Fruit, Produce, Butter and Eggs Shipper Journals

Chicago, 1870s-1890s. Extensive information on growers and producers and the networks required to feed America at the time. The assumption of Chicago for the first journals is based on the bookseller labels in the journals and the accompanying letterhead. The Boston location was determined by reference to Boston based individuals in the journal and the address on the accompanying envelopes. All of these materials were found in one location without further information.. A collection of five journals for Fruit, Vegetable, Butter and Egg Shipper Journals from the 1870s-1890s. The four larger format journals are most likely from Chicago detailing the various farms from which they received their product. Four of the journals list out each farm and their location and are believed to be from the 1870s-80s.They are accompanied by a letterhead for J. C. Wallace, Commission Merchant, Jobber and Shipper in Foreign and Domestic Fruits, Nuts, Produce, etc. Chicago 1875. The titles of these four journals are: "Early Fruit and Vegetable Shippers, No. 3 Bermuda Veg. Shippers", "Butter and Eggs", "Shippers of Early and Late Potatoes", and "Shippers of Blueberries, Blackberries, Raspberries, Huckleberries, Gooseberries, Whortleberries, Snowberries, Dewberries, Currants, Cherries and Winter Green Berries, and Elderberries". Each of these journals is approximately 120 pages long with an alphabet index tab on the side. The shippers are organized alphabetically by last name, followed by their location. With the exception of the "Early Fruit and Vegetable" journal which also includes locations in Bermuda, all the farming locations are from various towns all over the United States. Often within each letter there are subcategories, mostly references to either 'early' or 'late' seasonal shipments. However the Berry Journal is also subdivided by individual berry type (all of which were listed in the title of the journal), and the Butter and Egg Journal which has the subcategories of Butter and Eggs, Creamery Butter, Roll Butter, and Pickled Eggs. The locations are predominantly Midwest and southern states including Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky, Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, etc. Butter and eggs journal also includes Missouri, Wisconsin and Iowa. Black leather covers, measure 13" x 8". The fifth fruit journal is a smaller ledger with a variety of information in it. It starts with a list, approximately 37 pages long, of shippers of fruits and vegetables. It is most likely from the Boston area from the late 1890s. This journal was accompanied by envelopes from the New England Fruit & Produce Co. The is an average of 8 shippers listed on each page, which includes their names and locations as well as the exact items they are shipping. Such as peaches, asparagus, tomatoes, grapes, melons, onions, or pears. The next 24 pages of the ledger lists the sales from September 20, 1897 to October 9th, 1897. These daily sales lists are either detailed list of each product sold that day, or a more simple list which simply totals the amount of cash sales for that day. Measures 11 3/4" x 5 1/4".