Handwritten draft questionnaire, in pencil, signed with his ‘umbrella’ signature, “Thos. A. Edison,” on the reverse of a printed 5 x 7.25 dinner menu from the Yama Farms Inn, an exclusive Catskill resort. Edison writes: “What are some good questions for a General Information Question[n]aire. Who wrote Don Quixote / What is distance from NY to Buffalo / What is a German Mind / Where is Antwerp / What Cerial [sic] is used the most by Man. / What is the Taj Mahal / What part of the US is below the sea level / Where in USA is best cotton raised." A central vertical fold, lightly affecting a few letters, and expected light soiling, otherwise fine condition.
By the early 1920s, Edison, frustrated by the lack of knowledge of college graduates seeking employment at his company, made up questionnaires to test job applicants, usually a series of 150 questions tailored to the position for which they were applying. Some were industry specific, some general knowledge, while others were rather obscure. About 35% of the job seekers passed with his satisfactory score of at least 90%. When several rejected applicants complained to the press, Edison refused to release his questionnaires but magazines started running “Edison pop quizzes,” and rival employers conducted their own employment quizzes.
Frank Seaman, a New York advertising executive transformed his Napanoch, New York summer home into an inn in 1913, which earned a reputation as a well-regarded, exclusive Catskill resort catering to industrialists who were the greatest thinkers of their age. Yama Farms was so exclusive guests could only visit on Seamen's personal invitation and among his regular visitors were Thomas Edison, J.P. Morgan, Henry Ford, John Burroughs, George Eastman, and Harvey Firestone. The Inn remained in operation until Frank Seaman died in 1939 but leaves a legacy as a place where the leading inventors took time to recharge their batteries. For Edison, it represented one of the few times where he relaxed with his few friends in a lifetime of creating a record 1093 patents that changed the world. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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