Archives West Finding Aid

General business records consist of outgoing correspondence for several of the businesses owned by F. Jay Haynes, Palace Studio Car daily reports, records of goods shipped to Yellowstone National Park, and a notebook of collected birth and death notices. Outgoing correspondence comprises the bulk of this series and features letterpress copies of correspondence sent from the Fargo and St. Paul studios regarding supply orders, customer inquiries and business arrangements. Correspondence also includes a few letters from the Haynes Palace Studio Car's operation and the organization of tourist parties in the park. One volume of correspondence features general inquiries about Yellowstone via the Monida & Yellowstone Stage Company.

This series also contains additional account books documenting daily reports of the Haynes Palace Studio Car, 1898-1899; goods shipped to Yellowstone National Park, May 1894; a notebook containing clippings of birth and death announcements from unidentified circulars, 1901-1902. The birth and death notice records appear to be related to Haynes's photography business and include annotations and names that are crossed out.

Monies in contains an array of bound financial records documenting streams of revenue for the businesses owned by F. Jay Haynes. Ledgers are dated 1882-1915 and contain general finance record for his Fargo and St. Paul studios. Accounts for his Yellowstone National Park businesses are not featured in these ledgers.

Cash Sales books contain a record of items and prices from daily sales made in the Fargo and St. Paul studios. These books were not used as a permanent record, and entries (particularly orders) appear to have been transferred into daybooks or ledgers for official recordkeeping. Cash sales books from Haynes's Fargo location (1879-1889) also contain records of the sheet music, frames, artwork, and musical instruments that he sold for several years, in addition to his views and studio portraits. After the studio moved to St. Paul in 1889, entries in the cash sales book reflect the shift to more directly to selling studio portraits and mail-order views.

Day books contain records of mail order income and payments made on invoiced supplies through the St. Paul studio, including wholesales to the Yellowstone National Park studio, Haynes Studio Palace Car, and for travelling sample cases. The day books exclude in-store cash sales totals. Entries were made from invoices and thereafter transferred to the accounts in ledgers. Other bound volumes recording incoming funds include cash book documenting the funds on hand from cash sale; receipt stubs; remittance receipt stubs; wholesale shipment receipts that list purchaser, merchandise and quantity, price for payments made to the Haynes business locations in Yellowstone; orders, which were often recorded in the back of cash sales notebooks; Haynes Amateur Department receipts containing stub books from tourist finishing orders; Haynes studio journals showing expenses and income by account; Haynes Picture Studio journals showing expenses and income; and daily financial reports that contain sheets that were forwarded to the general office to record daily sales totals.

Monies out consist of ledgers tracking expenses of the Haynes businesses between 1878 and 1932. The bulk of these expense records are comprised of invoices and shipment registrations. Invoice ledgers include bills for paper stock, negative stock, mats and frames, postcard and other printing and engraving, souvenirs, boxes, and envelopes. Other small ledgers include supply order receipt stubs from April 1889, petty expenses 1894-1895, and shipment receipts of goods within Yellowstone from 1892.

Inventory and property records contain price lists for inquirers 1883-1899, cash account ledgers and inventory lists for the Haynes Yellowstone National Park businesses 1901-1907, annual Yellowstone Park stock-sales summaries 1912-1920, and select sample postcard books for postcards produced and sold by the Haynes company.