Description
Moran's papers contain family and business correspondence, including a large collection
of picture postcards, photographs, and a small amount of memorabilia.
Background
Thomas Moran (1882-1963) was a Stockton, Calif. bakery truck driver and bibliophile. He
came to Stockton in 1904, working first as a streetcar motorman, and, from 1909 until his
retirement in 1951, for the Gravem-Inglis Bakery. Moran began collecting books in 1929.
When he died, he left behind a library of some 15,000 volumes. Among other treasures,
this library included a first edition copy of Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, as well as
first edition copies of the works of Thornton Wilder, Erskine Caldwell and Conrad
Richter.