Mel, if i understand this correctly, you are seeing covers addressed to the same company from various countries. One lot came from one source; and another lot, to the same company but including covers originating in other countries to this company, came from a completely different source.
if that's correct, here's what I surmise:
said company kept all its correspondence. at some point, it disposed of it, with some going to a foreign cover collector and another to a US cover collector. It might have been sold by the company itself or, more likely, retrieved from a recycling plant prior to shredding.
Now they are reunited serrendipitously.
or so i imagine.
David
I've seen this before and most of the correspondences have come from the accounting departments. They where required to keep all records for purposes of taxes for a period of 7 years.
As a cover dealer I see these sorts of accumulations of correspondence all the time. Usually they stem from a collector in the organization squirreling everything away, sometimes, as Ross indicates they were actually archived by the company (although there was no requirement to keep the actual envelopes). In one case, which will go unnamed, but is in the list below, I have heard that the source was the janitorial company that cleaned out the waste baskets at night. They bid really low to get the contract because they made so much money on the covers, but when the contract was lost, the supply seems to have dried up.
Many company names come to mind, some I was fortunate to have been in "on the ground floor", others I bought my share at auction, along with many other cover dealers.
Names such as:
Dupont, out of Wilmington DE
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Photogrammetry Society
National Sportsman / Hunting and Fishing Magazine (I still have several large boxes of this unsorted!)
Monserrat Radio (a Caribbean correspondence)
Lakeside Bible (Chicago)
Montgomery Ward
International Correspondence Schools
Grolier Inc.
... I could go on, but I don't want to strain the brain.
I wouldn't read too much into this. It happens all the time. It is possible that a large stock of them just came up for auction and you are seeing them in the process of being distributed.
Roy
Thanks everyone for your response. I just thought it a little strange to receive covers from completely two different sorces addressed to the same company. Some addressed to different individuals and some just to the company. Some of the covers from Russia and Mexico were not exactly covers, rather they were postal type cards and they seemed to be asking about specific products made by the company. The date range is from 1905 to 1957.
Again thanks for the information, it makes more sense now.
Mel
Sounds like you've picked yourself a great lot Congrats!
Need some help on strange acquisitions concerning Carlyle Johnson Machine Company. Carlyle Johnson is known as the brake and clutch manufacturer for parts used in manufacturing facilities across the nation - such as electric utilities, textile producers, packaging and mining / drilling companies. They began in 1884 in Hartford Connecticut and are still in business today. Three months ago, received in a bulk lot, a large amount of covers addressed to named company. Most of the covers were from the Department of Defense during the WW II time frame and others were from other business organizations. This lot was received from out of state. A recent purchase from my home town here in Texas from a private individual has produced covers addressed to named company from Russia, Canada, Mexico, Japan, England and Denmark. I cannot ask the individual from which I purchased because they were selling the collection for a deceased person. I guess my question is did this company have a mass selling of collected covers or how were the covers distributed? I can find no connection between the local individual or the dealer from which I purchased 3 months ago. The dealer only indicates they aquired the covers over a period of time and have no records of where they came from. My only other alternative is to ask the Company if they have any idea how the covers were distributed. Thought I would ask here first. Any help would be appreciated.
Mel
re: Carlyle Johnson Machine Company
Mel, if i understand this correctly, you are seeing covers addressed to the same company from various countries. One lot came from one source; and another lot, to the same company but including covers originating in other countries to this company, came from a completely different source.
if that's correct, here's what I surmise:
said company kept all its correspondence. at some point, it disposed of it, with some going to a foreign cover collector and another to a US cover collector. It might have been sold by the company itself or, more likely, retrieved from a recycling plant prior to shredding.
Now they are reunited serrendipitously.
or so i imagine.
David
re: Carlyle Johnson Machine Company
I've seen this before and most of the correspondences have come from the accounting departments. They where required to keep all records for purposes of taxes for a period of 7 years.
re: Carlyle Johnson Machine Company
As a cover dealer I see these sorts of accumulations of correspondence all the time. Usually they stem from a collector in the organization squirreling everything away, sometimes, as Ross indicates they were actually archived by the company (although there was no requirement to keep the actual envelopes). In one case, which will go unnamed, but is in the list below, I have heard that the source was the janitorial company that cleaned out the waste baskets at night. They bid really low to get the contract because they made so much money on the covers, but when the contract was lost, the supply seems to have dried up.
Many company names come to mind, some I was fortunate to have been in "on the ground floor", others I bought my share at auction, along with many other cover dealers.
Names such as:
Dupont, out of Wilmington DE
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Photogrammetry Society
National Sportsman / Hunting and Fishing Magazine (I still have several large boxes of this unsorted!)
Monserrat Radio (a Caribbean correspondence)
Lakeside Bible (Chicago)
Montgomery Ward
International Correspondence Schools
Grolier Inc.
... I could go on, but I don't want to strain the brain.
I wouldn't read too much into this. It happens all the time. It is possible that a large stock of them just came up for auction and you are seeing them in the process of being distributed.
Roy
re: Carlyle Johnson Machine Company
Thanks everyone for your response. I just thought it a little strange to receive covers from completely two different sorces addressed to the same company. Some addressed to different individuals and some just to the company. Some of the covers from Russia and Mexico were not exactly covers, rather they were postal type cards and they seemed to be asking about specific products made by the company. The date range is from 1905 to 1957.
Again thanks for the information, it makes more sense now.
Mel
re: Carlyle Johnson Machine Company
Sounds like you've picked yourself a great lot Congrats!