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Lane-Wells Company records
7055
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Title: Lane-Wells Company records
creator:
Wells, Walter T.
creator:
Lane-Wells Company
Identifier/Call Number: 7055
Physical Description:
1.5 Linear Feet
1 box
Date (inclusive): 1939-1954
Abstract: This small collection consists of a commemorative album celebrating the 100,000th Gun Perforating Job by the Lane-Wells Company
of Los Angeles on June 18, 1948 and additional printed ephemera, 1939-1954, created and collected by Walter T. Wells, co-founder
and Chairman of the Board of the Lane-Wells Company. Walter T. Wells studied electrical engineering at Iowa State, graduating
in 1910. He worked as an engineer in the Philippines and British Guiana (for the Demerara Bauxite Company), as well as in
Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Denver, before settling in Glendale, California in 1924 where he worked selling street lighting
equipment. He and Wilfed G. Lane co-founded the Lane-Wells Company in the early 1930s. The two men developed gun perforation
as a service for oil wells after purchasing a patent for the idea. The first trial of their gun, which shot holes into the
casings of wells that were no longer producing at original capacities, was performed on the Union Oil Company's La Merced
No. 17 well in the Montebello oil field in December of 1932. From this successful trial, Lane and Wells built a company that
provided the service across the United States and into Canada and Latin America. The company's main office was at 5610 Soto
Street in Los Angeles. The 100,000th gun perforation was perfomed on June 18, 1948 at the same well as the first--Union Oil's
La Merced No. 17. This was followed by a reception at the ballroom of the Biltmore Hotel.
Container: 1
Walter T. Wells, co-founder of the Lane-Wells Company, was born in 1886 in Marathon, Iowa. He studied electrical engineering
at Iowa State, graduating in 1910. He worked as an engineer in the Philippines and British Guiana (for the Demerara Bauxite
Company), as well as in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Denver, before settling in Glendale, California in 1924 where he worked
selling street lighting equipment. He died in 1964 in Santa Barbara.
The Lane-Wells Company was founded by Wilfred G. Lane and Walter T. Wells in the early 1930s. The two men, both electrical
engineers, developed gun perforation as a service for oil wells after purchasing a patent for the idea. The first trial of
their gun, which shot holes into the casings of wells that were no longer producing at original capacities, was performed
on the Union Oil Company's La Merced No. 17 well in the Montebello oil field in December of 1932. From this successful trial,
Lane and Wells built a company that provided the service across the United States and into Canada and Latin America. The company's
main office was at 5610 Soto Street in Los Angeles. The 100,000th gun perforation was perfomed on June 18, 1948 at the same
well as the first--Union Oil's La Merced No. 17. This was followed by a reception at the ballroom of the Biltmore Hotel.
This small collection consists of a commemorative album celebrating the 100,000th Gun Perforating Job by the Lane-Wells Company
of Los Angeles on June 18, 1948 and additional printed ephemera, 1939-1954, created and collected by Walter T. Wells, co-founder
and Chairman of the Board of the Lane-Wells Company. Also included are a photograph and business card of Walter T. Wells;
"Tomorrow's Tools Today" (Lane-Wells publications: annual report for 1954, bulletin for 1939); "Permian Pete and His Fabulous
Projects", by David Kimsey, published by the Lane-Wells Company in 1951 and which describes 12 of the "tallest oil field years
ever spun"; a copy of "Petroleum World" (November 1939) which contains an article recounting the origins of the company and
its activities; a biography of Wells written by the wife of Well's grandson (and the donor of the collection); and a copy
of "The Bawl Street Journal" from May 24, 1946 (the Bond Club's annual spoof of Wall Street). The commemorative album consists
of a dedication to Wells, photographs of the gun perforation and the reception, the invitation to the reception and a printed
fact sheet about the perforation, signatures of some of the attendees at the reception (including executives from Western
Oil, Security First National Bank, General Metals Corp., Union Oil, Independent Petroleum Association of America, General
Petroleum, and others), and clippings about Lane-Wells and the perforation. The album was presented to Walter T. Wells on
November 1, 1948.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
[Box/folder no. or item name], Lane Wells-Company records, Collection no. 7055, Regional History Collection, Special Collections,
USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Connie Pillsbury, October 27, 2017.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Oil field equipment and supplies industry -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Oil fields -- Equipment and supplies -- Photographs
Petroleum workers -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- Archival resources
Corporation reports
Printed ephemera
Scrapbooks
Lane-Wells Company -- Archives
Wells, Walter T. -- Archives