Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
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Visual Materials
This collection contains 46 photographs and several advertising clips, business letters, and brochures related to the Samson Tire & Rubber Company in Los Angeles, dating from approximately 1917 to 1935. Fifteen photographs are construction views, 1929, of the massive manufacturing facility built 1929 to 1930 in what is now the City of Commerce. The 8 x 10-inch photographs are stamped in the corner with the company's name, followed by "Los Angeles Plant / Morgan, Walls & Clements, architects / J. V. McNeil Company Contractors Inc., builders." The images show the building site in a huge open field, with workers, horses, and lumber framing, as well as two interior factory views. Additional photographs show factory workers, possibly at an earlier location, using industrial machinery and working with rubber; Samson company executives in a group portrait; and a promotional image of actress Jean Carmen posing on a tire with Leiland Irish of McClaren Tire Company. The ephemera includes a pamphlet touting the new plant, advertising clips, and several copies of letters from satisfied customers, most likely used for promotional purposes. The letterheads are mostly California companies, such as Progress Features (film producers), automotive service stations, bus lines, and taxi companies. There is also a letter from J. A. Forthmann of the Los Angeles Soap Company confirming his purchase of stock and to act as a director for Samson Tire in 1917, and a company Christmas card from Walter P. Chrysler.
photCL 628