W.H. Kildow Cigar Company records

Collection

Identifier: MS-0576

Staff Only

Collection Overview

Abstract

The papers of the W.H. Kildow Cigar Company, of Tiffin, Ohio span the years 1908-1969. The correspondence consists of telegrams, letters concerning financial transactions, shipment of goods, and personal matters. The legal documents include copies of the company's certificate of trade mark registration and cigarette dealer's licenses. The financial documents, which detail the financial status and conduct of the company, include receipts of purchase, invoices, accounting ledger books, product ledger books, journals, day books, and a check register. The printed materials included in the collection provide information on the marketing and advertisement strategies of the company. These include copies of boxes and bundle labels, binders of cigars, cigar magazines, and articles and booklets on the company and the tobacco industry.

Dates

Creation: 1908-1969

Extent

0.75 Cubic Feet (1 box, 3 volumes)

Creator

W.H. Kildow Cigar Company (Tiffin, Ohio) (Organization)

Scope and Contents

The most valuable aspect of the W. H. Kildow Cigar Company Collection lies in the extensive financial records. The records include a number of ledgers, receipts, bills, checks and financial correspondence most of which date from 1903 to 1938. The records provide significant evidence of the financial status of the company during the formative years of its existence. Similarly, this information provides the researcher a tool for analysis of the costs and benefits of the cigar industry in Ohio at the turn of the twentieth century, as well as the administrative procedures for operating a small business in this era.

The collection also contains a number of printed materials which provide information on the company's marketing and publicity techniques. This information also gives some indication of the society's popular culture by highlighting certain images thought to be popular during this time period. Correspondence and legal documents are included in this collection documenting business transactions and such legal issues as registration of trade marks and labels.

As a whole, the collection is significant for the knowledge of the cigar business at the turn-of-the century which it provides to the researcher. The collection clearly reveals the economic profitability and risk involved in such a venture, as well as some of the advertising and marketing methods used during the era. Although the collection is limited in scope, it does sufficiently reveal the costs and benefits of operating a semi-small business in mid-western American at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Biographical / Historical

Little information exists, unfortunately, concerning the origin and development of the company. Similarly, there is little information available concerning the current status of the company. Nevertheless, certain details in existence allow for completion of a rough outline of the company's development. W.H. Kildow founded the W.H. Kildow Cigar Company in Tiffin, Ohio in 1892. Originally, Kildow operated the business as a cigar manufacturing enterprise and was largely successful. In the 1920s, Kildow's son, T. Monroe Kildow, joined his father's business and, eventually, would take over the reins of the company. By the 1940s, the company had become involved in the wholesale cigar business. Again, the company was quite successful. Indeed, by the 1960s, the company, now permanently under the tutelage of T. Monroe Kildow, was distributing to 1,000 retail outlets in 10 Ohio counties.

The development of this business was influential in the economic development of Tiffin, and Ohio throughout the turn of the century. Kildow's company was but one example of the entrepreneurial enterprises that exploded across Ohio during this period. As a result of this commercial explosion, Ohio continued to transform from a state with an economy based in agriculture, to a fully modern commercial and industrial center.

Conditions Governing Access

No known access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, and are responsible for securing permissions necessary for publication or reproduction.

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The records were transferred to the Center for Archival Collections with the assistance of Glen Harper, Historic Preservation Officer for the Ohio Historical Society, in 1991.