The Morse Hardware Company is one of the oldest mercantile businesses in the Northwest region and is also one of the oldest, continually operating family owned businesses in the area. The company was founded by Robert I. Morse, who sold his property in San Francisco and used the proceeds to purchase $3000 worth of hardware, paints, glass and other supplies and sailed for Bellingham Bay in 1884, determined to find a role in the booming economy of the Pacific Northwest .
Morse located his store near the waterfront at 1039 Elk St. and established his personal residence on the second floor. Initially, the store operated solely as a retail operation, but the success of the Morse merchandizing slogan "Sell 'em Low, Send and Get More" generated a loyal and growing customer base. As the business expanded Morse entered the wholesale trade as a supplier to the burgeoning number of crossroad establishments that served the growing population in the region.
The expansion of the railroad in the 1890's facilitated the shipment of supplies and merchandise and promoted additional growth in the business. The advent of World War I generated a demand for lumber and hardware for ship-building. The company supplied this endeavor and used the proceeds to expand into the Alaska cannery business, eventually becoming the dominant supplier of hardware and other supplies to this industry.
Upon the death of Robert I. Morse in 1920, his eldest son, Cecil A. Morse, assumed the duties of the president and general manager of Morse Hardware. Cecil held the company together during the Great Depression and although most employees accepted wage and salary reductions, the company managed to avoid any layoffs. Cecil's presidency also oversaw expansion in sales and marketing with sales territories and staff growing farther afield. World War II spurred an expansion of the industrial supply division of Morse Hardware as the company furnished shipyards with the supplies necessary to sustain the war effort. The company also purchased several new buildings adjacent to the original store to house a growing inventory.
After fifty-seven years in the business, Cecil Morse died in 1958 and David C. Morse, the youngest son of the founder, became president. David continued to expand distribution markets by making new inroads in Alaska and Oregon. In 1960, the store closed its individual retail outlet and focused operations on wholesale distribution to retail stores and heavy industry. The primary customer base became lumber yards, retail outlets, and home centers in western Washington, northern Oregon and Alaska. Industrial supply sales were complimented by the movement of the Mobil Oil Company refinery and the Intalco Aluminum Corporation in Whatcom County. Georgia Pacific and the Atlantic Richfield Co. also became Morse customers. In 1963, the company became a member of PRO Hardware, Inc. PRO was a voluntary international organization of wholesalers with several distributors located in the United States. The organization assisted wholesalers in developing and distributing merchandizing, marketing and promotional programs. Morse hardware successfully implemented the program through 50 of its dealers throughout western Washington and Alaska.
In 1975, Bob Morse, grandson of the original founder assumed the presidency. The final decades of the 20th Century witnessed significant change in business focus. In 1994, Morse Hardware Co. announced that it would cease supplying wholesale hardware goods to retailer stores and lay off 25 workers. And, in November of 1998, the company announced that it would sell its industrial supply division with operations in Bellingham and Tacoma to Stellar Industrial and Construction Supply. Stellar leased the original Morse Hardware site in Bellingham and Morse operations in Tacoma changed its name to Stellar. Prior to the sale, the Morse industrial division distributed nearly 12,000 items, including hand and power tools, cutting tools and abrasives, and mill and construction supplies. The sale allowed the company to focus on its core business, Morse Steel Service, which continues in successful operation in Bellingham. The warehouse building is a large tilt up concrete structure with two 55 foot bays served by seven overhead five and ten ton bridge cranes. The operation requires specialized machinery including a 5/8 inch shear, acetylene and plasma computerized cutting equipment, automatic saws, rebar bending machine, and an iron monger to fulfill diverse customer requirements. The product base is carbon steel, cut to all shapes and sizes, and utilized by fabricators, building constructors, and heavy industry.
The original building on State Street, houses the offices of the steel business. Morse Steel service also operates a similar, but smaller steel warehouse in Wenatchee.
The Morse Hardware Company records consist of three specific series spanning the years 1891-1999. These series are: 1) The records of the Morse Hardware Company, 2) Morse Family Materials, and 3) Bellingham and Whatcom County Historical Materials. The first series, the company records, comprise the bulk of the collection. This series includes Board of Directors meeting minutes, stockholder minutes, extensive financial material including ledgers and account books, sales records, invoices, daybooks, cash books, shipping and freight records, taxes, leases and other property records which document growth and change in business activity. The records also include extensive material documenting employees and employee functions. Marketing, merchandise and customer relations played an increasingly important role as the company grew and flourished. A large section of the collection documents this activity and includes a number of sales catalogs generated by Morse Hardware and other companies. These catalogs were used by the Morse sales staff as they canvassed their respective territories. Finally, the Morse company records include subject files maintained in the main office which document the humor, general interests, and business philosophy of the Morse family. The final two series were created by members of Morse family and include pamphlets, maps, photographs and manuscript material, which document the history of Morse Hardware and the history of the local community and which underscore the important role that this family-owned business served in the local community and the regional economy.
The collection is organized in accordance with the following series and subseries arrangement:
Collection is open to the public.
[unit/date], Morse Hardware Company records, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA 98225-9123.
Arrangements were conducted via David C. Morse who formally donated the records on August 26, 1996.
In 1996, staff from the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies surveyed the records of Morse Hardware on the site of the original business in Bellingham. Materials deemed to have archival value were inventoried for future transfer to CPNWS.
The original Board of Directors minutes have been retained by the company, but the records were microfilmed and are available for research use. The financial records and incoming correspondence were well organized and many of these records were previously bound in leather volumes. Several duplicate copies of city directories were donated to Wilson Library and the Whatcom Museum of Art. In 2000, Megan Sibbert, assistant archivist, organized the remaining series into a coherent system, organized the bound volumes by activity, and generated a comprehensive finding aid to the collection. In 2004, Amber Raney re-engineered the collection and its finding aid.
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