My Life @ RRD

A few days ago, I stumbled on this folder. It contains the first signature (printed unit) produced by RRDonnelley and Sons Company, Spartanburg SC.

I was originally hired by RRD Spartanburg (Hillcrest) as the Crib Attendant Instructor, a position I suppose that allowed me to be hired before the first press was on line. I had been working at RRD in Chicago and put in for a transfer to Spartanburg when they were first offered. This was months before any transfers were taking place. I was advised that I didn't qualify for a transfer so I quit and moved to Spartanburg on my own. I bought a house under the guise that I would be working at RRD, so the bank gave me their RRD loan rate. Thus, I was living in Spartanburg before anyone was transferred here. When RRD Hillcrest opened, I applied for a job and was hired.

My daughter was the first RRD Spartanburg baby. She was born Sept 2, 1980 before 852 actually started up. When '52 started I was promoted to Assistant Pressman. We ran that press with plastic over the top of it because rain would knock out the web.

Things were rosy for the first couple presses, but as '54 came on line the overtime got to be overwhelming. I longed to spend more time with my new baby daughter but was refused time off by the Supervisors. Finally, I made an appointment with our Division Director, Carl Doty to talk about my situation.

He asked me a question after I explained my desire for more time off. I can still hear his voice... "Do you believe in the Golden Rule?"

"Yes Sir, I sure do!" I answered thinking he might have some sympathy.

Carl went on, "We live by the Golden Rule here and it is - He who has the gold makes the rules. Go back and do what they tell you."

In case you might wonder with all our travels, how we were conveniently working in Chicago while the Spartanburg plant was being built?

Suzy and I had been living aboard our sailboat for about 3 years. We were in the Caribbean when we ran across another cruising couple. They were the Hudnuts. We got to talking about where we all were from, and I mentioned that we were from Chicago and I had worked there at RRD about 7 years ago. Richard then told us that his twin brother Bill, currently worked at RRD in Chicago but he would be transferring soon to Spartanburg where they were opening a new gravure plant to print JCPenney. Nothing clicked at that point but on one of our subsequent cruises things started to materialize...

We had been in the Bahamas for a quick cruise and were sailing home to Beaufort NC offshore. Normally at this point, Suzy and I started considering our next destination. Suzy asked, "Where do you want to go next?"

I replied, "Hmmmm, I don't really don't have anything in mind."

Suzy, remembering what I had told her 10 years ago, We'll have kids when we run out of other things to do, responded, "IT'S TIME!"

Sooo - we made plans to settle down, and thinking about work at that new Spartanburg plant made sense. I had always thought I'd like to sit on my front porch in a rocking chair and watch my kids grow up, especially after the hectic life at RRD Chicago with all the overtime, not to mention the life threatening Dan Ryan Expressway both ways.

I'd worked for Jack Ott, both when he was a Pressman and Supervisor way back when, so I called him to ask if he know about the new Spartanburg Plant and when it was to be up and running. He said, "Hey, I'm transferring there. I'll keep you posted on updates, in the meantime why don't you come back to Chicago and work?"

I told him that was a great idea. He said to come to work on Wednesday and we could talk more about Spartanburg.

When I got to the plant, I couldn't get in without a badge so I went to Personnel. I told the kid there that I needed a badge because I'd be working at the West Plant today. The kid said, "We aren't hiring, and anyway I can't just make you an employee without going through the proper procedure and confirming things with my Supervisor.."

I told him to call Jack Ott, my Pressroom Supervisor.

I could hear big Jack on the phone as he bellowed, "Get that man over here right away - we've got a press down waiting on him!"

There was no hesitation from the fellow in Personnel - I was immediately reinstated.

I don't know how many cumulative years I actually work at/for RRD because Spartanburg lost my records, but I do know that I was hired by RRD five different times, starting in '63 and ending in '03...at one point I had been away for 7 years.

All told, RRD provided a great life for me and my family. I have absolutely no complaints, in fact I am very fortunate to have had such a fulfilling career, from from Packer Boy to Apprentice/Trucker/Scaleman, to Ink Man, to Roll Tender, (to Crib Attendant Instructor whatever that is), to Assistant Pressman, to Pressman, to CSR, to Production Planner.

When I first started with RRD, an apprenticeship was an honor. It was basically being paid to learn a career. I graduated with a bonus instead of debt.

 Here is my apprenticeship graduation picture, taken at a celebration banquet with the president of the company.

  In the scheme of things, in my overall career, I guess I did have plenty of time off, especially as my time with RRD allowed me to retire at 59 1/2.