Hagley Library recently acquired a new collection of published and archival materials pertaining to the history of American hotels. The acquisition is a gift from collector Larry R. Paul. Mr. Paul has gifted materials to Hagley in the past, adding a rich assortment of business history publications to the collection and providing access to a database he created with historical information on over 20,000 U.S. hotels, from the 18th century to the early 21st century.

Pierre Samuel du Pont (January 15, 1870 – April 4, 1954) founded the Hagley Library (originally the Eleutherian Mills Library). Pierre and his brothers attended Phillips Academy and MIT, and Pierre graduated from MIT in 1890. During their time in school, the brothers documented the grounds, their friends, and their living spaces. Photographs of the dorm rooms show walls fully covered in mementos. Banners, framed and unframed photographs, flags, magazines, broadsides advertising sporting events, and newspaper pages were all used to adorn the spaces and showcase the brothers’ interests.

During the month of October, mystery lurks around many corners. At my workspace, an obscure publication emerged from the shadows of our backlog, where "FOPs" often hide: things Found On Property that lack the usual provenance and accession records. Establishing context for such works can be both challenging and fun for catalogers. The undated title at hand is A l’Y grec: Delastre, Marchand Mercier-Quincailler, rue de la Huchette, No.

Photograph of Westinghouse employees receiving influenza A (H2N2) shots at the dispensary

This week's Hagley Vault post is a little poke in the arm for all you procrastinators out there. This photograph, taken on November 7, 1957 shows employees of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company's South Philadelphia Works lining up for flu shots at the company's dispensary. This photograph was taken by staff photographer Charles Yessel (1877-1953) for publication in the company’s newsletter, Machine News.

The Westinghouse Machine Company, which became the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in 1945, manufactured gas and steam engines, turbines and mechanical stokers for use in railway systems, fire service pumping stations, the shipping industry, and other large scale industrial purposes. The South Philadelphia Works was constructed from 1917 to 1919 as a steam turbine manufacturing plant.

Close up view of a Campbell's Tomato Soup vending machine

Soup season has arrived, so this week in the Hagley Vault, we're grilling a cheese and hitting up our local Auto-Snak. 

This ca. 1955 photograph of a soup vending machine is from Hagley Library's Automatic Merchandising Company album (Accession 2017.202). The Automatic Merchandising Company operated and installed vending machines, and was best known for the Auto-Snak, a combined set of food vending machines which dispensed soda, coffee, milk, sandwiches, soup, salads, pastries and ice cream. These automat style vending machines emerged in America after the invention of the first coffee vendors in 1946 that allowed for the use of vending machines for coffee breaks, cutting needed catering staffs in large factories. 

Pay: $16.00 per hour

Part-time
15 hours per week, 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM.

Hagley Museum and Library is a unique place to work, where history, education, and community come together on a beautiful 235-acre campus along the Brandywine River. We are seeking a dependable and energetic Part-Time Custodian to help maintain our facilities and support the many visitors, staff, and events that make Hagley a special destination.

Photograph of a large group of men in hats waiting at a train station in East Pittsburg

This 1908 photograph shows employees of the Westinghouse Machine Company at East Pittsburg station, waiting for their evening train. The photograph is part of Hagley Library's Westinghouse Machine Company album (Accession 1983.247), which reported that it required six trains to accommodate their traffic.

The Westinghouse Machine Company was formally organized in 1881 by George Westinghouse, who was also the founder of a host of "Westinghouse Companies" bearing his name (including the Westinghouse Air Brake Co., Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, and Westinghouse Church Kerr & Co.) as well as other enterprises. 

The Westinghouse Machine Company's role in George Westinghouse's portfolio was to manufacture of gas and steam engines, turbines and mechanical stokers out of a 50-acre factory complex in East Pittsburgh (the 'h' in Pittsburgh was apparently largely optional until the early 1920s). Around the time this photograph was taken, the company employed approximately 3,500 workers at this location.

Man operating a mine haulage train

In 1854, the Westmoreland Coal Company began mining coal in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, primarily for sale to steelmakers, railroads, and coal gasification plants. Within a few decades, the company was providing coal to fifty-eight gasworks along the east coast. Today, the company is one of the coal industry’s oldest independent companies.

The company's biggest growth period occurred after World War I, when it began a period of acquisition and expansion well beyond its original Westmoreland County fields, beginning with a 1917 merger with the Penn Gas Coal Company and the Manor Gas Coal Company. 

This ca. 1935 photograph is from the company's colliery in Stonega, Virginia. The colliery was originally part of the Stonega Coke & Coal Company, a company on founded in 1902, for the purpose of acquiring an operating a colliery plant leased the Virginia Coal & Iron Co., a land company partly owned and managed by John S. Wentz, a coal magnate who was also a major shareholder in the the Westmoreland Coal Company.

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