Chattanooga Choo-Choo "Track 29"
Combustion's "Chattanooga Area News"
DuPont "Nylon News"
Loveman's "LovemaNews"
TEPCO "Electro Topics"
TEPCO's Saxophone Quartet
Volunteer State Life's "Voice"
New technology causes the things that we used to see every day to become memories.
For instance, many companies once printed and distributed a newsletter to employees. The advent of the computer and Intranet has provided alternatives to communicating all news. Many employers now have internal Web sites in place of employee newsletters.
Employee newsletters and magazines were usually published on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. The news included stories and photos about new projects at the business, safety tips, sales results, and especially, items that highlighted employees and their activities. Compared to today’s company Intranet sites, which often contain corporate news or changes in benefits announced by Human Resources, employee newsletters centered on the employees.
Here’s a look back at some of the employee newsletters that were distributed at Chattanooga employers of the past and present.
CHATTANOOGA CHOO-CHOO – the “Choo-Choo Express,” later replaced by “Track 29”
Chattanooga’s Union Depot fronted Ninth Street and with a shed and tracks extending south along Broad Street. Though preservationists tried to get others to share their vision of re-use as a history museum or open-air market, Union Depot was demolished in the early 1970’s.
B. Allen Casey, Jr., a native Chattanooga, was successful, however, in saving the Terminal Station from the wrecking ball. The former transportation center was converted into a tourist destination, and opened on April 11, 1973.
In the pages of the “Choo-Choo Express” and its successor, “Track 29” (as in the lyrics of “Chattanooga Choo-Choo”), the various units of the Chattanooga Choo-Choo resort were featured. Housekeeping, which is critical to every hotel, was featured in one of the editions when the unit moved into larger quarters. Employees of the Kandy Kitchen, the Palace of Mystery and Magic, and the Pro Tennis Shop were also photographed for the newspaper.
IceLand opened at the back of the Choo-Choo property in 1978, and provided visitors with a chance to lace up some ice skates and try a triple Salchow. One of the company newsletters mentioned the arrival of Dawn Malone, an ice skating instructor from Atlanta. She went on to teach many Chattanoogans how to skate, while John Parker managed the rink and David Robb oversaw the Pro Shop.
COMBUSTION ENGINEERING – the “Combustion Patriot,” replaced by the “Chattanooga Area News”
Combustion Engineering originated in New York in 1914, with its first line being a mechanical stoker for burning coal. The firm acquired the former Casey and Hedges and Walsh and Weidner firms of Chattanooga in 1928. Combustion grew rapidly, and eventually owned many acres in the industrial area of South Chattanooga. The company’s primary product were large, industrial boilers.
The Public Library has a bound set of the “Combustion Patriot” from the 1940’s. Combustion was one of many companies involved in America’s defense during World War II. The January, 1984 “Patriot” included an article, “From Chattanooga to the Sea --- A Steady Flow of C-E Boilers for Maritime Commission.” Photographs of boilers being loaded onto railcars and then onto ships accompanied the article.
Combustion workers were cautioned of the need for safety, and warned of the impact of absenteeism on the war effort. Office workers joined machinists in running the company. Lillian Buster was photographed at the new check-writing machine, which printed over 3,500 checks per week. As a respite from industrial work, Combustion employees were shown engaged in bowling and softball.
Technology allowed Combustion Engineering to expand its product line, and also to improve how the products were made. The February, 1983 edition of “Chattanooga Area News” included an article on the plate yard crane being converted to radio control.
DUPONT – “Nylon News”
The DuPont Textile Fibers Plant opened on a large acreage site in Hixson in 1948.
Like Combustion Engineering, DuPont’s employees were keen competitors on athletic teams in the area’s industrial leagues. The March 22, 1956 edition of “Nylon News” covered the wins of the teams in the Plant Basketball League at the Central YMCA gym.
Birthdays and employment anniversaries garnered coverage, along with mention of new employees.
Typical of employee newsletters, the “Nylon News” also covered corporate news. Officials from Burlington Mills, a customer of DuPont’s, were visiting the plant. The corporate financial results were also reviewed in the paper.
LOVEMAN’S DEPARTMENT STORES – the “LovemaNews”
Many employee newsletters had catchy titles, and this one tops my list.
Loveman’s was based at Eighth and Market streets, and opened in 1875. The locally-based department store expanded to the suburbs, with locations including Eastgate, East Ridge, and Highland Plaza. The downtown store had a large cafeteria for many years in its basement. Riding on the old elevators at Christmas is a childhood memory of many. Loveman’s also had an excellent record department, rivaling Jacks’ Record Shop in that regard.
The March 8, 1963 edition of “LovemaNews” reminded employees of the Easter season, and that one could smile, be courteous, and SELL LOVEMANS.
Employee promotions, birthdays, and illnesses were all noted in the newsletter.
Employees Rolly Curtis of the record shop and Pearl Sanford of the bake shop were commended for catching a shoplifter leaving the store with two suits. Rolly chased the woman up Eighth Street to recapture the clothing.
PROVIDENT LIFE AND ACCIDENT – “Monday at Provident” and the “Provident News”
The Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company was a large employer based in Chattanooga. The firm developed, marketed, and supported disability, group health, and life insurance products nationally.
“Monday at Provident” was a weekly newsletter that was published on canary yellow paper, as I recall from my years there. The circular included the weekly menu at the Provident cafeteria, new items on the coffee car, and employee goings-on.
The MAP also had an employee classifieds column. Through this, I gained the nickname of “Haney” (as in the always-selling-something “Mr. Haney” of “Green Acres”) from a few co-workers. I don’t think that I advertised things for sale that often, but apparently, they believed that I did.
The weekly newsletter was later moved to a Tuesday publishing day and renamed “This Week at Provident.” A co-worker referred to it as “This Week at Monday,” since he preferred the old publishing day.
The “Provident News” was a more in-depth newspaper that included photographs of employee activities and milestones. Provident sponsored industrial league athletic teams. The company had property on Chickamauga Lake for employees, and events there were often covered.
During my thirteen years at Provident, I violated a rule of historians, which is never to throw away or to recycle documents. I do not have copies of the “Monday at Provident” or “Provident News,” and neither does the Public Library. If you have one that you would like to scan and send to me, I’ll update this article with the image.
TENNESSEE ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY – “Electro Topics”
Beginning in the 1930’s, the Tennessee Valley Authority extended electric lines into rural areas. Prior to this, urbanized areas such as Chattanooga were electrified through private utilities such as the local Tennessee Electric Power Company (TEPCO).
The Public Library contains several bound volumes of the “Electro Topics” newsletter of TEPCO. The June-July 1929 edition of “Electro Topics” covered the ceramic industry at Daisy, Tennessee and its use of TEPCO-provided electricity. Also in the edition was an article on Parksville Lake, a man-made reservoir established through TEPCO’s power-generating dams on the Ocoee River. TEPCO’s employee Saxophone Quartet received coverage for its appearances on WDOD radio and at the Chattanooga Women’s Committee.
VOLUNTEER STATE LIFE INSURANCE – the “Volunteer Voice”
Memories may be fading of the reason why that the Volunteer Building is so named. Z.C. Patten and others organized the Volunteer State Life Insurance Company in the early 1900’s. The firm remained independent until the 1960’s, when a series of corporate acquisitions began and eventually led to the demise of VSLIC as a local employer.
The “Volunteer Voice” provided news to Volunteer State Life employees. The Volunteer employee committee sponsored an annual bingo game that was funded through employee purchases at the 25-cent, glass bottle, Coca-Cola vending machines. During the time that I was a Volunteer, I won a set of bath scales at one bingo game.
The “Volunteer Voice” recognized employee milestones – joining the staff, service anniversaries, weddings, births, promotions, retirements, deaths.
Volunteer State Life owned employee lake property on Dallas Bay, which was the scene of the annual summer picnic. The event was always covered by “The Voice.”
This is only a representative sample of employee newsletters. You may want to visit the Public Library, and review these and other newsletters of the past.
Some employers continue to publish employee newsletters. Among them is Siskin Hospital, which communicates to its staff through "The Perspective."
If you have memories of employee newspapers, please send me an e-mail at jolleyh@bellsouth.net.