[Rarebooks] FS: East Texas Oil Boom lot, 1930's

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[East Texas Oil Boom] An archive of 112 promotional letters, primarily from L. G. Priest, manager of Priest & Company, to an investor in Sanitaria Springs, New York, promoting investments in the booming East Texas oil fields, along with 15 promotional flyers and broadsides, and several additional miscellaneous items, all relating to Van Zandt, Erath, Navarro, Menard, Red River, Shelby, and Limestone counties, Texas. 



The first letter from Priest & Co. is dated Feb. 3 rd , 1930, and welcomes Miss Mame A. Albert to the fold by acknowledging a remittance of $1.25 “to apply on the purchase of one interest in my Menard County well and 2500 acres…We should spud in our well today and begin drilling tomorrow and I will keep you advised in regard to progress made.” This is the only letter that is personally addressed. 



The rest of the letters—most of which run from two to five pages, and are addressed to “Dear Associate”--are a push-and-pull of exciting drilling progress, setbacks, great opportunities, despondency and pleas for additional investment, etc. In a long letter from Feb. 17, 1930, Mr. Priest opens with the good news that he has just acquired 300 acres and is going to drill a well in Van Zandt County and tells his clients that they will now have the same share in the Van Zandt well that they have in the Menard County well—AT NO EXTRA COST. He then explains in rosy tones that the recipient just needs to send more money to help cinch the option in Van Zandt county, including sentences like, “You are going to have to believe that if I say IT IS GOOD – THAT IT IS GOOD – and I feel sure you will do that.” 



Tellingly, Ms. Albert received a letter date October 7, 1931 from Franklyn E. Wolfe, editor and publishers of the " Independent Oil & Mining Reporter ." She must have made inquiry about Priest & Company, because Mr. Wolfe replied, “We make it our practice to report on propositions and honesty of operators and leave the rest to the judgement of the investor. We believe if we were you we would scatter our investments and take on some other venture. One more suggestion, and it is a good one: write to Mr. L. A. Ward, Independent Brokerage Service, Neil P. Anderson Building, and he will unhesitatingly tell you the best investments and one where you will get an honest run for your money.” 



However, the investment must have paid off, or Ms. Albert’s faith was hard to shake, because she continued to receive letters from Priest & Company regarding her investments as late as 1936. Most of the letters are from 1930 and 1931, but there are several from 1932, and then a handful from 1934 and 1936 (including several promotional letters from C. M. Joiner). 



In addition to the correspondence, there are a handful of applications for purchase of oil and gas lease from C. M. Joiner; three issues of " Forecasting the Market by Economic Analyis ," a newsletter from Sherman and Company from October and November 1931; an issue of the " Kamp & Company Mining and Oil Digest" in Denver, Colorado from November 1931; an engraved certificate for 10 shares in the Petroleum Allied Production Corporation (of which L. G. Priest was president); and a 13-page mimeograph booklet entitled, " How Dad Joiner Made Money for Many People ," printed by Lawrence-Ross & Co., Inc, of New York, touting how oil leases were the best way to make money in oil, probably dating from the late 1930’s or 1940’s. 



The promotional flyers measure variously 17 x 11, 21 x 17, and 34 x 22 inches, with a few small envelope-sized examples, printed mostly black and white, though several are in two or three colors. 



A fascinating glimpse into the earliest days of the East Texas Oil Boom. Columbus Marion “Dad” Joiner sank his first well in late 1929, and hit a gusher in October 1930. By August 1931 the oil fields were filled with wildcatters and were producing a million barrels a day, some of which help power the United States through the Second World War. As evidenced here, the promise of quick wealth was pulling in investors from all over the country. 




$350 plus shipping 



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Greg Powers 

Powers Rare Books 

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Manchester NH 03104 

603-624-9707 

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