Lamborn and Company Records

The Lamborn Collection is divided into four series: Unpublished Documents, Publications, Miscellany and Memorabilia, and Photographs. The earliest records in Series 1 are compilations of selected documents bound in five volumes. Volumes 1 through 4 document the early career of Arthur Henry Lamborn and end with the creation of Lamborn & Company in 1923. Volume 5 contains photographs of the various buildings and offices used by A. H. Lamborn and Lamborn & Company in the Wall Street district in New York City and forms part of Series 4. Series 1 also contains a complete run of the minutes of Lamborn & Company from 1923 to 1977. Included in the collection are minutes of Lamborn, Inc., Lamborn Sugar Services, and Biledsa, Inc. All of the minutes end in 1976. In addition to minutes, there are a small number of documents from Lamborn & Company on a variety of subjects. Of special interest are the three volumes related to Julio Lobo and the collapse of his business interests. The publication series is far more complete and reflects the company’s expertise in the sugar trade. As an active trader in raw and refined sugars, Lamborn & Company’s insights concerning the sugar market were sought by other sugar brokers. The publication series contains serial publications, such as the Lamborn Sugar Statistical Reports (aka the Invisible Supplies Report) and the Lamborn Sugar-Market Reports, as well as many one-off publications. Of special note are the volumes marked Words of Wisdom on Sugar by Ody Lamborn. (These were compiled and presented to W. Davant Lamborn. Volume 1 is missing.) Of special note are the pictorial brochures for the 30th, 35th, 40th and 45th anniversaries of the Savannah Sugar Refining Corporations (Dixie Crystals), which depict the segregated appreciation picnics given for Black and white employees. In both series 1 and 2, there are materials created by firms and people associated with, but not part of, the Lamborn businesses. The third series contains testimonials to Henry Arthur Lamborn upon his death and travelogues from nine trips made by Ody Lamborn and members of his family. (The name Ody is probably derived from Odysseus. One of the travelogues is entitled Odyssey.) In some cases, Lamborn’s travelogues consist of letters written to his son Bill. They reflect on the people, politics, culture and antiquities of the places he visited. A postscript typically follows. There is a special emphasis on agriculture, but many of the entries are the typical tourist fare. One of the nine trips is entitled Diary of a Sugar Trip. Diary of a Sugar Trip is somewhat different in that it combines business with pleasure. Primarily, though, it was an around-the-world business trip, by air, starting from New York with stops in San Francisco, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, India, Turkey, and London before returning to New York. Lamborn was accompanied by company vice president J. William Craig on this trip. Series 3 also includes unpublished research and writings from Dan Gutleben, who referred to himself as the Sugar Tramp. These complement Gutleben holdings at other repositories. Finally, Series 3 contains a remarkable collection of 31 sugar samples, encased in glass, from raw sugar factories from multiple nations. The photographic series contains the aforementioned volume related to the various office buildings associated with the life of Arthur Henry Lamborn. There is an additional album of the offices at 132 Front Street that includes the employees who worked there. The employees and officers are identified on a typed sheet that appears to have been compiled at a later date than the photographs. There are also loose photographs of some of the images from the Front Street offices.