Enterprise USA (1940s)

[Music] And like all the other boys, they were anxious to get hometown memories. The waterfall that would be lit with rainbows after spring showers. The bridge whose planks rattled as you hurried to the swimming hole. What fun at that old swimming hole. The peach pie on the back porch baked by the finest mother in the world. Mothers can give a magic touch to any food and can make the beautiful even more beautiful memories. The memories summer. The scent of new moan hay was sweet. Scuffing bare toes through soft dust of sunny roads. Fish in the creek always seemed so big. The ones that got away. Memories. Driving with your best girl beside you. Riding over the sunspangled roads beside fragrant orchards out over the rolling hills. Remember how our teacher brought the class to this waterfall to explain how that was a story of enterprise. So many other stories of enterprise that fired imaginations. Enterprise under the American system could do almost anything. Our town had a bright history. Cotton, the finest cotton, the very finest cotton had made Buchanan prosperous for almost a century. acres and acres and acres of rich soil and willing hands gave the good earth tireless care. It had been generous for generations. The good earth. It had been generous, giving cotton rich and full across our land. And after the cotton was picked, precious loads, the price of cotton was high. Bales of the finest cotton sold to the highest bidder from warehouses. Because of cotton, Buchanan half a century ago had become the county seat. This county building was proof of its prosperity. But times have changed. Cotton can no longer be counted on. The worked out soil is no longer rich. In such soil, cotton will not thrive. The quality is poor. The yield is small. For those who farm cotton here these days, the work is discouraging. Even the hardest toil brings but small return. and other crops are not too plentiful. Because Buchanan depended entirely on agriculture, they were worried about Buchanan. On their travels, they had seen what could happen to a farming town when the soil failed and hard times came and cattle felt the pinch of want. This ominous sign. And when trouble struck, the ghost town trail was ghastly. Home had once been bright with paint and warm with life. Equipment left to rot. Left to rot in a ghost town. Ghost town skeletons crumbling away. You can't dream prosperity into a town. Prosperity doesn't strike like lightning or come like a jump on a checkerboard. You can't whittle prosperity out of soft wood. Santa Claus doesn't bring it from the sky. The federal government can't present prosperity as a gift. There is no substitute for hard work and enterprise. Yes, they were worried about Buchanan. There were signs of trouble ahead. Young folks were leaving our town to seek opportunity elsewhere. There were no jobs for them here. They had to go where they could find work. Every goodbye to these young folks was a sharp reminder to the rest of us that some done. Something must be done. Rich machine in remarkable ways. Operations were speeded up by all kinds of machine cost. Even the airplanes speeded up cotton from fine soil benefited people everywhere. But some cotton towns which could no longer count on the soil were prosperous. Why? Small town factories had brought industry. Small town industry had made jobs. Jobs paid steady wages. Wages brought new prosperity. Why couldn't Buchanan attract industry? No. The wheels of industry had never been heard in our town. Industry say if we build a plant here industry would come and prosperity build a plant and invite industry could we raise the money right here in Buchanan why not why every man woman and well that's how it started these two boys made the first contribution and started out to raise the balance of the $36,000 door to [Music] door on the streets. Savings from the bank for investment in what we called the future of Buchanan. Slowly the total claim to Buchanan, the young folks could find work here wouldn't be going off. Slowly the total climb. Wherever a group was talking, you could be sure it had to do with fundraising. Securities sold to raise money. Would we ever make it? This is an investment for your children's future here. And now the goal was close. The youngsters shook coins from their banks. This prospect finally said yes in the barber shop. And then some checks. And I'll never forget the cheer that went up. We had collected $36,000. A bank loan swelled the total. We could start building. When our town mayor dug the first shovel full of dirt, congratulations were hearty. Yes, the building that would rise here would bring prosperity to Buchanan for years. Building lines were marked out. Deep in the red Georgia soil, the foundations would be set. The hopes of our people were built in with the stones and mortar as the structure rose. Soon the roof would cover the plant and then spring the buds. Then the blossoms ripe with promise. Our hopes were bearing fruit. Bright as the blossoms, the new plant. 16,000 square ft. The first plant Buchanan ever had. But wait, we had a more difficult problem. We could not lease the plant. The company we had counted on said no. We tried others. Letters that came all said no. No, no, no. The situation became desperate. Folks began to avoid the post office at mail time. We got to fearing the mail the way we did when our boys were overseas. If no letter came, it was bad news. And if a letter did come, still bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news. We all had the mailbox jitters. Had any possibility been overlooked? Wasn't there a company somewhere that would lease the plant? A company interested in people really wanted to work? This factory manager in the nearby town of Bremen talked to his home office in New York about that new Buchanan plant and about the enterprise of Buchanan people. Would his company lease that plant? A few days later, he arrived with his company's decision. Our committee was anxious as it greeted him. The fate of our town depended on that decision. We soon knew his company was interested. It was especially interested in the enterprise of the people of Buchanan. The good news spread quickly. Housewives discussed not to fiddle details, but rather what it would mean to the young folks. Now they wouldn't it wonderful news. They had prayed for this. The good news spread. Rural lines were busy. Good news spread. School children yelled and did cartwheels the way kids do to celebrate. The good news spread all through the county. But wait, the matter was far from settled. The whole town of Buchanan, including children, had only 54 souls. Can we guarantee that many workers? Let's find out. A house-to-house canvas of available workers. The total began to mount all through the county. We sought workers. The total [Music] grew. Every possibility was double checked. Friends were solicited. The total grew and letters went out to our young folks who had left Buchanan. There might be jobs in Buchanan. Would they come back? Would they come back? Would you come [Music] back? We were over the top. What a cheer when the figures were posted down by the courthouse. In big cities where people are counted by hundreds of thousands, folks wouldn't understand how hard it was to gather 200 workers. Our letter to the company was a simple statement, but imagine the excitement behind it. willing workers ready to prove that a company should invest in a Buchanan plant. The day that factory opened, the flag flew on the village flagpole. A trademark was bright on the factory. The band came over from Cedartown in their new uniforms. [Music] Shouts of school kids were as thrilling as the band music. Cedar Town was glad to send over his band to help a neighbor celebrate. Yes, it was as if those kids knew what all this meant for the years ahead. The workers entered the factory to take their places. When you give work to folks who want to work and when you give it to them right in the town they love. Well, that's it, isn't it? Local officials cut the tape. Throngs of well-wishers had a look at the modern, welle equipped plant. All day the flag flew happily on the village flagpole. To be born under that flag, what a privilege. In all the world, how few are born into freedom. Freedom is a precious heritage. Freedom is not something that just grows in a particular soil. Freedom requires care and constant vigilance. We spray our orchards to kill off insects and whatever else would kill the fruit and the trees. Liberty is the fruit of constant vigilance. For those who come after us, we must protect that precious heritage which includes opportunity in the free enterprise system of our country. [Music] Well, the new factory hummed with work. I wondered what went on in there. So, one afternoon, I dropped in to see the plant manager, a Buchanan boy, proud of his plant, but prouder of the workers. He showed me around. What they were making is not important to this story. How they made it is important. The care, the thoroughess, attention to detail. Machines seem to sing as they stitched away. But the manager kept telling me machines are not as important as the people. With a product like this, there is no substitute for human skills. The skill of hand, the skill of eye and teamwork. People working together are like threads in a fabric. If any one thread is weak, the piece is inferior. No fabric can be better than its weakest thread. Teamwork. I saw new employees being instructed. Friendly instruction and friendly learning. Teamwork. And every detail is carefully inspected, not just once, but at every step. This inspection double checks many others. Stitches, buttons, threads, seams, and so many other details that only the experienced eye could catch. and testing. The finest precision equipment that science can invent is constantly testing. Testing the strength of fabrics, testing the strength of threads, testing dozens of other testing machines, each helping to maintain quality. And but this is a story of people, not machines. People. This worker is a war veteran. A veteran who had been seriously wounded in action. He came back to Buchanan. Why not? He had gone off to fight for Buchanan. When he came back, there was a job for him in his own hometown. Thanks to the enterprise of Buchanan people, teamwork, craftsmanship, skills, care, sewing on the label, never mind what the label is. The stitches speak for all those folks who do part to turn out a quality article. As long as they do that, the plant will prosper. And as it prospers, Buchanan will prosper. That's the American way. And how Buchanan did prosper. Buchanan is back on the map. Prosperity is evident everywhere. A broad new highway to Atlanta. 30 new homes and others building. Real estate values increased 30% in one year. And a fine new hospital with modern equipment. A model small town hospital. Courteous, capable personnel. As you see, the courthouse begins to look better than it has in a long time. A brand new firet truck, latest model, the finest equipment. Police chief has a new uniform, a new car, and an assistant chief. And we have a brand new theater. Our first at our new restaurant. Southern fried chicken is the specialty. 125 new accounts at our town bank. The weekly payroll makes cash registers ring at busy stores and our shopping streets. Let's [Music] watch. Hallelujah. And out on the farms, effects of prosperity are evident. And this is Alta Vista, our community of new homes. Inside these homes, prosperity has brought so many nice things. for a silver anniversary. He wanted the latest model. This banishes old-fashioned drudgery. Housework made easy. Comfort in comfortable surroundings. Yes, our folks are shopping as Americans like to shop. They had a right to enjoy the fruits of their enterprise. Right to enrich their living with those things that enterprise is producing everywhere in America. Prosperity brought uniforms for the local team. The coach is Wit Wyatt, a Buchanan boy who won fame in a World Series. Remember Wit is explaining the fine points of the game. Baseball is the American game. Whether on a sand lot like this or inside a big league stadium, this is where Whit Wyatt was a World Series hero, Americans cheer the American game. The key note of that game is enterprise. Be alert. Take advantage of every opportunity. Make every pitch count. Teamwork. Obey the rules. Play the game. [Music] Whether in the big league stadium or on the sand lot, the American [Music] game. After 12 busy months, the first anniversary of the new plant. A celebration at the plant. Company officials from New York to pay tribute to the spirit of our people, to their enterprise. I salute you as fellow Americans. This simple comment of the prominent New York official was the keynote of our celebration. The largest cake ever seen and members of the clothing workers union were hostesses as employees and guests were [Music] served as part of the anniversary celebration. Silver dollars were used. We wanted to learn how much of the weekly payroll was spent in Buchanan and how many local purchases were made with the same dollars. So on payday, a bag of silver dollars was given to each employee and the silver dollars were traced to points of use. Most of the silver dollars were spent in local stores. Many were deposited at the local bank for insurance and savings so that dear ones would be protected. One day I went to the plant with a question about the company. The manager pointed to pictures on the wall of his office. This plant is one of 17. There are over 10,000 employees. Yes. Mark on articles at all these plants. Yes. The same policy at all the plants. The company had grown through almost 100 years. You could trace its growth in those pictures of 17 plants. It started in Troy, New York. The first plant was even smaller than our Buchanan plant, but it grew. That map shows how many states have the 17 plants. When you make a better quality product and sell it at a price which more and more people can afford to pay, you must grow. I' I watched the day's work is done. Employees are leaving for their homes to enjoy what their work has provided. When you give folks work in the town they love and make that work have a meaning. Well, that's it. Yes, that's Buchanan down there. In a small town, you can get a better understanding of how enterprise works, can't you? That building on the left with the blue roof is the plant that the enterprise of my hometown people built. Sure. But the same kind of enterprise built America and keeps America great in the small town or the big city. The site of the big city was once rock bound coast standing. Look at it [Music] now. Marvel at the greatness of our country asking why is America great? The answer is liberty. And remember it is here that our lawmakers see to it that in the lock