The Cleveland Stock Exchange was organized in 1899 by Cleveland, Ohio, financiers Herbert Wright, W.H. Lamprecht, and R. H. York, and began operations on April 16, 1900. After the crash of 1929, the market never regained its pre-Depression value, and after fluctuating throughout World War II, it reached a post-crash high in 1946. In the late 1930s the exchange, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, sold odd lots and unlisted securities, and permitted incorporatd brokerages to purchase seats which had previously only been sold to individual brokers. The Cleveland Bourse, as it was commonly known, offered stocks and bonds primarily from local corporations engaged in manufacturing, refining and the rubber industry. Many of the men on the Exchange served in World War II, allowing women to assume responsibility as board markers, chief clerk, and traders. After a decline in yearly activity and the improvement of communications technology, the Cleveland Stock Exchange was replaced by the Chicago-based Midwest Stock Exchange on December 1, 1948. Thereafter, trading was moved to the Midwest's main floor in Chicago while a branch office was maintained in Cleveland until 1966. The collection consists of annual reports, daily sales registers, account ledgers, dividend records, and scrapbooks. The dividend records of corporations participating in the Exchange include Eaton Manufacturing Company, Dow Chemical Company, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, General Tire and Rubber Company, Glidden Company, Halle Brothers Company, Otis Steel Company, Packer Corporation, Peerless Motor Car Corporation, Standard Oil of Ohio (and New Jersey), Stouffer Corporation, Thompson Products Incorporated, Timken Roller Bearing Company, United States Steel Corporation, Vlchek Tool Company, and White Motor Company.
