You are invited to participate in
the First Annual Golf Tournament
for employees starting with quali
fying rounds June 14-19, at th?
Municipal Golf Course.
Tire$lon«
GASTONIA
Attention swimmers, fishermen,
and boaters: Good water safety
practice requires the use, or at
least the availibility, of life pre
servers while in or on water.
VOLUME III
GASTONIA, N. C., JUNE 10, 1954
NO. 10
William Sayers Wins Harvey S. Firestone, Jr,, Award
~ r T~; ri TT ^ , °Banquet Honors Sayers, 40 Certificate
For .. . More Sales, More Jobs, More Workers ^ Surprise Award
We Must Meet Customers’ Needs
President Lee R. Jackson
In this new period of more vigorous competition we at Firestone are doing our utmost to continue
our progress in obtaining MORE SALES. MORE SALfES mean MORE JOBS for MORE WORKERS.
We know and have discussed at
length two great factors necessary
to our continued success—top qual
ity products and fair, low prices.
We know that each one of us must
do his or her best to produce this
quality with greatest efficiency
^•id economy.
There is another very important
factor that we must consider. That
lactor is that we must supply our
customers with exactly what they
Want and need. We must fully meet
their needs in order to increase
business.
For example, in the trucking in
dustry, there are many different
types of services—highway trans
portation, off-the-road service,
^igh-speed operation, start-stop
operations and many others. We
•cannot sell a truck owner just any
tire. We must sell him the right
tire for the best service in his par
ticular operation,
Not only must we meet customer
^eeds, but we must also meet in
dividual customer preferences. At
time you might have taken any
automobile that you could buy, just
to have a car. Today you not only
I’^sist on the make of car you
''^ant, but also on the model, style
^*^d color. At one time you might
^ve bought a suit or dress just to
^ve something to wear, but today
you shop for a specific type of
^'^it or dress, of a specific color
and style.
■firestone has always been noted
a® a leader in the industry, so the
People of Firestone must continue
is leadership of quality and ser-
Ce. We must do our best to stay
111 front in meeting our custo-
Lee R. Jackson
mers’ constantly changing prefer
ences and requirements.
If we at Firestone were to
standardize on one type of tire,
we would soon be out of business
because people do not want just
one kind of tire. This is also true
in all fields of our business besides
rubber—it is true in metals, plas
tics, chemicals and textiles.
^ ^ ^
We know we are doing a good
job for our customers as we con
stantly receive unsolicited letters
from many of them testifying to
the excellent service given by our
products.
One recent letter from a Topeka,
Kansas, motorist states that the
Firestone DeLuxe Champion 6.00-
16 tires on the car he purchased
four years ago this April have
50,020 miles on them and have
been to Canada, Mexico and the
East and West Coasts on vacation
trips over all kinds of road sur
faces and at varied speeds. And
he tells us these tires are still go
ing strong, and when he again
needs tires they will, of course, be
Firestone.
Supporting the belief that there
is great business opportunity a-
head for our country and for Fire
stone, if we meet the needs and
preferences of our customers, is
the knowledge that consumer sav
ings are at the highest level in
history, more than 200 billion dol
lars, and that personal income, ac
cording to latest Department of
Commerce figures, is running at
the rate of more than 280 billion
dollars in 1954. With adequate
credit available, consumers can
afford to buy. And they will re
spond to the right selling effort,
the right products, and the right
prices.
❖ sjs ^
We have returned to the eco
nomic conditions under which the
customer is king and every busi
ness that serves the needs of our
American market will be engaged
in an intense effort for the favor
of the buying public.
That is what I mean when I say
that we at Firestone must serve
the needs of our customers by find
ing out as exactly as possible what
those needs are and then filling
them as quickly as possible with
high quality at low cost.
(Continued on page 3)
Contest Winner
WILLIAM F. SAYERS., 15, is the 1954 Harvey S. Firestone, Jr.,
Award winner. He received his silver medallion and $100 savings bond
at the annual Awards Banquet Thursday, June 10, at the Girls’ Club.
Billy, as he prefers to be called,'
has been a boy scout in Troop 7
since he was 11 years old. He has
attained Eagle rank with the Silver
Palm, which means he has earned
15 merit badges in addition to
those required for Eagle rank.
This year marks the fourth year
he had qualified for a Certificate
of Merit; his projects each of these
years being considered outstanding
by his scoutmaster, Roland Ham-
ner, thereby placing them in com
petition since 1951 for the top a-
ward.
Following the presentation of
the Harvey S. Firestone, Jr., A-
ward to Mr. Sayers, J. G. Reading,
president of the National Bank of
Commerce, made a surprise award
to General Manager Harold Mer
cer. The award, given for mer
itorious service in the saving?
bonds program, came in the form
of a replica of a short prayer
made by President Eisenhower dur
ing his inauguration in January,
1953.
The banquet June 10—the ninth
in the series—was attended by 100
people including 40 boy scout cer
tificate winners and their scout
masters, scout officials, and man
agement and supervisory represen
tatives of the Company.
General Manager Harold Mercer
noted in his introductory remarks
at the banquet that for the first
time all chairmen of local scout
districts were present. These in
cluded Charlie Bryant, Piedmont
Council; Dan LaFar, Gastonia Dis
trict; and Laxton Hamrick, Gas
ton County District. As always,
the very popular R. M. Schiele,
Scout Executive for the Piedmont
Council, was present.
(Continued on page 2)
THE photograph of the Eiffel
Tower, above, was declared 1st
place winner in the Employees’
Photo Contest just ended. This
snapshot was taken by James
Moss during a 1952 tour of Army
duty in Europe. The tower and
river in the foreground (Seine)
are, of course, world famed tour
ists’ attractions in Paris. James
Cooper’s entry showing a Chinese
pagoda won 2nd place; Miss
,Nina Milton’s photograph of
the Firestone Dormitory was
3rd.
SALES FOR SAFETY
(Purchases for April and May)
Safety Shoes—387 pairs
Safety Prescription Glasses—
26 pairs
Picnic Table Is Winner s Project; Bridge And Lean-To Among Top Entries
m
rr-
'cout
other
’ a
Billy Sayers’ winning project, the picnic table at center, above, is flanked by
leading entries: a rustic footbridge (left) entered by Don Spurrier of Troop
lean-to entered by Jimmy Summey of Troop 6. These projects, along with
* ^ V 4* ■«*** *
others not shown, were winners in local troop competition which preceded the final
selection of the Harvey S. Firestone, Jr., Award winner.