mss0552.xml Finding aid for Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association, Inc. records1917–2006 University of Delaware Library, Special Collections University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267 Phone: 302-831-2229 Fax: 302-831-6003 URL: http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/
Date encoded (2007 February 22) Finding aid encoded 2007 February 22 English Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association, Inc. records1917–2006 Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267 Phone: 302-831-2229 Fax: 302-831-6003 URL: http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/
 Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association. Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association, Inc. records1917–2006 MSS 552 5 linear feet (5 boxes) The records of the Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association, 1917–2006, document the structure and services of this regional trade organization. The collection includes founding documents, administrative records, meeting minutes, bulletins, financial statements, correspondence, convention programs, photographs, and other printed material relating to the organization. Materials entirely in English. University of Delaware Library - Special Collections Source

Gift of Ed Kee, June 2006.

 Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

 Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, http://www.lib.udel.edu/cgi-bin/askspec.cgi

 Citation

MSS 552, Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association, Inc. records, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

 Shelving Summary Boxes 1-5: Shelved in SPEC MSS record center cartons Processing

Processed and encoded by Evan Echols, February 2007.

 Historical Note

Several state-level groups of food processing firms formed a trade organization in the early twentieth century, eventually expanding to add Maryland and Virginia firms in the middle of the century. Known as the Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association (MAFPA) since 1964, changes in the food industry led to the group's dissolution in 2002.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, food preservation had become one of the major industries of the Mid-Atlantic region. In order to better address common issues such as government regulations, consumer education, and dissemination of information regarding new technologies, several state trade associations merged to create a regional association. The Tri-State Packers Association was founded on February 3, 1904 by the members of the New Jersey Canned Goods Association and the Peninsula Canned Goods Packers Association. While fifty-five firms comprised the original membership, the organization expanded to include 111 firms within a year. The Tri-State Packers Association represented large national companies such as Campbell’s (based in New Jersey) as well as hundreds of small, independent food processors in the region. The Association’s affiliation with the Maryland Canners Association began with the 1919 convention held in Philadelphia. The Association was incorporated in Maryland in 1929.

The leadership of the Tri-State Packers consisted of three full-time employees: the executive secretary, the assistant secretary, and the treasurer. The presidency was a temporary position, filled by sixty-nine men over the ninety-eight years of the organization’s existence. The board of directors and a number of committees worked with the leadership to address issues relating to the food processing industry through legislative and educational activities. Virginia processors were added to the Tri-State Packers Association in 1963, necessitating a name change. In 1964, the organization became the Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association or MAFPA.

The Association focused on governmental and regulatory issues as well as conducting agricultural research to improve crop yield and raw product. It also reviewed pending legislation at both the nation and local levels so firms could address the issues of food processing with Congress and state representatives. MAFPA sponsored seminars and classes designed to improve general knowledge in the fields of management, mechanical engineering and bookkeeping. The Lansing Warner Company of Chicago provided a group insurance plan for the Association’s member firms and their employees until the 1970s.

In the late twentieth century, competition from other agricultural and food processing regions (particularly California), a change in American eating habits, and diminishing supplies of seafood from the Chesapeake and Delaware bays caused significant financial difficulties for smaller processors. The Mid-Atlantic region’s processors found it difficult to survive in an extremely competitive marketplace and by 2000 only four members were left in MAFPA. The Association formally dissolved in 2002 after ninety-eight years of support for member processors in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Budd, Nelson H. History of the Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association Inc. [1967]. (Box 1, Folder 7) Kee, Ed. Saving our Harvest: The Story of the Mid-Atlantic Region’s Canning and Freezing Industry. Timonium, Md.: CTI Publications, Inc. 2006.

Scope and Content Note

The records of the Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association, 1917–2006, documents the structure and services of a regional trade organization. The collection contains 5 linear feet of material organized topically into four series, including founding documents, administrative records, meeting minutes, bulletins, financial statements, correspondence, convention programs, photographs, and other printed material relating to the organization. The material contained collection was used extensively by Ed Kee in research toward Saving Our Harvest: The Story of the Mid-Atlantic Region’s Canning and Freezing Industry (2006). Many of the items used, such as directories and minutes, are referenced in Kee’s bibliographic essay in Saving Our Harvest.

Series I. consists of printed material related to the founding of the Association, board of directors membership lists, member obituaries, and correspondence to and from MAFPA executive secretaries Frank and Nina Schales (1979–1999).

Series II. consists of the organizational newsletter, the General Bulletin (1972–2000), and meeting minutes (1928–1998).

Series III. contains the financial information of the Association and includes financial statements, receipts, tax returns, insurance policy reviews, and ledgers.

Series IV. contains material related to various MAFPA meetings such as convention programs, as well as directories.

Series V. consists of the notebooks of C. W. Mowbray, executive secretary of MAFPA 1974–1978, as well as environmental/agricultural research, pamphlets, material dealing with migrant labor, news articles, and several trade publications.

 Arrangement

I. Founding Documents, 1929–2002 II. Organizational Bulletins and Minutes, 1928–2000 III. Financial Information, 1959–2001 IV. Directories and Convention Information, 1914–2000 V. Research and Related Publication, 1927–2006

Selected Search Terms Corporate Names Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association--20th century--Sources. Topical Terms Canned foods industry--Middle Atlantic States--20th century--Sources. Frozen foods industry--Middle Atlantic States--20th century--Sources. Form/Genre Terms Correspondence. Administrative records. Financial records. Photographs. Obituaries. Detailed Contents List Series I. Founding Documents1929–2002 1 F1 Tri-State Packers Certificate of Incorporation1929 January 7 1 F1 Proposed Resolution Changing Resident Agent1957 1 F1 Constitution and by-laws1937 1 F2 Charters and By-laws of the Tri-State Packers Association/Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association1958–1967, 1984, 1990 1 F3 Corporate name change from Tri-State Packers Association to Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association1964 1 F4 Agreement and Declaration of Trust between Trappe Frozen Foods Corp., Chas. T. Wrightson & Son, inc., and Charles F. Noble Co.1959 1 F4 Agreement and Declaration of Trust between the Trustees. Masonic Temple and Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association1959 1 F5 Board of Directors membership lists, correspondenceundated 1 F6 Board of Directors minutes and membership reports1979–1980 1 F7 Budd, Nelson H. History of the Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association Inc[1967] 1 F8 Articles of Amendment of the Maryland Food Processors Association1968 December 5 1 F9 Certificates of Honor for MAFPA membersundated 1 F9 Photocopies of Tri-State Packers Association mentions in The Tradeundated 1 F10 Dissolution of MAFPA2002 1 F11 Society of Tri-Statersundated 1 F12 Associated New York Food Processors Policy Statement and Membership Directories2001–2002 1 F13 Obituaries of Tri-State Packers/MAFPA membersundated 1 F14 Obituaries of Tri-State Packers/MAFPA membersundated 1 F15 Correspondence to Henry P. Cannon of Cannon Foods, Bridgeville, DE1979–1999 1 F16 Correspondence and various documents relating to Frank and Nina Schales, Executive Secretaries of MAFPA1979–1999 1 F17 Correspondence to various MAFPA members1971–1982 Series II. Organizational Bulletins and Minutes1928–2000 MAFPA General Bulletin1972–2000 1 F1 1972–1978 1 F2 1979–1982 1 F3 1983–1988 January 1 F4 1988 May–1993 February 1 F5 1993–2000 October 1 F6 MAFPA Board of Directors meeting minutes1967–1977 Meeting minutes1928–1998 1 F7 1928–1930 1 F8 1931–1933 1 F9 1934–1936 1 F10 1937–1939 1 F11 1940–1943 1 F12 1944–1948 1 F13 1949–1952 2 F14 1953–1958 2 F15 1959–1961 2 F16 1962–1964 2 F17 1965–1970 2 F18 1971–1975 2 F19 1976–1978 2 F20 1979–1989 2 F21 1990–1998 2 F22 Budget and minutes [1 of 2]undated

The first half of a single notebook

 2 F23 Budget and minutes [2 of 2]undated

The second half of a single notebook

 Series III. Financial Information1959–2001 2 F1 Memos and various financial documents. Note: Contains two issues of the official newsletter of The American Frozen Food Institute (April 12, 1999 and May 10, 1999)1998–1999 2 F2 MAFPA balance sheets and income statements1964–1972 2 F3 MAFPA budget1978–1980 Financial Statements and Insurance Trust Fund1973–2001 2 F4 1973 2 F5 1974–1975 2 F6 1976–1977 2 F7 1978–1980 2 F8 1981–1984 2 F9 1985–1987 2 F10 1988–1990 2 F11 1991–1993 2 F12 1994–1996 2 F13 1997–1998, 2001 3 F14 Cash Receipts and Bank Deposits1970 3 F15 Cash Receipts and Bank Deposits1971 3 F16 Cash Receipts and Bank Deposits1972 3 F17 Guidelines for the Mid-Atlantic Food Processors Association Members Hospitalization Programundated 3 F18 MAFPA mailing list subscription forms1986 3 F19 Maryland Employer Withholding Tables1999 3 F20 Tri-State Packers' Association Operation Manual[1950] Tax Returns1977–1996 3 F21 1977–1985 3 F22 1986–1989 3 F23 1990–1992 3 F24 1993–1994 3 F25 1995–1996 3 F26 Agreement and Declaration of Trust between Trappe Frozen Foods Corp., Chas. T. Wrightston & Son, Inc, and Charles F. Noble Co., and Gordon K. Calvert, Francis H. Wrightson, and Charles F. Noble, as trustees1959 3 F27 MAFPA insurance trust fund experience reviews1967–1970 3 F28 MAFPA insurance trust fund experience reviews1971–1973 3 F29 Insurance trust fund financial statements1978–1980 3 F30 Insurance trust fund financial statements1981–1983 3 F31 Notebook containing miscellaneous insurance documentsundated 3 F32 Warner Insurance Group staff correspondence1968–1983 3 F33 Insurance policy reviews1978–1983 3 F34 MAFPA Administrative Services insurance payments1985–1991 3.5 inch floppy disks1994–1999 5 items 3 F35 Quickbooks back up1994–1999 3 F35 Itemized profit and loss1996 3 F35 Processor members, Food Bank history, misc. filesundated Ledgers1962–1994 3 F36 1962–1979 3 F37 1976–1992 3 F38 1978–1994 Series IV. Directories and convention information1914–2000 4 F1 Convention photographs[1950–1960?], 1986 4 F2 Virginia Grown guide1993–1994 4 F3 Better Process Control School labels and lettersundated 4 F4 Customer name listsundated 4 F5 The Pennsylvania Packer1993–1995 4 F6 The Pennsylvania Packer1996–1997 4 F7 Brochure for the Old Guard Society Fifty-Forth Annual Party1979 MAFPA Annual Convention programs1967–1998 4 F8 1967–1984 4 F9 1980–1998 4 F10 1986–1998 4 F11 Tri-State Packers Association's Fiftieth Annual Convention program1953 4 F12 The Pennsylvania Food Processors Association Membership Directory1953 4 F13 Mid-America Food Processors Association: Convention Program, Membership Information, and Advertising Directory1993 4 F14 The Guard Society of the Food Industries Membership Directory1998–1999 4 F15 Souvenir of the Convention of the National Canners' and Allied Association1914 photocopy 4 F16 MAFPA Banquet pamphlets1975–1980 4 F17 Tri-State Packers Association Directory1927 4 F18 Canners Directory1959 4 F19 Tri-State Packers Association Directory of Food Processors1960, 1962 Buyers' Guide and Directory of Food Processors1967–2000 4 F20 1967–1969 4 F21 1970, 1973, 1975, 1980 4 F22 1982–1986 4 F23 1986–1989 4 F24 1990–1991 4 F25 1992, 1995 4 F26 1996–1997 4 F27 1999–2000 4 F28 Directory of the Canning, Freezing, Preserving Industries1982–1983 Series V. Research and related publications1927–2006 5 F1 Ozark Food Processors Association convention information1999 5 F2 C. W. "Kelly" Mowbray notebook 1 [1 of 2]undated 5 F3 C. W. "Kelly" Mowbray notebook 1 [2 of 2]undated 5 F4 C. W. "Kelly" Mowbray notebook 2 [1 of 2]undated 5 F5 C. W. "Kelly" Mowbray notebook 2 [2 of 2]undated 5 F6 C. W. Mowbray testimony before House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and Related Agencies1975 April 29 5 F6 Correspondence between C. W. Mowbray and Dean J. M. Beattie, College of Agriculture, The Pennsylvania State University1974 5 F7 Governor's Commission on Migratory and Seasonal Farm Labor1981 5 F8 Studies on migrant labor1981–1982 5 F9 Agricultural research1973–1990 5 F10 Environmental reports1975 5 F11 Agricultural research1927, 1974–1999 5 F12 Requirements of Laws and Regulations Enforced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration1989 5 F13 Public Policy Progress Report1998 5 F14 Industry and Trade Technology Review1993 Food Production Management1978–2001 5 F15 1978 November, 1980 October, 1981 January, May, July 5 F16 1981 October, 1985 January, June, 2001 June 5 F17 1999 June 5 F18 The Food Industry1983 News articles1971–2006 5 F19 1992–2006 5 F20 1971–1991 5 F21 undated 5 F22 Notebook containing misc. documentsundated

Contents removed and filed in their original order

 5 F23 Notebook containing bulletins and correspondenceundated

Contents removed and filed in their original order

 5 F24 Notebook1974–1979, 1992 5 F25 Notebook1974–1979, 1992 5 F26 Pamphletsundated 5 F27 Newsletters1998–1999 5 F28 MAFPA Newsletter and notes2002