Trade catalogs, also known as manufacturer's or commercial catalogs, are an important primary source of information on building materials, supplies, decorative elements and industry trends during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Avery Library has a large collection of these original catalogs, most of them in our rare book collection called "Classics."
To find our trade catalogs, search in CLIO. Do a simple keyword search of the type of building material or element and the word "catalogs." For example, type "cement" and "catalogs" OR "fireplaces" and "catalogs." Most of the records will indicate that the catalog is in "Avery Classics" above the call number. A few are in the open stacks and will just say "Avery." When you have a particular company or manufacturer whose products you are interested in, do a keyword search with two or three distinctive words from the company name and "catalogs." For example "pittsburgh" and "paints" and "catalogs" OR "atlantic" and "terra" and "cotta" and "catalogs."
A number of our trade catalogs have also been filmed and are available on microfiche. They are located at Avery FX3 3826. There is a printed guide to these fiche which can be very useful for your trade catalog research. It lists catalogs by category, plus alphabetically, geographically and even chronologically. This guide is shelved behind the reference desk.
