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Bond Supply Company Collection

 Collection
Identifier: RH-A-4030

Scope and Contents

The Bond Supply Company, founded by Fred J. Bond c1873-1938, began in 1912 in Kalamazoo located on the southwest corner of North Rose and Eleanor Street. In the 1912 city directory, the company stated that it was "Manufacturers and Jobbers, Plumbing, Steam, Mill Well Supplies." The Bond Supply Company, a wholesale firm, was the successor of the Quinn Manufacturing Company located at the same site which employed Fred Bond. Over the years, Bond served as Secretary and General Manager joined by other officers including George Wigginton who was President of the Company along with head of the Kalamazoo Loose Leaf Binder Company. After Bond's death, the company continued under a number of other individuals including Hugh Mehaffie, George Wigginton’s son-in-law. According to a February, 1987 article in Encore magazine about Lucille Wigginton Mehaffie, George’s daughter, the Bond Supply Company supplied equipment for many of the paper mills in the area in addition to selling hardware, plumbing and heating supplies for builders. The company moved to new quarters at 524 North Rose Street in 1940 and according to an article in the Kalamazoo Gazette, they employed thirty-five people. They later re-located to 5231 E. Miller Road in 1977. The company is not listed in the city directory in 1999 and currently a firm called ETNA Supply is at the Miller Road/5231 E ML Avenue.

Dates

  • Publication: 1913

Extent

.10 Cubic Feet (1 legal size Hollinger box) : Item is bound. 618 pages. ; 6"x9.25"x3"

Language of Materials

English

Physical Description

The collection amounts to .10 cubic feet and is composed of one catalog, dated 1913, for the Bond Supply Company located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It measures 6”x9.25”x3” and is bound in black leather with marbleized black and brown paper on the inside and an expandable metal and leather binding. There are two stickers on the inside back cover indicating that the Kalamazoo Loose Leaf Binder Company produced the ledger. The catalog is approximately 618 pages filled with illustrations, information and pricing of products sold by the Bond Supply Company which advertised itself in the city directories as the "Manufacturers and Jobbers in Plumbing, Steam, Mill, Well Supplies." Almost all of the pages in the catalog are back-to-back, in black and white with some of the printing in red ink. There is an index in the front of the catalog and scattered throughout is graph paper with carbon copies of additional information about products and changes in pricing. The catalog is in good condition although there is wear along the edges of some of the pages where the paper is brittle. The metal in both the front and back is corroded and rusted in some spots. The leather in those spots also is worn. The black cover is worn on the front, back and spine. The printed typed pages continue to be legible.

General

The catalog was given to the Archives by Toni Benson a librarian at the Van Buren District Library. It remained in that collection until 2017 when a decision was made to make it a separate collection.

Subject

Source

Title
Bond Supply Company Collection Finding Aid
Status
Completed
Author
Lynn Houghton
Date
2017-04-21
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Western Michigan University Archives & Regional History Collections Repository

Contact:
Charles C. and Lynn L. Zhang Legacy Collections Center
1650 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5307 US
(269) 387-8490