Edward G. Budd MFG. Co.
Comprehensive Archive Documenting the First Decades of the American Auto-Parts Maker, 1920s-30s
Linen-backed silver prints (approx. 1200)
Each 8 x 10 inches
Most with an inventory number
and date, and the BUDD MFG CO. blind stamp recto.
Most with an inventory number
and date, and the BUDD MFG CO. blind stamp recto.
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A robust, comprehensive archive documenting the first three decades of the Budd Company, with over 1200 sharp, professional photographs showing products, facilities, and employees of the Philadelphia-based metal fabricator and...
A robust, comprehensive archive documenting the first three decades of the Budd Company, with over 1200 sharp, professional photographs showing products, facilities, and employees of the Philadelphia-based metal fabricator and the important work they did in the early days of the automobile industry.
The photos each have a numerical inventory number which begins at 252 and ends at 15303, with many missing numbers throughout. The earliest photograph is dated 1916 and the latest 1940, though the bulk of the photos date to the 1920s and the vast majority of the archive showcases Budd Company’s work for the automobile industry. In 1915 the Budd Company (then called Edwin G. Budd Manufacturing Company) was the first to develop all-steel automobile bodies and by 1928 they had over 10,000 employees manning 600 presses.
Included in the present collection are hundreds of thoughtfully-composed shots of the sleek, streamlined parts that Budd produced for such companies as Citroen, Morris Motors, Rolls Royce, Liberty Motor Car, Dodge, and others. There are many photographs of the completed vehicles, as well as numerous portraits of the employees themselves, either shown in formal group portraits or in Lewis-Hine-like scenes of them hard at work in the factories. Also included are views of plant construction, the earliest being Budd’s Nicetown-area facility, which broke ground in 1915, a handful of photos of the Ambi Budd Pressworke, a German steel pressing facility that Edwin Budd set up with inventor and entrepreneur Arthur Müller, and other aspects of the company’s production and publicity. Some of the photos at the end of the archive document the company’s railroad ventures, which began in 1934 when it built the Pioneer Zephyr for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and was following by lightweight stainless steel passenger cars for railroads such as Amtrak and transit agencies for Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and other major cities.
The photos each have a numerical inventory number which begins at 252 and ends at 15303, with many missing numbers throughout. The earliest photograph is dated 1916 and the latest 1940, though the bulk of the photos date to the 1920s and the vast majority of the archive showcases Budd Company’s work for the automobile industry. In 1915 the Budd Company (then called Edwin G. Budd Manufacturing Company) was the first to develop all-steel automobile bodies and by 1928 they had over 10,000 employees manning 600 presses.
Included in the present collection are hundreds of thoughtfully-composed shots of the sleek, streamlined parts that Budd produced for such companies as Citroen, Morris Motors, Rolls Royce, Liberty Motor Car, Dodge, and others. There are many photographs of the completed vehicles, as well as numerous portraits of the employees themselves, either shown in formal group portraits or in Lewis-Hine-like scenes of them hard at work in the factories. Also included are views of plant construction, the earliest being Budd’s Nicetown-area facility, which broke ground in 1915, a handful of photos of the Ambi Budd Pressworke, a German steel pressing facility that Edwin Budd set up with inventor and entrepreneur Arthur Müller, and other aspects of the company’s production and publicity. Some of the photos at the end of the archive document the company’s railroad ventures, which began in 1934 when it built the Pioneer Zephyr for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and was following by lightweight stainless steel passenger cars for railroads such as Amtrak and transit agencies for Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and other major cities.