Contributing more information

Collectors have contributed information about certificates for many years. Inevitably, some of their contributions included peripheral information covering a wide range of subjects.

In July, 2005, I began posting extra information about companies in four categories.

• organization and wrap-up dates
• nicknames
• short company histories
• company presidents and CEOs

If you know anything more, please help. I will post your contributions within a couple of weeks, depending on the amount of free time I can find.

Simply write me with extra info, no matter if it is a single date. If you find mistakes in what I have already compiled, be sure to write. I BEG for corrections.

Organization dates. These are commonly the earliest dates that companies are known to have intended to incorporate. In all cases of disagreement, I give absolute preference to dates that appear on corporate seals or were printed on certificates.

Unfortunately, organization dates are often EXTREMELY fuzzy regardless of how "official" references may appear! Before you send date corrections, please try to understand the date you are contributing. So-called start-up dates can mean all sorts of things. They can be:

• dates when investors first met and decided to incorporate
• dates when companies filed organization papers with state agencies
• dates when corporate names were reserved
• dates when articles of incorporation were filed
• dates when articles of incorporation were accepted
• dates when corporate charters were granted
• dates when name changes were filed
• dates when name changes were accepted
• dates when name changes were officially granted
• dates when companies were merged
• and so forth...

It is not at all unusual to see published records of corporate organizations disagree by one or two months. It is not the least bit unusual to see disagreements between corporate and state records. If you find dates different than the ones already recorded, see if you can discover the cause. Then send corrections if necessary.

Wrap-up dates. These updates are often hard, even impossible, to discover. They are sometimes the dates of abandonment, but they are more often dates of consolidation with larger companies. And remember, just because a company merged or consolidated, does NOT mean that the company quit business. Some companies existed as separate corporate entities for decades, even though they ceased public trading.

Nicknames. Almost every company had a nickname, and not always flattering. Many successful companies used their nicknames or taglines in their advertising and promotion. Discriminating between the two is not always easy. So why bother?

Please contribute any nicknames or taglines you may have discovered. I do not ask for references. However, I ask that you tell me whether the name or tag was official or unofficial. Some unofficial nicknames had very wide coverage. Some nicknames were very local. A few unofficial nicknames became official after years of use.

SHORT, SHORT, SHORT company histories. Please write short articles telling the most important details about companies. Details may include:

• location of operations
• founders
• mileage
• purpose
• important dates
• important developments
• mergers
• consolidations
• bankruptcies
• receiverships

To get you started, check here for some of the best hints and tricks for writing..

You may also send corrections or additions to articles previously submitted. Mistakes and oversights will occur. I have never met a single person - ever - who did not make mistakes.

I will try to make time to lightly edit articles (spelling, grammar, errors), but I do not have time to write articles from raw information. I really don't. Remember, my involvement in this project is about collectible certificates. I love writing, but just don't have any more free time. I'm maxed out!

If writing, PLEASE write about only ONE AND ONLY ONE company at a time. I beg you, please do NOT combine multiple companies in your narration, even descendent companies. If there are descendent or parent companies, then feel free to write about each. I just don't have the time to do that much work.

Why do I ask to write about ONE AND ONLY ONE company at a time? Let's say someone writes a story about Company C, but in doing so, writes a paragraph about its two parent companies, A and B. How would anyone interested in Company A or B know to look in the narration of Company C for information? It is much better to write either one story or three.