Archives Visit

Strozier Library Special Collections
West Yellow Pine Co.
Box 483 & 484

West Yellow Pine Co. appears to have been a lumber shipping company specializing in flooring, ceilings, and siding and their archives consist of correspondence from other companies around the eastern part of the country. There are letters requesting prompt payment which was clearly long overdue for a shipment, quicker shipping on an order a customer placed, and discussions over the best delivery methods for some lumber. Apparently West Yellow Pine was not the most efficient lumber company in town and it shows. But they made up for it with their "rock bottom prices." You get what you pay for--even in 1899.

Like Amanda, I also found it interesting that I was not first asked to use gloves before looking through 108 year old documents. Even so, they were cautious to allow me to look through just one box, one folder at a time so as to avoid getting them mixed up or out of order--not that there was any order to the documents in the first place.

This being my first time in an archives, I was not exactly sure what to expect. One thing I found especially fascinating was the handwriting of some of the letters. It was so foreign that I could not even read it, yet it was written exquisitely. It was incredibly interesting to look back at letters that were so old, especially dealing with such pedantic matters as some angry customer wanting his lumber shipped faster. I could not help but try to imagine the secretary typing up a memo while her angry boss dictates and wonder if, at some point, she ever thought that over a century later someone would be casually reading over them trying to make sense of it all.

What's more: visiting archives gave me a rather humble perspective on history. On a daily basis I study everything from war generals to bombing raids, aerial combat to infantry movements. But today I am sitting here examining the toils of a small town shipping company with competitive prices and disappointing delivery services and wondering what that boss' pink slip must have looked like (maybe it's in the archives somewhere!).

Oh, and in case you were wondering, it looks like West Yellow Pine Co. finally got their business in order by the turn of the century; there are much fewer irate letters by 1900.