[An unusual archive of sample product letters addressed to the famed N.N. Hill Brass Co. of East Hampton, Massachusetts which from the 19th- into the 20th-Century was one of the largest manufacturers of toys, and bells. The preserved samples offer an essential colour and texture guide to the materials used for children’s toys, as well as other novelty items produced by the company up through World War I].

[East Hampton, North Adams, & Boston, MA; Bethlehem, PA, & New York: Caulkins & Post Co.; Harry S. Millard; Henry Lindenmeyr & Sons; Stewart & Sparry; Pettinos Brothers, Atha V. Hughes; Barber Leather Co.; N.N. Hill Brass Co., 1893-1918]. 4to. 72 letters, some, mimeographed, others typed carbon copies, and a few ALS, sized 5.75 x 9.25 in. up to 8.5 x 11 in., many on steel-engraved letterhead, a couple on ruled paper, and many featuring the offsetting from the leather dyes, with over 40 attached samples of papers, White coated sign muslin, foundry sand, and assorted leathers. All preserved in archival mylar sleeves in recent full calf 3-ring binder, w/ stamping. An exceptional archive of original TLS many with original samples of paper, leather, and even sand which were used in ever increasing quantities by the noted manufacturer of sleigh bells, bells, pull toys, and many other toys for children from the Gilded Age through World War I. The earliest letter dated Feb. 10, 1899, includes two paper samples from the Henry Lindenmeyr & Sons Paper Warehouse in New York on Bleeker Street noting that “we can furnish in the shade of your sample at $ 8.00 per hundred sheets basis 25 x 36. We could not make less than a thousand yards.” Sixty, or the majority, of the letters and samples were sent by the Barber Co. beginning in 1902, and continuing into World War I. Their letters and samples describe the colour, grain, and general finish of the included samples as well as their perfect applications in “baby carriage straps, shawl straps, small cases [i.e. for toys], small tool boxes,” and of course sleigh bells, and bell hangers, and bell flappers, as well as handle grips. Leathers encompass Red Straight Grain Cowhide, Pigskin straps, Black Bell Leather, Walnut Strap Leather, and specialized leathers for tumbling purposes for brasswork. Barber (1836-1909) was the longtime owner and operator of the Barber Leather Co. in North Adams until his death when his son Archer Barber took over the business. Many of the samples offered to the Hill Brass Co. are mounted on TLS and TLS copy letters from Harry S. Millard, who later was brought into the Barber Co. in 1914 as Treasurer of the Company. The samples here include splits, black pig leather, as well as embossed strips in assorted coloured leather, Caulkins & Post whose building at 484-494 Main Street in Middletown was considered one of the first “modern” stores, and specialized in drapes, window shades, furniture and bicycles before opening up their successful card dealership in 1903. The Hill Brass Co. required products beyond leathers & papers as shown by the reply to their request for a quote for White Sign Muslin (waterproof textile), intended for use on children’s carriages and go-carts. For their manufacturing processes they required foundry sands, and the Pettinos Brothers based in Columbia, Ceylon, Bethlehem, PA, and Mexico sent them a sample of their plumbago “high grade Ceylon stock.” There is even a May 29, 1905 solicitation letter from F. von Bardeleben after seeing the Hill Brass Co. exhibit at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair mentioning that his company can supply a “very fine grade of non-poisonous unchangeable paints to be used for painting toys.” The N.N. Hill Brass Co. founded by Norman Newton Hill (1863-1950) in 1889 operated until the early 1960’s, was one of the largest factory’s in the World producing bells & toys, and by the 1930’s produced Walt Disney merchandise. Along with the Bevin Brothers, and other local Massachusetts foundries, they manufactured Salvation Army bells, sleight bells, bicycle bells, alarm bells and more. See: N.N. Hill Brass Company Business Correspondence, Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation, Huntington Library; Edward T. Howe, Small Bells of Connecticut: One Town Made Sounds that Rang in Millions of Ears, New England Historical Society (2019); Norman N. Hill Brass Company, Connecticut Historical Society (2020).