Appleton Electric Company Photograph Collection

2014.24.10J_Front

2014.24.10J_Front

Name/Title

Appleton Electric Company Photograph Collection

Entry/Object ID

2014.24.10

Scope and Content

Collection of sixteen photographs from the Appleton Electric Company in Chicago, Illinois and South Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Context

Albert Ivar Appleton founded the Appleton Electric Company in Nov. 1903. The original plant was located at 221 Washington Street, Chicago, Illinois. It consisted of 500 square feet of manufacturing area – more than enough room for its two employees. The original line of products manufactured at the 221 Washington address consisted entirely of telephone fuse blocks and fuses. The AutoReelite was one the earliest lighting products from Appleton. It fastened on the outside of the driver’s side of the car and functioned as a hand-held work light for emergency repairs along the road at night. In 1908, the company expanded its line to include outlet boxes and conduit fittings, a forerunner of the Roughing In Division. This addition necessitated a move to larger quarters at Jefferson and Lake Streets in Chicago. In 1926, 65,000 square feet were added* in Chicago. In 1927, the company acquired foundry facilities. Between 1937 and 1950, five additions were made to the original building. In 1947, the Goodrich Electric Company was acquired, heralding the beginning of Appleton’s lighting fixtures, now known as its Lighting Division. Albert Ivar Appleton retired in 1948 and his son Arthur Ivar Appleton assumed the active management of the business as President after him. When the company started, Appleton manufactured approximately 20 items. 100 years later, the company offered more than 24,000 products in its catalog. Appleton has equipped many businesses, industrial buildings, and sports arenas with lighting. Since 1977, Appleton lighting products became very visible not only in Chicago, but around the world. Local Chicago buildings that equipped Appleton lighting: • The Chicago Water Tower • The Chicago Temple • Merchandise Mart • NBC Tower • Commonwealth Edison Building • Chicago Board of Trade Building * Not specified where but possibly at Ashland and Wellington Streets, Chicago.

Acquisition

Accession

2014.24

Source or Donor

Albert Goodman

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

Gift of Albert Goodman

Lexicon

LOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials

Business enterprises, Electric companies

Search Terms

Appleton Electric Company, Business

Archive Items Details

Title

2014.24.10.A

Description

Photograph of three women dressed in light-colored blouses and long dark-colored skirts, a woman dressed in a dark-colored outfit, and a man wearing a light-colored shirt, a dark-colored tie, a dark-colored vest, and dark-colored pants. Below the photo is an attached predominantly red label which has the inscription, "By 1921, Appleton was already outgrowing their second building." written in white letters. The measurements are 5.5 x 5.75 in.

Title

2014.24.10.B

Description

Photograph of a man dressed in a brown outfit using a mechanical device which appears to have metal rollers. The measurements are 4 x 5 in.

Title

2014.24.10.C

Description

Photograph of a man dressed in a dark brown shirt and blue pants using a circular mechanical device that resembles a scale and it appears to have a disk-like structure at the front. The measurements are 4 x 5 in.

Title

2014.24.10.D

Description

Photograph of a working room with three men, one of whom is wearing a white shirt and tan pants, one of whom is wearing a red shirt and brown pants, and one of whom is wearing a white, red, black, yellow, and gray sweater and gray pants. The measurements are 4 x 5 in.

Title

2014.24.10.E

Description

Photograph of a large gray mechanical device that's shaped somewhat like a stove, and it has the inscription, "Minster 52-150-7248" carved in yellow letters. The measurements are 4 x 4.875 in.

Title

2014.24.10.F

Description

Photograph of a man dressed in a beige shirt and dark gray pants turning a handle for a grayish-silver-colored mechanical device that appears to be a cross between a typewriter and a record-player. The measurements are 4.875 x 4 in.

Title

2014.24.10.G

Description

Photograph of a man dressed in a shirt composed of red and white horizontal stripes and black pants and he appears to be placing silver-colored metallic boxes on a grayish-silver-colored platform. The measurements are 4 x 5 in.

Title

2014.24.10.H

Description

Photograph of two men in a working room, one of whom is wearing a white shirt and tan pants and the other of whom is wearing a beige shirt with tan polka-dots and brownish-tan pants. The measurements are 4.75 x 6.875 in.

Title

2014.24.10.I

Description

Photograph of the main headquarters for the Appleton Electric Co. in Chicago - a light-colored four-story building with a dark-colored flat roof. The building extends a long distance from front to back on both the left and right sides and the measurements are 8 x 9.875 in.

Title

2014.24.10.J

Description

Photograph of the Wisconsin-Appleton Co. Building in South Milwaukee, Wi. composed of seven light-colored one-story buildings, five of which have dark-colored flat roofs, two of which have dark-colored slanted roofs, and one of which has a light-colored penthouse-like structure right above it which in turn, has a dark-colored 'V-shaped roof. The measurements are 8 x 9.875 in.

Title

2014.24.10.K

Description

Photograph of one of the branches of Appleton Electric Co. The building is four stories high and on the lower left-hand side of the photo, the inscription, "Ronneberg & Pierce Architects" is written on a medium and dark-colored background in light-colored letters while the inscription, "Austin Angell" is written on the lower right-hand side of the photo on a medium-colored background in dark-colored letters. The measurements are 8 x 9.875 in.

Title

2014.24.10.L

Description

Photograph of a light-colored building that belonged to the Appleton Electric Company. The building is partially one story high and partially three stories high. The lower end of the photo has the inscription, "Jefferson Street Office 1908" written on a white background in black letters. The measurements are 8.5 x 10.875 in.

Title

2014.24.10.M

Description

Photograph of part of an Appleton Electric Co. Building. The structure is at least three stories high, has a dark-colored staircase on the exterior that was most likely used for special projects and emergencies. The measurements are 9.875 x 8 in.

Title

2014.24.10.N

Description

Photograph of a very wide dark-colored carriage with light-colored sections in the front and 10 light-colored wheels being steered by a man at the vehicle's upper level with the help of a horse that's dark-colored and at the ground level. The carriage has the inscriptions, ''212-4 "Unilets"' and "Appleton Electric Co. Conduit Fittings 212-214 N. Jefferson St." written on respective dark-colored backgrounds in light-colored letters. The measurements are 8 x 9.875 in.

Title

2014.24.10.O

Description

Photograph of the Appleton Electric Co.'s Lighting Catalogues for 1928-1935, 1948, 1950, 1956, and 1958, miscellaneous catalogues for 1940-1944, 1949, 1951-1953, and 1957-1959, and explosion-proof catalogues for 1930-1938 and 1949 and 1950. The measurements are 8 x 10 in.

Title

2014.24.10.P

Description

Photograph of various brown, tan, orange, burnt-orange, grayish-white, yellow, and white-covered catalogues from the Appleton Electric Co. The years represented are 1903-34, 1936-42, and 1946-55. The measurements are 8 x 10 in.

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Appleton Electric Company