From Press Book and Pigeonhole to Vertical Filing: Revolution in Storage and Access Systems for Correspondence
JoAnne Yates · Journal of Business Communication · 1982
This article describes the development in early twentieth century Americanbusinesses of modern vertical filing, using the development in Scovill Manufacturing Company as an example. The chronological press book of copies of outgoing correspondence and the haphazardly arranged pigeonholesand boxes full of incoming correspondence could not handle the increasingamount of correspondence late in the nineteenth century. A series ofchanges in methods of producing and reproducing documents led up to thechange in methods of storing and gaining access to them. The new verticalfiling system affected the format and content of external correspondenceand encouraged the evolution of inter- and intradepartmental correspondence. The changes in the communication structure in this period have implications for changes now in progress as office automation advances.