This wonderful collection of invoices from 1910s Hopewell companies vividly show the interconnections of local businesses of the time. The customer here was the Smith Novelty Company on Somerset Street (the predecessor to Rockwell), which at the time was growing past 40 employees. These invoices also show how local companies viewed their own businesses, with extensive descriptions of their products and services on the invoice forms.
Thanks to Jinny and Bill Baeckler for kindly rescuing these materials from the dumpster, and preserving and sharing them here.
== See the full Smith Novelty Company Invoice Collection (PDF) ==
Smith Novelty Co.
The “Hamilton 57” building between Somerset and Lafayette Streets in Hopewell goes back to Hugh A. Smith, an entrepreneur who opened the Smith Novelty Co. in 1901, and then built the original building and grew the business that operated for 75 years, becoming the Hopewell Division of Rockwell Corp. and employing over 200 people.
This was an ongoing effort between Smith and the town, as local boosters helped him establish and grow the business, as he and his family become involved (and donated to) local volunteer organizations including the Public Library and Fire Department.
Smith also not only attracted new residents with good jobs and careers, but he supported local businesses – as we can see with these examples of invoices from local companies, ranging from 1906 to 1912.
The Invoices
The businesses shown supplying the Smith Novelty Company in these invoices include bakers and candy, freight and hauling, hardware and supplies, furniture, insurance, electrical, printers, telephone, and fuel oil.
J. B. Hill – Lumber / Building / Agricultural
This 1911 invoice is wonderfully illustrated with a horse-drawn wagon delivering coal. It also has one of the more detailed descriptions of the business: “Dealer in Lumber, Coal, Grain, Hay and Straw, Fertilizers, Lime, Cement, Dairy Feeds and Grass Seeds / Live Stock, Pork and Poultry / Hen-e-ta Bone-Grits.”
The invoice is for four months of grain orders by Smith (perhaps as an individual and not for the business) – oats, wheat, corn, bran – totaling $15.48.
J. B. Hill operated at 43 Railroad Place from c. 1891 to 2005.
J. M. Ege – Hardware
This 1907 invoice is for J. M. Ege, “Dealer in Hardware, Tinware, Stoves, Ranges, Pumps, Paints, Oils, Grass Seeds, Tin Roofing, Jobbing, Plumbing, &c. / All Kinds of Agricultural Implements.”
The invoice for Smith, covering three months, includes asbestos paper, wood alcohol, rubber, lead, washers, for a total of $20.57.
J. M. Ege was at 31 West Broad by 1906 through 1919 (later Rorer’s Hardware, 1926-79).
S. S. Ege – Blacksmithing
This 1907 invoice is for S. Smith Ege, demonstrating that there still was a need for “Blacksmithing and Wheelwrighting.”
The invoice for Smith includes steel plate, steel tree, sleigh steel, and forgeins(?), for a total of $9.93.
Smith was at 80 West Broad (now the Presbyterian Church) from the 1870s into the early 1900s.
S. H. Millette – Freight
This 1909 invoice is for the freight business of Stockton H. Millette: “United States Express and Freight Delivery. Horses and Carriages to Hire. /
Stables: Railroad Place.”
The work billed for Smith for the one month includes boxes, meters, and brass, totaling $7.60. Millette was at 9 Railroad Place across from the train station from 1895 to1908 (later the Blackwell / Holcombe garage).
Other invoices for freight / hauling services used by Smith include J. M. Skillman – Contractor, Teaming and Carting – for hauling coal, and the Central Livery, Exchange, and Sale Stables, for unloading coal, hauling freight, and boxes from Trenton.
Hopewell Chocolate Company
This 1911 invoice is from the Hopewell Chocolate Company, “Makers of “Hopewell Dainties” Chocolates and Bon Bons.”
But Smith was not buying candy, instead they were looking for cases (presumably for packing or shipping) – The invoice is for 50 empty cases, for $5.00. A similar 1911 letter from Belle Mead Sweets of Trenton reports that they had 100 empty chocolate cases available.
The Chocolate Company was at 37-41 Railroad Place from 1909 to 1930, where Belle Mead Sweets had previously been located from 1903 to 1905.
Race & Savidge – Printers
This 1907 invoice is from Race & Savidge, “Book and Job Printers / You Furnish Copy, We Do The Rest / Sale Bills a Specialty.” They also were the printers and publishers of the Hopewell Herald, “Published Every Wednesday / At $1.00 Per Year.”
The invoice for Smith includes three very different items: envelopes, a “M. E. Church” print job, and a one-year subscription renewal of the Hopewell Herald, totaling $3.75.
Race & Savidge were then at 5 Railroad Place, across from the train station.
Delaware & Atlantic Telegraph & Telephone
This 1907 invoice shows the effort and paperwork required for Smith and the phone company to track one long distance call to New York. The letter and slip record one 5 minute call made at 11:20 am.
A separate 1906 invoice shows a monthly bill, with a $1.25 charge for monthly service, “Foreign Messages” (2 each to Philadelphia & Trenton), plus Long Distance to New York, for a total of $3.50.
The Hopewell Telephone Co. was formed in 1899 to start local phone service. It was acquired by Delaware & Atlantic in 1904, which soon came under the Bell Telephone system.
John A. Roebling’s Sons
This 1911 John A. Roebling’s Sons postcard confirms an (unspecified) order, and provides an expected shipping date of one or two days.
The postcard is illustrated with a view of the “Upper works of John A. Roebling’s Sons Co., Trenton, N. J.”
John A. Roebling (see Wikipedia), the designer of the Brooklyn Bridge, founded his steel wire manufacturing company in 1849 in Trenton, along the Delaware and Raritan Canal. The business was sold by the Roeblings in 1953 and operations in Trenton stopped in 1974.
Hillsborough Mutual Insurance
This 1907 invoice is from the Hillsborough Mutual Fire Assurance Association.
It is an assessment to Association members (based on the policy date) for the losses and expenses from three local banks.
This $5.00 assessment is charged to the Hopewell Factory Inducement Co., which originally owned the Somerset St. property where Smith had his factories.
== See the full Smith Novelty Company Invoice Collection (PDF) ==
Please contact us if you have historic Hopewell area photos, maps, documents, or other materials that we can share, especially from Smith and Rockwell.
More on Smith / Rockwell / Kooltronic
The large Smith / Rockwell / Kooltronic manufacturing facility at the end of Hamilton Ave. at Somerset St. expanded from a small job shop to a large manufacturing plant providing over 200 local jobs.
History
- Post – The Kooltronic / Rockwell / Smith Story
- History Brief – 57 Hamilton Ave. – Kooltronic / Rockwell / Smith (PDF)
- Post – Rockwell Fire Brigade on Somerset
- Post – “Hopewell 57” Historical Questions – and answers
Presentation
- Post – Hopewell 57 – Presentation Video and References
- Presentation video – Smith to Rockwell to “Hopewell 57” on YouTube Channel
- Presentation slides – Smith to Rockwell to “Hopewell 57” (PDF)
Documents
- Post – Smith Novelty Co. Business Invoices – c1910
- Documents – Rockwell brochures in the Pamphlet Collection
Media
- Post – Rockwell Artifacts and Photos
- Photos – Rockwell images and artifacts in the Image Gallery
- Presentation / Video – Hopewell with the Arrival of the Railroad – How Hopewell became a town – including Rockwell and Somerset Ave.
