Specialty Fabrics Review January 2020 - 6

BRIEFINGS

FORETHOUGHT

The working class

A
Galynn Nordstrom
senior editor

t the beginning of the 20th century, there were Temperance
organizations in nearly every state. In 1919, the 18th Amendment to
the U.S. Constitution, which prohibited the manufacture and sale of
alcohol, was ratified and went into effect on Jan. 16, 1920, beginning
the era known as Prohibition. Almost immediately after it was ratified,
organizations were formed to repeal it. The anti-Prohibition movement
gained strength throughout the 1920s, but oddly enough, it may have been
the Stock Market Crash in 1929 that gave the opposition the greatest push.
The 21st Amendment in 1933 repealed the 18th Amendment-the first and
only time a Constitutional Amendment has been repealed.
On page 68 of this issue, we begin our decade-by-decade look at 100
years of IFAI Expo, in a decade that began with Prohibition and ended
with the beginnings of the Great Depression. As I researched the early
years of IFAI and IFAI Expo in our oldest copies of the Review, reading
James E. McGregor's rousing editorials and calls to action, there weren't
too many specifics about the educational programs at the conventions of
that time, but there were three evident goals for the National Tent and
Awning Manufacturers Association and its members:
1. To formulate and disseminate information about sound business
practices, especially "cost accounting."
2. To enlist participation in the National Co-operative Advertising
Campaign, as the association developed a series of professionally

PERSPECTIVE

Skills transfer, one boat at a time
Kathryn Maisto, MFC, owner of Fairwinds Canvas LLC in
Racine, Wis., came to the marine canvas business through
her love for sailing and the skills she learned while voyaging
around the world. But when she moved back to Wisconsin
and started to expand her business, she focused on employee
training, allowing her the time she needed to work on bringing
in new clients. "I want an employee to be able to go out on a
boat and pattern. I want them to be able to fabricate, and I want them to be able to
install. That is what makes my business run so smoothly," she says. If an employee
then starts her own business down the road, Maisto says she's fine with that! Four
years ago, she launched the Marine Canvas Training Center to help renew the
industry workforce. For the rest of the story, turn to page 22.
If you'd like to nominate a fellow IFAI manufacturer member for coverage in a
future "Perspective" article, please contact Galynn Nordstrom, senior editor, at
gdnordstrom@ifai.com.

6 REVIEW JANUARY 2020

Economics is extremely
useful as a form of
employment for economists.
~John Kenneth Galbraith

designed ads that members could use
as "drop-in" advertisements in local
papers and magazines.
3. To create a clear Code of Ethics
for members and the industry, with the
understanding that every company along
the supply chain (and employees) should
all benefit from doing business, to ensure
long-term success.
They started with the basics, it seems
(even if, as shown in the photo from the
1928 gathering, they somehow dropped
an elephant into the mix). As the industry
evolved, so did IFAI Expo, researching and
pursuing a number of common themes:
marketing, sales and community relations;
labor and workforce issues; technological
advances in materials, methods and
equipment; industry standards,
government and trade issues; threats and
opportunities and long-term industry
trends. What continues throughout,
however, is the theme of cooperation for
mutual benefit. At its core, IFAI Expo is an
annual opportunity to help each other.
Penetrating readers may notice in that
image of the 1928 convention a reference
to the "17th Annual Convention"; our
accounting, however, dates from the
1918 gathering in Detroit, when the
convention was opened to nonmembers
and became a true industry event. IFAI
Expo's centennial event will be held this
year in Indianapolis, Nov. 3-6. Please
let us know how we can help.
Specialty Fabrics Review January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Specialty Fabrics Review January 2020
