Life in a Putty-Knife Factory (Howard Hawkins)

The founder’s own history of Hawkins Chemical Inc., the Minneapolis industrial-chemical distributor he and his brother started in 1938 and which still trades today as Hawkins, Inc. Written by Howard J. “Curly” Hawkins as founder and chairman emeritus, and published by the company itself in 1996: a small, plainly told account of building a distribution business through the end of the Depression and the war, from nothing to a going concern, in a trade nobody writes books about.

Why it’s on the list: One of the 46 books @mastersinvest read in 2025, and about as far into the obscure end of the list as it goes — a self-published company memoir, still available only as a free scan on the company’s own website.

Where I saw it: @mastersinvest’s “2025 Reading … so far” list, August 20, 2025, annotated “Hawkins Chemicals — Howard Hawkins”. The full 46-title list is transcribed on 2025 Reading So Far… (tweet).

Where to read it: the company publishes the whole book as a free PDF at hawkinsinc.com.

Connections

• 2025 Reading So Far… (tweet) — the list this came from.