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From Press Book and Pigeonhole to Vertical Filing: Revolution in Storage and Access Systems for Correspondence

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

This article describes the development in early twentieth century American businesses of modern vertical filing, using the development in Scovill Man ufacturing Company as an example. The chronological press book of cop ies of outgoing correspondence and the haphazardly arranged pigeonholes and boxes full of incoming correspondence could not handle the increasing amount of correspondence late in the nineteenth century. A series of changes in methods of producing and reproducing documents led up to the change in methods of storing and gaining access to them. The new vertical filing system affected the format and content of external correspondence and encouraged the evolution of inter- and intradepartmental correspon dence. The changes in the communication structure in this period have im plications for changes now in progress as office automation advances.

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