United Utilities. [International silver Co. makes original Rogers Silver Plate; Newest Sovereign Rugs; Bird Armorlite; United Air King Air Conditioned mattress; Longines-Wittnauer Watches; Genuine Esmond Blanket. . . salesman sample catalogue].

[Worcester, Fall River & Boston, MA]: United Utilities, [1942]. 4to. [4]; [4]; [2]; [2] pp. [25 leaves]; [4]; [4]; [6]; [6]; [4]; [4] pp (unpaginated). Photo illustrations, colour illustrations, colour plates, 1 large Bird Armorlite “linoleum” rug sample, 3 label & ticking samples for mattress; 7 Esmond Blanket Jacquard Blankets, with 1 very large folding sample. Preserved in original limp brown faux leather 22-ring Trussell binder, yapp edges, rounded corners (some edgewear, rubbing, occasional interior closed tears, a couple leaves w/ fraying, slight offsetting to 1 sample), still VG copy, preserving the original Typed Pricelist dated 1942. First edition, thus, of this World War II Home Front sales catalogue for silver, small appliances, watches, mattresses, and floor coverings from this small Massachusetts retailer. The center section includes many colour plates with exceptional Art Deco designs of the Armorlite linoleum rugs sold by the company. Throughout the early 20th-Century linoleum rugs were popular items, and Armorlite were produced as felt-based bats, with a oil-based paint covering allowing them to be cleaned and washed, and moveable. The large inserted sample produced by Bird & Son in East Walpole, MA offers an essential contemporary example of the colour and weight these would have had during World War II when sold to households. Also of note are the blanket samples for Esmond Blankets, specifically produced for the company, and priced $ 5.95 and $ 9.95 at the time. Although few contemporary advertising notices appear in any records, the company was established by brothers Charles Feldman (1889-1963) and David M. Feldman, Russian Jewish-American merchants, who owned and operated a radio supply store in Brockton, MA with Charles Popkin. The company maintained a sales force which carried these sales catalogues out to customers for direct sales, and operated under Charles’ son Theodore Maxwell Feldman (1913-1975) until about 1970. No copies located in Worldcat.