Diehl Incorporated records

The records of Diehl, Inc. of Defiance, Ohio encompass the production and shift in corporate emphasis over the years covered by the collection, ranging from just before Prohibition through to the beginning of the 21st Century.

Of particular note, related to the Christian Diehl Brewing Company, there are blueprints of the Defiance, Ohio plant layout and equipment as well as balance sheet information that gives profit and loss figures, including production, raw materials, selling, delivery, and administration. Other items that deal with the brewery aspect of the operation include the scrapbooks that trace the repeal of Prohibition as the company tried to pick up that aspect of its product line.

More material in the collection deals with the diversified aspect of the Diehl operation as they moved into the milk products industry, first with the condensory and the line of evaporated milk under the Jerzee label, and later into other powdered milk and non-dairy creamer products. The process involved is illustrated in the Defiance Milk Products Co. booklets, and more informally in many of the photographs and slides in the collection.

Information related to the Diehl family and company employees is more limited, but some material can be found scattered through the scrapbooks, which include obituaries and news articles covering Diehl family members, in the photographs, where some employees pictured are identified, and in such diverse records as the insurance papers, where a few employees are listed due to the need to have them bonded.