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The Gerald T. and Charlotte B. Maxson printed ephemera collection contains over 5,000 pieces of assorted ephemera, the majority of which were commercially printed in the United States during the mid to late 19th-century.

The Gerald T. and Charlotte B. Maxson printed ephemera collection contains over 5,000 pieces of assorted ephemera, the majority of which were commercially printed in the United States during the mid to late 19th-century.

The Maxson collection provides a valuable resource for the study of 19th-century visual culture, commercial advertising, and humor in addition to the role of gender, ethnicity, and race in advertising. American businesses are the predominant focus of the collection, though many international businesses are also represented. While trade cards are by far the most prevalent type of ephemera found in this collection, an extensive array of genres are present including die cut scrapbook pieces, photographs, engravings, maps, serials, and manuscript materials.

The 23 binders that house the Maxson collection were arranged by the collectors themselves. Items are organized somewhat randomly in terms of topical arrangement. While pockets of related materials can be found here and there (for instance, the entirety of Volume 16 contains circus-related items while Volume 11 contains an extensive number of Shaker-related materials), for the most part any given subject may appear in any given volume. In some cases, items are clustered as a result of having been acquired together or due to a documented common provenance. Occasional typed annotations written by the Maxsons help provide additional context for certain items.

The Maxson Collection Subject Index serves as a volume-level subject index for materials found throughout the binders. The subjects indexed here are generally representative of both visual and commercial content. In addition to more general subjects, many names of specific people, places, buildings, events, and organizations that appear in the materials have also been listed. Researchers engaging with this collection should be aware that they will encounter numerous examples of racist caricatures, especially ones depicting African American, Native American, Irish, and Chinese people.

The Nathan D. Stanwood papers primarily contain the outgoing correspondence of Stanwood, a gold miner who entered the meat and produce business in Sacramento in 1853.

The Nathan D. Stanwood papers (1852-1857) contain 23 letters, spanning 1852 to 1860. Stanwood wrote 22 of the letters, and Daniel Towle, a relative of Stanwood's first wife, contributed an additional letter.

Stanwood wrote 19 letters to Nancy Delano, his former mother-in-law; 2 to Benjamin Delano, her son; and a third to "Mother." His most frequent topic was his various business ventures in Sacramento, California, and his intention to "make an honest pile and come home" (March 13, 1853). On September 11, 1852, he mentioned that he had purchased 15 salmon nets, with which he would start a fishing business with a friend from Maine, Joseph A. Locke. He also promised to send money and commented that his prospects were "very bright." On October 31, 1853, he wrote about the opening and early success of his new meat store, the "Boston Market," and by August 1854, he reported selling $1000 worth of meat per week. He eventually left this venture to go into the produce business after being forced "to wait too long for my pay" (July 3, 1856). His final letter, dated April 25, 1860, notes that an overland mail route will soon provide him with weekly delivery (in favor of the slower mail delivered by steamship).

In other letters, Stanwood commented on his reasons for not remarrying sooner, which were primarily economic (April 13, 1855); gave a secondhand account of the explosion of the steamship Pearl (January 30, 1855); and mentioned his support for John C. Fremont (November 30, 1854). The last few letters in the collection document Stanwood's marriage to Emily S. Barrell in 1857, and the increasing success of his produce business.

The single letter from Daniel Towle, dated January 25, 1852, primarily concerns his investment in the Spring Valley Quartz Mining Co., which he believed would bring him "a fortune."

This collection is comprised of 28 incoming letters addressed to Stephen Gore, a grocer and merchant in St. Louis, Missouri, between 1836 and 1844. They include letters from business and family connections, such as John Harris in Boston, Nathaniel Harbach in Newton, Massachusetts, and several writers in New Orleans, Louisiana. They discussed trade in coffee, brandy, gin, flour, candles, oil, and other goods, as well as the business climates, particularly in the Boston area and St. Louis. The health and travel of members of the Gore, Hyde, and Harris families.

This collection is comprised of 28 incoming letters addressed to Stephen Gore, a grocer and merchant in St. Louis, Missouri, between 1836 and 1844. They include letters from business and family connections, such as John S. Harris in Boston, Nathaniel Harbach in Newton, Massachusetts, and writers in New Orleans, Louisiana. They discussed trade in coffee, brandy, gin, flour, candles, oil, and other goods, as well as business climates, particularly in the Boston area and St. Louis. The health and travel of members of the Gore, Hyde, and Harris families.

Gore's correspondents shared information on the trade of coffee (including references to St. Domingo), alcohol, candles, oil, and other products. Several quoted recent prices, and one contains a detailed invoice. In addition to financial matters, Boston merchant John S. Harris, author of 12 letters, occasionally mentioned contemporary political issues, such as tariff legislation, Henry Clay's early presidential nomination by the Whig Party (September 15, 1842), and the economic effects of the temperance movement (August 7, 1843). Harris also provided news of the Gore family in Boston. Three acquaintances from New Orleans, Louisiana, sent business letters, including one from J. H. Lyon, who proposed a partnership (August 19, 1843).

Stephen Gore received four personal/business letters from Nathaniel R. Harbach of Newton, Massachusetts between 1838 and 1843. Harbach updated Gore on the health of his wife, members of they Hyde family, and business contacts. In 1838, Mary Gore, Stephen's wife, was unwell and wanted to travel to St. Louis to be with her husband. According to Harbach, she would not accept his offer to accompany her on the trip because of the "gross impropriety" of traveling with an unmarried man. Harbach's hope was to make money in St. Louis and intended on bringing a good quantity of wild cherries to sell there. He wrote of aging Mother Hyde and of Mrs. John Hyde, who was receiving too few boarders in Newton and planned to move to Boston. Harbach also updated Gore on his travel to New Orleans, and intentions for future travel.

Three acquaintances from New Orleans, Louisiana, sent business letters, including one from J. H. Lyon, who proposed a partnership (August 19, 1843). Stephen Gore's son Stephen D. Gore sent a single letter, dated November 30, 1836. The younger Gore reflected on the poor state of business affairs in Boston (worse than in the past 10 years), suspended business, bank securities, and business "failures." At the time, S. D. Gore worked selling goods for the Belvidere Flannel Company, but he hoped his father would find a different position. He also commented on Horatio Ware, who has the phthisic and could not speak more than a dozen words without taking a breath. Sarah Flint, Gore's sister, wrote one letter from Boston on October 11, 1840, concerning the care of their mother, who boarded with Sarah and her husband, and the impact of her care on the couple's financial situation.