Snyder & Black was publishing maps as early as 1845, when they were
located at 87 Fulton Street, New York City. This New York & New Haven
railroad map is 10’ long:
Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdAuthors20.html
A more-detailed description of the same map is on the David Rumsey Map
Collection page, which specializes in cartography:
David Rumsey Map Collection
"Lines for the New York and New Haven Railroad"
http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps6540.html
Over time, the company printed not only maps but also
point-of-purchase materials and stock certificates. The Dec. 13, 1953
New York Times has a picture of an old advertising poster printed by
the company for Eagle Brand condensed milk in the 1870s.
Dr. Seuss (Theodore Seuss Geisel) also did an ad for Snyder & Black
early in his career:
University of California at San Diego
"The Advertising Artwork of Dr. Seuss" (undated)
http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dsads/snyderblack/index.shtml
http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dsads/index.shtml
In 1947 the company was at 200 William Street in New York, having
purchased the 11-story building on a 15-year mortgage. The company is
often mentioned in the Advertising column of the New York Times
between then and 1968 as a point-of-sale specialist. In 1952, the
city of New York’s Department of Commerce honored the company as one
of more than 250 companies which had been in the city since its
founding.
In April, 1958 the company was still known as Snyder & Black.
However, by March, 1960 the New York Times starts to refer to the
company as Snyder & Black & Schlegel. In 1964, William Mee left the
Point-of-Purchase Advertising Institute to join the company as
general manager.
One of the last articles on the company in the New York Times is in
July, 1967 in the obituary of one of its executives, George Percival
Hughes. At that time the company was based in White Plains, New York.
On February 23, 1968 the Advertising column in the Times mentions
that Bernard L. Martin was appointed corporate director of creative
and production activities - - then
there is no further mention of the company.
There is apparently no article in the Times about the name change in
the late 1950s nor is there any indication of a merger or dissolution
of the company. The company is not currently listed in White Plains.
An excellent way to track acquisitions is through the St. James Press
books, “International Directory of Company Histories.” It shows no
acquisition of the company. Nor do any of the executives appear in
Marquis Who’s Who, another way to track business events.
Google search strategy:
"Snyder & Black"
Snyder + Black + Schlegel
Use of Proquest Historical newspaper collection to search New York
Times. This is a fee-based service but available at many public
libraries.
A couple of other notes here:
The Point-of—Purchase Advertising Institute still exists. I have put
in a query to them to see if they have any records of Snyder & Black &
Schlegel. The company is NOT in their membership database. I’ll post
a comment or clarification should I learn anything additional.
Finally, this is no the first time that I’ve searched for a defunct
lithographer or typesetter. You may be interested in seeing what we
found out concerning a Chicago company in the business from this
Google Answer on the Poole Brothers:
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=148934
Best regards,
Omnivorous-GA |
