The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du Pont
5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur,
Delaware 19735
Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
OVERVIEW OF
THE COLLECTION
Creator: Metz, Eugene, 1844-1912
Title: Bills
Dates: 1873-1874
Call No.: Col. 576
Acc. No.: 99x3; 00x81.12
Quantity: 16 items
Location: 34 J 4
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
Eugene Metz lived in Erie, Pennsylvania. City directories from 1871-1887 list his
occupation variously as clerk, bookkeeper, storekeeper, and city
controller. But the 1874-1875 directory
has an ad for Metz, listing him as a “manufacturer of tin, sheet iron and
copperware and dealer in house furnishing goods” and doing business at 824
State Street.
A death certificate was found for an Erie, Penn., accountant
named Eugene Metz, who was born in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania, on December 16,
1844, the son of Christopher Metz. The
accountant died on Dec. 21, 1912. He was
married to Emily O’Hagan (1841-1918), and they had at least one child.
SCOPE AND
CONTENT
Sixteen bills and business letters addressed to Metz
regarding the purchase of stock for his store.
Among the goods he bought were lamps, wringers, knives, shears, chisels,
rivets, boiler covers, mallets, riveting hammers, mousetraps, sleds, bootjacks,
birdcages, match safes, flour boxes, dustpans, apple corers, cake cutters,
tablespoons, water pails, egg whips, corn poppers, toys, coin banks, etc. The billheads show illustrations of several
different styles of lamps, a pipe organ, a clothes wringer being used by a
girl, a jackknife, an ice cream freezer, a wedding cake, churns, a heating
stove, a birdcage, flower baskets, and a piece of Japanned tinware which might
be a watering can.
ORGANIZATION
The bills are in accession number order, which has
nothing to do with chronological order.
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
The materials are in English.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Both accessions purchased from Stephen A. and Carol
M. Resnick.
ACCESS POINTS
Topics:
Baskets.
Birdcages.
Cake.
Chairs.
Churns.
Coin banks.
Ice-cream freezers.
Knives.
Lamps.
Laundry machinery.
Organ (Musical instrument)
Retail trade - Erie (Pa.)
Stoves.
Tinware.
Toys.
Erie (Pa.) \x Commerce.
Bills.
Billheads.
Invoices.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 34 J 4
All accession
numbers begin with 99x3, unless otherwise noted.
Folder 1 of 1:
.1 bill: Metz bought of The Standard Lamp
& Glass Pipe Co., Boston, Mass., April 20, 1874: sockets, shades, holders,
burners and wicks, alcohol dips;
Printed and illustrated
billhead: with picture of Standard Lamp
.2 letter: Alois F. Lejeal, Treas.,
Derrick & Felgemaker Pipe Organ Co., Erie, July 29, 1874: Chas. Scott would
not acknowledge Metz’s order and therefore the company will not accept it;
Printed and illustrated
billhead: organ builders, and manufacturers of patent portable pipe organs,
with illustration of an organ
.3 bill: Metz bought of Lever Wringer Co.,
Springfield, Ohio, March 10, 1874: wringers in three sizes or styles;
Printed and illustrated
billhead: proprietors of Way’s Lever Wringers, and general manufacturers in
wood; illustrated with picture of girl using a wringer
.4 letter: Lever Wringer Comapny,
Springfield, Ohio, Nov. 12, 1874: a question about a charge;
Printed and illustrated
letterhead: proprietors and manufacturers of Way’s Patent Lever Wringer;
illustrated with picture of girl using a wringer
.5 bill: Metz bought of Dane, Westlake
& Covert, Chicago, Dec. 17, 1873: lanterns, zinc boards, etc.;
Printed and illustrated
billhead: manufacturers of toilet ware, bath tubs, water coolers, &c.,
patent zinc boards, loose globe car lamps and lanterns, [and] … tinware;
illustrated with picture of Westlake’s patent loose globe lantern
.6 bill: Metz bought of Northfield Knife
Company, Northfield, Conn., Aug. 16, 1873: table and medium knives, and
carvers;
Printed and illustrated
billhead: manufacturers of pocket cutlery, shears and razors, [etc.];
illustrated with picture of a pocket knife
.7 bill: Metz bought of Northfield Knife
Company, Northfield, Conn., June 14, 1873: knives, shears, table and medium
knives, steels, and carvers;
Printed and illustrated
billhead: manufacturers of pocket cutlery, razors, shears, &c; illustrated
with picture of a pocket knife
.8 bill: Metz bought of Frasedr, Bell
& Loughran, New York, May 5, 1873: rivets, snips, shears, punches, chisels,
riveting hammers, hooks and screws, valves and plungers, boiler covers,
mallets, etc.
Printed and illustrated
billhead: manufact’rs of … tin ware, tinners’ tools & machines, Plymouth Rivets,
Kettle Ears, &c.; illustrated with pictures of Parker’s Patent Frame
Lantern, and American Cream Freezer
.9 receipted bill: Metz paid G.E. Barr,
Erie, Sept. 6, 1873: for refreshments;
Printed and illustrated
billhead: wedding and other parties supplied on short notice; French
confectionery, Maillard’s Celebrated Chocolate, and fresh oysters, [etc.];
illustrated with picture of two cupids carrying a wedding cake; two others
carrying a tub of ice cream, and one carrying water ice
.10 bill: Metz bought of Union Manufacturing
Co., Toledo, Ohio, Dec. 22, 1873: globe boards, knife trays, mouse traps, #7
wagons, #2 and #3 sleds, horse pails, boot jacks, and sawbucks;
Printed and illustrated
billhead: manufacturers of washboards, churns, kitchen wooden ware, &c.;
illustrated with picture of the Improved Union Churn and another kind of churn
.11 short letter: R.B. Acker, Treasurer,
Union Stove Works, New York, Nov. 6, 1873, to Metz: gives weight and prices of
the Red Cloud;
Printed and illustrated
letterhead: manufacturers of The Garnet Fire Place Heaters, … furnaces, … oven
range, stoves, hollow ware, &c.; with picture of the Garnet [which looks to
be a stove inserted into a fireplace]
.12 short letter: Cleveland Non-Explosive
Lamp Co., Cleveland, Ohio, July 21, 1874, to Metz: about return of a sight
draft;
Printed and illustrated
letterhead: owners and manufacturers of Perkins & House’s … safety lamps,
and safety filling cans, [and] general kerosene fixtures; illustrated with
picture of a library lamp with argand burner and a detail drawing of the
interior of a lamp
.13 short letter: from Erie Chair Company,
Erie, April 10, 1874: please pay enclosed bill;
Printed letterhead:
manufacturers of Henrich’s patent nursery chair
.14 bill with note: Metz bought of G.
Gunther, New York, April 23, 1874: cases of something, green bottom something else,
something with blue tops, willow nests, and other goods; note is about shipping
goods and mentions a birdcage;
Printed and illustrated
billhead: manufacturer of patent bird cages, flower baskets, urns, etc.;
illustrated with a display of a birdcage, flower baskets, and urns
.15 bill: Metz purchased from Benhams &
Stoutenborough, New York, Oct. 22, 1873: long list of goods, including packet
watch safes, nurse lamps, flour boxes, dust pans, liquor mixers, clothes
sprinklers, apple corers, egg slicers, cake cutters, Warren cooker, oyster
dishes, beer measures[?], tablespoons, balances, shovels, water pails, bird
cage hooks, lemon squeezers, vegetable boilers, coffee pot stands, spoon and
flat egg whips, wire plate warmers, etc.
Printed and illustrated
billhead: manufactures of … tin ware, water coolers, baths, and toilet ware,
coal hods and sheet iron ware, [etc.]; illustrated with what might be a
watering can
00x81.12 bill: Metz purchased from Joy, Hazelton
& Co., Philadelphia, Aug. 6, 1873: comb cases, school companions, penny
toys, national banks, tin collars, fluted patties, coffee pot lids, corks, egg
beaters, jelly cake pans, gas shades, corn poppers, nurse lamps, etc.
Printed billhead:
manufacturers of … tin ware, tinmen’s trimmings, &c; stationers’ goods, …
water coolers, ice bream freezers, &c.