War bonds for suggestions

Date

• March 3, 1944

Summary

• This photograph taken in the Sheet Metal Shop at the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, on March 3, 1944 documents a ceremony at which war bonds and stamps were awarded to employees who had made suggestions for improving production or safety. In the foreground six workers, including two women, play or hold musical instruments including a flute, piccolo, saxophones, and clarinets. They appear to be part of a larger group, probably the company employee band "The Submariners," although other photographs of "The Submariners" do not include women. Standing behind the musicians, left to right, are Alfred Bond, G. Tulis, Victor Gassere, Andrew Houston, James Fischer, and Otis Granger. Houston, standing behind a microphone, was a member of the company's Labor-Management Committee and served as master of ceremonies. The other five men received war bonds or stamps for suggestions that they had submitted through the company's new suggestion system which had been implemented by the Labor-Management Committee earlier in 1944. Monthly awards ranged from $10 in war stamps to a $50 war bond. Winners also received award buttons. In the background, other Sheet Metal Shop workers watch the ceremony while standing amid machine equipment and factory pillars. This picture was published in the March 1944 issue of "The Keel Block," the company's employee newsletter.