Better Than Gold Shoepeg Sugar Corn; John M. Michael Co. , undated

This collection contains materials related to vegetable canning businesses primarily located in Harford County, Maryland and affiliated with the family business of John M. Michael (1857-1921), Florence Michael Pusey (1887-1981), and Joel B. Pusey (1888-1965). There are also some items pertaining to the Kenneweg Co. of Cumberland in Allegany County, Maryland.

This collection includes an assortment of shoepeg corn canning labels from the John M. Michael Co. and the Kenneweg Co. All of the John M. Michael Co. labels were printed by The Simpson and Doeller Co. of Baltimore, Maryland. Additionally, there are four United States trademark certificates for the John M. Michael Co. : “Nectarina” and “Homestead” from 1893; and “Better Than Gold” and “Good as Gold” from 1917.

There is also correspondence from 1937 between the John M. Michael Co. and the trademark law offices of Abbott, Puller, and Myers, regarding registered trademarks and the legal ownership of the company by Florence Michael Pusey following her father’s death.