[adventured]

Yes, there is a large amount of recorded history of attempted price fixing from 1830 > 1920x or so, and the results of such efforts. Given it wasn't illegal for the most part, companies & individuals didn't work very hard to hide their schemes from the history books (although sometimes from competitors). The efforts tended to be constantly in flux, subject to rapid shifts in loyalty and dedication, and the agreements were typically without any formal contractual requirement. There are numerous excellent economic accounts of the 19th century US market that covers this, and many good books for companies and persons that do so as well (eg covering the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Vanderbilts, Rockefeller, JP Morgan, Carnegie, and on it goes).