Page 74 - IT'S A RUM LIFE BOOK TWO "BOSTON 1960 TO 1970"

Fred was the only District Manager for the Firestone Tyre and
Rubber Company at Lincoln. He had been one of the very first
District Managers appointed by the Company in their
reorganisation after the Second World War.
Due largely to his tenacity, keen business brain and positive
dislike of the Firestone American management he managed to
continually confuse them to such an extent that he was one of
the last local managers to survive and be in appointment
when Firestone U.K. crashed from the top of the tree to
ignominious insignificance in the mid 1970’s.

Strangely enough Fred ended his working life with the
company run by Ruth and myself distributing tyres and other
products for the Uniroyal Company. Much more of this story in
Book 3 “IVY HOUSE 1970 TO 1984”.

In 1965, due to disappointments at the “Standard” I was
looking elsewhere for a career. Ruth and I had recently
married and we needed a job with more security. I began
writing to advertisers in the Daily Telegraph ‘Job Vacancies’.
The job market was changing and interviews were not easy
to get. Many letters only received a polite refusal, some bore
fruit.
The first was Shell UK who asked if I had any particular
ambitions. In my naivety I said I would like to retire early.
Strike one to Shell UK.
Next were Johnson and Johnson the makers of all the home
cleaning products you could wish for. My upbringing in sales
was far more genteel than theirs.
A career in the chemical industry was not for me. Then a
letter arrived from The Firestone Tyre and Rubber Company
telling me that my application was going to be dealt with by
their local manager at Lincoln. This was Fred who was to
recommend I sought experience in the motor trade.

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