The records of the Nelson Mink Farm include the records both of the farm and of several fur farm associations to which the Nelsons belonged. The Nelson farm records are organized into four series: Background Files, Correspondence, Financial Records, and Informational Files. The final series of Trade Association Records is composed of the records of the fur farm associations.
The BACKGROUND FILES are small, containing materials such as the farm's warranty deed, operating licenses, and wartime acreage allotments.
The CORRESPONDENCE FILES contain only incoming letters from 1937 to 1958. But since they are primarily from other mink breeders or buyers, they do provide details about mink breeding questions and mink farming operations.
The FINANCIAL RECORDS of the farm, while not comprehensive, do document both expenditures and sales of the Nelson farm. Expenditure information includes property tax bills, insurance premiums, and mink stock purchases. Sales files exist for the years 1946-1958 on sales made through two major New York auction houses. They consist primarily of price lists, contracts, and some sales-related correspondence. They provide detailed price information for various types of mink. Also, they indicate the volume of sales for the farm for different types of mink and how the sales changed over time. But they do not contain records such as ledgers, budgets, or annual statements that would give general, collated financial information.
The INFORMATIONAL FILES primarily consist of literature and materials collected by the Nelsons on the general subject of mink care, diseases, and diet. The files offer specific information on issues of major concern to mink farmers.
The RECORDS OF MINK FARMERS' TRADE ASSOCIATIONS make up the bulk of the collection. For organizations such as the Fur Food Cooperative, the Great Lakes Mink Association, and the Wisconsin Mink Breeders Association, the records are fragmentary collections of correspondence, newsletters, and publications. But for other associations, the records are quite comprehensive. The files of the Mutation Mink Breeders Association have substantial information on their cooperative operations from 1944 to 1948 including meeting minutes, correspondence, and sales information. The records of the National Board of Fur Farm Organizations extend from 1943 to 1958. The board's files include newsletters to their members detailing their legislative and lobbying efforts, reports on the status of the industry, analyses and histories of the fur industry in general, and minutes from their annual meetings. The board's emphasis on the operation of the industry as a whole illustrates both how the industry saw itself and how it tried to present itself to others. Finally, the United Mink Producers Association is the most thoroughly documented organization. Papers span the years from 1940 to 1958 largely because Ray Nelson served as a member of the Board of Directors for those years. While not the official papers of the association, they do contain official papers such as the constitution and by-laws. Ray Nelson's own personal files as director and president are especially detailed and include incoming correspondence and minutes of membership and director's meetings. Furthermore, we have the financial staements of the association from 1941 to 1954 and advertising plans and releases for 1943-1958. The membership mailings of the association from 1937 to 1958 provide extensive detail about all the operations of the association: sales, publications, prices, and membership activities. As a whole, the UMPA files offer quite complete documentation of most aspects of the association's operations.
