Harry Flanders papers, 1885-1931, bulk 1900-1930

Gift of Nancy Hornak (accession #: 2010.0009.1).

Copyright may be retained by the creators of items, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law, unless otherwise noted.

Research use of this collection is governed by the standard rules and regulations of the Chicago History Museum Research Center.

Harry Flanders Papers (Chicago History Museum) plus a detailed description, date, and box/ folder number of a specific item.

Correspondence, financial records, legal papers, diaries, photographs, medical papers, and other personal and professional papers of Harry L. Flanders, a Chicago leather tanner and trunk maker. Included are correspondence and other papers pertaining to Victoria Flanders, Harry Flanders’ wife. Receipts in the collection include business and household expenses for Flanders and his family, such as stabling services, Victoria Flanders’ gowns, laundry, alcohol, and gas/incandescent light bills. Issues of the Hayes Bulletin, a medical publication concerning the treatment of asthma and hay fever (ca. 1930) are also present.

Harry L. Flanders was a resident of the Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago (Ill.) and worked as a leather tanner and trunk maker. Born in New Hampshire in 1866, Flanders settled in Chicago in the late 19th century. Before working in the leather industry he had several other business ventures, including a pharmaceutical business. Flanders married Victoria Maxwell and together they had three children, only one of which survived to adulthood. Flanders died in 1946 and is buried in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.

• Names
  • Flanders, Harry L.--1866-1946--Archives
  • Flanders, Victoria--Correspondence
• Subject
  • Asthma--Treatment--United States--20th century
  • Respiratory allergy--Treatment--United States--20th century
  • Leather industry and trade--Illinois--Chicago--19th century
  • Leather industry and trade--Illinois--Chicago--20th century
  • Luggage industry--Illinois--Chicago--19th century
  • Luggage industry--Illinois--Chicago--20th century
  • Medicine--Formulae, receipts, prescriptions--20th century
  • Tanning--Illinois--Chicago
• Geographic Coverage
  • Chicago, Illinois--Commerce
  • Ravenwood (Chicago, Ill.)

The collection is arranged in four series.

Series 1. Correspondence, 1885-1931 (box 1-3)

Series 1 consists of personal and professional correspondence of Harry Flanders and his family, including letters, telegrams, and postcards. A portion of the correspondence is from Victoria Flanders' doctor P. Harold Hayes detailing her struggle with asthma and other ailments. Several letters are addressed to the Flanders’ daughter, Dorothy. Also present is a bound scrapbook of letters received by Flanders (ca. 1889-1891).

Series 2. Biographical materials, 1885-1931 (box 3-4)

Series 2 contains pamphlets, business cards, prescriptions, medical papers, legal material, three date books (1885, 1889, 1893), and other personal papers of Harry Flanders. One of the date books contains a tintype of an unknown man as well as stamps and other items (1885). Medical papers include handwritten notes from a course on histology, issues of the Hayes Bulletin, a medical publication concerning the treatment of asthma and hay fever (ca. 1930), and a copy of The Medical Companion and Household Physician, by J.W. Bate (1893). Also present are materials relating to the Ravenswood Club, of which Flanders was a member, and a copy of The Training Department of the Lakeside Press (1923).

Series 3. Receipts, 1885-1931 (box 5)

Series 3 contains receipts for bills, luxury purchases, and other business and household expenses for Flanders and his family. Included are receipts for stabling services, Victoria Flanders’ gowns, alcohol, laundry, and gas and incandescent light bills from Commonwealth Electric Company.

Series 4. Financial records, 1885-1931 (box 6-11)

Series 4 consists of expense books, insurance policies, leases, deeds, audit materials, financial ledgers, canceled checks, and other financial records pertaining to Flanders’ leather tanning business. Also present are business contracts, agreements, and propositions.