MC 3

An Inventory to the Records of Consumers' Research, Inc.:

Administrative Files: Series 1-15

By Gregory L. Williams

January 1995

Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries

Finding aid encoded in EAD Version 2002 by Caryn Radick, January 2007

History of Consumers' Resesarch

For details of the history of Consumers' Research, Inc. and an overview of its records, see the introduction to this finding aid.

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Links to Other Sections of Finding Aid

The Inventory to the Records of Consumers' Research, Inc., has been separated into six online files. The Introduction provides a history of Consumers' Research, biographies of its staff, and an overview of the records. The rest of the finding aid is divided into Administrative Files, General Files (in two parts), and Technical Files (in two parts). This section is Administrative Files. Click on one of the links below to go to another section.

Introduction

Administrative Files: Series 1-15 (Boxes 1-119)

General Files: Series 16-27 (Boxes 120-335)

General Files: Series 28-45 (Boxes 336-544)

Technical Files: Series 46-72 (Boxes 545-710)

Technical Files: Series 73-111 (Boxes 711-886)

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Summary

The Administrative Files are divided into 15 separate series. Series consist of Assistance and Outreach, Consumer Education, Finances, Influence/Philosophy & History, Legal Matter, Office Management, Personnel-Board of Director's Meetings, Personnel-Employees/Directors & Policies, Policy, Publications-Books, Publications and Productions, Publicity, Publicity-F.J. Schlink Speeches and Writings, Subscriber Correspondence, Subscription and Promotion.

Documents the operations, publications and activities of Consumers' Research, Inc. The Administrative Files were used to track Consumer Research personnel, subscribers, magazine circulation, financial and legal matters, policies, publicity and promotions, and the history of the organization. Includes correspondence, magazine and newspaper clippings, slide show scripts and slides, college theses, check stubs, audits, circulation statistics, legal briefs, photographs of Consumers' Research buildings and grounds, board meeting minutes, personnel files, personnel procedures, book manuscripts, book reviews, speeches and writings of F.J. Schlink, Consumers' Research publications, reprints, magazine sources, subscription promotion scrapbooks and routine office matters.

Topics include assistance and outreach to government, business and other groups; consumer education; the financial status of Consumers' Research and early funding of the Consumers Club; agencies similar to Consumers' Research; attacks on Consumers' Research; business pressure on Consumers' Research; confusing consumer organizations; history of Consumers' Research and the Consumers Club; honesty, philosophy and aims of Consumers' Research; lawsuits against Consumers' Research including fight to avoid paying unemployment compensation; Consumers' Research office sites; personnel files of F.J. Schlink, J.B. Matthews, Stuart Chase, Arthur Kallet and many others; Consumers' Research policies on recommendations, product testing, errors, subscriptions and ethical concerns; Consumers' Research books such as Your Money's Worth, 100,000,000 Guinea Pigs, Skin Deep and many others; Consumers' Research's publications (Consumers' Research Bulletin and successor publications); publication production; publicity; subscriber concerns and suggestions; and circulations, subscriptions, advertising (reactions by publications and advertising firms to Consumers' Research including Time magazine's policy not to accept ads from Consumers' Research), promotion and membership rules.

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Arrangement Note

The Records of Consumers Research Inc.: Administrative files are arranged alphabetically into fifteen series.

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Detailed Description of the Papers/Container List

This section provides descriptions of the materials found within each series. Each series description is followed by a container list, which gives the titles of the folders and their locations in the numbered boxes that comprise this collection.