Manuscript Group 1089 Joseph M. Jonas (1885 – 1975) COLLECTION 1907 – 1928
Archives Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs
MG 1089 JOSEPH M. JONAS (1885-1975) COLLECTION 1907-1928
0.75
linear feet
FINDING
AID
New
Jersey Historical Society
Manuscript
Collection
Processed by: Robert Lasner,
April, 1999
Introduction
The papers of Joseph M. Jonas span the years
1907-1928, and total 0.75 linear feet. They were processed by
Robert Lasner in April of 1999.
Provenance
The papers of Joseph M. Jonas were donated
on November 10, 1978 by Mrs.
Ralph Rogers, daughter of Joseph M. Jonas.
Biographical
Sketch
Joseph M. Jonas, engraver and inventor, was
born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1885. In 1902, he moved to Newark,
New Jersey, where he married Maude Russell, of New Haven, CT., in
1907. He is first listed in the directories of the Broad
Engraving Co. in 1917. In 1919 or 1920, he set up his own
company, Joseph M. Jonas, Engraver, and soon thereafter seems to
have acquired a partner, as the business went under the name of
Jonas and Baebi, located at 359 Mulberry Street. The business
apparently went under around 1929 or 1930, and from 1930-1935,
Jonas worked in the research department of J.R. Potter Stockton,
working with radio, victrolas, and remote controls. At Stockton,
he helped patent the trip switch. From 1938-1952, he worked for
Weston as a works developer, helping to develop the aerial
thermometer. His private residence was at 141 Leslie Street.
Jonas died in 1975.
Scope
and Content Note
The Joseph M. Jonas Collection spans the
years 1907-1928. It consists primarily of business records
related to Joseph M. Jonas, Engraver, and Jonas and Baebi, Ring
Manufacturers. These business records include: check stubs and
bank deposit records, general business account ledgers, and
records of dealings with other Newark-based businesses. Also
included in the Collection are a small amount of correspondence
between Joseph M. Jonas and the Department of Commerce and Labor,
and with the Post Office Department. Additional parts of the
collection deal with artistic drawings made by Mr. Jonas, many of
which turned out to be sketches for advertising flyers. There are
also a few newspaper cutouts, presumably cut out by Mr. Jonas,
related to his artistic work. An additional item in the
collection is a technical pamphlet from the United States
Department of the Interior.
Separated Materials
Broadside 50, Jonas Manufacturing
MG
1089
Joseph
M. Jonas (1885-1975)
Collection,
1907-1928
Series
Descriptions and Container List
Series Title: General Correspondence
Box #/ Folder #: 1/1
Date: 1907-1926
Description: Correspondence between
Joseph M. Jonas and the Department of Commerce and Labor, the
Post Office Department, and various ring manufacturers.
Blank business letterheads of J.M. Jonas,
Engraver.
Series Title: Art and Drawings
Box #/ Folder #:1/2
Date: N.D.
Description: Drawings done by Joseph
M. Jonas, many of which later developed into advertising flyers;
newspaper cutouts.
Series Title: Advertising
Box #/ Folder #:1/3
Date: N.D.
Description: Flyers advertising Jonas
and Baebi Rings, Inside Clothes Lines, and Eagle
Hand Suction Cleaner.
Series Title: Miscellaneous Technical
Pamphlet
Box #/ Folder #:1/4
Date: 1924
Description: Technical Pamphlet from
the U.S. Department of Interior-Methods For the Recovery of
Platinum, Iridium, Palladium, Gold, and Silver From
Jewelers Waste
Series Title: Business Records
General Business Records
Box #/ Folder #:1/5
Date: 1916
Description: Various business Records
Account Ledger with Ziruth Kaiser, Co.
Box #/ Folder #:1/6
Date: 1923
Description: Account ledger book
Records Dealing With Other Newark Businesses
Box #/Folder #:1/7
Date: 1924-1926
Description: Records dealing with
other Newark-based businesses, including Robert E. Lee and Co.,
W.J. Patton Co., S. Massh, Bishop and Bishop, and Newark Smelting
and Refining
General Business Ledgers
Box #/ Folder #:2/1, 2/2, 2/3
Date: 1924-1928
Description: Hard bound ledger books.
Check Stubs
Box #/ Folder #:2/4, 2/5
Date: 1925-1927
Description: Payment records and bank
deposit records.
1089. JONAS, JOSEPH M. (1885-1975), engraver, inventor.
Papers, 1911-1929. 3/4 ft.
Correspondence, 1911-1913, checkbooks, ledgers and other
financial records, advertisements, ink drawings and engraving
patterns of a Newark based inventor and engraver. Jonas
manufactured wedding rings with the firm Jonas & Baebi while
also inventing domestic devices such as the “Eagle Hand
Suction Cleaner” and an “inside clothes line
pulley.”
Gift of Mrs. Ralph Rogers, 1978.
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