William Lowell Sr. (1863 – June 24, 1954) was a dentist and an inventor of a wooden

golf tee A tee is a stand used in sport to support and elevate a stationary ball prior to striking with a foot, club or bat. Tees are used extensively in golf, tee-ball, baseball, American football, and Rugby football, rugby. Etymology The word tee is de ...

Biography

William Lowell was born in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

, and lived in

Maplewood, New Jersey Maplewood is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is an inner-ring suburban bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's populatio ...

, and had a son, William Lowell Jr. (1897–1976). He first made 5,000 tees, that were stained green, but he soon changed to red, to make them more distinctive and named them "Reddy Tees". In 1922

Walter Hagen Walter Charles Hagen (December 21, 1892 – October 6, 1969) was an American professional golfer and a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of 11 professional majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger ...

and

Joe Kirkwood Sr. Joseph Henry Kirkwood Sr. (3 April 1897 – 29 October 1970) was a professional golfer who is acknowledged as having put Australian golf on the world map. Born in Sydney, Australia, Kirkwood left home at age ten to work on a sheep Station (Austr ...

used his tees during their exhibitions. The Reddy Tee was patented on May 13, 1925, but in 1922 he signed a deal with the A.G. Spalding Company, for 24 dozen. By 1925 he was selling $100,000 worth of tees and they were being made of

celluloid Celluloids are a class of materials produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, often with added dyes and other agents. Once much more common for its use as photographic film before the advent of safer methods, celluloid's common contemporar ...

. By 1926

copycat Copycat refers to a person who copies some aspect of some thing or somebody else. Copycat may also refer to: Intellectual property rights * Copyright infringement, use of another’s ideas or words without permission * Patent infringement, a v ...

versions were on the market, and he spent much of his time and money fighting patent infringement. He died at

Orange Memorial Hospital The City of Orange is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 30,134, reflecting a decline of 2,734 (−8.3%) from the 32,868 counted in 2000. Orange was originally ...

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...

, on June 24, 1954, at the age of 91.

Patents

* golf tee filed December 7, 1925 * golf tee filed August 26, 1925 * gold putter filed November 13, 1925

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowell, William Sr. Golf equipment manufacturers People from East Orange, New Jersey People from Hoboken, New Jersey People from Maplewood, New Jersey People from South Orange, New Jersey People from Summit, New Jersey 1863 births 1954 deaths

Biography

Patents

See also

References