Describing Archives: A Content Standard

5933 6th Avenue South Seattle, WA 98108 Phone: 206-324-1126 URL: http://www.mohai.org

Finding aid encoded by Jody Hendrickson 2010 Finding aid written in English. Finding aid based on DACS ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard). Museum of History & Industry, Sophie Frye Bass Library

5933 6th Avenue South Seattle, WA 98108 Phone: 206-324-1126 URL: http://www.mohai.org

1994.18 Stetson-Ross Machine Company Stetson-Ross Machine Co. Collection circa 1920-1985 bulk 1950-1980 3 boxes 2.44 cubic feet Manuals, specifications and photographs related to machinery, particularly planers, designed and manufactured by Stetson-Ross Machine Company 3a.1.10 3a.2.5 Collection materials are in English. Historical Background

Stetson-Ross Machine Company, founded by George Stetson, was a prominent Northwest manufacturer of lumber industry equipment.

Stetson’s business began in the 1870s as the Stetson-Post lumber mill in Seattle. In the early 1900s, Stetson met Harry Ross of Berlin Machine Works and the two founded Stetson-Ross Machine Works in 1907, for the sole purpose of building planer-matchers designed by Stetson. Although the company manufactured other types of woodworking equipment during its existence, it was best-known for its planers, which accounted for most of its business. The company name changed to the Stetson Machine Works after Ross left the company to pursue his invention of a new lumber carrier. However, after the death of Stetson and his son around 1921, General Manager Wilmot Pritchard got Harry Ross’s permission to return the company name to the well-known Stetson-Ross.

Under Pritchard, the Stetson-Ross company business flourished, even weathering the Great Depression. During the 1960s and 1970s, the company expanded its scope by purchasing established machine lines in the woodworking industry. After Wilmot Pritchard died in 1952, there were a series of ownership changes, culminating in the 1985 sale of the planer line to Kimwood Corp in Cottage Grove, Oregon.

Adapted from Planers, Matches & Molders in America by Chandler W. Jones

Manuals, specifications and photographs related to machinery, particularly planers, designed and manufactured by the Stetson-Ross Machine Company.

The collection is open to the public by appointment.

The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Stetson-Ross Machine Co. collection, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

Gift of Bill Hendricks; received in 1994.

Items 1994.18-1994.26 and .35 were deaccessioned in 2010.

These materials are part of a donation that also included a number of artifacts. These artifacts are cataloged and stored separately by MOHAI’s Collections Department.

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Lumber industry--Washington (State) Machinery Forestry and forestry products Washington (State) Photographs

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Stetson-Ross manuals circa 1970s 1994.18.28 1 “Operations, Maintenance and Parts Identification Manual, 6-14-D1 Planer” circa 1970s 1994.18.29 1 “Parts Identification 6-12-C1 Planer” circa 1970s 1994.18.30 1 “Operating Instructions and Parts Identification 6-10-A1 Planer” circa 1970s 1994.18.33 1 Bearings catalogs, including one from Stetson-Ross circa 1970s 1994.18.34 1 “Operator’s Manual for XL 110 Ripsaw” circa 1970s Photographs 1994.18.31 1 Album undated

64 photographs on linen backing with detailed captions on verso or separate page. Most images depict machinery and machinery parts manufactured by Stetson-Ross. A few photographs depict the Stimson Mill. Co. in Seattle, showing machinery in use.

1994.18.75-104 3 Photographs of assorted machinery undated Company products binders 1994.18.32 1 Binder: “Stetson-Ross planers” circa 1946-1976

6” thick binder of materials about Stetson-Ross planers, divided into sections by product. At the beginning is a 5-page history of the company written in 1953. Sections include brochures, instructions, specifications and 8” x 10” photographs about the particular piece of machinery. First section of the binder contains general information about and photographs of the Stetson-Ross facility and operations. Also includes photographs of machinery under construction at the factory, and views of the Stetson-Ross building, exteriors and interiors including the drafting room, general machinery department, pattern shop, machine shop, erecting floor, precision machinery shop, assembly floor and a delivery truck Most of the photographs are by Webster & Stevens.

1994.18.36-72 2 Binder: other Stetson-Ross equipment circa 1960-1981 40 folders, possibly from a binder as in 1994.18.32 above. Brochures, instructions and specifications and other information about specific machines or types of machines, or an aspect of operations, with photographs of machines interspersed. Ephemera 1994.18.27 1 Book: Planers, Matchers and Molders in America, 1800-1985 by Chandler W. Jones 1985

Inscribed to Bill Hendricks

1994.18.73 2 Trademark certificate for “S-R” Stetson –Ross trademark 1924 1994.18.74 2 Pocket calendar and knife set-up rule, both by Stetson-Ross undated 1994.18.105 2 Display board materials 1966

Folder of materials removed from display boards: promotional materials and newspaper clippings about Stetson-Ross and its products