00440 HALL HARDWARE COMPANY (MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.).: An Inventory of Its Company Records Finding aid prepared by David B. Peterson. Minnesota Historical Society

St. Paul MN.

Manuscripts Collection

Finding aid encoded by Lyda Morehouse, February 3, 2000.Finding aid written inEnglish August 2008Converted from EAD Version 1.0 to Version 2002 by Monica Manny Ralston, Daniel Sher, and Joyce Chapman. OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION Minnesota Historical Society Hall Hardware Company (Minneapolis, Minn.). Company records. 1913-1951. Records of a Minneapolis-based hardware wholesaler that sold merchandise to member retailers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. 3.0 cu. ft. (3 boxes). See Detailed Description section for box locations. HISTORY OF THE HALL HARDWARE COMPANY

The Northwestern Hardware Company was organized on February 8, 1913 in Minneapolis by and for retail hardware dealers of the Northwestern states, to buy and sell hardware and related products wholesale to retail hardware and general store merchants.

The directors of the Northwestern Hardware Company met with several prominent Minnesota hardware men on May 15, 1913, and agreed to organize a wholesale hardware company. On June 9, 1913 it was decided to incorporate the company under the name of Hall Hardware Company, and it was agreed that all subscriptions of hardware dealers taken under the name of the Northwestern Hardware Company would be received into the Hall Hardware Company. Incorporators included George E. Hall, of Fargo, North Dakota, and G. H. Reeves and Fred N. Furber, both of Minneapolis. Subscriptions for the capital stock of the corporation were invited from persons engaged in the retail hardware business in the Northwest. By 1933 Hall Hardware supplied 450 retail hardware stores in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. In 1949 the name of the firm was changed to Our Own Hardware Company.

The Hall Building Company was incorporated in 1918 as a holding company to finance, construct, and operate a building in Minneapolis under lease to the Hall Hardware Company. Securities were offered for sale to members of the Hall Hardware Company,

their clerks, relatives, and a few other individuals. The directors of the Hall Building Company were the same as those of the Hall Hardware Company.

SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION

Includes minutes of directors, stockholders, and executive committee meetings; annual financial reports; a stockholders register; printed historical materials; and miscellaneous correspondence and papers. There is some information about the Northwestern Hardware Company, and there are some records of the Hall Building Company and Our Own Hardware Company.

ARRANGEMENT OF THE COLLECTION

The records are organized into the following sections:

Hall Hardware Company Records. Hall Building Company Records. Oversize Materials. CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics: Business enterprises--Minnesota--Minneapolis. Dealers (Retail trade). Distributors (Commerce). Hardware--Northwestern States Hardware industry--Minnesota--Minneapolis. Hardware stores. Retail trade. Wholesale trade--Minnesota--Minneapolis. Persons: Hall, George E., 1864-1950. Organizations: Hall Building Company (Minneapolis, Minn.). Northwestern Hardware Company (Minneapolis, Minn.). Our Own Hardware Company (Minneapolis, Minn.). ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Hall Hardware Company Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,525

Processing Information:

Processed by: David B. Peterson, October 1999

Catalog ID number: 09-00321250

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION HALL HARDWARE COMPANY RECORDS 144.E.7.10F 1 Annual financial reports:

Include audit reports, balance sheets, profit and loss statements.

1913-1932. 2 volumes. 1933-1948. 8 folders. 1949 (Our Own Hardware Company). Corporate record book, 1913-1926.

See box 3.

Death announcements, 1937-1949.

Company-issued announcements for directors and member/stockholders.

Directors meeting minutes:

Includes copies of the company's articles of incorporation and of various revised versions.

1926-1943. 16 folders. 144.E.8.1B 2 1944-1948. 5 folders. 1949-1950 (Our Own Hardware Company). Executive committee minutes: 1936-1948. 7 folders. 1949-1951 (Our Own Hardware Company). George Hall articles about selling hardware, 1929.

See box 3.

Historical information, undated and 1933.

See box 3.

Letters to stockholders from company management, 1915-1949. 5 folders.

Includes annual meeting announcements, financial statements, circular letters, information about stock sales, stock retirements, corporate policy, and the Hall Building Company. There are also letters to prospects by G. E. Hall (1924), and profit dividend letters (1915-1928).

Manager's reports to the board of directors, 1916-1925. President's reports, 1945-1949. 4 folders.

Reports and speeches to directors, stockholders, and executive committee meetings. Includes Hall Hardware Company, Hall Building Company, and Our Own Hardware Company.

Stockholders meeting minutes: 1915-1918 (Extracts). 1928-1929. 1932-1939. 4 folders. 144.E.8.2F 3 Stockholders meeting minutes: 1940-1941.

Includes a list of affiliated stores.

1942-1949. 3 folders. 1949-1950 (Our Own Hardware Company). HALL BUILDING COMPANY RECORDS 144.E.8.2F 3 Correspondence and miscellaneous papers, 1922-1951.

Includes prospectuses, circular letters to stockholders, lists of stockholders, financial reports, and other materials.

Minutes: 1918-1937. 1 volume.

Includes articles of incorporation, bylaws, financial reports, incorporators meeting minutes, and minutes of board and stockholders meetings.

1918-1949. 5 folders.

Includes manager's reports, letters to stockholders, proxies, and directors, executive committee, and stockholders meeting minutes.

OVERSIZE MATERIALS 144.E.8.2F 3 Corporate record book, 1913-1926.

Includes articles of incorporation, bylaws, incorporators meeting minutes (1913), and minutes of directors and stockholders meetings. There is some information about the Northwestern Hardware Company at the front of the volume.

George Hall articles about selling hardware, 1929. Historical information, undated and 1933. Stockholders registers, undated and 1920-1921.

Gives names of member firms and their locations.