Finding Aid for the Ralph C. Epstein Papers, 1930s

Container List

Series I: Automobile and Rubber Industries

The first series, accessioned in November 1974, contains publications and data collected by Epstein in the 1930s for research into the American automobile and rubber industries. It also contains notes and drafts of various manuscripts that Epstein prepared on these topics.

Because the original order of files in this series was not evident, an artificial organization and order (based on the content of the series) had to be applied by the archivist.

Folder titles may have been changed in some cases to ease the organization and comprehension of the collection. In all cases the original title of the folder is written on the front cover of the archival folder in quotation marks.

*Note: When "Kunze" is indicated on an original folder title it refers to an A. D. Kunze, Chairman of the Mechanical Division of the Rubber Manufacturers Association.

Subseries A: Automotive History Project

Arranged alphabetically.

1.1	Companies
1.2		- Dodge Brothers, Inc. Reports, 1926-1927
1.3		- Packard Motor Car Co. Reports, 1925-1935
1.4-1.5	Correspondence
1.6	Industry, General Information
1.7	National Automobile Chamber of Commerce
1.8	Industry Pioneers
	Industry Publications:
1.9		- Automobile Daily News
1.10		- The Motor World
1.11		- General Motors World
	Manuscripts:
1.12		- 'Manufacturing,' Draft
1.13-1.16		- "The Rise and Fall of Firms in the Automobile Industry," Preliminary Notes and Drafts of

Subseries B: 1939 Rubber Industry Project

Arranged numerically by the "analysis number" assigned by Epstein. These numbers correspond to his outline of the project write-up. The original folder titles (when changed) are written on the front cover of the folder in quotation marks. Alternate folder titles, evidence of which is contained in the notations on the items within the folders, have also been written on the front of the folders (not in quotation marks). For example, while folder 3 (in box 2) was originally labeled "Part I - Growth of Capital," notations on the papers within the folder, "II-1-D-1," indicate a more specific file structure. That number has been indicated on the front cover of the new folder. These alternate folder titles, and their inconsistency with the actual folder titles, are evidence that Epstein rearranged the order of his analyses during the course of the project.

2.1	Outlines of Analyses
2.2	Analyses I and III
	Analysis II, Part 1
2.3		- Growth of Capital
2.4		- Pioneering Improvements of Product and Process
	Analysis II, Part 2
2.5		- Assets of Rubber Companies
2.6		- Economy Large-scale Production
2.7		- Number of Companies
	Analysis II, Part 4
2.8		- [General]
2.9		- Methods of Sale, Bidding, and Billing
	Analysis III [National Store Sales]
2.10		- General [includes information on B.F. Goodrich sales program]
2.11		- Supplementary Note
2.12		- Places for US Survey
2.13		- Sampling Procedure
		- Companies Surveyed (May 7-13, 1939)
2.14			- - Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (Form 1053)
2.15			- - Fisk Rubber Corporation (Form 1056)
2.16			- - General Tire and Rubber Company (Form 1054)
2.17			- - The B.F. Goodrich Company (Form 1052)
2.18			- - Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company (Form 1051)
2.19			- - Pennsylvania Rubber Company (Form 1058)
2.20			- - Seiberling Rubber Company (Form 1057)
2.21			- - United States Rubber Company (Form 1055)
2.22		- Distribution in Small Cities
		- Quotas
2.23			- - Northeast Region
2.24			- - Southeast Region
2.25			- - North-Central Region
2.26			- - South-Central Region
2.27			- - West Region
3.1		- District Offices in US Maps
3.2		- Atlanta District, Store Sales Discount Summaries
3.3	Analysis IV A [Performance Tires]
	Analysis VIII [Competition, Mechanical Goods]
3.4		- Outline
3.5		- Mechanical Rubber Goods Schedule
3.6		- Completed Schedules
3.7		- "Net Realized Sales"
	Analysis IX [Competition, Sundries]
3.8		- Outline
3.9	Analysis X [Prices, Tires]
	Analysis XI [Performance]
3.10		- B.F. Goodrich
3.11		- Photostat Automotive Industries
3.12		- Research Expenditures and Common Stock Dividends
	Analysis XII [Patents]
3.13		- Outline
	Analysis XIII [Labor]
3.14		- Outline
3.15		- Materials
3.16		- Decentralization (Akron Chamber of Commerce)
	Analysis XIV [Crude Rubber as Raw Material]
3.17		- Outline
3.18	Charts not to be used

Subseries C: Rubber General

Arranged alphabetically. Again, the original folder titles are written (when necessary) on the front of the new folders in quotation marks. The notation "RMA," which appears on many of the original folder titles, stands for "Rubber Manufacturers Association". One inconsistency that must be pointed out in Box 4, folders 4 and 5, the Belt and Hose 8- and 15-Company Reports. Some of the reports contained in the 15-Company Report folder are actually 8-Company Reports, the offending reports have not be refiled, but rather left in their assigned location because the archivist does not pretend to know the intention of the person who originally filed the reports.

	Acquisitions and Mergers
4.1		- General
4.2		- Hood Rubber Company, Goodrich Acquisition of
4.3		- Diamond-Goodrich Merger
	Belt and Hose
4.4		- Eight-Company Report
4.5		- Fifteen-Company Report
	Companies
4.6		- American Hard Rubber Company
		- B. F. Goodrich Company
4.7			- - Commodity Sheets
4.8			- - Employee Benefits and Programs
4.9			- - Harris, Winthrop, and Co.'s Study of
4.10			- - Products, Variety of
		- Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
4.11			- - Publication: Notes on America's Rubber Industry
4.12			- - Sales to Sears, Roebuck and Company
4.13		- Hewitt Rubber Corporation
4.14		- Manhattan Rubber Manufacturing Division
4.15		- Miscellaneous Belt and Hose Companies
	Federal Trade Commission
4.16		- Case against U.S. Rubber Company, 1939
4.17		- Tire Replacement Figures
	Industry Information
4.18		- Study
4.19		- "The Rubber Goods Industry," Dun and Bradstreet
4.20	Information ["Desired from" Original]
4.21	Labor
5.1	Manuscript: "Competition in the Tire Market, 1929-1938"
5.2	Mechanical Goods
5.3	Moody's Analysis of Rubber Companies
5.4	National Industry Recovery Board Hearing, C.D. Garretson's Testimony
5.5	Price Regularity, Means' Article on
5.6	Price Change, Frequency of
	Prices
5.7		- Conveyor Belts
5.8		- Crude Rubber
5.9		- Garden Hose
5.10		- Hose and Belting
5.11		- Steam Hose
5.12		- Water Hose
	Publications
5.13		- "The Mystic Formula…"
5.14	Quality Improvements, Rubber Footwear Products
5.15	Rubber Manufacturers Association Directory (Those Employing 250 or more)
5.16	Salaries
5.17	Sales, Net Realized, of Tires and Tire Sundries
	Statistics
5.18		- From W.F. Bloor
5.19		- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Annual Wholesale Price Commodity Indexes and Link Relatives
5.20		- Dept. of Commerce, Rubber Statistics 1900-1937
5.21		- International Rubber Regulation Commission, Bulletin
5.22		- Rubber Manufacturers Association Statistics
5.23	Sundries, Company Reports on
5.24	Wholesale Prices, Index of

Subseries D: Tires General

While this is a "general" series, many of the items within the files pertain specifically to the B. F. Goodrich and Company, in which Epstein seems to have been heavily involved.

Arranged alphabetically.

	Correspondence
6.1		- Jett, S.M.
6.2		- Kelly, Arthur
	Dealers
6.3		- Complaints by Independents
6.4		- Problem Cases
6.5	Demand Elasticity
6.6	Dividends
6.7	Equipment Sales
6.8	Failures (Dun and Bradstreet)
6.9	Foreign Assets
6.10	Forms for Sale Prices
6.11	Invested Capital
6.12	Plant Investments
	Replacement Sales
6.13		- General
6.14		- First and Second Line Tires
6.15	Retail Service Stores
	Sales
6.16		- Analysis of Proportion of Output Sold through Stores
6.17		- Figures and Breakdown
6.18		- Potential by Town/Area
6.19			- - Albany and Buffalo Districts
	Stores
6.20		- Breakdown of Retail Sales
6.21		- Discontinuance of
6.22		- General Program
6.23		- Number and Size of
6.24		- Over-all Sales Figures
		- Profit and Loss
6.25			- - Goodrich Silvertown Stores
6.26			- - 485 Individuals Stores, 1937
6.27		- Promotional Record of Managers
6.28		- Unit Tire Sales
6.29	Tire Brands, Second, Third, and Forth Line
6.30	Tire Mileage Advertising Literature
6.31	Tire Price Lists
6.32	Buffalo Tire Prices
6.33	Tire Production (General G Statistics)
6.34	Tire Sales (General G Statistics)
6.35	Tire Sizes of Three Leading Automobiles
6.36	Tire Trade-ins, Store Mileage Study

Subseries E: General/Miscellaneous Files

This subseries incorporates the files within the series that did not cleanly fit into one of the other more specific categories.

Arranged alphabetically.

6.37	Accounting Rules
	Book Correspondence
6.38		- Norton
6.39		- Roper
6.40	Clippings
6.41	Cotton Prices
6.42	Depression
6.43	Documents Returned
6.44	Dun's Review
6.45	Fair Labor Statistics Act of 1938
6.46	Ideas
6.47	Illinois Bell Annual Reports
6.48	Illinois Commerce Commission vs. Illinois Bell, Testimony
6.49	Personnel
6.50	Population
6.51	Publications, Personal
6.52	Questions
6.53	Radio Talks, Nov 1935-Jan 1936
6.54	Taxes

Series II: American Manufacturing and Industry

The second series, accessioned with a group of School of Business Administration personnel records in 1981, contains reports of various American corporations collected by Epstein (also in the 1930s) for research into American industry and manufacturing more broadly and the effect of unemployment insurance laws. Included are correspondence with companies and analytical notes that illuminate the purpose and methodology of this project.

Subseries A: Research Methodology

The original (seemingly haphazard) order of Subseries A, Research Methodology, has been maintained. No effort to reorder the folders for better comprehension has been made on the part of the archivist. Original folder titles have been maintained in all cases. In cases where no original folder title was extant, the archivist was conservative in the assigning of titles.

7.1			Lists
7.2			50 Companies as Compiled in December 1933
7.3			Corporation Reports- General Materials
7.4-7.5			Correspondence
7.6			71 Companies Series
7.7			Spreadsheets
7.8			Boehnke
7.9			Estimates
7.10			Notes

Subseries B: Information on Companies

Arranged alphabetically. Originally some of the company file folders were numbered and the presence of these numbers has been maintained on the new folders. These numbers correspond to a list (found in Series 2, box 7, folder 1) of the fifty companies on which Epstein originally wanted to focus his analysis. The following companies found on the list do not have files in series 2, subseries 2: Ford Motor Company [14], General Tire and Rubber [19], Goodrich [20], Goodyear Tire and Rubber [21], International Shoe Company [27], Johns-Manville, Inc. [28], Liggett and Myers Tobacco [30], Studebaker [45], Swift and Company [46], and US Rubber Company [49].

In the processing, duplicates of company reports were disposed of when possible. However, even duplicate copies were retained when they contained any notations whatsoever as they might give insight into how Epstein did his research and analysis.

When additional information was included on the original acidic folders (beyond a simple folder title), a copy of the relevant parts of the folder (either the inside or outside of the front cover) was made and included within the new archival folders with an annotation indicating when the copy was taken from the back of the cover rather than the front. While, the material written on the outside of the front covers seems to be directly relevant to Epstein's project (usually checklists), the material on the inside of the front covers may or may not be relevant because many of the folders had been reused and the notations may have existed before the folders were used for this particular project.

7.11			Air Investors, Inc.
7.12			Air Reduction Company - 1
7.13			Aluminum Goods Manufacturing Company
7.14			Amalgamated Leather Companies, Inc.
7.15-7.16			American Bank Note Company
8.1			American Can Company
8.2			American Chicle Company
8.3			American Cigarette and Cigar Company
8.4			American Encaustic Tilling Company, Ltd.
8.5			American Hair and Felt Company
8.6			American Hardware Corp.
8.7			American Machine and Foundry Company
8.8			American Seating Company
8.9			American Snuff Company - 2
8.10			American Steel Foundries - 3
8.11-8.12			American Sugar Refining Company
8.13			American Tobacco Company - 4
8.14			American Writing Paper Company
8.15			Anaconda Copper Mining Company
8.16			Armstrong Cork Company
8.17			Artloom Corporation
8.18			Associated Dry Goods Corporation
8.19			Atlantic Refining Company - 5
9.1-9.2			Atlas Powder Company - 6
9.3			Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company
9.4			Beech-Nut Packing Company - 7
9.5			Belding Heminway Company
9.6-9.9			Bethlehem Steel Corporation - 8
10.1			Black and Decker Manufacturing Company
10.2			Bon Ami Company
10.3			Brown Shoe Company
10.4			Brunswien-Balke-Collender Company
10.5			Bucyrus-Erie Company
10.6			Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company
10.7			Butler Brothers
10.8			Carnegie Corporation
10.9			Certain-teed Products Corporation
11.1-11.2			Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company - 9
11.3			Chrysler Corporation
11.4			Cluett, Peabody, and Company, Inc. - 10
11.5			Congoleum-Nairn, Inc.
11.6			Consolidated Oil Corporation (Sinclair) - 11
11.7			Craddock Terry Company
11.8			Cudahy Packing Company - 12
11.9			Curtis Publishing Company
11.10			Diamond Match Company
12.1			Duplan Silk Corporation
12.2-12.3			Du Pont - 13
12.4			Durable Goods Industries
12.5			Electric Household Utilities Corporation
12.6			Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company
12.7-12.8			Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
12.9			Fisk Rubber Company
12.10			Fleischmann Company
12.11-12.12			General American Transportation Corp. - 15
12.13			General Asphalt Company
13.1			General Cigar Co., Inc. - 16
13.2-13.4			General Electric Company - 17
13.5			General Fireproofing Company
13.6			General Mills, Inc.
13.7-13.8			General Motors Corporation - 18
13.9			Gillette Safety Razor
13.10			Gotham Silk Hosiery Company, Inc.
13.11			Graton and Knight Company - 22
13.12			Great Nothern Railway Company
14.1			Hamilton Watch Company
14.2			Harbison-Walker Refactories Company
14.3			Hart, Schaffner, and Marx - 23
14.4			George W. Helm Company - 24
14.5			Charles E. Hines Company
14.6			Hudson Motorcar Company - 25
14.7			Illinois Brick Company
14.8			Ingersoll-Rand Company
14.9			Intercontinental Rubber Company
14.10-14.11			International Cement Corporation - 26
14.12			International Cigar Machinery Company
14.13			International Harvester
14.14			Jonas-Naumburg
14.15			Julius Kayser and Company - 29
14.16			Kirby Lumber Company
14.17			Lambert Company
14.18			Lehman Corporation
14.19			Libby-Owens-Ford Glass Company
15.1			Lima Locomotive Works, Inc.
15.2			Link-Belt Company
15.3			Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company - 31
15.4			P. Lorriard Company
15.5			Marion Steam Shovel Company
15.6			Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
15.7-15.8			Mathieson Alkali Works (Inc.) - 32
15.9-15.10			McCall Corporation - 33
15.11			Melville Shoe Corporation
15.12			Montgomery Ward
15.13			Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company
15.14			Nash Motors Company - 34
15.15			Nashawena Mills - 35
15.16			Nashua Manufacturing Company - 36
16.1			National Life Insurance Company
16.2			New England Mutual Life Insurance Company
16.3			New York Central Railroad
16.4			Niagara Hudson Power Company
16.5			Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
16.6			Pacific Mills - 37
16.7			Park, Davis, and Co. - 38
16.8			Peerless Motor Car Corporation
16.9			Pfister and Vogel Leather Company
16.10			Phoenix Hosiery Company
16.11			Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company
16.12-16.13			Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company - 39
16.14			Proctor and Gamble Company - 40
16.15			Prudential Insurance Company
16.16			Pullman Incorporation
16.17			Quaker Oats Company - 41
16.18			Radio Corporation of American
16.19			Republic Steel Corporation
16.20			R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
16.21			Royal Bakery Power Company
16.22			Scott Paper Company
16.23			Sears Roebuck
17.1			Seiberling Rubber Company
17.2			Socony Vacuum Oil
17.3			Sherwin-Williams Company - 42
17.4			Standard Brands Incorporated
17.5			Standard Oil Company (Indiana) - 43
17.6			Standard Oil Company (Kansas)
18.1			Standard Oil Company (New Jersey)
18.2			Standard Textiles Products - 44
18.3			B. F. Sturtevant Company, Incorporated
18.4			Tanners Products Company
18.5			Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association
18.6			Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation
18.7-18.9			Union Oil Company of California - 47
18.10			United States Finishing Company - 48
18.11			United States Playing Card Company
18.12-19.3			United States Steel Corporation - 50 [4 folders]
19.4			Vacuum Oil Company
19.5			Walworth Company
19.6			Ward Baking Company
19.7			Wesson Oil and Snowdrift Company, Inc.
19.8			Wilson and Company
19.9			Worthington Pump and Machinery Corporation
19.10			Yale and Town Manufacturing Company
19.11			Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company
19.12			Miscellaneous Company Reports

Search Terms

Authors

Barker, Preston Wallace, 1896-

Rubber statistics, 1900-1937.

United States. Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

United States. Federal Trade Commission.

National Automobile Chamber of Commerce.

Rubber Manufacturers Association (U.S.)

B.F. Goodrich Company.

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.

University of Buffalo.

University of Buffalo. School of Business Administration.

Automotive daily news.

Motor world.

General Motors world.

Subjects

Epstein, Ralph Cecil--Archives.

Epstein, Ralph Cecil--Correspondence.

University of Buffalo.

School of Business Administration.

University of Buffalo--Faculty.

B.F. Goodrich Company.

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.

Rubber Manufacturers Association (U.S.)

University of Buffalo--Archival resources.

Economics teachers--New York (State)--Buffalo.

Departmental chairmen (Universities)--New York (State)-- Buffalo.

Deans (Education)--New York (State)--Buffalo.

Economics--Study and teaching--New York (State)--Buffalo.

Rubber industry and trade--United States.

Rubber industry and trade--Law and legislation--United States.

Automobile industry and trade--United States.

Automobile industry and trade--Law and legislation--United States.

Tire industry--United States.

Tire industry--Law and legislation--United States.

Automobiles--Tires--Marketing.

Industries--United States.

Consolidation and merger of corporations--United States.

Corporate culture--United States--History.

Manufacturing industries--United States.

Insurance, Unemployment--United States.

Economics--Research--United States.

Retail trade--United States.

Industrial statistics--United States.

Physical distribution of goods--United States.

Research, Industrial--United States.

Economic surveys--United States.

Industrial surveys--United States.

Market surveys--United States.

Corporations, American.

Investments.

Merchandising.

Economics literature--Publishing.

Scholarly publishing.

United States--Economic conditions--20th century.

Title:	Ralph C. Epstein Papers, 1930s
Collection number:	27/F/832
Creator:	Epstein, Ralph Cecil
Extent:	19 manuscript boxes (8.75 linear feet)
Repository:	University Archives, The State University of New York at Buffalo
Abstract:	Research collection of Ralph C. Epstein, Dean of the School of Business Administration from 1935 to 1947. Topics included are American Manufacturing and Industry, Unemployment Insurance Law, and the Rubber and Automobile trades.