Author Archives: Colby

Soon we were doing very, very well. Natural gas prices increased dramatically and the production of wood stoves for supplemental home heating increased even faster. We used split firebrick to line the wood stoves and most firebrick manufacturers could not make delivery. WG built up inventories, took care of the customers and became a major supplier. Split firebrick was a very profitable product for WG. When the wood stove boom finally ended, we retained the customers and have increased market share since then.

The run-up in gas prices helped WG in another way. The investors who built the Morges Gas System wanted out and sold the system to WG in 1973. We installed a large compressor at Waynesburg to pump into the Columbia Gas System for delivery to Alliance. As the gas costs of our competitors and product prices rapidly increased, our gas costs were stable and profits went up.

Our other top priority was to get ladle brick and face brick into continuous kilns. Without funds to build a kiln at Waynesburg, we were relegated to find a plant that could be purchased for a bargain price. After visits to about 10 broken-down plants around the country, Dick James suggested we talk to Don Peterson about Alliance Brick Company. I called Don, who replied, “Before you see our plant I want to visit yours and see what potential products you have for our plant.” Don toured Waynesburg and Magnolia, was persuaded we had products that would do well in a continuous kiln and in about two weeks, the deal was done.

The Alliance plant produced an unremarkable line of face brick in continuous kilns. We installed several brick presses, one purchased from Lynn, to make ladle brick and hired an experienced refractory man to manage the plant. In three years, we added firebrick to the pressed brick business, were able to liquidate the Alliance face brick business and were doing well.

During the late 1960s, we had picked up some winter business for Magnolia by making ladle brick for Drexel Refractories. Lynn Morrison, a young ceramic engineer with prior experience at Harbison-Walker, was manager of the Drexel refractories operation. Lynn and I got along well. I asked Lynn, if he left Drexel, to consider WG. About two years later Lynn called, we talked, and he came with WG as vice president of operations with authority over sales and production. Improved quality was necessary and I felt authority over orders accepted was one requirement to improve quality. Lynn then served as CEO of the company. As years passed and he became more familiar with the business, he took over more and more of the daily operation.

I felt WG had a real need for a ceramic engineer. My focus on this need sharpened whin in the late 1960s, WG shipped paving brick, quite unfit for their intended use, for a large job at Indiana University. Many of the pavers failed due to freeze-thaw cycles. Such failures were typical of the extruded pavers of the day, buy usually just a small percentage of the job failed. This type of failure inhibited clay pavers from achieving any real position in the architectural paving business. WG had successfully overcome the problem early on by using a fireclay material and flashing in periodic kilns to attain attractive colors. By 1965, WG was arguably the premier clay brick paver supplier in the U.S. Then the market changed and red brick, made with shale, dominated the market. WG’s local shale did not produce a good product due to poor size control, warpage and freeze-thaw failures if under fired. As more of the market moved to shale and the periodic kiln costs continued to rise, the WG position as a paver supplier dropped.

Indiana University sued WG along with the architect, general contractor, subcontractor and many suppliers, as much more than the brick failed on this job. There was a massive lawsuit. John Buchman of the Day Ketterer firm represented WG. After a long trial, a settlement was reached and since the building failures had been so expensive, WG’s damages did not put us out of business.

John Buchman was instructive in many areas of law. However, he told me two things that stuck with me. One, “Product liability turns on whether or not the product is suitable for its intended use.” Two, “Write it down; when you reduce a matter to writing, it seems to focus your mind better.”

Structural Stoneware prospered for decades, but ran into trouble when it could not duplicate the unique tile was a fast firing process. The company ended up with two product lines and failed about five years later. Dan then established a successful business as a tile installation consultant and lived happily with his second wife, Lori, on Cape Cod, where he enjoyed sailing. Dan and Lori later moved back to Aurora, Ohio, where Dan passed way in 2014. He is buried close to his father in the Magnolia cemetery Whitacre family plot.

As this period ended, WG was making a little money, was badly in need of a continuous kiln and missed the services of DD and Dan Whitacre, John Dagenhard and Steve Haw. Fortunately, good people in our work force were promoted to fill the vacancies and proved very capable of handling their responsibilities.

John Jr. married Pauline Frey in 1954. We had three children during this period, Lynn, Janet and John III. We lived in Waynesburg at the house across from the mansion known as the Hunt Club. The name came from its use as a social center for the fox hunters before World War II. My father gifted me the house, along with 80 acres, after I got out of the Army. Pauline won the first of eventually three state amateur golf championships. In the 1950s, I read The Practice of Management by Peter Drucker and subsequently, 15 more books by the same author. I found the author instructive, giving me more confidence in my decisions – right or wrong.

Dan also married in the early 1950s. He worked selling architectural products and was the key person in developing the paving brick, random bond and other unique products. Dan managed the magnolia plant, where these products were made, as well as the sales, during the early 1960s. When DD died, he provided means for Dan to start a business of his own, rather than be subject, as DD was, to working for a controlling family member. Dan took advantage of the opportunity and, with Pete Keplinger, founded Structural Stoneware Inc. They developed a unique line of glazed tile. WG turned over the Russell Dorf technology and glazed brick equipment it used in the New York Expressway jobs to Structural Stoneware.

After founding Structural Stoneware, Dan resigned from the WG board, called for cumulative voting for directors and along with RE Whitacre’s daughter, Mary Lou Murray, elected three directors (Pete Keplinger, Harvey Creighton and Harrison Keller) to the board. Following WG’s purchase of the DD estate stock, we asked Harvey to stay on as a director. He was an attorney, had been raised in the Waynesburg area, took a sincere interest in the company and was amply endowed with “street smarts.” Harvey was a great help to management until he retired due to poor health. Pete Keplinger remained and still serves on our board today.

JB successfully completed building equipment to impressively improve the dimensional accuracy, appearance and reduce the labor cost of forming clay hot tops. This machine took several years to design and build. It made a solid contribution to the earnings peak in the 1950s. Following 1963, JB and Mary spent more time in their home in Florida. When he was in Waynesburg, he actively helped with the plant operation. He was always read to advise or help me at any time of need.

DD suffered from high blood pressure. In the late 1950s, I believe, his medication changed and he suffered from depression. He went to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore where they administered shock treatments and kept him confined for about a year. He returned to work, but with a limited energy level. DD had a massive heart attack and died at age 62 in 1963. About 1955, DD and I were driving to Penn State for a meeting of the clay hot top researchers. I was driving outside a village when a police officer sped past us, swerving in front of our car and nearly hitting us as he forced me over to the side of the road. While I sat and wondered what I had done, DD jumped out of the passenger side. Meeting the officer belly to belly, DD, who was furious, scolded the officer about like this, “Young man, recklessly driving an automobile as you just did, which endangered the lives of two citizens, is a disgrace for anyone, and particularly someone wearing the uniform of a law enforcement office. Don’t ever do that again.” As the officer stared blankly, DD got back in our car and said to me, “Well come on, let’s go.” We went. It was an honor to have known the man.

Art Estep didn’t change his program, except for possibly more golf games. One day in 1955, Art came to the plant around 9:30 a.m. saying, “After a bit, go home and clean up and get your clubs. I have so-and-so lined up and we will get Dagenhard and go to Congress Lake for lunch and golf.” I said, “My Dad believes I play too much golf already, I had better pass.” Art said, “I just looked at last month’s results and we had the best month we ever had. I’ll take care of your father, let’s go.” We had some great days together.

After DD was disabled by depression, JB called Art and me into the office. He said, “Art, you and John are going to have to do more work since DD is not available.” Art said, “JB, I am not doing any more work than I am doing now and probably less.” I said, “Don’t worry; we have the people to get the work done.”

In 1999, John Whitacre Jr. fell from his horse Colby breaking his lumbar vertebra. While recuperating he recorded the history of Whitacre Greer. This continues his story:

Harold Hamilton, Richard Cascioli, Angelo Rugani, Pat Longo and many I have failed to mention all grew up in this period, most worked over 40 years for WG, dug deep and did great work under difficult circumstances for a long time.

WG permitted Case School to hold its annual two-week summer surveying camp on WG property east of Waynesburg from the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s. In the 1950s and 1960s, we used consulting services of Case professors W.R. Meredith, labor relations, and J.F. Wallace, hot top research. Both men taught me while I was at Case. Professor Wallace once complained to Professor Meredith that he, Wallace, had much too large a consulting business. Meredith replied, “Jack, simply keep raising your prices until your business drops to the level you want.” Problem solved.

Later, Jack Wallace was advisor to my daughter Lynn, who was in her second year at Case.

The Caldwell Farm, now the location of Lake Mohawk, was sold in 1962 for $50,000. By the end of this period, in addition to the non-clay refractories, we had acquired enough business in an assortment of clay products, both structural and refractory, to operate both Waynesburg and Magnolia factories above a break-even level.

Bob Hobbler replaced Steve Haw in selling refractory products. Grace and Vernon Hosteler came to WG and for many years, did the bookkeeping and accounting.

John Dagenhard was pitching for the National League Boston Braves under Casey Stengel before Dagenhard’s career ended with World War II. John was called up from Hartford with a first baseman named Etchingham for the last month of the season. Casey tells Etchingham to pinch hit and hit to the left. Dagenhard said, “Casey, I have played with him all year and he can’t hit left.” Etching ham lines a hit to left. Casey said, “Hey Dagie, what’s wrong with you, you played with the man all year and don’t know what he can do.”

John Dagenhard, son of longtime mine boss Joe Dagenhard, gave up a promising major league baseball career to work at the plant during the war. John would become an important member of the company for the next 20 years, becoming Waynesburg plant superintendent and eventually succeeding Ed Stedman as sales manager to the steel industry after Ed retired.

Chuck Hatfield was plant manager at Magnolia and later Alliance. He was a great high school basketball player, leading the Waynesburg Mohawks to the semifinals of the state tournament. Chuck became famous in Ripley’s Believe It or Not by bing the winning pitcher in a 30-inning double no-hit softball game.

John’s Story Continues:

Bill DeLuca replaced Steve as plant manager at Waynesburg and Madison. Visiting Madison one day, we were typically short of employees. I had notices many migrant worker camps in Lake County and went to one in search of employees. A very professional personnel manager talked with us, saying, “Let me think this through, look over the records and find you some people who may work out. If they do, it would be an opportunity for them. Come back tomorrow.” We came back the next day and hired about six people.

Later, we moved the Madison operation back to Waynesburg. Interestingly, three of the Puerto Rican nationals hired in Madison moved to Waynesburg when the operation moved, married, had families and did fine work for us until the plant closed. One of these men, during a strike at Waynesburg, asked if he could continue making his hot tops every day. We said we wouldn’t recommend it, but it was OK with us. Every day during the strike, this fellow walked through the picket line, made his daily quota of hot tops, and walked back home through the picket lines. Unbelievable!

Bill DeLuca worked tirelessly to consolidate operations, improve quality and reduce costs. Bill’s work was an encouragement to me. Mike Longo supervised the non-clay production and impressed me personally by showing every new hire how to do the job assigned. He was the only supervisor I observed that could personally do every job and trained his people by example.