1929-1948 Economic Census

The 1929 Census of Manufactures was taken as a part of the Fifteenth Decennial Census of 1930. Also taken in 1930 was the first Census of Distribution covering retail and wholesale trade.

The following materials link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are provided when available.

1929-1930

Schedules of the Census of Manufacturers, 1929 (National Archives and Records Administration)
This series contains schedules listing for each manufacturing plant a statement of its location and a description of the plant, its character, its length of time in operation, the number of wage earners and their hours of labor, the cost of wages and materials, and the quantity and value of the products. The schedules, submitted by the manufacturers to the Census Bureau, cover the calendar year 1929 or the fiscal year April 1, 1928 - March 31, 1929. There are separate schedule forms relating to each industry classification.

Abstract of the Fifteenth Census of the United States by United States. Bureau of the Census.
Call Number: HA201 1930.A32 Z3
Published/Created: 1933
Available online from the U.S. Census Bureau.
This volume contains a selection of the most essential statistics collected at the census of 1930 for population, including occupations, families, and unemployment; for agriculture, including type of farm, irrigation, and drainage; for manufactures; for mines and quarries; and for wholesale and retail distribution, construction, and hotels.
Fifteenth census of the United States: 1930. Agriculture. by United States. Bureau of the Census.
Call Number: HA201.A3 A5 1930
Published/Created: 1931-32
Available online from the U.S. Census Bureau.
I. Farm acreage and farm values by townships or other minor civil divisions.--II. Reports by states, with statistics for counties and a summary for the United States. pt. 1. The northern states. pt. 2. The southern states. pt. 3. The western states.--III. Type of farm. Reports by states, with statistics for counties and a summary for the United States. pt. 1. The northern states. pt. 2. The southern states. pt. 3. The western states.--IV. General report, statistics by subjects.
Fifteenth census of the United States : Manufactures, 1929 by United States. Bureau of the Census.
Call Number: HA201 1930.A3 M3
Published/Created: 1933
The manufactures reports for 1929 comprise three volumes. Digitized reports are available from the Census website.
Volume I (U.S. Census Bureau) is a general report giving statistics by subjects for the U.S. as a whole, by industries and by States, in ten chapters with tables, and maps and diagrams.
Volume II (U.S. Census Bureau) is an assembly of the detailed reports for the 326 manufacturing, printing and publishing industries covered by the census.
Volume III incorporates the advance State series of manufactures bulletins.
Distribution. Fifteenth census of the United States: 1930. by United States. Bureau of the Census.
Call Number: HA201 1930.A3 D5
Published/Created: 1933-34
Available online from the U.S. Census Bureau
Available online from Hathi Trust External.
Volume I - Retail Distribution: Retail operations in 1929, including number of stores, personnel, pay roll, stocks, sales, etc.
Volume II - Wholesale Distribution: Stats by principal classifications, kinds of business, type and number of establishments, net sales, total expenses, employees engaged, commodity sales, etc.
Fifteenth census of the United States. Census of distribution: 1930. by United States. Bureau of the census.
Call Number: HF3007 .A4
Published/Created: 1935
State summary series for retail. Related publications are: Retail distribution State Series and Connecticut and Oregon

1933

Census of American business: 1933. by United States. Bureau of the census.
Call Number: HF3007 .A425 1933
Published/Created: 1935
Available online from Hathi Trust External. Search for Census of American business:1933 in title to get a list of all available reports.
Census of American business. Wholesale distribution: 1933. by United States. Bureau of the Census.
Call Number: HF3007 .A425 1933b
Published/Created: 1935
Available online from Hathi Trust External
Presents comparative statistics on wholesale trade for the years 1933 and 1929. Data are shown, first, by type of establishment; second, by kind of business in detail for all types of establishments combined; and third, by kind of business in detail for each of the important types of wholesale organizations.

1935

Census of business: 1935. Wholesale Distribution by United States. Bureau of the census.
Call Number: HF3007 .A425 1935
Published/Created: 1937
Available online from Hathi Trust External
Published in a series of eitght volumes together with a number of special reports.
Volume I - United States Summary
Volume II - States and 25 Selected Cities
Volume III - Cities and Counties
Volume IV - Kinds of Business
Volume V - Employment and Pay Roll
Volume VI - Business-Size Groups and Analysis of Operating Expenses
Volume VII - Credit Sales and Sales of Classes of Customers
Volume VIII - Commodity Sales
Census of business: 1935. Retail Distribution. by United States. Bureau of the Census.
Call Number: HF3007 .A415
Published/Created: 1937
Available online from Hathi Trust External
Volume I - United States Summary
Volume II - County and City Summaries
Volume III - Kinds of Business, by Areas: Stores and Sales for States, Counties and Cities.
Volume IV - Types of Operation
Volume V - Employment and Pay Roll
Volume VI - Credit Sales, Analysis of Sales. Stocks, Size of Business

Nonpopulation Census Records: 1935 Business Roll Lists
National Archives holds six publications of the 1935 Census of Business in microfilm:
Schedules of Advertising Agencies (1 roll).
Schedules of Banking and Financial Institutions (31 rolls).
Schedules of Miscellaneous Enterprises (43 rolls).
Schedules of Motor Trucking for Hire (103 rolls).
Schedules of Public Warehousing (6 rolls).
Schedules of Radio Broadcasting Stations (1 roll).

1940

Sixteenth census of the United States: 1940. Census of Business. by United States. Bureau of the Census.
Call Number: HF3007 .A425 1940b
Published/Created: 1941
This is a sample report from the 1940 Census of Business results that were published in a series of five volume reports and subject reports.
Available online from Hathi Trust External - digitized reports of the 1940 Census of Business.
Browse all available reports in the Library of Congress Online Catalog.

1948

United States census of business, 1948. by United States. Bureau of the Census.
Call Number: HF3007 .A5 1948b
Published/Created: 1951-52
Available online from Hathi Trust External
Volume I - Retail Trade. General Statistics. Part 1.
Volume II - Retail Trade. General Statistics. Part 2 and Merchandise Line Sales Statistics.
Volume III - Retail Trade. Area Statistics
Volume IV - Wholesale Trade. General Statistics. and Commodity Line Sales Statistics.
Volume V - Wholesale Trade. Area Statistics
Volume VI - Service Trade. General Statistics
Volume VII - Service Trade. Area Statistics
Wholesale trade; U. S. census of business, 1948. by United States. Bureau of the Census.
Call Number: HF3007 .A5 1948a
Published/Created: 1950-51
Comprised of 50 bulletins covering 49 states and U.S. Summary.
Trade series; U.S. census of business, 1948. Bulletin no. 3-1--[3-14]. by United States. Bureau of the Census
Call Number: HF3007 .A5 1948c
Published/Created: 1952
14 reports in two volumes. Some reports in the series are available from
Hathi Trust External
Wholesale trade; U. S. census of business, 1948. by United States. Bureau of the Census.
Call Number: HF3007 .A5 1948d
Published/Created: 1950
Sales Size and Operating Expenses. Bulletin No.2 2-W-2