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MATCHED PAIR OF ANTIQUE BUSINESS LEDGERS — PALMYRA, PENNSYLVANIA, 1929-1930
Offered here is a matched pair of hardcover account books, each a "Vernon Blank Book No. 1424" (Royal brand, 200 pages, Made in U.S.A.), bound in gray cloth with burgundy leather corners. One retains its original paper spine label reading "SERVICE BOOK"; the other carries a partial, worn label reading "JOURNAL CASH..."
These books were used together as the day-to-day business records of what appears to be a hardware and plumbing supply operation working in and around Palmyra, Pennsylvania (Lebanon County) during 1929-1930 — the early Depression era. Pages are filled edge to edge in period pencil and ink with:
• Itemized customer invoices for plumbing pipe, fittings, ells, nipples, unions, boilers, stop-waste valves, and furnace pipe• Named customers and their street addresses, including Jacob Miller (R.R. Palmyra, Pa.), John Kettering (S. Railroad St.), Earl Krall (N. Chestnut St.), Henry Wanger (N. Railroad St.), A.H. Wilhelm (N. Railroad St.), and J. Landis Shoe Factory, among many others• Detailed cash received / cash paid out ledger pages tracking day-to-day business cash flow• A running labor/payroll time sheet for an employee (John Berkman), logging daily hours and wages paid in October 1930• Additional journal entries for materials, freight, and services from local suppliers
This is genuine, unpolished small-business ephemera from a working-class Pennsylvania trade shop during a pivotal economic period — rich in surnames, street addresses, and line-item pricing that will interest local historians, genealogists, and collectors of PA regional and trade history alike.
CONDITION: As shown in photos. Cloth covers are worn at the corners and spine with expected shelf wear; one front cover has a dark stain/discoloration; paper spine labels are aged, chipped, and partially legible. Pages show toning, foxing, and handling wear consistent with age and daily use, but entries remain legible throughout. Bindings are intact and tight. Sold as a pair, as pictured. Please review all photos closely as they are part of the description.
A wonderful, research-ready piece of early 20th-century Pennsylvania trade and social history.
