This collection consists of over 4,000 documents from the different careers of Rufus L. Buchanan before and during the Great Depression. The bulk of the collection is correspondence concerning his general store, auto dealership, and efforts as a traveling salesman, with additional letters regarding land speculation and the Democratic Party, and a few from his friends and family. In addition to correspondence, papers include information sent to him from automobile companies and the LeGear Medicine Company, and his sales records from both the Foley and LeGear companies. The collection also includes three volumes of selected correspondence that Buchanan's children self-published.

Letters of complaint feature issues such as inferior products, including syrup bottles that exploded; late or non-existing payments from both customers and suppliers; and poor service from the Post Office and various companies. In one letter, Buchanan let the recipient know that if satisfaction was not forthcoming, he would soon feel "about as sweet as an alligator with a sore nose." Other interesting topics include a diet to slow hair loss, instructions for pickling a fish for mail-in identification, a variety of sales techniques and pitches, and the saga of the bank teller who embezzled funds. WeeklyBulletins from the LeGear Company are a trove of information about contemporary veterinary treatments, including one about Rat Nip for rodent control. In addition to the various topics in these papers, the collection as a whole gives insight to the daily details involved in running a business in the 1920s and working as a traveling salesman in the 1930s.

Series I: Personal Papers includes correspondence with family, his work with the local Democratic party, and his efforts to sell or develop the land that he and his brothers had bought.

Series II: General Store Papers includes correspondence with various suppliers about products, orders, transportation difficulties, and finances.

Series III: Auto Dealerships Papers includes dealer publications, correspondence with manufacturers and suppliers, and information about customer loans.

Series IV: Foley and Company Papers includes correspondence and publications about selling their products.

Series V: Dr. L.D. LeGear Company Papers includes correspondence and publications about his sales career, correspondence about men he was asked to train, and some of the paraphernalia he used on his sales calls.

Series VI: Published Materials includes the three books his children self-published.

Series VII: Oversize includes oversized letters and advertisements.