In 1936 Will Rice gave the Institute the first really large gift since the death of William Marsh Rice. I’ve known that so long I can’t remember learning it. What I forgot until a couple weeks ago when I was last in the Woodson was the form that gift took. Here’s the letter of appreciation from his fellow board members, written , I assume, by Lovett:
I don’t know much about Reed Roller Bits other than that they had some big litigation with Hughes Tool in the 1920s. I just discovered, though, that the Woodson holds a history of the company, which I will consult the next time I can go in.
Bonus: You know you want one.
Extra Bonus: One thing I do know a lot about is paper clips. For a long time at Rice straight pins were used to hold papers together. In 1936, though, someone bought a whole bunch of those spiral clips like the one you can see above. It’s a Nifty Clip, patented in 1936, and we used them for almost three years before the supply ran out.
I did a bit of google searching and found this transcript from the History Detectives which mentions the Reed Roller Bit Company. It involves Hughes Tool Company and Howard Hughes Sr.
http://www-tc.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/static/media/transcripts/2011-05-09/402_hughes.pdf
Yes, I think only Dr. Lovett could have found that many word (all richly deserved, of course) to write a simple letter of appreciation.
What an elegant letter of thanks. It is so obviously from a time long gone, but remarkable to be able to read it. Reed Roller Bit used to be an often heard name!! Good post…….thanks.