Digital Collections related to Economics and Commerce

Displaying 1 - 2 of 2.

Shedding Light on New York

Shedding Light on New York

The E. F. Caldwell & Co. Collection at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum Library, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, contains more than 50,000 images consisting of approximately 37,000 black & white photographs and 13,000 original design drawings of lighting fixtures and other fine metal objects that they produced from the late 19th to the mid-20th centuries.

Cover of Columbia bicycle catalog, 1912, showing a woman kneeling painting the words Columbia while crowning a bicycle with a laurel wreath.

Trade Literature Collection

The trade literature collection of the Smithsonian is internationally known as an important source for the history of American business, technology, marketing, consumption, and design. Manufacturers issued trade catalogs to promote and sell their products. The present collection contains more than 500,000 catalogs, technical manuals, advertising brochures, price lists, company histories and related materials representing more than 30,000 companies. The Smithsonian Libraries acquires trade literature through gifts and purchases.