Title: John C. Sammis Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1917-1947

Creator:

• Sammis, John C.

Call Number: Mss 226; PH 3690

Quantity: 1.0 c.f. (1 record center carton) and photographs

Repository:

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

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

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

Abstract:

Papers, mainly 1941-1947, collected by John C. Sammis, head of the advertising department of the Gisholt Machine Co. of Madison, Wisconsin. The collection includes product literature and guides, trade publication advertisements, miscellaneous material concerning the impact of World War II on advertising, files related to participation in the Milwaukee Industrial Advertising Association and the National Industrial Advertising Association, fragmentary correspondence, photographs, and a few files on administration of the company.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00226

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John C. Sammis was head of the advertising/publicity department of the Gisholt Machine Company, a Madison, Wisconsin, firm which produced turret lathes, automatic lathes, superfinishers, special machines, and balancing machines for the production of a wide variety of machine parts including airplane engine crankcases and (during World War II) parts for munitions, tanks, and guns. The Gisholt Machine Co. was originally founded in 1889 as an offshoot of the Fuller and Johnson Co., a farm implement dealership.

The papers provide little information on Sammis' career, but it seems likely that he began his employment in the department about January, 1941. His duties included implementing administrative decisions for the department, preparing product literature and service manuals for domestic and foreign mailings, preparing bleed pages for trade publications, and coordinating publicity for the company.

In addition, he was a member of the Milwaukee Industrial Advertising Association and the National Industrial Advertising Association. He also represented Gisholt during World War II on the War Advertising Council.

The Sammis papers are a small collection, but they are of interest to researchers for several reasons. First, they include an extensive collection of advertising materials produced by a manufacturer of machine tools, and secondly they provide some insights on the impact of World War II on advertising in that sector. Finally, although Gisholt was a major Wisconsin employer for many years, the Historical Society holds virtually no other research source material on the firm.

The papers have been arranged into three series: product literature and guides, advertising, and Gisholt Machine Co. administration.

PRODUCT LITERATURE AND GUIDES consists of extensive literature on the manufacturer's product (including some Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian translations), tool catalogs (1942, 1946), service manuals, sectional drawings for turret lathes, service guides, and bleed pages for trade publications. The advertising bleed pages reflect themes such as cost savings in production, safety, ease of operation (aimed at women), speed in production, and, most commonly, production for the war effort.

The ADVERTISING material consists of material from the Machine Tool Show in Chicago (September 17-26, 1947), correspondence, reference material on advertising, and personal papers relating to membership in the Milwaukee Industrial Advertising Association and the National Industrial Advertising Association. The NIAA material, the supplements to “A Guide for Effective War-time Advertising,” and an in-house survey on advertising preferences document well the theme of production for the war effort.

GISHOLT MACHINE CO. ADMINISTRATION files contain page proofs for a manual, “Job Evaluation and Job Relationships,” (1947) which contains very detailed job descriptions produced in conjunction with the plant committee; miscellaneous memoranda concerning administration; newsletters; information on profit sharing; and a 1945 annual report. Some additional corporate publications are held by the Historical Society Library. Additional information on Gisholt activities during World War II can be found in the August 30, 1942 edition of the Capital Times.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Cleo Sammis, Madison, Wisconsin, October 7, 1985. Accession Number: M85-478

Processing Information

Processed by Bill Beaudreau and Carolyn J. Mattern, 1987.

	Series: Product Literature and Guides
Mss 226 Box   1 Folder   1-2	Product literature, undated
Box   1 Folder   3-4	Tool catalogs, 1942, 1946
Box   1 Folder   5	Performance data bulletins, undated
	Service manuals and sectional drawings
Box   1 Folder   6	No. 3 ram type turret lathe, 1940
Box   1 Folder   7	“1L” & “2L” saddle type turret lathes, 1945
Box   1 Folder   8	“2L” high production turret lathe, 1940
Box   1 Folder   9	“4L” high production turret lathe, 1940
Box   1 Folder   10	Gisholt tool lathe guide, Care and use, 1917
Box   1 Folder   11	Miscellaneous guides for turret lathes
Box   1 Folder   12	Guides for balancing machines, 1944, 1945
Box   1 Folder   13	Printed guides to superfinishing, 1947
Box   1 Folder   14	Miscellaneous guides and instructions, 1947
	Series: Advertising	⇧
	Trade paper advertisements
Box   1 Folder   15-16	General bleed pages, undated
Box   1 Folder   17	Iron Age, December 27, 1945, and American Machinist, , January 16, 1947 & , September 11, 1947
Box   1 Folder   18	Correspondence, 1942-1947
Box   1 Folder   19	Layouts and designs, 1945, 1947
PH 3690	Photographs used for advertising purposes
Mss 226 Box   1 Folder   20-21	Machine Tool Show, Chicago, September 17-26, 1947
Box   1 Folder   22	Milwaukee Association of Industrial Advertisers, 1945-1946
Box   1 Folder   23-24	National Industrial Advertising Association, 1941-1947
Box   1 Folder   25	Preferences for advertising in-house survey, 1944
Box   1 Folder   26-27	Reference material, 1942, undated
	Series: Gisholt Machine Co. Administration	⇧
Box   1 Folder   28	Manual on Job Evaluation and Job Relationship, 1947
Box   1 Folder   29	Miscellaneous administrative material, 1946 (vacation, “job instruction training”)
Box   1 Folder   30	Miscellany re Gisholt Machine Co. (stockholders report, profit sharing plan, visitors' guide)
Box   1 Folder   31	Early newsletters, 1947: “My idea is ... from Gus of Gisholt”