Guide to the Collection of the Edlis Family and Company, 1889-1983 (bulk c1930-1950)
Arrangement
Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
Collection of the Edlis Family and Company
Creator
Edlis, Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Collection Number
MSS#311
Extent
3.5 cubic feet(7 boxes)
Date
1889-1983
Date
c1930-1950
Abstract
In 1888, Adolf Edlis founded the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, barber and beauty supply business that eventually became the Edlis Company. This collection includes formulas, sales catalogs, invoices, correspondence, newspaper articles, scrapbooks, photographs, certificates and other miscellaneous material related to the Edlis Company and Adolph and Jerome Edlis.
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Author
This guide to the collection was originally prepared by Janie Weaver on May 26, 2000. Revisions occurred to the finding aid as a part of the encoding process in Summer, 2001.
Sponsor
This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
Historical Sketch of the Edlis Collection (1889-1983)
In 1888, Adolf Edlis founded the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, barber and beauty supply business that eventually became the Edlis Company. Initially, Edlis occupied a house at the corner of Wylie Avenue and Fernando Street. Manufacturing barber supplies in the basement, he sold them from the small first floor shop. As the business expanded, Edlis relocated multiple times: 971 Liberty Avenue, 715 Grant Street, 116 Smithfield Street, and finally to the Edlis Building, 329 Boulevard of the Allies. The Edlis building, designed by Richard Neff for the Edlis Company, opened July 18, 1927.
The Edlis Company manufactured and distributed a wide variety of products, including perfumes, shampoos, hair dyes, dandruff preparations, and a line of barber and beauty shop fixtures, such as chairs and cabinets. Some products created and sold were outside the purview of the salon industry; for instance, cough liniment and furniture polish. The company also developed the ability to deliver and install a complete barber or beauty salon within 24 hours. Merchandise was sold primarily to barber shops, beauty salons, "beauty schools," and government institutions, including prisons and hospitals. By the middle to late 20th century, the company acted, and has continued to act in the present time (May, 2000), as a distributor of national brand products rather than as a producer/distributor of its own products. From its base in Pittsburgh, the territory covered by the Edlis Company grew to include central Pennsylvania and parts of Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland. Satellite stores were opened at 80 North Third Street, Columbus, Ohio, and 617 Lee Street, Charleston, West Virginia.
Adolf Edlis, born in 1860 in Lichik (Litchuk), Austria-Hungary, immigrated to the United States (c1870s) and spent his first years in New York City working as a peddler. He married Amelia Lehman in 1882, with whom he had four children. From 1883 to 1888, he worked as a salesman for New York barber supply companies, including Smith Brothers, until his move to Pittsburgh (the approximate center of his sales territory) to begin his own company. Edlis's work in Pittsburgh included becoming active in politics as a representative member of the Jewish communities. He performed "grassroots" work in areas of voter registration and education for those eligible to take the naturalization exam. Running for public office as a Republican, he served on Pittsburgh's Common Council, and as a member of the state legislature in the early 1900s. In 1905, he introduced a bill that, after passage, became known as the Edlis Act, outlawing houses of prostitution in Pittsburgh. From 1909 to 1914, Edlis served as City Treasurer, introducing a pre-billing system for tax collection, requiring banks to pay maximal rates of interest on city funds, and abolishing the separate Delinquent Tax Office. The Republican Party did not endorse some of his decisions; thus, he ran as an Independent in the election for County Controller but was defeated. He maintained an interest in politics, organizing in 1932 the Independent Republican Campaign for Franklin D. Roosevelt for President. Following Roosevelt's election, Edlis retired from politics. Edlis served as member and/or executive member of a variety of organizations, including the Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, B'nai B'rith, Poale Zedeck Synagogue, Adath Jeshurun, the Zionist Organization of America, and Montefiore Hospital. He died in Pittsburgh in 1934.
Adolf Edlis left the Edlis Company to his youngest son, Jerome (1898-1986), who was president from 1934-1986. Jerome ran as a Republican for Pittsburgh City Council in 1941 and for City Controller in 1943, but was defeated in both elections. He was president of the Beauty and Barber Supply Institute and was active in many Pittsburgh/Allegheny County organizations.
Scope and Content Notes
This collection includes formulas, sales catalogs, invoices, correspondence, newspaper articles, scrapbooks, photographs, certificates and other miscellaneous material related to the Edlis Company and Adolph and Jerome Edlis. The bulk of the collection pertains to the Edlis Company, primarily from c1930-1950.
Arrangement
The Edlis Collection is arranged in two series. Series have been designated for the Edlis Company Records and the Edlis Family Papers.
The Edlis Collection is housed in seven archival boxes.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials were received in one accession in 1997.
Acc# 1997.0397 Gift of Ethel and Robert Cohen, (Papers).
Preferred Citation
Collection of the Edlis Family and Company, 1889-1983 (bulk c1930-1950), MSS# 311, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Janie Weaver on May 26, 2000.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Doug MacGregor on September 20, 2001.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.
Subjects
Corporate Names
Edlis, Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Personal Names
Edlis family
Edlis, Adolph
Edlis, Jerome
Other Subjects
Jews -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
Beauty shops -- Equipment and supplies -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
Republican Party -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
Municipal government -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
