Guide to the Pleasant Valley Wine Company Records,
1859-1965

Collection Number: 6599

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library

Contact Information:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-3530
Fax: (607) 255-9524
rareref@cornell.edu
http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
Compiled by:
Corey Ryan Earle, Evan Fay Earle, Carolyn Smith, Eleanor Brown
Date completed:
August 2007
EAD encoding:
Corey Ryan Earle, December 2007
Evan Fay Earle, June 2008

© 2007 Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Pleasant Valley Wine Company records, 1859-1965.
Collection Number:
6599
Creator:
Pleasant Valley Wine Company.
Quantity:
ca. 70 cubic ft.
Forms of Material:
Correspondence, Financial Records, Legal Documents, Memorabilia, Newspapers, Printed Materials, Reports.
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
This collection documents administrative and financial affairs of the Pleasant Valley Wine Company through its founding in 1860 through the 1950s. Included are grape growing and vineyard records, business ledgers, retail sales reports and statistics, correspondence from manufacturers, wholesalers and clients, advertising material, tax returns and other government correspondence. Correspondence with the company's traveling salesmen document the economic and social conditions of the time, especially in the period leading up to and during Prohibition. Government legislation, taxation, and regulation of alcohol is documented through legal forms, permits, and correspondence. Also included are various types of ephemera such as bottle labels, menus, advertising, and other promotional material, including a videotape, The Story of Wine, and a Betacam SP videotape, Pleasant Valley Wines. Also contains extensive business and personal correspondence of Champlin, Bauder, and Masson.
Language:
Collection material in English

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

The Hammondsport and Pleasant Valley Wine Company was established on March 15, 1860 by Charles Davenport Champlin and twelve area businessmen. The company was designated as Bonded Winery No.1 in its state and federal districts. In 1865 Joseph Masson became the wine-maker and around this time the production of sparkling wine was initiated. This wine, which was marketed under the brand name Great Western, became the first American sparkling wine to win an award in Europe. The awards included first prizes in Vienna, 1873; Paris 1889; Brussels, 1897; Paris, 1900; and Brussels in 1910. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the company had many prestigious personal and business accounts. Between 1872 and 1875, Charles Champlin and his associates built the nine-mile Bath to Hammondsport Railroad in order to compete with canal transportation.
COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

This collection documents administrative and financial affairs of the Pleasant Valley Wine Company through its founding in 1860 through the 1950s. Included are grape growing and vineyard records, business ledgers, retail sales reports and statistics, correspondence from manufacturers, wholesalers and clients, advertising material, tax returns and other government correspondence. Correspondence with the company's traveling salesmen document the economic and social conditions of the time, especially in the period leading up to and during Prohibition. Government legislation, taxation, and regulation of alcohol is documented through legal forms, permits, and correspondence. Also included are various types of ephemera such as bottle labels, menus, advertising, and other promotional material, including a videotape, The Story of Wine, and a Betacam SP videotape, Pleasant Valley Wines. Also contains extensive business and personal correspondence of Champlin, Bauder, and Masson.
SUBJECTS

Names:
Pleasant Valley Wine Company.
Pleasant Valley Wine Company.

Subjects:
Grape industry--New York (State).
Wineries--New York (State)--Finger Lakes Region.
Wine and wine making--New York (State)--Finger Lakes Region.
Wine industry--Government policy--United States.
Wine--Marketing.
Wine industry--United States--Quality control.
Vineyards--New York (State)--Finger Lakes Region.
Viticulture--United States.
Grapes--Varieties.
Prohibition--Economic aspects--United States.
Prohibition--New York (State)--History--20th century.
Taxation--New York (State).
Internal revenue--New York (State).
Wine and wine making--Law and legislation.
Liquor laws--United States--History--20th century.
Wine industry--New York (State)--Finger Lakes Region.
Viticulture--New York (State).

INFORMATION FOR USERS

Cite As:
Pleasant Valley Wine Company records, #6599. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
RELATED MATERIALS

A 1955 Cornell industrial engineering student report on the PVWC can be found in collection 16-2-2244, Andrew Schultz Schultz, Jr. Papers. See accession folder for report table of contents. Accession folder also contains 1952 letter to University Archivist Edith M. Fox from Pleasant Valley president, R. H. Howell.
CONTAINER LIST

Date
Description
Container
1859 - August 1867
Papers,
Includes 1865 winery license.
Box 1
September 1867 - October 1869
Papers,
includes 1967 Ithaca advertisement for Wheel Rake
Box 2
November 1869 - June 1871
Papers
 Box 3
July 1871 - June 1872
Papers
 Box 4
July 1872 - June 1873
Papers,
includes flyer for Vienna Exposition listing Professor George Caldwell, constitution of the Cosmopolite Club
Box 5
July 1873 - May 1874
Papers
 Box 6
June 1874 - May 1875
Papers
 Box 7
June 1875 - December 1876
Papers
 Box 8
1877 - 1878
Papers
 Box 9
1879 - 1881
Papers, includes folder of letters from John Cass, salesman.
Box 10
1882 - 1884
Papers
 Box 11
1885 - April 1887
Papers,
Text of speech on history of Keuka Lake wine-making
Box 12
May 1887 - June 1889
Papers
 Box 13
July 1889 - January 1891
Papers
 Box 14
1891 - July 1892
Papers
 Box 15
August 1892 - 1893
Papers
 Box 16
1894 - April 1895
Papers,
includes Bauder Family/Personal correspondence (1894-1896)
Letter mentioning Cornell trustee Samuel Halliday & Groton School Board
U.S. Express Co. correspondence (1892-1904)
Box 17
May 1895 - November 1896
Papers,
includes letter from Bauder's son about attending Temperance lecture
Box 18
December 1896 - August 1898
Papers
 Box 19
September 1898 - September 1899
Papers
 Box 20
November 1899 - August 1900
Papers
 Box 21
September 1900 - December 1901
Papers
 Box 22
1901 - 1902
Papers,
includes Bauder personal correspondence and advertising (1901)
Box 23
1903 - February 1904
Papers
 Box 24
March 1904 - August 1905
Papers,
includes letter from Sherman Peer of the Cornellian yearbook about advertising
Box 25
September 1905 - 1906
Papers,
includes Bauder Family/Personal correspondence (1905-1906)
Correspondence with Knapp winery. Sept 28, 1905 letter from George Washington University about adding the Paris Exposition gold medal to the wine label, also mentions Minister to Belgium enjoying wine (Pers. Cor. G folder) March 26, 1906 on registering the words "Great Western".
Box 26
1907 - August 1908
Papers,
includes some correspondence from 1907-1910
Box 27
September 1908 - December 1909
Papers,
includes receipts, misc (1907-1910)
Box 28
1909 - April 1911
Papers,
includes advertising correspondence (1909)
Box 29
May 1911 - November 1912
Papers
 Box 30
December 1913 - 1915
Papers,
very little material from 1913 and 1914
Box 31
1915 - 1916
Papers,
includes wine tax, anti-prohibition legislation papers
Box 32
1916 - 1917
Papers,
includes sprinkler system correspondence (1912-1917)
Box 33
1917 - 1918
Papers
 Box 34
1919
Papers
 Box 35
1919 - 1920s
Papers,
includes notes about Congressional election between Cornellians Frank Irvine and Lewis Henry
and correspondence with Cornell Chemistry Department
Box 36
1920s
Papers,
includes certificate of compliance with National Prohibition Director and letter from customer requesting medicinal champagne. One folder marked 1929 in back also contains items from 1900s
Box 37
1920s
Papers
 Box 38
1916-1931
Papers, prohibition permits, IRS forms, tax information.
 Box 39
1916-1929
Papers, revenue tax, Cornell Ag school letter.
Box 40
1930-1938
Papers, labels, wine analysis, Wine Embassy paper on increasing wine sales.
Box 41
1926-1937
Papers
 Box 42
1930-1938
Papers
 Box 43
1934-1938
Papers
 Box 44
1937
Papers
Box 45
1937-1938
Papers
 Box 46
1939-1940
Papers,
includes letter from James Wadsworth, noted anti-Prohibition Congressman
Box 47
1940 - 1941
Papers
Box 48
1941-1942
Papers
 Box 49
1942 - 1943
Papers
 Box 50
1943 - 1945
Papers
 Box 51
1945-1947
Papers
 Box 52
1947-1952
Papers,
includes letter to Professor Emile Chamot also letters to various New York State Agriculture Experiment Station employees, Hedrick, Wellington, Boyce, etc., also a United States map from 1951 showing the percentages of individuals who eat meals out in principal cities, importace of hotels and resteraunts, hotel and resteraunt business statistics, number of important resteraunts, number of hotels open year round with 50 or more rooms, etc. all by state, from Ahrens Publising Company..
Box 53
1952 - 1953
Papers
 Box 54
1915-1920s, 1953, 1955, 1963 - 1965, 1971
Papers, includes IRS forms from the 1920s. 152 page 1955 report done by Cornell University students for Professor Byron Saunders consulting on the Pleasant Valley Wine Company on how to increase efficiency, this includes engineering aspects and drawings. The Grape Leaf publication of the Pleasant Valley Wine co., Volume 3 Issue 1, and Volume 4 Issue 3, 1971, includes picture of New York Mets celebrating pennant with Great Western champagne.
Includes undated material
Box 55
Ephemera, Misc, Menus, Wine Lists, Advertising, Photos, Stock certificates. Sacramental wine ads, Cornellinan correspondence, prohibition menu.
Box 56
Ephemera, Misc, Advertising, labels, includes a Great western grape juice label.
Publicity photos, biography of C.D. Champlin, poster supporting beer in the army. Very early photo of company building showing Bauder on the porch. 1890 Grapes bought booklet and employee expense brochures. Medicinal wine and prohibition ads. Grape Ketchup ad.
Box 57
Ephemera, Misc, Advertising
Anti-Prohibition ad, Kortlander Bros Grand Rapid Michigan wine label, 1867 Urbana ad with note about competition, newspaper on Hammondsport wine-making history, Masson biography, taxes, misc. correspondence. Folder of misc visual items including some labels, receipts, envelopes, irs report, brochure for Friars Old Monastery Champagne Rheims N.Y., NY assembly bills on liquor laws and prohibition, American Champagne Makers Association brochure, Ukiah Grape Products Company booklet, Johannaber Wine Vaults card. Also a folder of voting proxies / stockholder information from early 1900s through 1933. This folder includes the letter from Victor Masson announcing his resignation from the board, this folder also contains drafts of photo postcards of the winery.
Box 58
Copy of bill of complaint from equity suit filed by California Wine association of New York in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, April 21, 1926 against Internal Revenue for not allowing them to sell of wine to Jewish Rabbis for sacramental purposes. Inventories, Misc, Champlin Deed/Mortgage, Advertising (some nice color ones ca. 1930), Clippings, Scrapbook pages, blank forms. 1919 NY Liquor tax license. Also includes a handwritten history of the winery written ca. 1873, that includes lists of all awards won and text from press coverage on the winery. Also History of the Officers and Directors and Dividends, 1860-1933, compiled by F. M. Aulls September 1970, includes James Champlin Bauder obituary. Also 1862 letter from directors to firm discussing the requirements for building new cellar. Several letters from 1861-1862 in German to John F. Weber, PV superintendent, showing distillery plans.
Box 59
IRS ledger book, account book, letterbooks
 Box 60
Letterbooks
includes letters from Jules Masson, 1898-1902
Box 61
Letterbooks
includes chemistry notebook
Box 62
Letterbooks
 Box 63
Letterbooks
 Box 64
Letterbooks
 Box 65
Letterbooks
includes account books
Box 66
Accounts payable, sales records
 Box 67
Account books, tierage records
 Box 68
Sales records
 Box 69
Wine labels (unsorted)
 Box 70