Overview
The collection contains records of the Hood Rubber Company of Watertown, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1896 and was sold to B. F. Goodrich in 1929. The records include correspondence, financial records, annual reports, and company publications and advertisements.
Dates
- Creation: 1896-2008
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1896-1929
Creator
- Hood Rubber Company (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Materials stored onsite. Please contact specialcollectionsref@hbs.edu for more information.
Extent
1.5 linear feet (3 boxes)This collection is composed primarily of records of the Hood Rubber Company from its founding in 1896 to its sale to the B. F. Goodrich Company in 1929. It also includes research materials collected by Elizabeth Hood Pigford, granddaughter of Frederic Clark Hood, for her book Front & Center: Frederic Clark Hood & The Hood Rubber Co.(2008). Her research materials include general histories of Watertown, Massachusetts, and the Hood Rubber Company, information on the merger with B. F. Goodrich, and records relating to Hood Rubber Company legal affairs.
The first box contains two company manuals labeled "organization books." These volumes document the Hood Rubber Company's corporate structure, and includes information about responsibilities, policies and procedures. Organization Book #1, which covers years 1920 to 1929, is arranged by the following company offices: Corporate, Auditing, Treasurer, Executive, Manager (Tires), and Comptroller; each office further consists of its respective departments and are arranged as such. Organization Book #4 covers years 1921 to 1929 and consists of records on the company's systems, arranged numerically from 0 to 97, that detail the general routines and procedures of the company's various departments.
The remaining Hood Rubber Company records include correspondence, annual reports, Internal Revenue Service records, financial records, advertisements and booklets, records relating to the merger with B. F. Goodrich, legal and patent research records, and photographs. The financial records include stock transactions, trust indentures and sinking funds, balance sheets, financial statements, and correspondence. Hood Rubber Company publications such as product advertisements and employee information booklets are also included.
This collection also contains a copy of Frederic Clark Hood’s Personal Recollections, and Alfred A. Glidden’s "A Brief History of the Hood Rubber Company, a Massachusetts Corporation," written in 1938.
Historical Note:
The Hood Rubber Company was founded in 1896 by brothers Frederic Clark Hood and Arthur Needham Hood. The company opened its doors in November 1896 in a 70,000 square-foot plant in Watertown, Massachusetts. Frederic Clark Hood was elected vice president and treasurer of Hood Rubber Company in 1896 and became general manager in 1913. Arthur Needham Hood was elected assistant treasurer in 1896 and vice president in 1912. In 1923 Frederic Clark Hood became president of Hood Rubber and continued to manage the company until its sale to the B. F. Goodrich Company in 1929.
The main product of the company was footwear, principally sneakers. It also manufactured rubber boots and leather shoes and boots in smaller quantities. Several models of the Hood rubber boots were used by French, British, and American armed forces during World War I. Pneumatic tires and rubber tubes were also produced in large quantities. In 1919 the company began making battery jars for automobiles, and in 1923 added a line of carpet lining and rubber floor tiling, with limited success.
The Hood Rubber Company was known for its promotion of employee benefits, becoming the second company in the United States to establish a dental clinic with a full-time dentist on site. A first aid station was established in 1898, two years after the company was founded, and by 1918 there was a company hospital with a staff of seven doctors and thirteen nurses. As president, Frederic Clark Hood was known for his strong opposition to the labor union movement at the plant.
The Hood Rubber Company grew steadily each year, at one point producing over 90,000 pairs of shoes a day and employing over 9,000 workers. The factory in Watertown, Massachusetts, was expanded to encompass more than sixty buildings with a combined floor space of over forty-five acres. In August 1929, Hood Rubber Company was purchased by B. F. Goodrich Company of Akron, Ohio. B. F. Goodrich Co. relocated its own footwear division to Watertown. The plant operated until its closure in 1969. The Hood Rubber Company name continued to be used until the late 1950s.
Physical Location
MANU
Provenance:
Gift of Elizabeth Hood Pigford, 2008.
Processing Information
Processed: December 2010, June 2011
By: Katie Trexler and Kaitlin Connolly
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Hood Rubber Company (Watertown, Mass.) Hood Rubber Company Records, 1896-2008 (inclusive), 1896-1929 (bulk): A Finding Aid
- Author
- Baker Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- bak00172
Repository Details
Part of the Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School Repository
Baker Library Special Collections and Archives holds unique resources that focus on the evolution of business and industry, as well as the records of the Harvard Business School, documenting the institution's development over the last century. These rich and varied collections support research in a diverse range of fields such as business, economic, social and cultural history as well as the history of science and technology.
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