Commercial Controls scrapbook

Collection — Volume: 1

Identifier: 2017-001

Staff Only

Content Description

Includes a scrapbook created by employees of the Commercial Controls Corporation in Rochester, NY, between 1946 and 1948. The scrapbook includes newspaper and magazine clippings, radio transcripts and other materials relating to product development and advertising of the period. The coverage includes the acquisition of the Just-O-Writer company and the development of the first postage stamp vending machine.

Dates

Creation: 1946 - 1948

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use in any current or future manifestations must be obtained in writing from the Rochester Public Library Local History and Genealogy Division.

Administrative History

National Postal Meter, located on University Avenue in Rochester, New York, was a leading manufacturer of postal meters and other mailroom equipment before World War II. With the coming of the war, the company converted its production lines to make munitions, including fuzes and M1 carbines. Prospering in this war time role, the company was purchased by the Commercial Controls Corporation in 1944. Post-war, the Rochester plant of Commercial Controls returned to producing mailroom equipment, but also became the primary producer of the Flexowriter, a teleprinter that could used to automatically type letters, bills and other documents based on automated data systems such as paper tape or early computers. This system saw extensive military use from World War II onward. It is this period in the company's history that is documented in this scrapbook. Friden, Inc. purchased Commercial Controls in 1957, in order to add the Flexowriter to its existing line of electromechnical calculators. Friden merged with Singer in 1963, and the plant in Rochester closed in 1972.

Extent

1 Volumes ; 14 inches by 12 inches

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection consists of a single scrapbook.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Scrapbook comes from the estate of John R. Gorman, who worked for Commercial Controls and their successor, Friden, from 1947 to the early 1970s. His daughter, Lauretta E. Bartlett, gifted the scrapbook to the Local History Division. A letter from her detailing the books history can be found with the item.

Bibliography

Memmott, Jim. "Company Switched From Meters to Munitions During WWII." Democrat & Chronicle (Rochester, NY), January 30, 2018. Accessed May 22, 2020 from https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/columnists/memmott/2018/01/30/jim-memmott-rochester-company-switched-meters-munitions-during-wwii/1076149001/.

Condition Description

Binding sound, covers solid, hinges partially torn. Pages are tanned, with scraps generally in good condition. Glue stains have marred many scraps, however, and some pages are sticking together (rubber cement may have been used).