Product Development Records
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Park-Brannock.
label: Collection Creator
content: Park, Ernest N.
label: Collection Creator
content: Brannock, Otis C.
label: Collection Creator
content: Brannock, Charles F., 1903-1992
label: Collection Creator
content: Brannock Device Company.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Brannock Device Company Records
label: See more items in
content: Brannock Device Company Records / Subgroup 1: Brannock Device Company Records
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1925 - 1981
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0672, Series 3
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This series documents the process from invention to manufacture of the Brannock Device.  It is divided into four subseries: Competitors' Devices and Other Products, Fitting Stool, Design, and Manufacture.  Patents and Trademarks are included in the Sales and Distribution series because they were granted after sale of the device had already commenced and the foreign patents and trademarks are intricately linked to foreign sales. 

The Competitors' Devices and Other Products subseries is further refined: Competitors' Devices; Other Products; Correspondence, 1928-1981, and Memos and Reports, undated.  The subseries provides documentation on the other devices Brannock considered while designing and making modifications to his own device.  It also includes sale or manufacture negotiations for other inventors' products.  Most of these devices were designed later than the Brannock Device and had attributes of the Brannock Device.  Charles Brannock liked to keep abreast of new developments in order to protect his own interests.

The Fitting Stool subseries is a product development file on the fitting stool Charles Brannock designed to accommodate his device which enabled salesmen to measure the foot while seated instead of kneeling or squatting.  It consists of design drawings and correspondence with American Fixture and Showcase Manufacturing Company, Thonet, and Commonwealth Shoe and Leather Company about negotiating its manufacture. 

The Design subseries is further divided:  Drawings and Ideas; Specifications; Correspondence, 1935-1975; Customer Comments; and Case of Child Cutting Finger on Device, July 1961-January 1962.  The drawings and ideas are rough sketches done by Charles Brannock.  The specifications include descriptions of materials used and assembly instructions.  They were shipped with military orders for devices and are included in the text of patent applications.  The design correspondence consists of actual and proposed modifications to the device.  Of particular interest are the unsolicited modification proposals the company received.  Customer comments were always appreciated and taken into account in the design process from 1946-1961.  The case file of a child cutting her finger on a device resulted in a legal settlement in 1962.

The manufacture subseries contains correspondence with, and pamphlets about, companies that manufactured the device.  Of particular interest are the Brannock Device Company's investigation into making plastic devices due to the shortage of aluminum in World War II, as outlined in the correspondence with the Eclipse Moulded Products Company.  Also, a number of sample shoe company name plates and instruction plates which were screwed into free sections of the device are in this subseries.