Ernest Dichter Papers - Hagley Museum and Library

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
Accession 2407
ERNEST DICHTER PAPERS
Correspondence
This Subgroup consists of 37 linear feet of Dr. Dichter’s correspondence files.
Dichter kept his correspondence in several distinct series but seems to have rearranged
them on several occasions, especially after his last move, when he kept certain files
upstairs in his office and relegated others to storage. Because the correspondence deals
extensively with Dichter’s writing and publishing, with soliciting clients for his
motivational studies and seminars, and with arranging publicizing his activities, there is
considerable overlap with all the other series of Dr. Dichter’s writings. When the
Institute was at its peak and Dichter had a number of secretaries, the filing systems were
more elaborate and precise than they were in his later years after moving out of the
Castle. Nevertheless, there are considerable inconsistencies in the filing. For example,
correspondence on the same basic matters may be filed partly under brand or product
name and partly under company name. Company names may be filed in both direct and
inverted order, e.g., as S.C. Johnson, Johnson (S.C.) or Johnson’s Wax. Dichter
continued an active if reduced correspondence until the year before his death. A
substantial part of Dichter’s correspondence is in his native German. The greater part of
it is also in thin files, reflecting many short-term transactions. The fewer thick files
reflect long-term relationships, such as those with professional colleagues and publishing
houses. Much of Dichter’s work was dependent upon contacts that were both
professional and personal, and this is reflected in the content of many of the files, which
may include things like Christmas cards and other personal greetings. However, there are
no files of purely personal or family correspondence.
The smallest series is Dichter’s chronological file, covering the years 1976-1983 and
1985-1990. These are simply carbon copies of outbound letters on a variety of subjects,
including arrangements with publishers, soliciting speaking engagements, negotiations
regarding proposals and studies, and some of the more mundane business of running the
Institute, such as customer complaints, relations with the local authorities, and the like.
What Dichter called his “Foreign Correspondence” consists of seven linear feet and
covers the years 1956 to 1990. As might be expected, the bulk of the files date from the
1970s to the mid-1980s, when Dichter’s foreign work was at its peak. This series
consists of files that Dichter chose to arrange by country, but letters to foreign clients and
contacts can be found in the other correspondence series as well. This correspondence
deals with Dichter’s motivational work for foreign clients, with foreign publishing
ventures, speaking engagements, and seminars, and foreign travel. The majority of the
files deal with Austria, Germany and Switzerland, with lesser amounts of material on
Australasia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, India, Israel, Italy,
Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Scandinavia, South Africa, Spain, and Venezuela. The
“Russia” files deal with Dichter’s late work in that country in 1988-1990. “Blue Book”
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