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Commission Agents in the Button and Brass Trade a Century Ago

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2012

Theodore F. Marburg
Theodore F. Marburg
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska
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Extract

Commission agents are of minor significance in the distribution of semi-manufactured goods today. Data from the Census of Manufactures reveal that in 1929 only a small portion of manufacturers' sales of buttons, and of non-ferrous metal alloys and their products, was made through commission houses and agents. Approximately two thirds of such sales were made directly to industrial or other large consumers and one quarter to wholesale merchants. This condition differs markedly from that which prevailed a century ago.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business History Review , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , February 1942 , pp. 8 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1942

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References

1 The setting in which the commission merchants operated is suggested in Gras, N. S. B., Business and Capitalism (New York, 1939), pp. 195Google Scholar ff., and described in detail in Jones, F. M., Middlemen in the Domestic Trade of the United States, 1800-1860 (Urbana, 1937).Google Scholar The census data cited for the purpose of present-day comparison are drawn from Fifteenth Census of the United States, Distribution of Sales of Manufacturing Plants (Washington, 1932Google Scholar), Table 1.

A portion of the material for this article is drawn from Appendix I of a doctoral dissertation recently completed by the writer under Professor James A. Maxwell, Clark University, entitled, Management Problems and Procedures of a Manufacturing Enterprise, 1802-1852; a Case Study of the Origin of the Scovill Manufacturing Company. The chief source was a collection of documents and accounting records made available to the writer through the courtesy of the Scovill Manufacturing Company. Acknowledgments are due the General Manager's office for very greatly facilitating the use of these records.

2 J. M. L. Scovill to Leavenworth, Hayden & Scovill, 1820. See also letters for Feb. 2, 1816, and Aug. 28, 1819.

3 The wide variety of items carried by the “hardware” merchants is listed in Bishop, J. L., A History of American Manufacturers from 1608 to 1860 (Philadelphia, 1868), vol. ii, pp. 387–388.Google Scholar Interesting details are also given of the development cf domestic hardware houses during the 1820's and 1830's.

4 J. M. L. Scovill to W. H. Scovill, Mar. 6, 1832; Nov. 10, 1832; Mar. 3, 1832. An interesting reflection upon attitudes of the time can be gleaned from a further comment in the latter letter: “I have seen Leavitt. He tells me we ought not to show any mercy for he [Taylor] has outraged everything in going to purchasing goods on his own act.”

5 Evidence of Scovill initiative is seen in J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill to A. Goodyear, Aug. 17, 1829, and Feb. 21, 1829; J. M. L. Scovill to W. H. Scovill, Apr. 14, 1829.

6 On hiring salesman: G. Gray to J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill, Nov. 8, 1831; Curtis & Hand to J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill, Jan. 7, 1832, and July 22, 1833; J. M. L. Scovill to W. H. Scovill, May 26, 1833, and Sept. 24, 1834.

On payment of commissions for sales by Scovills or their salesmen: J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill to G. Taylor, Mar. 14, 1829; Gad Taylor, account current, July 1, 1828; Curtis & Hand, account current, June 30, 1832.

7 Russell, Mattison & Company to J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill, Apr. 21, 1835.

8 George H. Gray & Company to J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill, Feb. 19, 1836; Joseph Chamberlin to J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill, Oct. 16, 1835.

9 W. H. Scovill to J. M. L. Scovill, Apr. 7, 1837, referring to letter from George H. Gray; George H. Gray to J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill, Feb. 4, 1834.

10 George H. Gray to J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill, Nov. 28, 1831; Russell, Mattison & Company to J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill, Mar. 1, 1833.

11 M. L. and W. H. Scovill to G. Taylor, Mar. 21, 1829.

12 J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill to A. Goodyear & Son, Feb. 27, 1830; J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill to W. P. Mort, Feb. 27, 1830.

13 J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill to W. P. Mort, Sept. 16, 1829.

14 J. M. L. Scovill to W. H. Scovill, Feb. 7, 1839.

15 See Jones, op. cit., pp. 20 ff. On the occasion of a dispute in 1829, Gad Taylor took occasion to point out the many errands he performed, viz, “… besides my services are constantly at your command in this market as well as others and do much for you here which I get no compensation for only as I have the privilege of making sales in all markets.” Gad Taylor to J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill, Mar. 11, 1829.

16 Beat & Higginson to J. M. L. and W. H. Scovill, Aug. 13, 1832. See Cole, A. H., The American Wool Manufacture (Cambridge, 1926), vol. i, p. 212.Google Scholar

17 W. H. Scovill to J. M. L. Scovill, Dec. 1, 1840.

18 The establishment of a wholesale outlet was not altogether a new procedure on the part of manufacturers (see Cole, A. H. and, Williamson, H. F., The American Carpet Manufacture, Cambridge, 1941, p. 35Google Scholar), but it was in advance of the general practice. The development of Scovill initiative in selling constitutes an interesting chapter in early merchandising developments.

19 J. M. L. Scovill to George Mallory, Feb. 8, 1853.