Repository

Heinz History Center

Title

Keystone Picture Frame Company Records

Creator

Keystone Picture Frame Company (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Collection Number

MSS 778

Extent

5 linear feet (5 boxes)

Date

c1930s-2002

Abstract

The Keystone Picture Frame Company Records consist primarily of financial information which includes ledger books, check stubs, accounts, and invoices. The Keystone Picture Frame Company was headquartered in downtown Pittsburgh and framed wholesale art prints for department stores and independent clients. The records date from around the time Leon Semins took over the company until his retirement in 2002.

Language

The material in this collection is in English.

Author

The guide to this collection was written by Sarah Ecklund.

Sponsor

This collection has been made accessible as part of an NHPRC-funded Basic Processing grant.

Publisher

Heinz History Center

Address

1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

History

The Keystone Picture Frame Company was founded in 1882 by Simon S. Braude in downtown Pittsburgh. The company focused on framing wholesale art prints which were then sold to various department stores including Macy's in Los Angeles and Gimbel's in Philadelphia, New York, and St. Louis. Simon S. Braude died in 1929 at which point the company accountant declared the business bankrupt. However, three employees bought Keystone out of bankruptcy: Sam Seminofsky, George Ross, and Bill Herzberg. In 1941, San Seminofsky's son, Leon Seminofsky (who changed his surname to Semins) owned the business and after the deaths of Sam Seminofsky and Bill Herzberg, and the retirement of George Ross, Keystone Frame Company was managed completely by Leon Semins. Clients of the Keystone Picture Frame Company have included Fisher Scientific, US Steel, and Westinghouse. Leon Semins retired in 2002 and the Keystone Picture Frame Company closed for good.

Scope and Content Notes

The Keystone Picture Frame Company Records consist primarily of financial information including ledgers, check stub books, invoices, and accounts. The first two boxes contain ledger books of sales and disbursements which record items ordered and prices (1935-2000). Box 1 also holds folders of accounts receivable and car expenses, a Lyday Line of Pictures catalog for sale by Keystone Picture Frame Company, photocopies of Prothonotary certificates (1948) and a CD of pictures of the Keystone Building on Liberty Avenue taken in 2002. Box 3 contains check stubs (1958-1987). Box 4 contains accounts which include client names, such as Pittsburgh Plate and Glass Company, US Steel, Fisher Scientific, Joseph Horne Company, and Westinghouse, and lists years, prices, and items ordered. Box 5 contains various company invoices from the 1960s and one selected month of receipts from 1974.

Conditions Governing Access

None

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift from Leon Semins in 2006.

Archives accession # 2006.0278

Preferred Citation

Keystone Picture Frame Company Records, c1930s-2002, MSS 778 , Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center

Processing Information

Preliminary processing by Sarah Ecklund on 04/30/12.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.

Separated Materials

To the museum: Keystone Picture Frame Company 5th Avenue sign, novelty ink blotter, stamp pad, United Plate Glass Co. price lists, American Window Glass Company shipping box, PPG tape measure

Subjects

Corporate Names

• Keystone Picture Frame Company (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Personal Names

• Semins, Leon.

Geographic Names

• Pittsburgh (Pa.)

Container List