Buzza Company Records

Collection

Identifier: M/A 0206

Staff Only

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Description of Contents

Administrative records and examples of creative works produced by the Buzza Company from the 1920s to 1940s. Records include correspondence, financial reports, advertisements, building plans, print photographs, newspaper clippings, Christmas cards and advertisements, and an assortment of small gift books published by the company.

Dates

Creation: 1921 - 1942

Creator

Buzza Company (Minneapolis, Minn.) (Organization)

Access

The physical collection is available for use in Special Collections at Minneapolis Central Library during the department’s open hours. All photographs from this collection are available in Small Collections in the Hennepin County Library Digital Collections.

History

George Buzza founded the Buzza Company in 1907. The company started out by selling college advertising posters and posters for retail clothing stores. When the market for these disappeared, he decided to manufacture greeting cards. After a slow start the company turned a corner in 1917 when sales hit $75,000. By 1927 sales reached $2.5 million. In 1928, it merged with the Charles S. Clark Company of New York City. In 1929, Buzza sold his interest in the company and retired to California. The Buzza Company continued in business until 1942 when its stockholders decided to liquidate it because of large business losses.

In 1930, George Buzza founded the separate Buzza Cardozo Company in California.

Extent

1.84 Linear Feet (3 boxes, 1 oversize folder)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Donor Information

This collection was donated by C. Russell McHugh in 1984 as accession 2000.152. The Christmas Card Sample Book (1940) was purchased from eBay in May 2019 as accession 2019.20.