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; F. K. Dolbeer, manager of the Credit Department; and attorney Frank L. Dyer. Included are letters pertaining to the manufacture, distribution, and sale of phonographs and cylinder records, as well as correspondence about litigation, patents, and other legal matters. Among the documents for 1907 are letters regarding technical changes in phonographs and records, the organization of business on the West Coast and in Chicago, the activities of the Advertising Department, and its relations with the Essex Pressa printing company controlled by Gilmore. Also included are a report prepared for Gilmore on the patents obtained by NPCo employees during 1906; reports on the progress of dictaphone installation and sales; and a list of dealers enrolled by NPCo jobbers. At the end of the folder is an undated letter from Edison to Gilmore concerning the development of longer-playing records.
Approximately 15 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.