posted 10-25-2002 11:06 AM            

refer to: http://www.niblickgolf.com/books.html

Golf: Scotland's Game
by David Hamilton

Hamilton guides us through the development of the ancient sport, the summer and winter play, the SILVER CLUB TRADITION, the first rules, early women's golf, the evolution of caddies, the effect of railroads, golf in Scottish spas, the spreading of golf to England and then to Europe and America, the effect of the World Wars on British golf, Sunday golf, and finally the modernization of the British Open.

posted 10-26-2002 10:39 AM            

The Silver Niblick

I don't golf (June does) but I was curious since the title contained my favorite subject. I was very surprised to find on the inside title page that this booklet was published by Oneida Silversmiths in 1972.

The booklet relates stories from The Silver Niblick which began in the 1920's and was Oneida's annual golf tournament and day of fun with their advertisers.

Below is the first page.

quote:

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The assignment is to write a short history of the Silver Niblick. "We've never set the history down. No one has ever collected the stories and reminiscences in one book. And time is slipping by." The speaker was Jim Colway, Oneida's Director of Advertising.

Well, when you start with the night the fishing prize went to a fellow who caught a clam, you're on to some good material, right off the bat. Or the time young Pete Noyes (that's right, men, the very same) was sent out to bring his father in off the golf course in the midst of a driving rain, and was sent home directly with a few simple, straightforward instructions.

The day the Empire State Express stopped in Oneida shouldn't be lost.

If you go back over the years, the name Frank Braucher and Warren Agry and Denny Regan must stir up a few fond thoughts.

Lives there a man who was there who will ever forget the night a freshly minted bridegroom was presented with a silverplated jockstrap, courtesy of the fertile minds in Oneida's Design Department.

Dud Sanderson is here. And Harley Noyes and Dakota, the tractor driver. They're all included . . . all with stories worth the telling, and the reading.

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Here is a fun photo from the middle of the booklet. It shows the caddies all with silver spoons in their mouths.

The following is from the last page:

quote:

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A Reason for Being

Every once in a while, it occurs to someone at Oneida that the Company could save a nice little chunk of money by discontinuing the Silver Niblick. And just as regularly it is pointed out that we could also save a nice little chunk of money by not advertising as much as we do, or by not taking the care in finishing our products as we do, or by cutting back in a hundred other ways.
But the thought persists - why is there a Silver Niblick? What purpose does it fulfill in this changing business world?

The purpose of the Silver Niblick was a simple one - at least in the eyes of its founders, Harley Noyes and Ed Bedford. "It's Oneida's way of thanking the publishing industry for their contributions to Oneida s success.

That's surely simple enough. And honestly altruistic in the bargain. For no special favors were ever asked of our guests because of the Niblick.

There are many avenues we could take in rationalizing the Silver Niblick. But always it seems to come back to the original:

"The Silver Niblick is Oneida's way of thanking the publishing industry for their contributions to Oneida's success."

In this changing world filled with changing values, appreciation from one friend to another must surely have its place. For your friends at Oneida, that place is The Silver Niblick.

-Alexander Ross, June 21, 1972

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posted 10-26-2002 06:16 PM            

From the text, it all sounds like one big happy family -- and thereby hangs a tale. The Harley Noyes mentioned was the grand nephew of the Oneida Community founder, John Humphrey Noyes.

Or he wasn't.

The reason for the equivocation is that this fascinating branch of the Noyes family is, quite frankly, a genealogist's nightmare. It all begins with John Humphrey Noyes (1811-1886), a graduate of Dartmouth Divinity School who was licensed to preach at Yale in 1833. While there, he came under the influence of the revivalist movement and the mysticism of the Swedenborgian Church. In 1834, he experienced what he called a "second conversion," and announced himself a perfectionist, his doctrine being that the existing forms of religion were all wrong, that God possessed a dual body--male and female--and that salvation from sin was a special phase of experience that had for its basis spiritual intercourse with this dual divinity, and was able, even in this life, to perfect its believers. This did not sit well with the church fathers and he was stripped of his license. He continued as an itinerant preacher until 1836 when, with a group of believers to whom he gave the name of "Perfectionists," he established a commune in Putnam County, Vermont dedicated to the equality of the sexes and the pursuit of spiritual purity. By 1846, his philosophy had expanded to include free love and what he termed "complex marriages." This may have made life more interesting for the inhabitants, but it raised the ire of the neighborhood and in 1848 the commune was forced to flee, re-establishing itself in Oneida NY. Re-named "The Oneida Community," the followers supported themselves by selling farm products and manufacturing steel beaver traps for the Canadian fur trade. This proved prosperous and the commune found itself on a firm footing, at least financially. The members continued the Perfectionist philosophy, living in a single residence and sharing all tasks and responsibilities. Noyes continued to expand the complex marriage idea, taking in the new theories of Charles Darwin and the practical application of horse breeding in an attempt to "perfect on this plane the mortal being" and, incidentally, prolong his own line. Like all good cult leaders, he exercised absolute control and directed the various, er, pairings. His brother (and Harley's grandfather), George Washington Noyes, is known to have sired children (at Noyes' direction) with at least four of the member women, including his niece, while his wife enjoyed the attentions of three other men. Unfortunately, DNA testing was a long way off and record keeping was haphazard, hence the nightmares. For the silversmiths project, I have decided to follow the course of least resistance for now and assume the recognized marital lines.

By the 1870s, the community had grown to nearly 300 members and continued to prosper. The social experiment, however, was faltering. In 1878, the followers finally split into two opposing factions and Noyes was forced to leave, going to Niagara Falls, Canada, where he died. By this time, the assets of the group's property and businesses exceeded $500,000 and in 1880 the remaining members incorporated as Oneida Community Limited, everyone sharing as equal partners. The manufacturing of silverplated goods gradually supplanted other activities and in 1935 the name was changed to Oneida Silversmiths, the company we know today.

Here is a picture of John Noyes c 1850 and the residence house at Oneida as built in the late 1860s.