The records of the Columbus Canning Company are remarkably complete, providing excellent documentation on all aspects of the company's operations from its founding in 1900 to its purchase by Stokely Foods Corporation in 1946. Of particular value is the correspondence of Frank A. Stare, a longtime officer of the company, which includes details on company policy, economic conditions, marketing strategy, and plant operations, as well as the very complete minutes and financial records. Also useful is the material documenting his involvement with various trade associations, as well as the material relating to the earlier professional activity of W. C. Leitsch.
The records are grouped in five series: Administration Records, Correspondence, Financial Records, Association Records, and Photographs.
All of the CORRESPONDENCE and ASSOCIATION RECORDS have been microfilmed. Because of their deteriorated condition the originals were destroyed after filming.
The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS include a complete run from 1900 to 1946 of minutes of meetings of the board of directors and the stockholders and reports and other materials used during these meetings. Some stock records are also included.
The CORRESPONDENCE consists of the files of the company's upper management, especially Fred A. Stare, who, with brief interruption, served as general manager from 1908 until the company's sale in 1946. Documentation of Leitsch's activities primarily consist of reports and exchanges with him in Stare's files while Leitsch was absent from Columbus on National Canners Association and other professional business.
The correspondence is arranged into four groups by type: general correspondence, canning companies, governmental agencies, and the University of Wisconsin. All files within these groups are arranged alphabetically by title.
The general company correspondence consists of letters about company policies, general plant operations, and its financial condition, as well as involvement with stockholders, trade associations and packers' brokers, the development of markets and products, and client relations. There is some correspondence with the Stokely company at the time of the merger. Correspondence with other canning companies contains detailed information on their plant operations, relations with growers and buyers, labor relations, crop performance, farming techniques, and market conditions. The correspondents here include national and Wisconsin pea and corn packers (such as the Oconomowoc Canning Company) and a smaller number of canners of fruit, juices, meats and fish.
The correspondence with the federal government pertains to wartime production and involvement with the regulatory activities of the National Recovery Administration during the 1930s. The University of Wisconsin correspondence documents cooperation of the company with the university in agricultural research projects, education, and the development of food processing technology.
The FINANCIAL RECORDS document the entire history of the company, although there are gaps within some types of records. For example, the general ledgers cover the years 1901 to 1907, 1910 to 1928, 1930 to 1931 and 1940 to 1944. There are two overlapping runs of journals, from 1901 to 1934 and from 1926 to 1945. There are also sales journals from 1929 to 1945. Crop settlement worksheets detailing the expenditures and profits of individual growers are arranged by plant location from 1914 to 1932, by year from 1933 to 1945, and again by grower from 1942 to 1944. Supplementary (and fragmentary) financial records include credit cash books, 1909-1922; accounts receivable and payable, 1931-1936; cash receipts and disbursements, 1943-1946; payrolls, 1939-1945; and a 1941-1945 inventory. Further information about the company's financial status is contained in the CORRESPONDENCE series in the files concerning relations with company accountants and securities brokers.
The ASSOCIATION RECORDS consist of the files kept by Columbus managers (primarily Stare) during their tenure as officers or committee members of the associations and the mailings distributed by these associations. The National Canners Association, Western Canners Association, and the Wisconsin Canners Association are particularly well-documented. Information on the Wisconsin Canners Association (earlier known as the Wisconsin Pea Packers Association) is particularly useful, as the records of that organization held by the Historical Society are very incomplete. Topics treated in the records include regulation of the canning industry, marketing strategies and cooperative advertising campaigns, marketing cooperatives, exchange of crop information, product availability, pricing structures, and general association business. Also here is correspondence with the Canners Seed Corporation, which Stare helped to organize, and the Canned Pea Marketing Cooperative.
The PHOTOGRAPHS show workers and exteriors of buildings at the Sun Prairie Canning Company; and an image of a flock of sheep in a paddock, related to the Columbus Canning Company.
