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COLLECTION Identifier: Mss:435 1812-1945 B168

Walter Baker & Company records

Overview

Records of the Massachusetts based chocolate manufacturer Walter Baker & Company.

Dates

  • Creation: 1812-1945

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Materials stored onsite. Please contact specialcollectionsref@hbs.edu for more information.

Extent

14 linear feet (151 volumes, 2 boxes)

Ledgers, journals, cash books, payrolls, sales journals, shipments, scrapbooks, letter books, and a small amount of unbound material. The earliest volume is a memo book of Walter Baker, containing notes taken at the Litchfield, Connecticut Law School and copies of letters relating to the manufacture of woolens and of chocolate. Payroll records show the names, pay and days worked by women factory workers from 1868 to 1928. The collection also contains marketing materials directed at women, including over a dozen recipe books issued by the company from 1912 to 1932. Also included in the collection are two account books (1843-1867) of Sidney B. Williams and two account books (1896-1900) of Josiah Webb & Co., makers of chocolate, Milton, Massachusetts.

Historical Note:

American company that produced chocolate. The firm was established in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1780 by James Baker (1739-1825) and continued by his son Edmund Baker (1770-1846) and grandson Walter Baker (1792-1852). Henry L. Pierce (1825-1896) controlled the firm for 42 years and expanded it from a local business to the leading chocolate firm in the country. In 1927 it became part of General Foods.

Series Outline

The collection is arranged in the following series:

  1. Series I. Financial records, 1834-1945
  2. Series II. Administrative records, 1863-1940
  3. Series III. Correspondence, 1812-1913

Physical Location

MANU

Author
Baker Library
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
bak00224

Repository Details

Part of the Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School Repository

Baker Library Special Collections and Archives holds unique resources that focus on the evolution of business and industry, as well as the records of the Harvard Business School, documenting the institution's development over the last century. These rich and varied collections support research in a diverse range of fields such as business, economic, social and cultural history as well as the history of science and technology.

Contact:
Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
Soldiers Field Road
Boston MA 01263 USA
(617) 495-6411