Title: O. N. Falk & Son Druggists Records
Inclusive Dates: 1904-1946

Creator:

• O.N. Falk & Son Druggists (Stoughton, Wis.)

Call Number: Mss 817

Quantity: 18.6 c.f. (45 archives boxes and 1 oversize box)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Records of a Rexall/United Drug Company drug store in Stoughton, Wisconsin, purchased in 1866 and operated by Ole N. Falk alone or in partnership with others, including son Elmer, who sold it in 1955. The store sold not only drugs, but cosmetics and toiletries; Victor Records and phonographs, sheet music, and musical instruments; tobacco products, liquor, other beverages, and confections; books, magazines, newspapers, and paper goods; paint and hardware, clothing, athletic equipment and games, photographic film and processing services, and many other items. The records reflect the impact on the business of two world wars, the Depression, and Prohibition. The records consist mainly of advertising materials, along with some orders, invoices, and correspondence. Also included are some letters concerning personal financial matters; mailings from Madison, Stoughton and Dane County civic and fraternal organizations; and materials Falk received as a University of Wisconsin and Kappa Sigma alumnus.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00817

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Ole N. Falk purchased his Stoughton, Wisconsin, pharmacy in 1866, shortly after he mustered out of the Union army. He took over the oldest pharmacy in Stoughton, with origins dating back to 1854. After a series of other business partners, Falk took his sons into partnership--Nelson (from 1880 to 1893), and Elmer in 1905. O. N. Falk died in 1915, but his widow continued in partnership with her son until 1923, when he became sole owner. The store sold not only drugs, but many items and services similar to a general store. It became a Rexall/United Drug Company store and was an agent for Victor Records. It was sold in 1955.

The material consists of four series: ADVERTISING, CORRESPONDENCE, FINANCIAL RECORDS, and MISCELLANY. All except the ADVERTISING are arranged chronologically and all contain undated materials.

The ADVERTISING series, 1907-1946, contains advertising materials from manufacturers and suppliers, including both retail advertising materials and wholesale advertising which solicited Falk's business for products and services. The series includes catalogs and brochures, some product samples, demonstration merchandise layouts and displays, posters and banners, form letters, many advertisements for local newspaper use, and blank order forms (those actually used for orders are in the FINANCIAL RECORDS series). Especially prominent, since Falk was a Rexall outlet and Victor Records agent, are materials from Rexall/United Drug Company and Victor Records. It is not clear whether Falk actually stocked all of the items promoted to him, but the advertisements themselves comprise a useful research file, because of the variety of items advertised and the long time span of the records, and the information on the art of advertising methods.

The series is divided alphabetically into the following categories, each of which is arranged chronologically:

• Cosmetics and sundries
• Drugs, miscellaneous
• Music--phonographs and records, radios, sheet music, musical instruments
• Other--paint and hardware, athletic goods and games, pens and pencils, photographic film and processing, clothing, luggage, pet supplies, rubber products, electrical appliances, household products, livestock remedies, seeds, miscellany
• Publications and paper goods--magazines, newspapers, books; stationery, postcards, greeting cards, decorations, and paper goods
• Rexall/United Drug Company--general drugs and sundries, contests, conventions, Falk & Son advertising flyers; Rexall Magazine (a free magazine for customers)
• Tobacco products, liquor and other beverages, candy and confections, other food

The CORRESPONDENCE series, 1906-1946, consists almost entirely of incoming correspondence from manufacturers, distributors, publishers, and customers concerning orders placed by Falk. Also included are materials from the state and federal government concerning pharmaceutical and liquor-related matters.

The FINANCIAL series, 1904-1945, consists of miscellaneous orders, invoices, and some contracts. The material is a very incomplete record of transactions, but gives some indication of the items actually sold in the store. There are no financial ledgers or summaries.

MISCELLANY, 1911-1946, consists mainly of correspondence to Elmer Falk relating to personal, investing, insurance and miscellaneous financial matters. Also included are mailings and other materials from the University of Wisconsin's Alumni Association, School of Pharmacy, and Athletic Department (Elmer was Class of 1903); Kappa Sigma fraternity; the Wisconsin Pharmaceutical Association; Stoughton school district; the Madison Club; and various other local pharmaceutical, civic and fraternal organizations. This series also contains several undated samples of decorative fabrics and foil for business interior and window trimming.

Photographs of Elmer Falk and the Falk drug store taken by John Newhouse in 1948 for a Wisconsin State Journal article, and a photograph of Ole N. Falk and his brothers (donated by Dr. Victor N. Falk), are located in the Visual and Sound Archives Name File.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Shirley Linnerud, Stoughton, Wisconsin, 1975. Accession Number: M75-420

Processing Information

Processed by Myrna Williamson, 1992.

	Series: Advertisements
	Cosmetics and sundries
Box   1 Folder   1	No date
Box   1 Folder   2-13	1908 - 1927
Box   2 Folder   1-11	1928 - 1930, September
Box   3 Folder   1-10	1930, October - 1934
Box   4 Folder   1-13	1935 - 1946
Box   46 Folder   1	Oversize
	Drugs, miscellaneous
Box   5 Folder   1	No date
Box   5 Folder   2-14	1907 - 1929
Box   6 Folder   1-9	1930 - 1933
Box   7 Folder   1-9	1934 - 1942
Box   8 Folder   1-4	1943 - 1946
Box   46 Folder   2	Oversize
	Music
Box   8 Folder   5-7	No date
Box   8 Folder   8-14	1909 - 1919
Box   9 Folder   1-10	1920 - 1922
Box   10 Folder   1-8	1923 - 1924
Box   11 Folder   1-8	1925
Box   12 Folder   1-10	1926 - 1927, April
Box   13 Folder   1-9	1927, May - 1928, March
Box   14 Folder   1-9	1928, May - 1929, May
Box   15 Folder   1-9	1929, June - 1930, July
Box   16 Folder   1-13	1930, August - 1939
Box   17 Folder   1-4	1941 - 1945
Box   46 Folder   3-6	Oversize
	Other
Box   17 Folder   5-6	No date
Box   17 Folder   7-12	1908 - 1921
Box   18 Folder   1-11	1922 - 1927
Box   19 Folder   1-12	1928 - 1930
Box   20 Folder   1-9	1931 - 1934
Box   21 Folder   1-10	1935 - 1943
Box   22 Folder   1-2	1945 - 1946
Box   46 Folder   7	Oversize
	Publications and paper goods
Box   22 Folder   3	No date
Box   22 Folder   4-11	1907 - 1923
Box   23 Folder   1-9	1924 - 1928
Box   24 Folder   1-10	1929 - 1931
Box   25 Folder   1-15	1932 - 1942
Box   26 Folder   1-3	1943 - 1946
Box   46 Folder   8	Oversize
	Rexall/United
	General
Box   26 Folder   4	No date
Box   26 Folder   5-13	1907 - 1926
Box   27 Folder   1-10	1927 - 1935
Box   28 Folder   1-9	1936 - 1946
Box   46 Folder   9	Oversize
	Rexall Magazine
Box   28 Folder   10-11	1919, 1923 - 1924, 1927 - 1930
Box   28 Folder   12-13	1935 - 1938
Box   29 Folder   1-2	1939 - 1943
	Tobacco products, liquor, beverages, confections
Box   29 Folder   3-4	No date
Box   29 Folder   5-12	1907 - 1923
Box   30 Folder   1-11	1924 - 1930
Box   31 Folder   1-14	1931 - 1945
Box   46 Folder   10	Oversize
	Series: Correspondence	⇧
Box   31 Folder   15-16	No date
Box   31 Folder   17-18	1906 - 1911
Box   32 Folder   1-9	1912 - 1918
Box   33 Folder   1-9	1919 - 1921
Box   34 Folder   1-9	1922 - 1924
Box   35 Folder   1-11	1925 - 1927, September
Box   36 Folder   1-9	1927, October - 1929
Box   37 Folder   1-8	1930 - 1932
Box   38 Folder   1-11	1933 - 1939
Box   39 Folder   1-5	1941 - 1946
	Series: Financial Records	⇧
Box   39 Folder   6-8	No date
Box   40 Folder   1-8	1904 - 1920
Box   41 Folder   1-6	1921 - 1926
Box   42 Folder   1-8	1927 - 1931
Box   43 Folder   1-8	1938 - 1941
Box   44 Folder   1-4	1942 - 1945
	Series: Miscellaneous	⇧
Box   44 Folder   5	No date
Box   44 Folder   6-13	1911 - 1927
Box   45 Folder   1-18	1928 - 1935, 1939, 1941 - 1946