Baytown Connection (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 1, Ed. 1 Sunday, February 1, 1998 Page: 1 of 8
eight pages : ill. ; page 15 x 10 in. Scanned from physical pages.View a full description of this newspaper.
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Not just for cleaning
Rubber-making washer
displayed in presentation
(Reprinted from The Baytown
Sun article by Jeorge Zarazua)
February 1998
Two Exxon presidents visit Bay town
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thing to process the chemical mix-
ture and bought the washing
machine at a nearby Sears Roebuck
in New Jersey.
The inventors then gave the
machine to Donald Field after butyl
was ready for mass production.
The United States was in need of
the material during World War II
due to natural rubber shortages.
The Baytown butyl plant was built
in 1944 as a result.
The chemical plant showcased
the machine as part of the presenta-
tion, “Sixty Years of Technology
Leadership: Butyl and Beyond.”
Exxon Chemical Company
President Ray Nesbitt, a former
Baytonian, and Jean-Pierre
LHermitte, tire business industry
unit vice president, were part of the
presentation.
Holm said the washing machine
will possibly be housed perma-
nently in Baytown. After all, she
said, Baytown is the current loca-
tion of Exxon’s butyl rubber tech-
nology and research organization.
(Editors note: Ray Nesbitt joined
Exxon in 1955 as a junior engi-
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Inspecting a Wetlands Center display are Baytown Olejins Plant
Manager Doug Walker, Center Supervisor Bill Gammel and
Nature Center planning committee member David Dauphin.
Donation supports
nature projects
‘xxon has donated $68,000
Lfor the development of the
Goose Creek Wetlands
Education and Recreation
Center and the Baytown Nature
Center, the City of Bay town
announced recently.
The company’s $25,000 dona-
tion to the wetlands center at
1724 Market Street will be used
in three areas: the exhibit hall,
meeting rooms and the Wetlands
Learning Trail.
A $43,000 gift to the nature
center has already helped
Looking over the 1930s washing machine in which thejirst batches of
butyl rubber were made are Ray Nesbitt, Exxon Chemical Company presi-
dent; Rosemary Holm, a laboratory supervisor; and Mike Allain, Butyl
Polymers Manager.
• xxon’s Baytown Chemical Plant
JLj recently unveiled the portable
washing machine used to process
the first batches of a synthetic rub-
ber in the late 1930s.
Today, butyl rubber polymers is a
thriving industry worth millions
with worldwide production esti-
mates of more than 600,000 tons.
Specially synthetic lubbers are
most commonly used to make the
inner liners and inner tubes in tires
and other applications such as soc-
cer balls.
Chemical Plant Laboratory
Supervisor Rosemary Holm said the
washing machine was found in a
basement in Iowa recently by Melva
Field.
Holm said she had met Field on
an airplane trip several years ago
and had given her a business card
after learning her husband, Donald
C. Field, used to work for Exxon.
Recently, Holm said she received
a surprise call from Melva Field
telling her she found the washing
machine used to make the first
batches of butyl rubber in 1937.
Her husband worked with Bill
Sparks and Bob Thomas, the co-
inventors of butyl rubber.
According to Exxon’s history,
Sparks and Thomas needed some-
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it
ER&E President Eidt displays plaque
Engineering Services U. S. (ESUS) Division Manager Charlie Maguire, left,
Exxon Research & Engineering Company President Clarence Eidt and
ESUS Senior Staff Administrative Assistant Neal Lyons admire Eidt’s retire-
ment plaque. The plaque displayed an engraved Texas paperweight and
wished him a happy retirement. Eidt retired in December after 41 years of
service. While in Baytown, he gave a “state of the company" speech.
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RuEEIMEDIOR Exxon employees of the ChemicalPlant, Engineering Services U.S.
develop the master plan for the
site along with protection of
environmentally-sensitive areas.
Eddie Gray, a member of
the Goose Creek Stream
Development Committee, said
Exxon has played a vital role in
the wetlands center’s develop-
ment.
“The donation enabled us to
move forward with projects
which are very important to the
success of the center,” Gray
said.
(Continued on Page 2)
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Pfennig, Glena. Baytown Connection (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 1, Ed. 1 Sunday, February 1, 1998, newspaper, February 1, 1998; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1495084/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.