Rike's Historical Collection

The Rikes Historical Collection contains information about the store's history, promotion, expansion, and presidents. The collection is mostly made up of slides and photographs. The collection spans from the mid to late 1800s to early 1980s.

Series I, Company Printed Materials, contains a vast amount of information pertaining to the individuals that worked at Rikes. The Arkay News was produced by Rike's employees for the employees and offer insight into what it was like to work for Rikes. The years span 1928-1982. Also in the series that relates to the employees are employee manuals and Twenty Year Club Banquet Programs.

Series II, Store Promotions & Other Promotional Material, contains a variety of information concerning promotions at Rikes. The information covers many of Rike's major promotions such as Christmas, Anniversaries, and the Foreign Bazaar. Advertisements are also included, however some will be found in the oversized boxes near the end of the collection.

Series III, Speeches, Biographies, and Press Releases, contains information about the store's executives. The bulk of the collection concerns David Rike. Many of his honorary degrees, from such institutions as University of Dayton and Antioch College, are located in the series. Other information pertains to awards and praise for David Rike.

Series IV, Company Programs and Operations, contains information on the operation of the company. Two financial ledgers contain information concerning Rike's early years offer information about financial transactions during the time span of 1880 to the early 1900s. A membership ledger, Xenia tornado program, and 20 Year Club Notes are also noteworthy.

Series V, Slides, make up the bulk of the collection. The slides span the years 1961 to 1987. The series is broken down into two subseries. Subseries A contains slides of Rike's displays, such as Christmas and seasonal displays. Subseries B contains slides of events, buildings, and people.

Series VI, Photographs, make up the other bulk of the collection. Many of the photos are undated; however, the collection spans a substantial amount of time. The pictures are broken down into subseries. Subseries A contains Rike's window displays as well as other displays. The subseries also contains the famous Rike's Christmas Displays (Box 51 File 7 to Box 52 File 5). Subseries B contains buildings, events, people, and miscellaneous. Box 54 File 1 contains photographs of early construction of the Rikes Building. Other photos include the 20 Year Club (Box 57 File 2 through Box 58 File 1) and the Centennial Blimp (Box 58 File 4).

Series VII contains ephemera. Two scrapbooks are available, boxes 60 and 61, which chronicle different time periods of Rike's history. Other items include the first pair of scissors used in the silk department as well as pieces of wrapping paper used in Rikes.

Series VIII contains audio and visual materials relating to Rikes. The bulk of the collection consists of vinyl records from the program "Grandma Shopped Here." Other items include a vinyl record of a speech given by David Rike in 1938 (Box 64 File 1), cassette tapes (Box 63 File 2), and rolled film (Box 64 File 6, 7).

Series IX contains blueprints for the Rikes building. Several blueprints are located in the oversized drawers. [See Oversized Drawer 9 File 1] Other blueprints include the set up for the Christmas display (Box 65 File 8) and main store addition information (Box 65 File 2). Oversized

The oversized material is drawn from several series.