This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to the commercial exploitation of phonographs in the United States. Most of the items are letters to and from William E. Gilmore, president of NPCo. Other correspondents include Carl H. Wilson, manager of sales; Leonard C. McChesney, manager of the Advertising Department; Nelson C. Durand, manager of the Commercial Department; attorney Frank L. Dyer; and San Francisco jobber Peter Bacigalupi. Included are letters pertaining to the manufacture, distribution, and sale of phonographs and cylinder records, as well as correspondence about litigation, patents, copyrights, and other legal matters. Among the documents for 1906 are letters regarding losses sustained in the San Francisco earthquake and fire, the organization of business on the West Coast, the closure of the Chicago office, periodical advertising, and record exchange plans for jobbers and dealers. Also included are a report on NPCo's jobbers and dealers in New York State, two circulars sent by the Victor Talking Machine Co. to its distributors, a list of the patents under which NPCo was operating, and testimonials about the Edison dictaphones installed and maintained by the Commercial Department.
Approximately 10 percent of the documents have been selected. Among the items not selected are documents pertaining to ongoing litigation with the New York Phonograph Co. and other parties and to the business of individual dealers and jobbers.