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Viavi Company founded abt 1889 in San Francisco

Viavi Company founded abt 1889 in San Francisco

Posted: 2 May 2010 12:54AM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 3 May 2010 1:40PM GMT
Surnames: Law, Glassford, Ramsdell, Bender, Middleton, Leichter, Frew, Condon
I am a graduate student of United States history writing a dissertation on the Viavi Company. The company was founded by brothers Herbert E. Law and Hartland Law in San Francisco circa 1889. They contracted with many female sales agents throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain and beyond to sell their proprietary remedies. I am looking for more information about these pioneering Viavi-ists. Some of the names of early Viavi agents are Dora Smart Ramsdell (Los Angeles), Mary Stuart Glassford (Canada, Chicago, London), Mary W. Bender, Katherine F. Middleton (Kentucky), Mabel Frew Condon (Chicago and New England), and Elsa Leichter (San Francisco).

Re: Viavi Company founded abt 1889 in San Francisco

Posted: 31 Jan 2012 6:46PM GMT
Classification: Query
Dora Smart Ramsdell was my great grandmother. I did not know of her involvement in this business. Maybe I can help you.

Re: Viavi Company founded abt 1889 in San Francisco

Posted: 4 Apr 2012 4:23AM GMT
Classification: Biography
Edited: 4 Apr 2012 12:59PM GMT
Hello! I just saw your post. How exciting! Dora Smart Ramsdell was the manager of the Los Angeles office of the Viavi Company at the turn of the 20th century. I'm writing a dissertation about the company and am trying to get a better sense of who these early business women were. Below is some info from Who's Who in the Pacific Southwest on Dora and Cassius. Do these sound like your relatives?

Sincerely,

Natalie Marine-Street

RAMSDELL, Cassius Galispie.
Asst. mgr. Los Angeles office, Viavi Co.
Res. 1339 La Brea blvd.; office, 511
Bryson Bldg., Los Angeles, Cal. Born
in Rindge, N. H., Oct 30, 1945; son of
Col. James and Lucy Waters (Rice)
Ramsdell. Married to Dora B. Smart
in 1905. Attended grammar school,
Rindge, N. H.; Old Appleton Acad.,
New Ipswich, Conn. Acquired mechani-
cal education in his father's piano
sounding board factory. Employed with
Cummings & Carlyle, piano mfrs.,
Boston, Mass., 1865-66; moved to California
in 1867; with Florence Machine Co.,
1867-72; moved to Virginia City, Nev.,
1875; in sewing-machine business, 1875-
81; moved to Los Angeles, 1881, con-
tinuing sewing-machine business in
Pomona, Cal., 1881-1905. Member Los
Angeles Chamber of Commerce.
Episcopalian.

RAMSDELL, Dora B. Smart.
Mgr. Viavi Co. for So. Cal. Res. 1339
La Brea blvd.; office, 510-13 Bryson Bldg.,
Los Angeles, Cal. Born in Plattsburg,
Mo., Oct. 12, 1860; daughter of Josiah
Allen and Eliza (Jones) Scott. Married
to Cassius G. Ramsdell in 1905.
Attended public schools, Clinton Co., Mo.;
graduated from Polytechnic High School,
St. Louis, Mo., 1879; attended
McMinnville College, Ore. Traveled and
studied from 1886-90. Moved to Chicaryo,
Ill., where she remained until 1893.
Moved to California, 1893; county
mgr. Viavi Co., 1899; mgr. same com-
pany for So. Cal., 1904 to date.
Member Fraternal Brotherhood.
Episcopalian.

Re: Viavi Company founded abt 1889 in San Francisco

Posted: 4 Apr 2012 4:36AM GMT
Classification: Query
Yes, those were indeed my relatives. Mr. Ramsdell was her 3rd husband. I actually don't have details on her life, other than what I've gleaned from census and other records. The Who's Who info is new to me. So I'm not sure I have anything to offer you after all. But let me know if I can be of any help. Rather than communicate on this public board, I'd prefer you contact me through my webpage: clarkminor.com. Thanks.

Re: Viavi Company founded abt 1889 in San Francisco

Posted: 4 Jun 2012 6:18AM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Williams
I don't have a direct connexion to this family, my family married into the Williams family, however in the 1891 Census RG12/4569 - 90 1 - 8, you will find Anna M Williams, the wife of the Vicar of Trallong, Breconshire calling herself a Representative of the British Viavi Company of London.

Cheers,

Don Cameron.

Re: Viavi Company founded abt 1889 in San Francisco

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 1:25PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 30 Nov 2012 2:30PM GMT
Hi! I am researching a family that was involved with viavi sales in Washington DC and even took it to Germany. What exactly was Viavi and was it a scam? It seems like people really believed in it, but it was expensive and the letters I have refer to saving up to buy more of it. I would appreciate your help greatly.

Thanks, Jennifer Wiebers

Re: Viavi Company founded abt 1889 in San Francisco

Posted: 3 Jan 2013 9:47PM GMT
Classification: Query
Hi, I have a Mabel Thompson who was a Mngr. for Viavi in Harrisburg Pa as early as 1920. She is collateral kin to me and not direct kin, so I do not have any personal stories handed down about her. Still, I have been able to glean quite a bit from newspapers, census and a few other sources. Happy to give you her family background if you so desire. John G

Re: Viavi Company founded abt 1889 in San Francisco

Posted: 7 Jan 2013 5:40AM GMT
Classification: Query
Dear John:

Thanks so much for the information about Mabel Thompson. I would be delighted to have any information about her. I'm compiling a database of the various branch offices and the women who sold Viavi, and I don't have any information about Harrisburg yet.

With sincere thanks!

Natalie Marine-Street

Re: Viavi Company founded abt 1889 in San Francisco

Posted: 7 Jan 2013 6:00AM GMT
Classification: Query
Dear Jennifer:

I hope your research is going well. Viavi was a patent medicine remedy -- or rather a family of remedies -- that were sold across the country and in many foreign countries as early as 1889. Most of their agents were women, although some husband and wife teams ran branch offices. The company called their remedies an "All-Natural System of Treatment" and described Viavi remedies, which contained derivatives of the goldenseal plant, as “food” for the nerves and tissues that allowed nature to work by increasing circulation and removing congestion and impurities. The most popular products were Viavi capsules and cerate, although there were others. Users inserted Viavi capsules into the vagina and rubbed Viavi cerate, or lotion, into the skin to ensure maximum absorption. The Viavi “system of treatment” also included a comprehensive hygienic regimen similar to that espoused by earlier health reform movements, such as hydropathy. It included douching, bathing, massage, the use of hot and cold compresses, and moderate exercise.

I'm writing about the company in my dissertation, so I have lots more info to share - esp about the company views on woman and motherhood. If you want to email me at njmarine@stanford.edu and tell me what family you are researching, I'd be happy to check to see if I have come across them. The question "were they a fraud"? is such an interesting question, and not a simple one to answer. I'd love to talk more about it with you. Also, look on Google Books for a copy of the Viavi Hygiene if you want to know more about the company -- it has been digitized or you can buy a copy on EBAY pretty easily for less than $20. Get one of the earlier versions -- 1908 or earlier.

Best wishes!

Natalie

Re: Viavi Company founded abt 1889 in San Francisco

Posted: 7 Jan 2013 6:29PM GMT
Classification: Query
Hi, Thanks for the reply. Happy to help. Just contact me through my regular email jcgoodin@gmail.com and I'll be happy to send all I have your way.
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