1894-1919 -- . Boston: Aberthaw Construction Company, 1919. 

Bloomfield, Meyer.  -- Labor and Compensation, Volume 7, Factory Management Course -- . New York: Industrial Extension Institute, 1918. 

Bulletin of the Public Library of the City of Boston -- , Fourth Series, Volume II, Number 1, January-March 1920. 

Cummings Properties homepage http://www.cummings.com/history.html (last accessed November 29, 2012)

Dreir, Thomas B.  -- The Three Partners -- , [Boston, Barta Press, 1911?].

Primaryresearch.org, a web presence of a number of projects involving secondary school students and local history for Beverly, Massachussetts) http://www.primaryresearch.org/pr/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=300001 (last accessed November 28, 2012)
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Papers
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: House organs
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass -- 1900-1950
label: Genre/Form
content: Catalogs
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 19th-20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Commercial catalogs
label: Genre/Form
content: Albums
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film -- 1900-1950
label: Genre/Form
content: Magazines (periodicals) -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Advertisements -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Clippings -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Research -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Legal records
label: Genre/Form
content: Motion pictures (visual works) -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: 16mm motion picture film
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records -- 20th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection is among the largest and most complete bodies of business records in the holdings of the Archives Center.  The records document in considerable detail the firm's engineering department and research and development efforts in shoe making machinery and in related technical areas, especially during World War II and as it attempted to diversify its activities after the war.  There is detailed information, much of it on microfilm, about the leasing of United Shoe Machinery (USM) machines.  The records also provide insight into the USM's culture of corporate paternalism, including its athletic and relief associations and its industrial school.  The collection is rich in visual materials depicting both the machines made by the firm and the employees and the facilities.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials at Other Organizations

Lynn Historical Society & Museum, Lynn, Massachusetts

Lynn, Massachusetts businesses collection, 1888-1991

Small volumes and pamphlets of shoe and shoe-related industry businesses in Lynn, Massachusetts, including miscellaneous articles and histories on the shoe industry in Lynn, manuals, catalogs, broadsides, patents, handbooks, patterns, price lists, brochures, and legal materials. Businesses represented include Beaudry Machine Company, Beckman Machine Company, Bresnahan Shoe Machinery Company, George W. Emerson & Company, Hamel Shoe Machinery Company, Gregory & Read Co., David Knox & Sons Machinery Company, Krippendorf Kalculator Company (manufacturers of a mechanical device to compute pattern values), Peerless Machinery Company, Quarmby & Hilliker, Machine Builders, Swain, Fuller Manufacturing Company, W.J. Young Machinery Company, and George J. Kelly, Inc. (maker of shoe polish).


United Shoe Machinery Company Records, 1915-1974

Materials assembled by Edward F. McCarthy, director of USM research, including notebooks, diagrams, manuals, brochures, catalogs, code sheets, flow charts, price lists, handbooks, lectures, directories, lexicons, catalogs of other firms, personal notebooks on shoe construction (1927-1931), factory visits to other shoe companies, and production of leading manufacturers (1939-1960), and floor directory of the plant; ledgers listing machines shipped and returned from the Lynn and Puerto Rico plants (nine volumes, 1935-1974); and machine development materials, including patents, chiefly those of Edward Quinn.

Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) Salem, Massachusetts

An accession in 1987 of institutional archives, includes publications, photographs, advertisements, lectures, scrapbook of shoes made for United Shoe Machinery Corporation of Beverly, Massachusetts, shoes from which are in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum (87020). 

Beverly Historical Society, Beverly, Massachusetts

The United Shoe and Machinery Company Collection contains a large quantity of the company's patents, most of which pertain to the production and manufacture of shoes. Additionally there are patents for golf balls, nail guns, and magnetic closures. The majority of the remaining materials are Quarter Century Club documents ranging from financial and membership records, to pictures and other ephemera. The remainder of the collection consists of miscellaneous objects including sample knives and knife parts from the Booth Brothers Company.

University of Connecticut, Dodd Center

Emhart Corporation Records, undated, 1883-1989

Emhart Corporation was a multinational company located in Farmington, Connecticut. Prior to its 1989 merger with Black & Decker, Emhart operated in over one hundred countries with a worldwide work force of 30,000 employees. Emhart's products included machines for the manufacture of glass bottles and shoes; filling, sealing and packaging machinery; security systems; electronics; chemical products; metal fasteners; rubber processing equipment; and consumer and do-it-yourself products. Brand name products included True Temper® hardware and sporting goods, and Price Pfister® plumbing fixtures. Emhart's domestic roots went back to the American Hardware Company, founded in New Britain, Connecticut, in 1902. 

Beverly Public Schools (Beverly, Massachusetts)

Beverly Public Schools/Beverly trade school records, 1909-1995

Materials relating to the establishment and operation of the Beverly trade schools, including trustee minutes, annual reports, curriculum journals, correspondence, photographs, programs and ephemera, and calendars.

Cornell University, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections

[United Shoe Machinery Corporation publications], 1911-1913

Harvard University, Baker Library

[United Shoe Machinery Company, of New Jersey, et al. court proceedings], 1911-1917

United Shoe buildings and properties

The Cummings Properties now owns and leases "the Shoe."
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: Materials at National Museum of American History

The Division of Work and Industry holds artifacts related to the United Shoe Machinery Corporation. Some artifacts include a drafting table (1989.0259.349), tool chest (1989.0259.348), and molds for shoes, shoe heels, shoe welts, threads, needles, awls, and show wax.