Consists of a variety of ephemera pertaining to California businesses, mainly from San Francisco and the greater Bay Area, with large portions from Sacramento, Stockton, and Los Angeles. The bulk of the material dates from the mid 19th century through the early 20th century. Businesses range from major companies to small enterprises. Types of business represented include: mining, manufacturing, financial, utilities, import, transportation, travel, restaurants, and retail. Contains ephemera related to many aspects of business, including: advertisements, promotional and sales material, manufacturers sales catalogs, brochures, trade cards, forms, business cards, annual reports, stock certificates, theatrical playbills, travel guides, menus, tickets, invitations, newsletters, directories, receipts, letterhead, newspaper clippings and magazine articles.

157 boxes (78.5 Linear feet)

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Library and Archives, North Baker Research Library, California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. Consent is given on behalf of the California Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner.