Robert R. McCormick (1880-1955) Purchasing Department records

These materials reflect the wide range of interests and the life style of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, containing, as they do, records of purchases ranging from magazine subscriptions and flashlights to cars, yachts and airplanes, even a polo field.

A great deal of the material relates to Cantigny (his country estate) and its development over the years, including many blueprints and photographs of buildings, specifications and bids for additions, catalogs of farm equipment, and the like. An even larger portion of the collection details the purchase and sale of various airplanes held by the Colonel, again with interesting photographs, catalogs, specifications, and related correspondence. The meticulous, often laborious, work of the various purchasing agents of the Chicago Tribune is also reflected in these papers.