colating catalogs

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   thats how i remember it , it was a long time ago - i was 16 , working in the advertising department of a major international pump manufacturer [we made all the pumps' for our navy] we pumped everything from asphalyt to topth paste as well as refrigerants and fuels , our catalogue was large - about 6 inches thick or more , 
my job at that time aside from the daily mail delivery interoffice and some mundane office supply things was to retrieve the catalog pages in bulk from the printers office across the street bring them in and set them up for collation process - a fairly extensive process that took about two months time , 

we all - my co-workers [there were two] and i would put on the rubber fingertips of the day [=1960s ] then build the chapters of the catalogue one at a time , assembling the catalogs as we went , im not at all sure how many were mailed out anymore but there were a lotr of them - went all over the globe , the company sold all over the globe , at the time i was not really aware of just how big it was , or how deeply imbedded in our military or daily lives it was , that didnt dawn on me till later in life when i kept running into our pumps in almost everything i encountered , 

ive still got one in my garage that used to drain the neighborhood pool every spring , my father never threw anything out anbd neither do i - even tho i should , and i will ---promise i will next spring for sure , when the weathetr gets nicer, amnd im cleaning out the garage , lots of stuff to get rid of , 

anyway back to the original topic - i built catalogs , for a major international company back in the 60s ,  i didnt  fully appreciate wat that meant back then ....
i knew the sales offices needed them , i knew the sales department wanted them jn the salesmen's hands quickly , i knerw we were on a schedule to get them out [i also processed the packaging and postage to gety them shipped , we did it efficiently and quickly even tho it was all by hand back then , im sure nothing is done thar way anymore - its all on line today , but in the 60s it was paper - glossy pictures and print on expensive paper - i ish i had one of those old catalogs to show - they were a work of the art of thaat times sales 

but i really never knew what that meant in sales and revenue - in hind sight id like to know that, i knew we made a difference but at 16 i know i did not have access to the results even tho my father was one of the vice presidents - he was only in charge of the manufacturing and labor negotiations jusdt a cog in the wheele that made it all work , 

the company has been sold at least once to bigger conglobates , once after i left its emply and i think again since but im not sure of that , they all have facilities in my home town - i think they still have offices , foundries - both alloys and iron, a well as assembly and machining sites , but its been a good number of years  since ive been there , i was involved in another lifetime in remodel of their offices , building their iron factory and remodeling their alloys foundry - i worked a bit at their assembly facility but only in an 'engineering department capacity' , 

i know this was a long read  and not all that note worthy in the big context of our lives - i was just reflecting this evening a bit - my life i guess 

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A square 10 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Special Member Donating Member Joined: December 12 2006 Location: MN , USA Status: Offline Points: 16998	Post Options Post Reply Quote A square 10 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: colating catalogs Posted: January 14 2026 at 12:05am
	thats how i remember it , it was a long time ago - i was 16 , working in the advertising department of a major international pump manufacturer [we made all the pumps' for our navy] we pumped everything from asphalyt to topth paste as well as refrigerants and fuels , our catalogue was large - about 6 inches thick or more , my job at that time aside from the daily mail delivery interoffice and some mundane office supply things was to retrieve the catalog pages in bulk from the printers office across the street bring them in and set them up for collation process - a fairly extensive process that took about two months time , we all - my co-workers [there were two] and i would put on the rubber fingertips of the day [=1960s ] then build the chapters of the catalogue one at a time , assembling the catalogs as we went , im not at all sure how many were mailed out anymore but there were a lotr of them - went all over the globe , the company sold all over the globe , at the time i was not really aware of just how big it was , or how deeply imbedded in our military or daily lives it was , that didnt dawn on me till later in life when i kept running into our pumps in almost everything i encountered , ive still got one in my garage that used to drain the neighborhood pool every spring , my father never threw anything out anbd neither do i - even tho i should , and i will ---promise i will next spring for sure , when the weathetr gets nicer, amnd im cleaning out the garage , lots of stuff to get rid of , anyway back to the original topic - i built catalogs , for a major international company back in the 60s , i didnt fully appreciate wat that meant back then .... i knew the sales offices needed them , i knew the sales department wanted them jn the salesmen's hands quickly , i knerw we were on a schedule to get them out [i also processed the packaging and postage to gety them shipped , we did it efficiently and quickly even tho it was all by hand back then , im sure nothing is done thar way anymore - its all on line today , but in the 60s it was paper - glossy pictures and print on expensive paper - i ish i had one of those old catalogs to show - they were a work of the art of thaat times sales but i really never knew what that meant in sales and revenue - in hind sight id like to know that, i knew we made a difference but at 16 i know i did not have access to the results even tho my father was one of the vice presidents - he was only in charge of the manufacturing and labor negotiations jusdt a cog in the wheele that made it all work , the company has been sold at least once to bigger conglobates , once after i left its emply and i think again since but im not sure of that , they all have facilities in my home town - i think they still have offices , foundries - both alloys and iron, a well as assembly and machining sites , but its been a good number of years since ive been there , i was involved in another lifetime in remodel of their offices , building their iron factory and remodeling their alloys foundry - i worked a bit at their assembly facility but only in an 'engineering department capacity' , i know this was a long read and not all that note worthy in the big context of our lives - i was just reflecting this evening a bit - my life i guess