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3. Provenance 5. Inventory 6. Subjects |
Caro Cloth Corporation Records Specialty textile company, Carolina, R.I. and Bloomfield, N.J. Records, 1926-1945 Size: 3 linear feet Catalog number: MSS 483 sg 22 Processed by: Rick Stattler and Steve Dalpe, March 1999 ©Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division |
Historical note:
The Caro Cloth Corporation produced raincoat cloth, automobile upholstery, laundry felts, floor coverings and piano felts, and interior material for Chrysler Company automobiles. The company was incorporated in 1926 with John R. Hinchliffe as president. Hinchliffe had worked for the Hazard family in their Peace Dale mill, and invented a needle loom machine known as the Caro Machine. Rowland Hazard III (1881-1945) was the first treasurer, and an important early investor. The "Caro Process" was envisioned as an innovative way to produce specialty fabrics at low cost; the company was successful in licensing patents to other firms, but was placed into receivership in 1944.
The Caro Cloth Corporation originally leased factory space from the Carolina Mills in Richmond, Rhode Island, and handled sales through a New York office. Hinchliffe resigned as president in 1931, and was succeeded by Russell C. Gates of Montclair, New Jersey. In 1932, the entire operation was moved to Bloomfield, New Jersey. In 1935, Thomas P. Hazard was elected president of the company, and served through 1943. In 1944, the company's assets were sold and the remaining factory equipment moved to storage in Richmond; on May 19th, 1944 the company was formally liquidated.
Scope and content:
The most important part of this collection is the nearly complete run of minute books, which include stockholder meetings, director meetings, the executive committee, reports, audits and some correspondence. Other than these volumes, there are stock records, and incomplete financial records. The correspondence does not represent a complete file, and was mostly complied from loose papers. There are almost no production or sales records, except as reported in the minute books.
Provenance:
These papers were donated by the Hazard family as part of the Hazard Family Papers in 1985. They had been deposited in 1975.
Processing note:
This collection is part of the Hazard Family Papers, which were processed with support from the Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities, the Beinecke Foundation, and the extended Hazard Family.
Inventory:
Series 1, subseries 1: Minutes. Frequently, the minutes of the board of directors and of the stockholders meetings are bound together in the same volume. These volumes also contain correspondence and various reports.
Box 1, volume 1. 1/1926-2/1927, stockholders and directors.
Box 1, volume 2. 4/1927-4/1928, stockholders and directors.
Box 1, volume 3. 5/1928-2/1929, stockholders and directors.
Box 1, volume 4. 3/1929-10/1929, stockholders and directors.
Box 1, volume 5. 10/1929-6/1931, stockholders and directors.
Box 1, volume 6. 11/1931-11/1932, stockholders and directors.
No minutes from 11/1932-4/1933.
Box 1, volume 7. 4/1933-10/1934, stockholders and directors.
Box 1, volume 8. 4/1931-4/1932, stockholders only.
Box 1, volume 9. 10/1929-4/1932, executive committee.
Box 2, folder 1. 7/1935-5/1944, stockholders and directors
Box 2, folder 2. 1/1944-10/1944, directors minutes and notes
Series 1, subseries 2: Correspondence. Mostly correspondence of T.P. Hazard as president.
Box 2, folder 3. 1931-1932
Box 2, folder 4. 1935-1940
Box 2, folder 5. 1941
Box 2, folder 6. 1941
Box 2, folder 7. 1941
Box 2, folder 8. 1942-1944
Series 1, subseries 3: Stock records.
Oversized volume 1. 1926-1936. Transfer book.
Oversized volume 2. 1937-1943. Transfer book.
Box 2, folder 9. 1926-1929. Account book. By stockholder.
Box 2, folder 10. 1926-1929. Account book, continued.
Box 3, folder 1. 1929-1934. Account book. By stockholder.
Box 3, folder 2. 1929-1934. Account book, continued.
Box 3, folder 3. Sample stock certificates.
Box 3, folder 4. Stockholder lists, 1935-1936
Box 3, folder 5. Stockholder lists, 1937-1938
Series 1, subseries 4: Miscellaneous.
Box 3, folder 6. Blanket production report, 1934.
Box 3, folder 7. By-laws and incorporation, 1926
Box 3, folder 8. Patent papers, 1926-1935
Box 3, folder 9. Report on machinery installation, 7/3/1928
Series 2: Financial
Oversized volume 3. Account ledger, 1926-1931 (dead accounts)
Oversized volume 4. Account ledger, 1926-1934.
Box 3, folder 10. Audit reports, 1926-1933
Box 3, folder 11. Balance sheets, 1928-1935
Box 3, folder 12. Bills payable, 1927-1931 (Two pages in an otherwise blank volume)
Oversized volume 5. Cash receipts and disbursements, 1934-1945
Oversized volume 6. Journal, 1934-1942. Also includes purchase and insurance journal.
Oversized volume 7. Payroll book, Jan. 1, 1934 to 1935.
Oversized volume 8. Plant ledger, 1927 - 1933.
Subjects:
Hazard, Rowland III (1881-1945)
Hazard, Thomas P. (1892-1968)
Hinchliffe, John R.
New Jersey - Commerce
Richmond, R.I. - Commerce
Textile industry - New Jersey - Bloomfield
Textile industry - Rhode Island - Richmond
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RIHS1822