Thomas B. Jamison papers

Finding Aid

Prepared by Merritt Donaghy, February 5, 1977; Revised by Emily Hall, June 3, 2003; Last Updated: August 2020

Inclusive Dates: 1908-1944
Extent: 2.5 cubic feet (2 record storage boxes and 1 half-size record storage box)
Physical Location: 11th floor

Biographical Note: Around 1909, Thomas B. Jamison (1887-1966) went to work for the Cleveland Electrical Supply (later Western Electric and then Graybar) in Cleveland. It was there he met his wife whom he married in 1910. Jamison owned and operated several hardware and electrical businesses on the east side of Cleveland from 1914-1940.

Scope and Content: Dating from 1908 to 1944, the materials in this collection document Jamison's work in an era of rapid eastward development in Cleveland during the earliest years of converting gas lamps to electric. The bulk of the collection consists of various ledgers, record, and account books. Included is a sheet of billing paper from the Geneva store bearing the Jamison light bulb trademark, designed for him in the 1920s by Carl Hurlburt, originator of the famous Sherwin-Williams globe and paint emblem.

Processing Information: Originally processed under the archives identification D.9.2.

Acquisition Information: The business records of Thomas B. Jamison were donated to Special Collections and Archives on October 24, 1976 by his widow, Hazel Jamison of Geneva, Ohio.

Box 1
Folder--Contents

1. Sales book, 1908-1910
2. Check stubs and bank balance sheets, 1909-1910
3. Cash book, 1908-1909
4. Account book, alphabetical, 1908-1909
5. Inventory, 1915
6. Record book of sales and orders, 1914
7. Uncontrollable accounts, alphabetical, 1922-1931
8. Uncollectable accounts, 1922-26

Box 2
Folder -- Contents

Uncontrollable accounts, 1919-1926

Box 3
Folder--Contents

1. Accounts receivable, not billed, 1935
2. Cash sales book, 1935
3. Account book, 1938-1940
4. Ledger book, 1924-1940
5. Cash sales, purchases and expenses, 1944
6. Account book "Jamison's Electric and Radio Shop," 1940-1943 (oversized, shelved with rest of collection)
7. Hardware Age Inventory Record, 1937 (oversized, shelved with rest of collection)