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M86-03 – VESTAL NURSERY COLLECTION

Description Rules: Describing Archives: A Content Standard 2019.0.3

Summary Information

Repository: University of Central Arkansas, Torreyson Library, Archives and Special Collections

Creator: Vestal, Joseph Wysong. (Person)

Title: Vestal Nursery Records collection

ID: M86-03

Dates Bulk:  1922-1948  

Dates Inclusive: 1854 – 1967

Physical Extent: 1 box and 56 bound volumes (7.417 Linear feet:  1 Full Hollinger and 56 bound ledgers)

Language of the Material:  English 

Preferred Citation: (Bibliographic) Vestal Nursery Records collection, M86-03, University of Central Arkansas Archives and Special Collections, Conway, Arkansas.

(Footnote/Endnote info) Description of item, File or Item number, Box number, Series number, Subseries number, Vestal Nursery Records collection, M86-03.

Biographical Note: Joseph Wysong Vestal was born at Harveyburg, Ohio on November 9, 1833. Joseph Vestal established a florist business at Cambridge City, Indiana in 1860. In 1880 he decided to seek a warmer climate and purchased one hundred and thirty acres of land in Pulaski County from the Iron Mountain Railroad Company for $4,000. The land was located on the Arkansas River. He established his business and saw it grow until his death in 1917. Vestal Nurseries continued to be a family-run business after his death, with expansion into the wholesale florist market and one of the largest greenhouse operations in the United States.

In 1977, the retail and wholesale florist operations of the Vestal family were sold to the Florafax International Company of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The remaining greenhouse business ceased operating in the mid-1980s.

Scope and Content: This collection contains the financial records and many catalogs of the Joseph W. Vestal Co., a retail and wholesale florist and nursery business of North Little Rock. 

Arrangement: Arranged in 2 series: 1. Retail catalogs, wholesale price lists, and information on the Vestal family, 1892 – 1959. 2. Oversized journals and sales registers of the Vestal Nursery, 1928 – 1967.

Administrative Information

Publication Statement:  University of Central Arkansas Archives and Special Collections  

UCA Archives
Torreyson Library
201 Donaghey Avenue
Conway, AR 72035
Phone: (501) 450-3418

Access Information: Please call (501) 450-3418 or email archives@uca.edu prior to your visit to ensure availability of records.

Conditions Governing Use:  This collection is open for research use.

Physical Access:  In accordance with the UCA Archives and Special Collections policy and archival best practices, two staff members must be present to move the ledgers for research use.

Processing Information: Collection received and processed in 1986 under the direction of Archivist Tom W. Dillard.  In 2024 the finding aid was updated by Valerus Quill with assists from Shelbea Gentry in 2025.

Immediate Source of Acquisition: Vestal, Jr., Walter. (Donor, Person)

Controlled Access Headings: 

Advertising–Florists

Account books

Business and Industry

Biography

Cities and Towns – North Little Rock

Florists

Horticulture

Joseph W. Vestal and Son Nursery 

Ornamental plant industry

Pricing

Stores, Retail

Wholesale price indexes

Collection Inventory

Series I – Financial Records and Catalogs

Box 1

  • File 1A – Financial Records, 1927 – 1928
  • File 1B – Financial Records, 1936 – 39
  • File 2 – Financial Records, 1940 – 1944
  • File 3 – Financial Records, 1945 – 1954
  • File 4 – Financial Records, 1955 – January 1960
  • File 5 – Wholesale Price List, Fall 1903
  • File 6 – Wholesale Price List, Fall 1904
  • File 7 – Wholesale Price List, Spring 1905
  • File 8 – Wholesale Price List, Fall 1906
  • File 9 – Wholesale Price List, Spring 1907
  • File 10 – Wholesale Price List, Spring 1908
  • File 11 – Wholesale Price List, Fall 1908
  • File 12 – Wholesale Price List, Spring 1924
  • File 13 – Wholesale Price List, Spring 1934
  • File 14 – Wholesale Price List, Fall 1948 – Spring 1949
  • File 15 – Wholesale Price List, Fall 1951 – Spring 1952
  • File 16 – Wholesale Price List, Fall 1952 – Spring 1953
  • File 17 – Wholesale Price List, Fall 1953 – Spring 1954
  • File 18 – Wholesale Price List, Fall 1955 – Spring 1956
  • File 19A – Copy of Book, Directions for Sprouting, Raising and Keeping Sweet Potatoes by Aaron H. Vestal, 1854
  • File 19B – Retail Catalog, 1892
  • File 20 – Retail Catalog, 1892 (Bound photocopy)
  • File 21 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1905
  • File 22 – Retail Catalog, 1910
  • File 23 – Retail Catalog, 1911
  • File 24 – Retail Catalog, 1912
  • File 25 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1922
  • File 26 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1922
  • File 27 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1924
  • File 28 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1924
  • File 29 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1925
  • File 30 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1926
  • File 31 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1927
  • File 32 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1928
  • File 33 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1928
  • File 34 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1929
  • File 35 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1929
  • File 36 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1930
  • File 37 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1930
  • File 38 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1931
  • File 39 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1931
  • File 40 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1932
  • File 41 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1932
  • File 42 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1933
  • File 43 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1933
  • File 44 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1934
  • File 45 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1934
  • File 46 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1936
  • File 47 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1937
  • File 48 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1938
  • File 49 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1938
  • File 50 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1939
  • File 51 – Retail Catalog, Fall 1939
  • File 52 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1940
  • File 53 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1941
  • File 54 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1943
  • File 55 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1945
  • File 56 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1946
  • File 57 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1948
  • File 58 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1949
  • File 59 – Retail Catalog, Spring 1950
  • File 60 – Letter – Victory Tax, 1942; Letter, Thanksgiving 1948
  • File 61 – Copy of Act 116 of 1959 signed by Governor Orval E. Faubus; Permit, Seventh consecutive day – 1959 (Permits women to work seven consecutive days)
  • File 62 – Newspaper article on Vestal home being leveled. (copy)
  • File 63 – Statement with notice of “Vestal’s Program of Entertainment” (A radio program), 1939; Samples of order sheets and return envelopes; Postcard 1912; Photograph of Vestal Nursery  c.1930; Figures for cubic feet of various nursery buildings; Sheet on flower dyeing; Formula to prevent mildew; How to care for white Callas.
  • File 64 – Vestal family biography by Amelia (Chudy) Vestal
  • File 65 – Yearbook containing utility records (coal, electricity and water) 1932-1950; information about catalogs and plants.
  • File 66 – Nursery/Family Materials

 

Series II – Oversized Record books – Not in a Box

  • Item 1 – Trial Balance, January 1, 1929 – February 1934
  • Item 2 – Journal, November 1, 1928 – February 9, 1929
  • Item 3 – Journal, February 10, 1929 – April 20, 1929
  • Item 4 – Journal, April 19, 1929 – October 5, 1929
  • Item 5 – Journal, October 18, 1937 – August 18, 1938
  • Item 6 – Journal, August 19, 1938 – June 16, 1939
  • Item 7 – Journal, June 17, 1939 – March 15, 1940
  • Item 8 – Journal, March 16, 1940 – June 29, 1941
  • Item 9 – Journal, July 1, 1941 – May 11, 1943
  • Item 10 – Journal, May 15, 1943 – September 27, 1945
  • Item 11 – Sales Book, Vestal Greenhouse, September 26, 1945 – July 31, 1946
  • Item 12 – Sales Book, Vestal Greenhouse, August 1, 1946 – February 9, 1949
  • Item 13 – Sales Register, November 1, 1928 – May 14, 1929
  • Item 14 – Sales Register, May 16, 1929 – February 28, 1930
  • Item 15 – Sales Register, March 1, 1930 – October 31, 1930
  • Item 16 – Sales Register, November 1, 1930 – April 12, 1932
  • Item 17 – Sales Register, April 12, 1932 – March 31, 1934
  • Item 18 – Journal, July 1, 1931 – June 30, 1932
  • Item 19 – Journal, July 1, 1932 – December 30, 1932, front p. 1–56 and Sales Register, April 1, 1934 – April 17, 1935, back pp. 57–149
  • Item 20 –  Sales Register, April 19, 1935 – August 31, 1936
  • Item 21 – Sales Register, September 1, 1936 – September 22, 1937
  • Item 22 – Sales Register, September 23, 1937 – September 14, 1938
  • Item 23 – Sales Register, September 15, 1938-June 10, 1939
  • Item 24 – Sales Register, June 11, 1939 – March 28, 1940
  • Item 25 – Sales Register, March 29, 1940 – December 25, 1940
  • Item 26 – Sales Register, December 25, 1940 – June 30, 1941
  • Item 27 – Sales Register, July 1, 1941 – February 10, 1942
  • Item 28 – Sales Register, February 11, 1943 – August 13, 1942
  • Item 29 – Sales Register, August 12, 1942 – March 20, 1943
  • Item 30 – Sales Register, March 20, 1943 – November 19, 1943
  • Item 31 – Sales Register, November 19, 1943 – June 12, 1944
  • Item 32 – Sales Register, June 12, 1944 – February 17, 1945
  • Item 33 – Sales Register, February 16, 1945 – September 26, 1945
  • Item 34 – Sales Register, March 9, 1946 – November 7, 1946
  • Item 35 – Sales Register, November 7, 1946-May 9, 1947
  • Item 36 – Sales Register, May 9, 1947-January 5, 1948
  • Item 37 – Sales Register, January 5, 1948-June 22, 1948
  • Item 38 – Sales Register, June 23, 1948 – January 10, 1949
  • Item 39 – Sales Register, January 10, 1949 – February 7, 1949
  • Item 40 – Journal, January 1, 1954 – September 30, 1956
  • Item 41 – Journal, October 1, 1956 – June 30, 1958
  • Item 42 – Journal, July 1, 1958 – February 29, 1960
  • Item 43 – Journal, September 1, 1961 – February 28, 1963
  • Item 44 – Journal, March 1, 1963 – January 30, 1964
  • Item 45 – Journal, January 2, 1964 – July 30, 1965
  • Item 46 – Journal, August 1, 1965 – January 28, 1967
  • Item 47 – Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, October 18, 1937 – June 30, 1939
  • Item 48 – Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, July 1, 1939 – November 14, 1940
  • Item 49 – Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, November 15, 1940 – December 21, 1941
  • Item 50 – Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, December 22, 1941 – December 31, 1942
  • Item 51 – Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, December 31, 1943 – November 30, 1943
  • Item 52 – Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, December 1, 1943 – October 31, 1944
  • Item 53 – Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, November 1, 1944 – August 25, 1945
  • Item 54 – Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, August 27, 1945-June 17, 1946
  • Item 55 – Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, February 19, 1948–December 22, 1948
  • Item 56 – Sales Register, Vestal Flowers, December 22, 1948 – February 26, 1949
  • Item 57 – Register of Plants and Flowers bought and sold, September 1, 1943 – April 13, 1944

End of Series II

End of Collection