File contains business correspondence addressed to (and a few written by) William McMillan, Lockeport, between June 1914 and October 1914, regarding receipt of shipment of goods to be sold in his general store, or confirmation of goods to be sent overseas. File contains both typed and handwritten correspondence. File also contains the beginnings of some merchants' concerns regarding shortages stemming from the outbreak of the Great War.
File contains correspondence regarding wartime concerns from the following receivers and brokers: W.R. Brock Company (Montreal; regarding French-made #80 DMC in cordenette white), Boston Varnish Company (regarding war-time price uncertainty), Brandram-Henderson (Halifax, regarding "import[ing certain goods] from countries where it is now impossible to obtain further supplies"), Chronicle Publishing Co. (Halifax, regarding the sale of "a history of the great conflict now raging in Europe" for two months at this stage), Greenshields Limited (Montreal, regarding a "good season for dress goods" despite the "war-time dullness of many lines" and the fact that "French goods are cut off entirely [and that some] raw materials such as dyestuffs come from Germany and Austria exclusively"), Holzapfels Limited (Newcastle-on-Tyne, reassuring clients that their company is "absolutely and entirely British"), J.L. Lovitt (Yarmouth, regarding the "feverish state of the wheat market" and reduced supplies), J.E. Morse & Co. (Halifax, about wartime demands having "completely exhausted [the supplies of] the popular selling teas"), Nova Scotia Belgian Relief Fund (Halifax; from Arthur Barnstead), Patterson Candy Company (Toronto, reassuring that they "have been strongly opposed to making any advance in price unless positively forced to it", and slamming those "who would delight in getting more for his product on account of the abnormal condition"), Oxford Manufacturing Company (Oxford, NS, "we are facing a famine in dyestuffs"), Quaker Oats Company (Peterborough, re: "extreme scarcity of cash oats [...compelling] us to put further advances into effect), W.H. Schwartz & Sons (Halifax, about the withdrawal of a printed list of supplies based on "the very uncertain conditions surrounding the spice business brought about by the war"), R.B. Seeton (Halifax, "we do not know from one day to another what the price will be"), E.K. Spinney (Yarmouth, regarding "the [appalling] effect of this horrible war on commercial conditions throughout the world"), Wm. Stairs, Son & Morrow (Halifax, assuring customers that "all prices will be based on ruling market price ONLY"), W.H. Thorne (Saint John, regarding the purchase of "patriotic selections" of records), Willett Martin (New York, anticipating that "stove coal will be very scarce during the Fall and Winter months"), Warwick Bros & Rutter (Toronto, about installing "patriotic windows").
File contains other standard business correspondence from: Acadia Gas Engine Co. (Bridgewater), Edward M. Alden (Boston), Edward Allen (Yarmouth), G.E. Barbour (Saint John), Sidney R. Baxter (Boston), A.M. Bell & Co. (Halifax), Geo. C. Boudreau (Meteghan Station, NS), Brookfield Bros. (Halifax), Burrell-Johnson Iron Company (Yarmouth), Canadian Cereal and Flour Mills (Galt, ON), Canadian Consolidated Rubber Co. (Halifax), Canadian Drug Co. (Saint John), Canadian Oil Companies (Toronto), Canadian Poster Company (Montreal, regarding a Stanfields promotion), Clayton & Sons (Halifax), Cochran, Burns & Farnsworth (Boston), McCormick & Stronach (Clementsport, NS), Davis & Fraser (Halifax), Davis & Lawrence (Montreal), Eagle Oil & Supply Co. (Boston), Eastern Shirts Limited (Truro), Emerson & Fisher (Saint John), Enterprise Foundry (Sackville, NB), Frank Fales (Saint John), Flintkote Manufacturing Company (Boston), Arthur Fordham (Halifax), John Forsyth Company (Berlin, ON), Gourock Ropework Export Co. (Montreal, via Glasgow), Gunns Limited (West Toronto), G.J. Hamilton & Sons (Halifax), Ida Harlow (Sable River West), Hawboldt & Evans (Chester), Hilford Fur Farm (Port Hilford, NS), N. Hingley & Sons (Dudley, UK), Ideal Bedding (Toronto), T. McAvity & Sons (Saint John), A. & W. MacKinlay (Halifax), Manchester Robertson Allison (Saint John), Maple Leaf Milling Co. (Saint John), Maritime Cap Limited (Moncton), Meeker & Company (New York), G.P. Mitchell & Sons (Halifax), J.L. Morton (Lower Argyle), J. & M. Murphy (Halifax), Neville Canneries (Port Mouton, NS), M.A. Nickerson (Clark's Harbour), Northern-Electric (Halifax), Parrish, Phillips & Co. (New York), Payzant & King (Halifax), Redmond Company Limited (Montreal), W.G. Robertson (Halifax), Salada Ceylon Tea (Montreal), W.E. Sanford (Hamilton, ON), Scovil Bros. (Saint John), I.B. Shaffner (Halifax), Shives Lumber Company (Campbellton, NB), Southern Salvage Company (Liverpool), H.D. Starratt (Paradise, NS), John Tobin & Co. (Halifax), Trojan Waist Co. (Philadelphia), Viscol Company (Boston), Waldron Drouin Co. (Montreal), Welsford L. Watt (Halifax), Wolverton Milling Co. (Saint John), Thomas Wood & Company (Boston), among others.
