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* * * These records are held at the Anthracite Heritage Museum, Scranton,
PA. * * *
The Scranton Lace Company Records are housed at the Pennsylvania Anthracite
Heritage Museum in Scranton. To arrange an appointment to consult the records
call the Site Administrator at 570-963-4804. The Scranton Lace Curtain Manufacturing
Company was established by the Scranton Board of Trade in 1890 and was incorporated
on June 15, 1897. The name Scranton Lace Company became standardized in 1916
when the Scranton Lace Curtain Manufacturing Company and one of its subsidiaries
combined their operations. On May 13, 1958, the company changed its name to
The Scranton Lace Corporation, but soon thereafter reverted back to using the
name The Scranton Lace Company as its official title. The Scranton Lace Company's
main office was located on Meylert Avenue in Scranton, but the company also
had offices in Kingston, New York; Chicago, Illinois; and Los Angeles, California.
From 1916 to 2002 the company remained the first and largest known producer
of Nottingham Lace in the United States. They produced tablecloths, napkins,
valences, and shower curtains, among many other types of lace items. During
the 1940s, the company teamed up with subsidiaries such as Victory Parachutes,
Inc. and Sweeney Bros. to manufacture parahutes and camouflage netting. Though
the company prospered well into the 1950s, risky investments involving Hal Roach
Studios and the fledgling television industry placed the company in financial
peril and eventually led to its closure in 2002. Many prominent Scrantonians
were involved in the Scranton Lace Company. The presidents included J. Benjamin
Dimmick, Paul B. Belin, N.G. Robertson, and H. J. Megargel. Other important
figurs were Henry Belin, Jr., H.J. Hall, Charles Muller, W.E. Jones, C.W. Belin,
Henry Belin III, and W.E. Perry. Mr. Harry Weinberg, a prominent Scranton philanthropist,
got his start in the company's accounting department.
The collection includes capital and common stock records, 1914-1972; supply
contract books, 1903-1922; general ledgers, 1923-1982; trial balances, 1915-1928;
cash books and journals, 1907-1978; factory/manufacturing ledgers [cost and
expanse ledgers], 1940-1982; plant inventory and depreciation records, 1902-1943;
general correspondence, 1898-1947; mill mail, 1941-1942; pattern books, 1904-1985;
industrial trade catalogs, 1870-1940; company policy and procedure manuals,
1947-1961; payroll books and salary reports, 1910-1983; and a diverse sampling
of lace patterns, production forms, and employee time sheets.
Representative subsidiary and affiliate records include Brager-Gutman, Inc.
and Subsidiary, 1968-1969; Cortland Corp., 1943-1944; Craftspun Yarns, Inc.,
1946-1960; Hal Roach Studios and affiliates, 1953-1963; Scranton Lace Company
of California, 1929-1942; Scranton Lace Company of New York, 1948-1950; Scranton
Transit Co. and predecessors, 1887-1975; Sweeney Bros., 1922-1960; United States
Lace Curtain Mills, 1903-1942; and Victory Parachute, Inc., 1942-1946.
| PA State Archives | Hours, Directions, & Fees | Research Topics | Online Catalog | Land Records |