Bacon, Daisy Papers, 1857-before March 25, 1986

Series 1: Diaries and Journals, 1899-1982, includes diaries kept by Jessie Holbrook Bacon Ford, Esther Joa Ford Robinson, and Daisy Bacon. Overall, the diary entries are typical in that they document weather, daily activities, visiting, and illnesses. Jessie Bacon Ford's 1899 diary is unbound and comprises more than forty pages. In it Jessie writes about daily activities with frequent mentions of Daisy, who was an infant at the time. Jessie's diaries also include periodic mentions of having "lonely days." Daisy chronicles her work on Love Story Writier and also frequently mentions dreams. Evidence of Daisy's alleged suicide attempts and overall mental health can be found in both Esther and Daisy's diary entries. A more detailed analysis of Daisy's mental health is discussed in Laurie Powers's Queen of the Pulps. Apart from her diaries, Daisy also frequently chronicled her dreams and kept several journals in which she summarized them.

Series 2: Scrapbooks and Ephemera, 1903-1976, comprises miscellaneous newspaper clippings, printed ephemera, published articles, and scrapbooks created and collected by Daisy Bacon, her sister Esther, and their mother Jessie. Some of the materials document Love Story and Daisy's career as editor at Street & Smith. Many of the clippings were removed from diaries and organized by date and/or subject by Laurie Powers while writing Queen of the Pulps. These groupings were retained and are organized within sub-folders in the larger folders of newspaper clippings. Scrapbooks of a more personal nature include poetry and astrological clippings.

Of interest are four scrapbooks containing Love Story covers between 1939 and 1947. Three lacquer (acetate) phonodiscs contain a radio interview conducted by George Atmond with Daisy Bacon and Clarke Robinson on June 13, 1941 on WNYC, a public radio station in New York City. The scripted interview was part of a series titled "The Writer and Your Life" which proclaimed to create a better understanding between the audience and writers. An aluminum phonodisc is also included. It has not been reformatted and there is no corresponding label to indicate the nature of its contents.

Series 3: Manuscripts and Publishing, 1929-1975, comprises manuscript drafts written chiefly by Daisy Bacon, but also include writings and publications created by Clarke Robinson and Jessie Bacon Ford. Additionally, correspondence and documents related to publishing contracts, sales, and copyright are included. Bacon's "Women Among Men" was published in The New York Woman, Volume 1, Number 7, October 21, 1936. More detailed summaries of Daisy's manuscripts can be found in Laurie Powers's Queen of the Pulps.

News items, articles, and promotional material relating to Daisy Bacon, Love Story, and Street & Smith can be found in Series 2: Scrapbooks and Ephemera.

Series 4: Personal Papers and Correspondence, 1857-1975, comprises papers, documents, and personal correspondence largely unrelated to Daisy Bacon's work as the editor of Love Story, though professional matters may be present in the materials in this series. Family papers include Elmer Bacon's divorce certificate with Carrie Thompson Bacon and his marriage certificate with Jessie Holbrook, letters of recommendation for George E. Ford, and a ledger for a mercantile or grocery that Elmer and Jessie Bacon operated in Westfield, New York.

Financial documents including Esther Robinson's check registers and receipts, legal documents concerning real estate, Daisy Bacon's passport, and a Certificate of Pedigree for Daisy's cat "Collinsdale Janice" are included.

Series 5: Photographs and Negatives, 1883-before March 25, 1986, primarily include Daisy Bacon, Henry Wise Miller, Esther Joa Ford Robinson, Clarke Robinson, Jessie Holbrook Bacon Ford, Elmer Bacon (post-mortem), and George Ford. Photographs include professional portraits, baby pictures, casual shots, and vacation destinations. Of interest is a photograph of Henry Wise Miller with Eleanor Roosevelt at a June 1940 dinner honoring those who worked for the Finnish Relief Fund. Daisy Bacon and Henry Wise Miller would freqently take photos of each other at the same location in a style described by Laurie Powers as "twin photographs." Several examples of these pairs of photogaphs are included. Additonally, this series includes a group of photographs taken of Daisy Bacon by American photojournalist William Eugene Smith for an October 1942 article for Parade's Weekly. That issue and article can be found in Series 2: Scrapbooks and Ephemera. Daisy Bacon and Esther Joa Ford Robinson were both cat enthusiasts. Many photographs feature the sisters with cats or cats on their own. The photographs are largely undated so in many cases folder date ranges are approximate.

The box of photo negatives have only been minimally reviewed and have not been digitized. A portion of the negatives are represented as photographs within this series. A date range was applied that corresponds to the earliest known photograph of Daisy Bacon (ca. 1899) and Daisy's death date (March 25, 1986).