Wednesday, March 17, 2010

A letter, revealed

Back in November, we found a letter in the basement fireplace of 97 Orchard Street. It had clearly fallen behind a wall and had sat there, untouched, perhaps as far back as 1933, when it was mailed.

We couldn't open the letter until it had been re-humidified. Paper gets very brittle with age, and we were worried we'd rip the letter or, worse, that it would crumble into dust before our eyes.

Everyone was abuzz about what could be inside. Friends on Twitter wondered if it was a love letter, hidden where it wouldn't be found. We knew only that a man named Mr. Scher (to whom the letter was addressed) was a mentor to Max Marcus, who ran an auction house in 97 Orchard Street in the 1930s.

On our blog post, we received a couple of helpful comments. James from Inside the Apple looked up PO Box 743, the return address, and traced it to the Biddle Purchasing Company. A few months later, a man with family ties to the company wrote in with more information: "Biddle was a purchasing and buying service for the hardware trades, including Automotive, opening for business in 1879."

So, we had a purchasing company (a middleman) writing a letter to a jobber (another kind of middleman). Was it a business note? Would we find a form letter or perhaps something more personal inside?

Well, a few weeks ago we were finally able to open the envelope. And we found... an invoice and packing slip. Hmm.


All we know about New Aseptic Laboratories is what a quick Google search turned up - that they were a Columbia, South Carolina company that had several cases filed against them in the 1940s for " the mis-branding of absorbent cotton" -- shipping "sterile cotton" that was not, in fact, sterile. We don't know why Biddle Purchasing was sending an invoice from another company.

Okay, so after all that build up, paperwork probably seems pretty mundane. But here at the Tenement Museum, we're all about the mundane, those bits of ephemera that make up our daily lives and those of the thousands of working-class people who lived in 97 Orchard Street. It's the reason we save bottle caps, petrified bagels, love notes, sheet music, handmade scooters, and even crack vials (yup, someday we'll want to tell the story of the 1980s, too).

So yes, we think this packing slip and invoice can tell us something about work and business here at 97 Orchard Street, perhaps fill in some gap later on down the line. And you never know - something amazing could be discovered thanks to this long-lost correspondence.

- posted by kate

10 comments:

  1. I enjoy these discoveries however mundane as they were touched by someone's ancestors in "Little Ole New York". What's the real story?

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  2. Lovely little piece because it is true...glimpses into the everyday parts of peoples lives are what truly inform us in the future. We can picture people going about their lives, conducting business, being as busy as we are today.

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  3. A friend of mine recently 'twittered' that she'd torn up her kitchen floor to find a 1915 New York Times which she replaced with a current edition. Interesting to think about the value of what we find and what we leave behind. . .

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  4. Anonymous 3, I LOVE that idea. What will the people who come after us think of our world?

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  5. These bits of news from the Tenement Museum always make my day... living far away in New Zealand as I do, I have followed the museum's story for several years now, and I hope and wish that someday I can come to New York, see it in reality and take all the tours!

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  6. I just hope that what we do, or leave behind is as important to the people of the future as this packing slip is to me. Thank you for the work you do. Ric

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  7. This reminds me of A Canticle for Liebowitz, a science fiction novel about a post-Apocyliptic monastery that treasures documents from Liebowitz, its founder--the documents say things like "buy bagels."

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  8. We'd like to share what Facebook Fan Chet posted to our page. What do you readers think?! :

    Prohibition was in existence until December 5, 1933 when the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment. This invoice was submitted earlier in that year and it was common for people to make bathtub gin; a process which requires among other things cotton gauze or pack which could be wrapped around the mouth of mason jars for filtration while filling. Not exactly a big time operation but enough to pay the bills. Given the quantities of the invoice I would say it is a pretty good bet that the cotton got "wet".

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  9. WHEN I VISITED THE TENEMENT HOUSE IN 2007 IT BECAME THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY TRIP TO NYC. I TELL ALL MY FRIENDS ABOUT IT AS IT WAS SIMPLY VERY IMPRESSIVE. GREAT TOUR GUIDE. THANKS. MP

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  10. The Tenement House 97 Orchard Street was indeed a highlight of my 2nd trip to your amazing city. The tourguide was wonderful, knowledgable and passionate. I loved the shop where I bought most of my treasures to return to Australia with. It is unique and so sensitive to detail and family. A priceless treasure of the past. I JUST LOVE NEW YORK'S RESPECT FOR ITS HISTORY.

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