Overview
Texas State Archives
L.L. Cook Company
L.L. Cook Company collection
1940, 1946-1951, 1953, 1955-1957, 1959
bulk 1948, 1951, 1956
The L.L. Cook Company was founded in 1921 and
was one of the two largest postcard publishing companies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin up
to the 1960s, producing thousands of postcards with scenes from different cities and
states across the country. The collection presents images of life, architecture and
landscape in 105 towns in Texas. Prominent in the collection are Bandera,
Brownsville, Del Rio, Edinburg, El Paso, Henderson, Junction, Kilgore, Kingsville,
McAllen, Mission, and southern Texas. Dates covered are 1940, 1946-1951, 1953,
1955-1957, 1959, bulk 1948, 1951, 1956. Overall, a wide range of subjects are
covered including churches, hospitals, schools, swimming pools, factories, homes,
post offices, hotels, businesses, courthouses, downtown and main streets, monuments,
bridges, beaches, oil fields, rodeo, steers and bulls, dude ranches, calf roping,
highway scenes, aerial views of select towns, fruit groves, fields and harvests,
rural scenes and fishing.
These materials are written in English.
6.25 cubic ft.
Restrictions on Access
Materials do not circulate, but may be used in the State Archives research room.
Materials will be retrieved from and returned to storage areas by staff members.
Restrictions on Use
The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17
U.S.C.).
Technical Requirements
Researchers are required to use gloves provided by the State Archives when reviewing
photographic materials.
Agency History
The L.L. Cook Company was founded in 1921 and was one of the two largest postcard publishing
companies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin up to the 1960s, producing thousands of postcards
with scenes from different cities and states across the country. The L.L. Cook
Company bought the other large postcard publisher in Wisconsin, the E.C. Kropp
Company, in 1956. The company continued to produce postcards into the 1960s. In 1969
the L.L. Cook Company was sold to the General Aniline & Film (GAF) Corporation
and shifted focus from producing postcards to maintaining a photofinishing business.
It formally dissolved in 1980.
The company was started by Lloyd Lewis Cook (1887-1972), who first co-founded the Cook
Montgomery Company (about 1917-1918) in Minneapolis, along with Harris P.
Montgomery. It was popularly known as Co-Mo Photo
(which was also bought by GAF in 1969). Cook left the company in 1921 to start the
L.L. Cook Company in Wisconsin, and its postcards subsequently listed Lake Mills and
Milwaukee as addresses for the company. The company produced real photo postcards, which refers to an actual
photograph printed from a negative directly onto photographic paper for the purpose
of being mailed as a picture postcard. The reverse side of the card was printed
mechanically with space for the address, message, etc. Real photo postcards differ
from printed postcards, where the photographic image is referenced to create a
master postcard image and then printed on a printing press.
Lloyd Lewis Cook studied at the University of Wisconsin and was a member of the Phi
Delta fraternity. He died on May 17, 1972 and is buried in Rock Lake Cemetery, Lake
Mills, Wisconsin.
(Sources include: The Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City website, http://www.metropostcard.com/card07realphoto.html, viewed May 30,
2012; Wilson, Bonnie G. Minnesota in the Mail: A Postcard
History. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society, 2004; Twin City Postcard Club Newsletter, May/June 2008,
http://www.twincitypostcardclub.com/TCPC%20Newsletter%202008/May%202008D.pdf,
viewed June 1, 2012; Watertown History, http://www.watertownhistory.org/Articles/ComoPhoto.htm, viewed May 21,
2012; Photo Firm Founder, Lloyd Cook, Dies,
Milwaukee Journal, May 17, 1972, http://tinyurl.com/6rf4po9, viewed June 1, 2012; The Family Cook/Cooke, Burr Cook History and
Genealogy website, http://www.burrcook.com/history/cook.htm, viewed June 1, 2012; and
L.L. Cook Company, Inc., The, Wisconsin
Department of Financial Institutions website, http://tinyurl.com/83cd6s8, viewed May 30, 2012.)
Scope and Contents of the Records
The L.L. Cook Company was founded in 1921 and was one of the two largest postcard publishing
companies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin up to the 1960s, producing thousands of postcards
with scenes from different cities and states across the country. The collection
presents images of life, architecture and landscape in 105 towns in Texas. Prominent
in the collection are Bandera, Brownsville, Del Rio, Edinburg, El Paso, Henderson,
Junction, Kilgore, Kingsville, McAllen, Mission, and southern Texas. Dates covered
are 1940, 1946-1951, 1953, 1955-1957, 1959, bulk 1948, 1951, 1956. The collection
includes 1864 second generation modern prints and
some film copy media. Modern prints were made from the original cellulose nitrate
print negatives by the State Archives' contract photographer, Bill Malone, in the
1970s. Overall, a wide range of subjects are covered including churches, hospitals,
schools, swimming pools, factories, homes, post offices, hotels, businesses,
courthouses, downtown and main streets, monuments, bridges, beaches, oil fields,
rodeo, steers and bulls, dude ranches, calf roping, highway scenes, aerial views of
select towns, fruit groves, fields and harvests, rural scenes and fishing.
Images from the collection will be added to the forthcoming Prints and Photographs database,
which will soon be available on the Texas State Library and Archives Commission
website. An internal list of the images is available from the State Archives until
the images are online.
Arrangement of the Records
The images are arranged alphabetically by the names of the towns represented, as received from
L.L. Cook Company.
Index Terms
The terms listed here were used to catalog the records. The
terms can be used to find similar or related records.
Corporate Names:
E.C. Kropp Company.
Subjects:
Public buildings--Texas--Pictorial
works.
Church buildings--Texas--Pictorial works.
Ranching--Texas--Pictorial
works.
Harvesting--Texas--Pictorial
works.
Fishing--Texas--Pictorial
works.
Cattle breeds--Texas--Pictorial
works.
Farms--Texas--Pictorial works.
Aerial photographs--Texas.
Places:
Bandera (Tex.)--Pictorial
works.
Brownsville (Tex.)--Pictorial
works.
Del Rio (Tex.)--Pictorial
works.
Edinburg (Tex.)--Pictorial
works.
El Paso (Tex.)--Pictorial
works.
Henderson (Tex.)--Pictorial
works.
Junction (Tex.)--Pictorial
works.
Kilgore (Tex.)--Pictorial
works.
Kingsville (Tex.)--Pictorial
works.
McAllen (Tex.)--Pictorial
works.
Mission (Tex.)--Pictorial
works.
Document Types:
Photographs--Texas--1940-1959.
Postcards--Texas--1940-1959.
Related Material
The following materials are offered as possible sources of
further information on the agencies and subjects covered by the records. The
listing is not exhaustive.
Texas State Archives
Rigsbee Postcard Collection, [ca. 1900-ca. 1909],
1907, 1908, 1910, 1911, 1914, 1953, and [19--], 0.24 cubic ft.
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
The L.L. Cook Company post cards, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1958, 3
volumes
The
L.L. Cook Company slide duplicates, 1956-, 225 color transparencies
Eastern Illinois University
Booth
Library Postcard Collection [size and dates unknown]
Wisconsin Historical Society
L.L. Cook
Co.: Photographs, ca.1920 - ca.1965, 53 images
Minnesota Historical Society
L.L. Cook
Company [size and dates unknown]
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries
Thomas and Jean Ross Bliffert Postcard
Collection
Preferred Citation
(Identify the item), L.L. Cook Company collection. Archives and Information Services
Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Processing Information
Preliminary inventory done by John Anderson, about 1988
Scanning and data entry of images into database by Melanie Saegert, April
2012
EAD finding aid prepared by Aditi Worcester, June 2012
Accession Information
Accession number: 1968/089
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas
State Library and Archives Commission by the L.L. Cook Company in 1968.
Detailed Description of the Records
L.L. Cook Company collection, 1940, 1946-1951, 1953, 1955-1957, 1959,
bulk
1948, 1951, 1956,
6.25 cubic ft.
Images from the collection will be added to the forthcoming Prints and Photographs database,
which will soon be available on the Texas State Library and Archives
Commission website. An internal list of the images is available from the
State Archives until the images are online.