finding aid v18a albertype backup - Historical Society of ... · a postcard and viewbook publishing company. The Brooklyn-based company used the recent technological innovation of

© 2004 The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. All rights reserved.

Collection V-18A

Albertype Company Photographs

1910-1950

7 boxes, 2.4 lin. feet

Contact: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107 Phone: (215) 732-6200 FAX: (215) 732-2680 http://www.hsp.org

Sponsor: Processing made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Restrictions: None Related Collections at

HSP:

Albertype Company photographs (V-18)

Albertype Company Photographs Collection V-18A

1 The Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Albertype Company Photographs, 1910-1950

7 boxes, 2.4 lin. feet

Collection V-18A

Abstract The Albertype Company was founded by Adolph and Herman L. Wittemann in 1890 as a postcard and viewbook publishing company. The Brooklyn-based company used the recent technological innovation of the collotype, or albertype, to photomechanically reproduce images. Amassing photographic negatives of towns and cities across the United States, the Albertype Company produced over twenty-five thousand collotypes before its closure in 1952. The collection includes 353 cellulose acetate and cellulose nitrate negatives, 3 glass plate negatives, and 10 positives. These images document buildings, natural attractions, and streets in Pennsylvanian towns. Additionally, there are over eighty views of the 1926 Sesqui-centennial exhibition in Philadelphia.

Background note Originally known as Wittemann Brothers, the Albertype Company was founded by brothers Adolph (1845-1938) and Herman L. Wittemann, and owned by Herman. The company operated from 1890 to 1952, and was located in Brooklyn, New York. During its nearly sixty year run, the Albertype Company produced over twenty-five thousand prints, which were distributed across the United States in the form of postcards and viewbooks. The company had agents, including Adolph Wittemann, take photographs of different cities and regions, which were then reproduced as collotypes. In addition to using its own archive of original negatives, the Albertype Company also reproduced photographic images taken by other companies or individuals. The Albertype Company was created to take advantage of the commercial applications of the collotype, a type of printing which used photographic negatives. In the late nineteenth century, photographic and photomechanical reproduction were becoming increasingly popular for commercial use. The collotype, one of the most commercially successful photomechanical processes, was introduced in 1855 by the French photographer and chemical engineer Alphonse-Louis Poitevin. Poitevin discovered that a bichromated gelatin-covered plate could be used to produce prints after being exposed to light through a negative. The collotype process consisted of numerous steps. First, a



plate was rendered light-sensitive by coating it with warm potassium or ammonium bichromated gelatin and heating it at a steady temperature in an oven until dry. After nearly two and a half hours, a negative was placed between the plate and a light source, exposing the gelatin layer to ultraviolet light, and hardening the exposed areas. The hardening of the gelatin resulted in less absorption in the areas which received the most light (those which will appear the darkest in the print). The plate was soaked in cold water, dried, and before printing it was wet again with a glycerine and water solution. Greasy ink was rolled out onto the plate, and did not adhere to those areas which soaked up the most water. The plate was rolled through a press with paper, causing the ink to transfer. The plate could be reused for a limited quantity of reproductions. Alphonse-Louis Pontevin’s process was adapted by C.M. Tessie du Motay and C.R. Marechal, who covered copper plates with bichromated gelatin. The gelatin often separated from the copper during the printing process, so the quantity of images that could be produced from a single plate was limited to approximately one hundred. Joseph Albert, a photographer from Munich, substituted glass for the copper plate, constructed a mechanical press, and also added another layer consisting of silicate mixed with gelatin, albumen or stale beer, which was applied between the gelatin and plate to facilitate adhesion. Albert presented his improved collotype process at the 1868 Photographic Exhibition in Hamburg. Immediately after the introduction of his innovations, companies were able to produce about two thousand prints from each plate using etching presses and hand rollers. Towards the end of the nineteenth and in the early twentieth century, improvements in mechanical presses and a switch to the rotary collotype, a high-speed process using an aluminum plate, meant that up to five thousand collotype prints could be produced daily. Color was added to the collotype process by Albert in 1876. Collotypes were important to the industry of photographic reproductions because they were fairly cheap to produce, and their range of tones permitted exact reproductions of photographs through a photomechanical process. They are also noted for their ability to accurately reproduce drawings, prints, and watercolors, and are still in limited use to this day. Collotypes were known by numerous names, including “phototype,” and “albertype,” the name given by Joseph Albert.

Scope & content This collection consists of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s first acquisition of Albertype Company negatives related to the state of Pennsylvania. There are 353 negatives, 3 glass plate negatives, and 10 positives, which were used as proofs. Originally, the negatives were sequenced alphabetically by town. The images have been sorted by film base and presence of deterioration, and are grouped as: cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate with deterioration, cellulose nitrate, cellulose nitrate with deterioration, glass plate negatives, and positives. Within these new groupings, the negatives and positives have been kept in the original alphabetical order. As the photographic images in this collection would have been used as postcards and viewbooks, the subjects tend to emphasize important landmarks within each represented



town and city. These subjects include businesses, universities and colleges, churches, schools, streets, and natural attractions. Included are copy negatives of postcards, viewbook, and calendar illustrations for 1946 to 1950. There are also many views of the Sesqui-centennial International Exposition grounds and buildings in Philadelphia. Since most of the photographs are decontextualized architectural or landscape images and are undated, it is difficult to tell the exact dates of the negatives. Photographers are not generally named. However, the editing process is evident, as some of the negatives have been altered by the company in order to lighten or darken specific details, and also to crop the borders. Images of the following cities and towns are included in this collection: Blakeslee, Bryn Mawr, Clarion, Eaglesmere, Hoban Heights, Indiana, Lackawaxen, Lewisburg, Lord’s Valley, Loretto, Mansfield, McConnellsburg, McKeesport, Mercersburg, Punxsutawny, Philipsburg, Reading, Renovo, Ridgeway, Sayre, Shillington, and State College.



Related materials The Historical Society of Pennsylvania also houses Collection V-18, the Albertype Company, which includes negatives and positives pertaining to other towns and cities in Pennsylvania.

Bibliography Gascoigne, Bamber. How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical

Processes from Woodcut to Ink-Jet. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1998. Institut für Angewandte Photophysik. Collotype, http://ppprs1.phy.tu-

dresden.de/krone/timeline/English/Glossary/C_38.htm (accessed April 26, 2005). Library of Congress. The Wittemann Collection Prints & Photographs Division,

http://www.loc.gov/rr/business/BERA/issue2/wittemann.html (accessed April 26, 2005).

Museum of the City of New York. Exhibitions: Global New York: The Lower East Side,

http://www.mcny.org/Exhibitions/global/LES.htm (accessed April 26, 2005). National Anthropological Archives and Human Study Film Archives. Guide to the

Collections of the National Anthropological Archives, http://www.nmnh.si.edu/naa/guide/jrg110 (accessed April 26, 2005).

Ritzenthaler, Mary Lynn, Gerald J. Munoff, and Margery S. Long. Archives and

Manuscripts: Administration of Photographic Collections. Chicago: The Society of American Archivists, 1984.

University of the West of England. The CFPR's Research into Nineteenth Century, High

Quality Printing Processes, http://www.uwe.ac.uk/amd/cfpr/colltext.htm (accessed April 26, 2005).

Subjects Albertype Co. Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition –1926 (Philadelphia, Pa.) Witteman, Adolph Witteman, Herman L. Blakeslee (Pa.) Bryn Mawr (Pa.) Clarion (Pa.) Collotype Eagles Mere (Pa.) Hoban Heights (Pa.)



Indiana (Pa.) Lackawaxen (Pa.) Lewisburg (Pa.) Lord’s Valley (Pa.) Loretto (Pa.) Mansfield (Pa.) McConnellsburg (Pa.) McKeesport (Pa.) Mercersburg (Pa.) Philipsburg (Pa.) Punxsutawny (Pa.) Reading (Pa.) Renovo (Pa.) Ridgeway (Pa.) Sayre (Pa.) Shillington (Pa.) State College (Pa.) Pennsylvania Film photonegatives Silver gelatin photoprints



Administrative Information

Restrictions The collection is open for research.

Acquisition information Provenance unknown.

Preferred citation Cite as: [Indicate cited item here], Albertype Company Photographs (Collection V-18A), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Processing note Processing made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this finding aid do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.



Box and folder listing

Folder title Date Box

Blakeslee (PA) n.d. 2





Bryn Mawr (PA); Baldwin School n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Baldwin School n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College cherry tree

n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College Cloisters

n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College Cloisters

n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College Denbigh Hall

n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College Merion Hall

n.d. 5

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College Merion Hall

n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College Pembroke Arch

n.d. 5


n.d. 3


n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College Pembroke Hall

n.d. 5

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College Pembroke West

n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College Pembroke West

n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College Radnor Hall

n.d. 5


n.d. 3


n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College Rockefeller Arch

n.d. 3



Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College Rockefeller Hall

n.d. 5


n.d. 3


n.d. 3


n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College sundial

n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr College sundial

n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Bryn Mawr Trust Co.

n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Lincoln Highway

n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Old Gulph Road

n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Old Gulph Road

n.d. 3

Bryn Mawr (PA); Post Office n.d. 3

Clarion (PA) n.d. 5

Clarion (PA) n.d. 5

Clarion (PA); Clarion River n.d. 5

Clarion (PA); Clarion River n.d. 2

Clarion (PA); Group n.d. 2

Clarion (PA); Monument n.d. 5

Clarion (PA); Monument and Courthouse

n.d. 2

Clarion (PA); State Normal School

n.d. 5


n.d. 2


n.d. 2


n.d. 2

Co. B. National Guard (PA) Rifle Team

n.d. 6

Co. B. National Guard (PA) Rifle Team

n.d. 6

Colonial Boyd and Mr. Fleming in automobile

n.d. 6

Eaglesmere (PA); Forest Inn 1940 3







Eaglesmere (PA); Forest Inn cottages

1940 3

Eaglesmere (PA); Forest Inn lobby

1940 3

Eaglesmere (PA); Lakeside Hotel 1940 3

Eaglesmere (PA); Lakeside Hotel sun room

1940 3

Eaglesmere (PA); Lakeside Hotel terrace

1940 3

Eaglesmere (PA); Lakeside Inn 1940 3

Eaglesmere (PA); The Lakeside 1942 3

Hoban Heights (PA) n.d. 7



Indiana (PA) n.d. 3

Indiana (PA) n.d. 3

Indiana (PA) n.d. 3

Lackawaxen (PA); B.E. Views from Indian Lookout

n.d. 3

Lackawaxen (PA); Camp Delawaxen for Boys

n.d. 5

Lewisburg (PA) n.d. 5

Lewisburg (PA); n.d. 3



Lewisburg (PA); Bucknell University Christy Matheson Memorial Gateway

n.d. 3

Lewisburg (PA); Bucknell University East College

n.d. 3

Lewisburg (PA); Bucknell University Hunt Hall Women’s Dorm

n.d. 3

Lewisburg (PA); Bucknell University Memorial Stadium

n.d. 3

Lewisburg (PA); Bucknell University Old Main

n.d. 3


n.d. 3


n.d. 3


n.d. 3




n.d. 3


n.d. 3


n.d. 3

Lewisburg (PA); Bucknell University Phi Kappa Psi

n.d. 3

Lewisburg (PA); Bucknell University quadrangle

n.d. 3

Lewisburg (PA); Bucknell University Sigma Alpha Epsilon

n.d. 3

Lewisburg (PA); Bucknell University West College

n.d. 3

Lord’s Valley (PA) n.d. 3

Lord’s Valley (PA); Approach to Brewster Lodge Camp Hemlock

n.d. 7

Lord’s Valley (PA); Brewster Lodge Camp Hemlock

n.d. 3


n.d. 3


n.d. 3


n.d. 3


n.d. 3


n.d. 3

Lord’s Valley (PA); Brewster Lodge Camp Hemlock, garden

n.d. 7

Lord’s Valley (PA); Brewster Lodge Camp Hemlock, lily pool

n.d. 7

Lord’s Valley (PA); Brewster Lodge Camp Hemlock, swimming pool

n.d. 7

Lord’s Valley (PA); Brewster Lodge Camp Hemlock, walk to boat house

n.d. 7

Lord’s Valley (PA); Brewster Lodge Camp Hemlock, west lawn

n.d. 7

Loretto (PA); St. Francis College Main Building

n.d. 5

Mansfield (PA); State Teachers’ College Auditorium

n.d. 3



Mansfield (PA); State Teachers’ College Auditorium

n.d. 3

Mansfield (PA); State Teachers’ College Interior of Auditorium

n.d. 5

McConnellsburg (PA); View from Tuscarora Summit

n.d. 3

McKeesport (PA); Olympia Park Dancing Pavilion

n.d. 7

Mercersburg (PA); C. Abel etchings

n.d. 3

Mercersburg (PA); C. Abel Etchings

n.d. 1


n.d. 1


n.d. 1


n.d. 1


n.d. 1


n.d. 1


n.d. 1


n.d. 1


n.d. 1


n.d. 1


n.d. 1


n.d. 1


n.d. 1


n.d. 3

Mercersburg (PA); Calendar 1946 3


















































Merchants’ Coffee House Plaque n.d. 1

Philipsburg (PA) n.d. 3

Philipsburg (PA) n.d. 3

Punxsutawny (PA) n.d. 5



Reading (PA); Aerial Rm n.d. 5

Reading (PA); Black Bear Mountain Black Bear Inn

n.d. 5

Reading (PA); Church n.d. 5

Reading (PA); From Neversink aerial view

n.d. 5

Reading (PA); Highland House Neversink

n.d. 5

Reading (PA); Mt. Penn n.d. 5

Reading (PA); Mt. Penn n.d. 5

Reading (PA); Mt. Penn Tower n.d. 5

Reading (PA); Mt. Penn Tower n.d. 5

Reading (PA); Pavilion Neversink Mountain

n.d. 5

Reading (PA); Railroad near Neversink

n.d. 5

Reading (PA); Schuylkill River near Neversink

n.d. 5

Reading (PA); Schuylkill River near Neversink

n.d. 5

Reading (PA); Schuylkill Valley near Neversink

n.d. 5

Reading (PA); Schuylkill Valley near Neversink

n.d. 5

Reading (PA); Swartz Hotel Mt. Penn

n.d. 5

Renovo (PA); 5th Street n.d. 2

Renovo (PA); General view n.d. 2

Renovo (PA); Mountain and river view

n.d. 2

Ridgeway (PA) n.d. 3

Sayre (PA) n.d. 5

Sayre (PA) n.d. 5

Sayre (PA) n.d. 5

Sayre (PA) n.d. 5

Sayre (PA) n.d. 5

Sayre (PA) n.d. 5

Sayre (PA) n.d. 5

Sayre (PA) n.d. 5

Sayre (PA) n.d. 5

Sayre (PA) n.d. 3

Sayre (PA) n.d. 3

Sayre (PA) n.d. 3

Sayre (PA) n.d. 3

Sayre (PA) n.d. 2



Sayre (PA) n.d. 2

Sayre (PA) n.d. 2

Sayre (PA) n.d. 2

Sayre (PA) n.d. 2

Sesqui-centennial; $2 million stadium

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; $2 million stadium

1926. 4

Sesqui-centennial; Administration Building

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Archbishop 1926 3

Sesqui-centennial; Auditorium 1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Canals 1926 4





Sesqui-centennial; Fine Arts Building

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Forum of Founders

1926 4


1926 4


1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; General view 1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; General view from main entrance

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; General view toward main entrance

1926 4


1926 4


1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Grounds 1926 5


































Sesqui-centennial; High Street of 1776

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; High Street of 1776

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Interior Archdiocese exhibit

1926 3


1926 3


1926 3


1926 3


1926 3


1926 3


1926 3

Sesqui-centennial; Japanese Government Grounds

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Japanese Government Pavilions

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Jones and Laughlin Steel Tower

1926 4



Sesqui-centennial; Louis Mark Model Shoe Factory

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Louis Mark Model Shoe Factory

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Mammoth luminous Liberty Bell

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Palace of Agriculture and Fashion

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Palace of Agriculture and Fashion

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Palace of Education and Social Economy

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Palace of Fine Arts

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Palace of Fine Arts

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Palace of India 1926 4



Sesqui-centennial; Pennsylvania State Building

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Pittsburgh Building

1926 4


1926 4


1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Republic of Cuba

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Republic of Cuba

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; Stage and crowd

1926 4

Sesqui-centennial; U.S. Navy Blimp

1926 4

Shillington (PA) n.d. 4






State College (PA) n.d. 4



State College (PA); Agricultural Building

n.d. 4



State College (PA); Armory and monument

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Atherton Hall Women’s Dormitory

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Atherton Hall Women’s Dormitory

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Botany Building

n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4

State College (PA); Carnegie Library

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Chemistry Building

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Delta Chi Fraternity

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Electrical Engineering Building

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Engineering Building

n.d. 4

State College (PA); G. Gilbert Pond Chemical Laboratory

n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4

State College (PA); Home Economics Building

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Home Economics Building

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Hotel State n.d. 4

State College (PA); Interior – Bedroom bath Number 21

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Interior – Bedroom Number 4

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Liberal Arts Building

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Liberal Arts Building

1941 4

State College (PA); Liberal Arts Group

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Liberal Arts Quadrangle

n.d. 4



State College (PA); Liberal Arts Quadrangle

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Main driveway

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Main Engineering Building

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Main gateway n.d. 4

State College (PA); McAllister Hall

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Mechanical Engineering Laboratory

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Mineral Industrial Building

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Mount Nittany

n.d. 4

State College (PA); New Beaver Field

n.d. 5

State College (PA); Old Main n.d. 4

State College (PA); Old Main n.d. 4

State College (PA); Open Air Theater and Mining Building

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Recreation Hall

n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4

State College (PA); Recreation Hall and Water Tower

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Schwab Auditorium

n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4

State College (PA); The Military Lion

n.d. 4

State College (PA); Unidentified n.d. 4





State College (PA); Views of campus

n.d. 4


n.d. 4




n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4


n.d. 4

Documents

finding aid v18a albertype backup - Historical Society of ... · a postcard and viewbook publishing company. The Brooklyn-based company used the recent technological innovation of