Esquin Imports Wine Merchants
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Foley, Dennis
setName: label: See more items in
content: Dennis Foley Papers
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1962-1981
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0896, Series 5
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Newsletters, order forms, wine and price lists, mailing envelopes with wine-related cover art, and glassware catalogues. 
Dennis Foley began his career in the wine industry at Esquin Imports Wine Merchants, located in San Francisco.  The bulk of the material was produced by Esquin Imports between 1962 and the early 1970s.  The newsletters contain a wealth of information about the wine business during these years.  In the mid-70s, Esquin Imports changed its name to Draper & Esquin Wine Merchants.  The company began focusing not only on imports, but on local production under the label Chestnut Hill.  The material from Draper & Esquin Wine Merchants dates from the late 1970s to the 1980s and is comprised of catalogues and pamphlets.  The series is divided into five subseries: Newsletters; Wine & Spirits Price Lists; Other Esquin Papers; Draper & Esquin Wine Merchants; Esquin Imports Reference. 

Subseries 5.1:  Newsletters, 1963-1976

Esquin Imports Newsletters, with corresponding order forms and envelopes, running monthly from January 1963 to July 1976.  The newsletters contain descriptions of wines, report on wine growers and makers, and describe buyers' trips in search of wines.  Esquin International Wine Guild Newsletters, 1968, include membership applications, an invitation to join, and membership benefits pamphlets.

Subseries 5.2: Wine & Spirits Price Lists, 1962-1975

Fifteen pamphlets comprised of price lists and related information.  Some of the pamphlets feature wine-related cover art, similar to what is on many of Esquin's mailing envelopes.

Subseries 5.3: Other Esquin Papers, 1963-1966

Esquin Imports order forms, envelopes with cover art, and catalogues of glassware produced for Esquin.  The order forms list wines and their prices and include information about placing orders, but differ from the order forms that accompany the newsletters.

Subseries 5.4: Draper & Esquin Wine Merchants, 1977-1981

Seven catalogues containing the complete listing of the cellars of Draper & Esquin, plus histories of wines and wineries.  There are fifteen pamphlets highlighting new arrivals and wines of special note. 

Subseries 5.5: Esquin Imports Reference, 1963-1970

Correspondence, price lists, and pamphlets from other wine merchants and educational pamphlets about wines and the regions from which they come.