Il fondo Manifattura Tabacchi dell'Archivio di Stato di Catania

The documentation of the Catania Tobacco Manufacturing Archive (1891-1998) is presented. This collection, held in the State Archives of the city of Catania, has a troubled history and is not easily accessible for consultation. Deposited in the Archives in 2002, it consists of a series of boxes containing approximately 2300 folders, registers, and bundles, and is accompanied by a summary inventory prepared by the former director of the Manufacturing plant. Subsequently, due to space constraints, it was entrusted to an external storage company, which classified the boxes containing the archival units according to its own criteria, disregarding the nature of the documents. The documentation would therefore require a complete reorganization, and at present, only preliminary investigations can be carried out. However, these investigations reveal that more than half of the collection consists of documentation related to personnel, while the remaining approximately one thousand units can be defined as miscellaneous in nature. Extensive surveys have been conducted on these, leading to the identification of the "Service Orders" series. Through these orders, it is possible to reconstruct the management affairs of the company, from the organization of production departments to supply contracts, numerous structural interventions on the buildings, technical innovations, and subsequent changes in products. Another collection of significant importance is the compilation of ministerial circulars, registered at the Manufacturing plant for the purpose of their application to the company's activities.