Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Archives related to: Laidacker, Samuel H., 1902-1994

titleSamuel H. Laidacker Papers, 1880-1987
repositoryThe Winterthur Library
descriptionThe collection consists of Samuel Laidacker's business papers, including correspondence; card files; sales lists and sales records; issues of American Antiques Collector; photographs; printed material from antiques shows and auctions, including auction catalogs and price lists; newspaper and magazine clippings; and miscellaneous publications. As well, there are some papers from John Gideon Laidacker’s antiques business, and some nineteenth century documents, mostly records of land sales, that have nothing to do with the antiques business but which came in with the rest of the papers.

Important correspondents include Alma and Paul Brunner, Albert W. Claflin, H. F. du Pont, Charles B. Gardner, Ima Hogg , Ruth Webb Lee, Albert C. Marble, George S. McKearin, Jim Rose, Lorraine Southern, Mrs. J. Watson Webb, and R.H. ("Dick") Wood.

The card files include names and addresses of collectors and dealers, subscribers to American Antiques Collector, and notes on the classification of china. The box of magazine and newspaper clippings offers research material on glass and ceramics. The photographs are pictures of china, furniture, glass, textiles, people, metal objects, etc., but unfortunately many are not identified or documented.

The materials about auctions are arranged by name of auction house and are not indexed by the name of the person whose estate was being offered for sale. The show literature is arranged geographically; researchers should note that the names of annual shows sometimes change.

The sales lists, the dates of which range over 40 years, include those issued by Laidacker as well as those issued by some of his competitors. Laidacker coded his lists in the following way: List 5603 is May 1960, list 3; while List 12581 is December 1958, list 1.

Location
The Winterthur Library: Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera, Winterthur, DE 19735.

Call Number
Col. 64
extent19 cubic ft. (79 boxes)
formatsCorrespondence Notes Inventories Photographs Printed Materials
accessMost items are in good condition, except carbon copies of Laidacker's outgoing correspondence which are on brittle paper.
record linkhttp://findingaid.winterthur.org/html/HTML_Finding_Aids/COL0064.htm
record sourcehttp://library.winterthur.org:8000/cgi-bin/webgw
finding aidFolder list with longer biographical note available at repository.
acquisition informationGift of Samuel Laidacker.
updated03/16/2023 10:29:55
....................................................................