Most of the records of Bickett's companies remained with the L.M. Bickett Co. when Bickett retired. This collection includes only scattered personal papers and corporate records of both Bickett Rubber Products Corp. and L.M. Bickett Co.
Within the PERSONAL PAPERS are a small file of family correspondence, mainly pertaining to company organizational problems involving family members; personal financial records, including worksheets of debits, credits, and accounts, and a list of personal property sold as of December 31, 1955; and Ruth G. Larson's objections to probate of L. M. Bickett's will. There is also a speech, possibly delivered by Bickett at a graduation ceremony, and an open letter for Watertown's centennial (1954) urging promotion of industry in the community.
The CORPORATE RECORDS contain a historical summary of L.M. Bickett Co. and its predecessors, written by L. M. Bickett; articles of organization and by-laws; balance sheets and other financial records, including a list of creditors of the failed company, 1931; leases and legal papers; and stockholder subscription lists of both Bickett Rubber Products Corp. and L.M. Bickett Co.; minutes of board of directors and stockholders meetings of Bickett Rubber Products Corp.; and audit reports of the L.M. Bickett Co., with additional notes and related financial data. Records of products and sales include the only illustrations and descriptions of the company's products, with a calculation of costs and profits on individual products produced by the Bickett Rubber Products Corp. There is also an inventory of machinery and equipment not shipped to Anderson, Indiana in 1931; promotional sales correspondence, mainly humorous annual Christmas letters written by Bickett under the pseudonym of Jim Brown; and salary data, consisting of a letter concerning salary policy, wage rate schedules, comparative salary summaries, and a record of past salaries. Also included is the retrospective appraisal of replacement values, depreciation and net sound values as of April 18, 1941, of the L.M. Bickett Co. There is little documentation of the company's lengthy tax problems.
