The Spiked Heel

His second memo was an attempt at spilling a little oil on the troubled waters. It read:

I AM DELIGHTED TO REPORT THAT A NEW BONUS SYSTEM WILL GO INTO EFFECT COMMENCING THIS DATE. IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT A LOT OF OVERTIME WORK IS BEING DONE IN EVERY DEPARTMENT OF THIS BUILDING. UNFORTUNATELY, MUCH OF THIS OVERTIME IS A NEEDLESS WASTE. DEPARTMENT SUPERVISORS WILL BE PLEASED TO LEARN THAT BONUSES WILL BE DECLARED FOR SUPERVISORS WHO CUT DOWN ON OVERTIME IN THEIR DEPARTMENTS.

SIGNED:

J. MANELLI, COMPTROLLER

Well, this was definitely soothing to the department heads, especially after being called down about favors to special friends. This meant that the denial of favors was to be accompanied by a little extra cash for the denial of those favors. For overtime was definitely a favor. If a man goofed all day long, he could stay at his machine to the wee hours of the morn, drawing time and a half, and goofing even more. It was an accepted means of pulling down a little extra dough that week, and the foremen casually overlooked it, even though everyone knew that four hours of overtime work amounted to about one hour of honest-to-God straight-time work. So the supervisors were happy, but the workers weren’t particularly overjoyed. Overtime, to many of them, meant the difference between a new TV set or last year’s paltry seventeen-inch model. The workers were not happy at all.

So Manelli issued a third decree, designed to lift the spirits of the factory personnel, and the third decree read as follows:

I KNOW EVERYONE CONCERNED WILL BE HAPPY TO LEARN THAT COKE MACHINES WILL BE INSTALLED ON EVERY FLOOR OF THE BUILDING LATER THIS MONTH, MAKING THE OLD EVERY-OTHER-FLOOR SYSTEM OBSOLETE. DRINK HEARTY.

SIGNED:

J. MANELLI, COMPTROLLER

Not to be outdone by Joseph Manelli, the people in charge of various departments throughout the building began sending their own memos, carbon copies of which invariably reached Griff’s desk for one reason or another.

TO: George Natalis

FROM: Arthur Magruder

It has been brought to my attention that invoices sent by Kahn to Fred Rakon, Sioux City, Iowa, have met with delinquent payment, and it was suggested to me by Mr. Manelli that perhaps the Credit Department was to blame in not properly checking the new account before accepting his order. This is to notify you that this account was checked thoroughly with D & B, from which it received an excellent credit rating, plus a bank balance in the high six figures. And…

TO: Fred Purdy

FROM: David Stiegman

Concerning the memo which was addressed to Mr. George Natalis from Mr. Arthur Magruder concerning certain difficulties in payment we are experiencing with invoices sent by Kahn to Fred Rakon, Sioux City, Iowa. I have gone into this matter thoroughly, and the findings are as follows: There has been negligence in the shipping department where shoes already invoiced were not being shipped until a month, sometimes six weeks, afterwards and…

TO: Mr. Harris

FROM: Karl Vorhies

Beginning with the shipments of March 17th, orders for Louisville, Elizabethtown, and Frankfort, Kentucky, will be credited to Mr. Carter Jacobs. They were formerly accounts covered in the territory of Bert Binick. And…

TO: J. J. Carlson

FROM: Boris Hengman

Confirming our recent talk at lunch, we will accept special orders taken at special order showings wherever these special order showings occur in the Boston territory, and there will be no special order charge on these special orders taken, unless a special order charge is requested by you specifically, and…

Memos and memos, and more memos, flowing through the factory like mercury. Memos from Payroll to Sales, from Credit to Cost, from Cost to Payroll, from Sales to Production, from Production to Sales, from Tom to Fred and Fred to Mike and Mike to George and George to Sam and Sam to Louie and Louie to Tom, memos scrawled on scratch paper or typed or dittoed or mimeographed or crayoned or inked, memos delivered by the messenger boys, or the clerks, or the department heads, memos, memos, memos, and then the Sales Division climbed aboard with:

SALES NOTICE #587–B

Toot and begorrah, if we’re not pickled tink!

We’ve noticed a pickup in stock, and everyone knows that’s the first sign of a stimulated business activity. Women are crying for shoes, begging for shoes, so let’s get out there and talk “stock” with our accounts.