L. W. 'Bill' Howard, manager of the Baker Manufacturing Company at Enid, Oklahoma for 17 years, with 26 years experience before that as plumber, shop operator, and wholesale plumbing salesman; is one of the really 'old-timers' of the Southwest plumbing industry.
Howard took charge of the Enid plant, a building 100 x 150 feet, in 1931 when the depression was at its peak, and has guided his company's growth from an earlier casual supplier of general plumbing and heating fixtures and farm water systems to where the business now extends to nearly two-thirds of the entire state.
Located in what Roger Babson once called the "Gold Spot" of the nation, covering one of the largest trade territories in the country, for a business of its kind, in a city the size of Enid: the Enid plant's business, aside from caring for the general town and city plumbing needs of the area, thrives from the farm water systems, and plumbing and heating demands of this vast region, and calls for definite carload buying of supplies.
Catering to this farm demand has pushed the Enid plant's business south to Oklahoma City and southwest to the Red River, east to the Tulsa territory, north to Wichita, Kansas, and west into the Oklahoma Panhandle as far as transportation facilities permit.
The Enid plant, long a model of efficiency and copied in design by other plumbing wholesalers, is soon to undergo remodeling which looks to even greater and better plumbing and heating service for its territory.
Howard was born and raised in Dade City, Florida and at the age of 17 took his first plumbing apprentice job at $2.50 per week in Quitman, Georgia. He later operated a shop in El Dorado, Kansas. After several years on the road, traveling for two different wholesale plumbing companies, he was appointed manager of the Baker Manufacturing Company of Enid.
Howard is a Past-Master of his Masonic Lodge and Past-Commander of the Knight's Templar Commandery. He is also a Shriner and member of the Hi-Twelve and Rotary Clubs of Enid.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard and three children are members of the Methodist Church, where Mr. Howard at one time headed the Church's Boy Scout activities, and Mrs. Howard is very active in the women's work of various kinds in the city.
The children are T. J., age 29, an army veteran, now a sophomore in the Kansas City Dental School; Bob, age 26, a past member of Chenault's famous Flying Tigers, who crashed in China and has a back injury which has taken him to the Mount Alto VA Hospital in Washington, D. C.; and Margaret Ann, 12, and eight grader in the Enid schools.
Biography ca 1947, transcribed by fnsnow58 in Sep 2018.
Howard took charge of the Enid plant, a building 100 x 150 feet, in 1931 when the depression was at its peak, and has guided his company's growth from an earlier casual supplier of general plumbing and heating fixtures and farm water systems to where the business now extends to nearly two-thirds of the entire state.
Located in what Roger Babson once called the "Gold Spot" of the nation, covering one of the largest trade territories in the country, for a business of its kind, in a city the size of Enid: the Enid plant's business, aside from caring for the general town and city plumbing needs of the area, thrives from the farm water systems, and plumbing and heating demands of this vast region, and calls for definite carload buying of supplies.
Catering to this farm demand has pushed the Enid plant's business south to Oklahoma City and southwest to the Red River, east to the Tulsa territory, north to Wichita, Kansas, and west into the Oklahoma Panhandle as far as transportation facilities permit.
The Enid plant, long a model of efficiency and copied in design by other plumbing wholesalers, is soon to undergo remodeling which looks to even greater and better plumbing and heating service for its territory.
Howard was born and raised in Dade City, Florida and at the age of 17 took his first plumbing apprentice job at $2.50 per week in Quitman, Georgia. He later operated a shop in El Dorado, Kansas. After several years on the road, traveling for two different wholesale plumbing companies, he was appointed manager of the Baker Manufacturing Company of Enid.
Howard is a Past-Master of his Masonic Lodge and Past-Commander of the Knight's Templar Commandery. He is also a Shriner and member of the Hi-Twelve and Rotary Clubs of Enid.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard and three children are members of the Methodist Church, where Mr. Howard at one time headed the Church's Boy Scout activities, and Mrs. Howard is very active in the women's work of various kinds in the city.
The children are T. J., age 29, an army veteran, now a sophomore in the Kansas City Dental School; Bob, age 26, a past member of Chenault's famous Flying Tigers, who crashed in China and has a back injury which has taken him to the Mount Alto VA Hospital in Washington, D. C.; and Margaret Ann, 12, and eight grader in the Enid schools.
Biography ca 1947, transcribed by fnsnow58 in Sep 2018.
L. W. 'Bill' Howard, manager of the Baker Manufacturing Company at Enid, Oklahoma for 17 years, with 26 years experience before that as plumber, shop operator, and wholesale plumbing salesman; is one of the really 'old-timers' of the Southwest plumbing industry.
Howard took charge of the Enid plant, a building 100 x 150 feet, in 1931 when the depression was at its peak, and has guided his company's growth from an earlier casual supplier of general plumbing and heating fixtures and farm water systems to where the business now extends to nearly two-thirds of the entire state.
Located in what Roger Babson once called the "Gold Spot" of the nation, covering one of the largest trade territories in the country, for a business of its kind, in a city the size of Enid: the Enid plant's business, aside from caring for the general town and city plumbing needs of the area, thrives from the farm water systems, and plumbing and heating demands of this vast region, and calls for definite carload buying of supplies.
Catering to this farm demand has pushed the Enid plant's business south to Oklahoma City and southwest to the Red River, east to the Tulsa territory, north to Wichita, Kansas, and west into the Oklahoma Panhandle as far as transportation facilities permit.
The Enid plant, long a model of efficiency and copied in design by other plumbing wholesalers, is soon to undergo remodeling which looks to even greater and better plumbing and heating service for its territory.
Howard was born and raised in Dade City, Florida and at the age of 17 took his first plumbing apprentice job at $2.50 per week in Quitman, Georgia. He later operated a shop in El Dorado, Kansas. After several years on the road, traveling for two different wholesale plumbing companies, he was appointed manager of the Baker Manufacturing Company of Enid.
Howard is a Past-Master of his Masonic Lodge and Past-Commander of the Knight's Templar Commandery. He is also a Shriner and member of the Hi-Twelve and Rotary Clubs of Enid.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard and three children are members of the Methodist Church, where Mr. Howard at one time headed the Church's Boy Scout activities, and Mrs. Howard is very active in the women's work of various kinds in the city.
The children are T. J., age 29, an army veteran, now a sophomore in the Kansas City Dental School; Bob, age 26, a past member of Chenault's famous Flying Tigers, who crashed in China and has a back injury which has taken him to the Mount Alto VA Hospital in Washington, D. C.; and Margaret Ann, 12, and eight grader in the Enid schools.
Biography ca 1947, transcribed by fnsnow58 in Sep 2018.
Howard took charge of the Enid plant, a building 100 x 150 feet, in 1931 when the depression was at its peak, and has guided his company's growth from an earlier casual supplier of general plumbing and heating fixtures and farm water systems to where the business now extends to nearly two-thirds of the entire state.
Located in what Roger Babson once called the "Gold Spot" of the nation, covering one of the largest trade territories in the country, for a business of its kind, in a city the size of Enid: the Enid plant's business, aside from caring for the general town and city plumbing needs of the area, thrives from the farm water systems, and plumbing and heating demands of this vast region, and calls for definite carload buying of supplies.
Catering to this farm demand has pushed the Enid plant's business south to Oklahoma City and southwest to the Red River, east to the Tulsa territory, north to Wichita, Kansas, and west into the Oklahoma Panhandle as far as transportation facilities permit.
The Enid plant, long a model of efficiency and copied in design by other plumbing wholesalers, is soon to undergo remodeling which looks to even greater and better plumbing and heating service for its territory.
Howard was born and raised in Dade City, Florida and at the age of 17 took his first plumbing apprentice job at $2.50 per week in Quitman, Georgia. He later operated a shop in El Dorado, Kansas. After several years on the road, traveling for two different wholesale plumbing companies, he was appointed manager of the Baker Manufacturing Company of Enid.
Howard is a Past-Master of his Masonic Lodge and Past-Commander of the Knight's Templar Commandery. He is also a Shriner and member of the Hi-Twelve and Rotary Clubs of Enid.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard and three children are members of the Methodist Church, where Mr. Howard at one time headed the Church's Boy Scout activities, and Mrs. Howard is very active in the women's work of various kinds in the city.
The children are T. J., age 29, an army veteran, now a sophomore in the Kansas City Dental School; Bob, age 26, a past member of Chenault's famous Flying Tigers, who crashed in China and has a back injury which has taken him to the Mount Alto VA Hospital in Washington, D. C.; and Margaret Ann, 12, and eight grader in the Enid schools.
Biography ca 1947, transcribed by fnsnow58 in Sep 2018.
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