PAGE 8
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FEBRUARY, 1957
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OF ANCIENT ORIGIN
Modified Form Of Shuffleboard
On Recreation Program Here
From a safety standpoint, the
worst days of the week to be
on the highway are Saturday
and Sunday ... a time when
most persons are killed and in
jured in road accidents. Watch
out for excessive speed and
reckless driving. Keep your
mind on the job of safety, get
ting your car to your destina
tion and return without acci
dent,
© AMERICAN MUTUAL LIAB. INS. CO.
Customers Laud
Firestone Tires
Cecil B. Anderson, a former
employee of the Los Angeles
plant of the Company read re
cently about Richard C. King’s
experience with Firestone tires.
King reported that his set of
tires ran more than 60,000 miles.
In a letter to L. R. Jackson,
Company President, Anderson
wrote:
“I ran a set of Firestone white
sidewall tires 65,000 miles and
then had a recap and ran them
up to 95,000 miles. When one
finally blew out, I bought a new
set.”
William Loftus of Brooklyn,
N. Y., has sent a letter to the
Company, commending Fire
stone tires, also.
“In June 1950 I purchased a
new Chevrolet sports coupe
which had five Firestone Tires,
6.70 X 15. I still have two of the
original tires with the original
inner tubes on the car and have
over 64,000 miles registered. The
tread is somewhat worn but not
yet smooth.
“The car has been used main
ly in driving between Tunkhan-
nock. Pa., and New York City.
During the summer months the
Should history repeat itself in
this case, the 48 men on the 10
shuffleboard teams at the plant
this season would likely be
viewed with displeasure. More
over, they might even be brand
ed as lazyikes and time-wasters.
But today, such is not the case
for the employees who make up
the first and second shift leagues
of this game of ancient origin.
Played here each Tuesday and
Thursday during the hours from
12:05 to 8 p.m., shuffleboard is
a sport, the history of which is
steeped in confusion and con
troversy.
It is an offshoot of the ancient
principle of lawn bowling. In the
method of play, however, it more
closely resembles the game of
curling on ice. At Firestone, the
game is played on a court laid
out on a long table—a definite
departure from the courts first
used in the Old World.
Some historians fix the origin
of shuffleboard in Persia, cen
turies ago. Most writers put its
beginning in England sometime
in the 13th century, while a few
believe the Scots should have
the credit for its invention.
IN OLD ENGLAND, shuffle
board came close to being out
lawed. Some kings, considering
it a frivolous diversion and a
waste of time, levied laws
against playing it. Despite the
regal displeasure it generated,
the sport flourished in England
in the Middle Ages. References
say it was played on hard, dirt-
packed courts, and was given
car was parked entirely in the
open.”
And a letter from Arthur R.
Christman, Springfield, Pa.:
“Our five Firestone tires which
came with our car in 1950 have
carried us 44,736 odd miles and
still have some tread on them.
As many associates think it in
credible that those tires are the
original ones, we feel you should
know. of the satisfaction they
have given. Folks shake their
heads in disbelief and amaze
ment when they look at them.”
n
e
various labels, depending on the
section where played. While
“shovel board” was most com
monly used, it was known also
as “shove groat” and “slide
groat.”
Of the introduction of shuffle
board into the United States,
history has little to offer. Early
in the 1880s, at least, it must
have been a sport of some prom
inence, because • it was de
nounced as a “gambler’s pas
time” in New England. Around
1850 in New England public
playing of the game was forbid
den, because of the puritanical
association with gambling.
IN THE LATE 1800s interest
in the game was revived, when
passengers on ocean liners be
gan playing it on voyages be
tween England and Australia.
The wide decks of the vessels
provided good courts for a di
version much needed on the long
voyages.
Back in America, children re
vived the game around 1890.
Adult tourists in Florida caught
from the children the spark of
interest and improved the game
to include new rules and a new
system of scoring. The game’s
revival was carried to all the
states and there was a wave of
court-building in many a com
munity playground.
Until 1929 shuffleboard was
played by neighborhood rules.
Then the National Shuffleboard
Association was organized,,
which rewrote the rules and
standardized the play, making
the game blossom into even
greater prominence.
MEN AT FIRESTONE are
among the more than 4,000,000
participants in the game of Shuf
fleboard in the United States to
day. As played here, the game
is a modification of that as orig
inally conceived. Here, the court
is a long, trough-like table mark
ed off on each end with a dia
gram of areas having scoring
values. Although usually played
with a cue stick and wooden
discs, players here use their
hands to drive the eight iron
discs toward the target diagrams.
Ability required to bring the
discs to rest in scoring areas
marks the skill of the play.
International rules of shuffle
board allow for flexibility in the
matter of points constituting a
game. Although, generally, a
game is considered 75 points or
more, at Firestone a game is 21
points.
' * i|
AT FIRESTONE, shuffleboard is played in singles or doubles.
Here, McKinley Davis walches as Melvin Morrison drives for a
score.
Firestone Textiles Associate Named
Manager of Company Plant In Brazil
He is a graduate of the Kent,
Ohio, Roosevelt High School and
the Lowell, Mass., Textile In
stitute. He joined the Firestone
organization in 1926 at the Com
pany plant in Fall River, Mass.
Five months after going to Fall
River, he was transferred to
Akron to fill a vacancy in the
textile laboratory.
IN 1932 he moved to the de
velopment department. Later
that year he was sent to Fire
stone’s New Bedford, Mass., tex
tile plant for a special assign
ment in quality control. He re
mained in New Bedford for four
years and then returned to Ak
ron to conduct experimental
work in fabric development.
Swain next worked in the
rubber and textile purchasing
department, and through that
assignment became associated
with the Gastonia operation.
As manager of the plant in
South America, he will direct the
production of textiles for use in
tires and other rubber products
manufactured at the Sao Paulo
plant.
Answers . . .
—To Quiz on page 5
1. Sidney Lanier; 2. Horace
Greeley; 3. William H. Harrison;
4. William Allen White; 5. Thom
as A. Edison; 6. Abraham Lin
coln; 7. Cyrus W. McCormick;
8. George Washington; 9. Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow; 10-
Johannes Gutenberg.
Harry L. Swain, Jr., has be
come manager of the Company’s
textile manufacturing plant in
Sao Paulo, Brazil. He left the
United States in mid-January
for the South American assign
ment, where he has succeeded
R. M. Sawyer who returned to
Akron after serving 11 years at
the Sao Paulo plant.
Swain has been associated
with the textiles division since
1952. During this association, he
has spent considerable time at
the Gastonia plant in the in
terest of rubber and textile pur
chasing.
Morrows Live
In Charlotte
Mr. and Mrs. Fred T. Morrow,
Jr., are at home at 412 Wakefield
drive in Charlotte, after their
marriage in First AR Presby
terian Church, Gastonia, in late
December. He is the son of Mr.
and Mrs. Fred T. Morrow, Sr.
His father is Warehouse Manag
er at Firestone. Her parents are
Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Spencer of
Gastonia.
She is a graduate of Ashley
High School, attended Salem
College, Winston-Salem, and is
now a student at Queens Col
lege, Charlotte. Mr. Morrow was
graduated from Ashley High
School and Belmont Abbey Col
lege, and is employed by a Gas
tonia firm of certified public ac
countants.
FIRESTONE TEXTILES
P. O. BOX 551
GASTONIA, N. C.
SEC. 34.66 P. L. & R.
U. S. POSTAGE
PAID
GASTONIA. N. C.
PERMIT NO. 29
Form 3547 Requested