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Geo. N. Davis & Bro : Original Billheads - Geo. N. Davis & Bro., Boston, Massachusetts

Two original billheads on beige paper with printed text and handwriting in black ink. Datelined July 10, 1855 and July 15, 1856 in Boston, Massachusetts. One billhead measures 7 3/4" x 5" The other measures 9" x 5 3/4." Billheads are very clean and intact. Paper has very slight wrinkling and a few horizontal and vertical fold lines. Both are Fine copies. The handwritten portions include the name of the buyer, the item(s) purchased, the price of the item(s), and acknowledgment of the buyer's payment. Several items were bought including an "inflated ball," "web[bing]," and a coat[?]. The printed text reads on one, "Bought of Geo. N. Davis & Bro., Commission Merchants for the Sale of Every Variety of Rubber Goods. Rubber Clothing, Carriage Cloths, Life Preservers, Bags, Gloves, Whips, Combs, Canes, Toys, Balls, Dolls, Hose, Tubing, Steam Packing, Machine Belting, Piano Covers, Melodeon Covers, Bellows' Cloth, Webbing, Pant Straps, Surgical Articles, Stationers' &c. &c." The printed text is similar between the two. One billhead lists the address as "Nos. 152 & 154, Congress Street." The other billhead lists the address as "Nos. 146 & 148 Congress St." Geo. N. Davis & Bro. was one of many retailers that sold rubber products following the invention of vulcanized (stabilized) rubber in the 1830s and the establishment of the first U.S. rubber company, The Roxbury India Rubber Company, in 1833. The buyer, P. Whitin & Sons, was a cotton manufacturing company in Northbridge, Massachusetts. Paul Whitin (1767-1831) was a pioneering businessman and blacksmith who helped establish the Northbridge Cotton Manufacturing Company in 1809. The Whitinsville village of Northbridge is named after him. Paul and his relatives founded another cotton manufacturing company in 1815 called Whitin & Fletchers. Paul gained sole ownership of Whitin & Fletchers in 1826, and together with his sons Paul, Jr. and John, renamed the company P. Whitin & Sons. After the passing of their father in 1831, Paul, Jr. and John bought the Northbridge Manufacturing Company. Paul's two other younger sons, Charles and James, would later join P. Whitin & Sons. In 1864, the four brothers dissolved P. Whitin & Sons and sold the company store to their cousin, Paul Whitin Dudley, which was renamed P. W. Dudley & Company. Paul, Jr., John, Charles, and James went on to form their own companies. P. Whitin & Sons had also manufactured cotton machinery. James had invented a cotton picker machine that outperformed previous models. This invention helped propel his business, Whitin Machine Works (WMW), into prominence as one of the world's largest textile machinery companies. WMW, or "The Shop" as known to locals, was a mainstay in Whitinsville until 1966 when it was sold to White Consolidated Industries (WCI; formerly White Sewing Machine Company). In 1986, WCI was acquired by Electrolux, which operates to this day as a leading appliance manufacturer.. Ephemera. Book Condition: Collectible-Fine. Binding: No Binding

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