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(SAN FRANCISCO/TRADE CATALOGUE). No. 8. Waterhouse & Lester Jobbers, Importers and Exporters. Hardwood, Lumber, Woodwork, Wagon Hardware, Carriage Trimmings, Iron, Steel, Horse Shoes, Blacksmith Tools and Supplies.
San Francisco, Cal: (Hicks-Judd Company), nd. (before the earthquake of 1906). 4to., orig. dark green buckram, bevelled edges, lettered in gilt on the upper cover and spine, xvi, (1)-543pp. Profusely illustrated. With a frontispiece portrait of ‘C. Waterhouse' and a full page plate showing the Waterhouse Buildings in San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and Portland. With several printed and illustrated ‘revision' slips tipped in throughout (providing updated stock available with prices). There is a printed notice stating that the catalog will be ‘kept up to date by means of inserted slips, which will be issued from time to time, together with directions how and where to insert.' With a printed bookplate stating this is Catalog No. 8, No. 3840 that was shipped to E. Squires, Forest Grove, Oregon. Also pasted on the front pastedown is a printed slip listing the Waterhouse & Lester locations in San Francisco, Portland, Sacramento, and San Jose. A touch of rubbing to the spine ends o/w a fine copy of a scarce catalogue. Only 1 location of ‘Catalog No. 8' is listed in OCLC.
This extensive catalogue contains a wide range of products, with the ‘General Index' listing the broad product types: Hardwood and Lumber; Wagon Woodwork; Wheels; Platform and Finished Gears; Wagon Hardware; Trimming Goods; Tops, Cushions, Etc; Trimmers' Tools and Materials; Paints, Varnishes and Painters' Supplies; Iron and Steel; Horse Shoes and Nails, Etc.; Blacksmiths' and Woodworkers' Tools; Tables of Estimated Weights; and Malleable Irons. This general index is followed by an alphabetical index listing the specific individual products--for example: axles, bands, braces, bits, rasps, rims, cushions, etc. It is hard to imagine a carriage or wagon part that is not listed in this extensive catalogue. Founded in the mid-19th century, Waterhouse & Lester was one of the largest suppliers of carriage & wagon equipment. In 1905 the company was incorporated by Edson Waterhouse (1873-1919) as the ‘Waterhouse & Lester Co.' Their building in San Francisco was located on 16-22 Beale Street until 1905. The 1906 earthquake forced a move to 534-44 Howard Street. ‘The firm triumphed over many difficulties which beset it, chief among them the San Francisco earthquake and fire in 1906, which completely destroyed its plant. Shortly after that catastrophe a store was opened in Oakland and a large wheel factory established at Emeryville, a suburb of Oakland...' Under the Presidency of Edson Waterhouse the company transitioned and by 1913 they ‘evolved into one of the leading concerns in the automotive supply and equipment line on the Pacific coast, with headquarters in San Francisco, and branches in Los Angeles and Oakland, Calif. and Portland, Ore.' (National Cyclopaedia American Biography, vol. 19, p.179). As the building pictured in the illustration is 16-22 Beale Street and the name is still ‘Waterhouse & Lester', Catalog No. 8 pre-dates the 1906 earthquake.