Photo: Montgomery Ward CEO arrested by Troops in WW2

[sixmile]

I absolutely love this picture shown by Michael Moore on Bill Maher last night. It shows Montgomery Ward President Sewell Avery being carried out of his office by troops in December, 1944.



Some background:

During the war, the well-known retailer and manufacturer Montgomery Ward had supplied the Allies with everything from tractors to auto parts to workmen's clothing--items deemed as important to the war effort as bullets and ships. However, Montgomery Ward Chairman Sewell Avery refused to comply with the terms of three different collective bargaining agreements with the United Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union hammered out between 1943 and 1944. In April 1944, after Sewell refused a second board order, Roosevelt called out the Army National Guard to seize the company's main plant in Chicago. Sewell himself had to be carried out of his office by National Guard troops. By December of that year, Roosevelt was fed up with Sewell's obstinacy and disrespect for the government's authority. (The uber-capitalist Sewell's favorite insult was to call someone a "New Dealer"--a direct reference to Roosevelt's Depression-era policies.) On December 27, Roosevelt ordered the secretary of war to seize Montgomery Ward's plants and facilities in New York, Michigan, California, Illinois, Colorado and Oregon.

I also loved Moore's comment that (paraphrasing) this is what a real Democratic president does to corporate criminals.

[ananda]

1. Whoa baby!

Fantastic.

[Marr]

2. No wonder they still despise FDR so much.

He actually kicked them in the teeth when they asked for it.

[blondeatlast]

3. FANTASTIC! Love it, LOVE it! nt

[MannyGoldstein]

4. I think Obama would do the same?

Don't you?

[sixmile]

5. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Repeat ad infitinum.

[Marr]

7. lol- Obama would push to make the bastard's actions legal retroactively, then

give him a nice fat tax cut and apologize for the inconvenience.

[peace frog]

33. I would love to be able to soundly refute that statement

but no can do. Right on the money.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. LOL

[Faygo Kid]

10. That horse left the gate a long time ago.

His appointments to the Catfood Commission, and its inevitable tilt to the filthy rich, were the last straw for me.

[sixmile]

12. Oh, but he plays basketball and eats cheeseburgers

and goes on the view and the Daily Show and...

[Poll_Blind]

37. Not in a million years, unfortunately...

PB

[Dyler Turden]

6. Ah, the 'good old days.'

I'd love to see some of the banksters today treated in such a fashion.

[asdjrocky]

9. It would never happen today.

Today, it would be the other way around.

[ibegurpard]

11. saw that...that was a good exchange

[leftstreet]

13. Imagine a union once having that much power

That the RWDSU once had that much influence is the real story here

K&R

[madamesilverspurs]

14. That's a picture I'd love to see

of Alito. Or Roberts. Or Thomas. Or Scalia.

[petronius]

44. Except that after the picture Avery was set down on his own feet and hopped

into his limo. I'd rather see a different outcome for the folks you mention... :)

[Blue_Tires]

15. wow...i never even knew about this incident

kick

[JVS]

16. he could do with some tazing for resisting arrest

[Starry Messenger]

17. k&r

[PufPuf23]

18. Thank you for this FDR story. nt

[sixmile]

19. You're welcome

But this is an AMERICAN story (featuring FDR).
:)

[fishwax]

20. k/r!

:kick:

[madrchsod]

21. my dad worked part time for monkey wards during that time..

yup...fdr was a real democrat

[Hannah Bell]

22. sewell descended from 3 generations of lumber money, maine & michigan,

on both sides of his family, avery & eddy.

liberty league.

[sixmile]

23. Environmental rapists, in other words

Behind every great fortune lies a great crime. All wealth derives from raping and pillaging of something or someone.

[Hannah Bell]

24. pretty much. here's his daddy:

http://books.google.com/books?id=DRXiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1280&lpg=PA1280&dq=avery+lumber+maine&source=bl&ots=aq-Cemy6iw&sig=7CYMZiSTEHnLKyOY8jHgRQ6dhiI&hl=en&ei=0-XeTKTINpPEsAPNybSzCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDEQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=avery%20lumber%20maine&f=false

"Seldom has the passing of an individual severed more business ties and more extensive associations with men of affairs than therecent death of waldo a avery, who died at his home in grosse pointe farms may 9, 1914. He was regarded as one of Detroit's millionaires, and the chief source of his wealth has been the lumber interests of michigan, but for many years his name was also associated with banking, manufacturing, real estate ownership and the social life of his city..."

http://books.google.com/books?id=MWckd3IAPqQC&pg=PA14&dq=%22waldo+avery%22&hl=en&ei=lOfeTMbkOoP2tgOCh_SHCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22waldo%20avery%22&f=false

Here's the company daddy founded with his lumber money: #460 on the Fortune 500:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USG_Corporation

[sixmile]

25. He owned the Majestic Theater!

The birthplace of techno!
I'm sure he is turning in his grave. Thanks for that.

[Initech]

26. Why cant we start arresting some of these fucking CEOs now?

Especially the ones that run the banks, Enron, Halliburton, Adelphia, you name it - they're all fucking crooks, and they should all be in jail.

[Little Star]

27. Wow! That pic is priceless, love it! k&r

[AlbertCat]

35. That pic is priceless,

Yes...

and y'know what Repugs and Teabaggers see?


"Look at his stern determination as he is persecuted by the Feds! What a true patriot Mr Sewell was! NO COMPROMISE!"


:eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[WillyT]

28. Now THAT... Is The Way It's Done !!! - K & R !!!

:applause::applause::applause:

:patriot:

:kick:

[jmowreader]

29. The interesting part of the article was what you didn't see

The secretary of war seized Montgomery Ward's PLANTS and facilities.

Back then, Montgomery Ward (and probably Sears, Roebuck) made their own products, which were high quality goods so as to cement in the minds of the American shopper that goods purchased at those stores could be trusted, in their own factories. Imagine Walmart doing that today!

Oh yes: Montgomery Ward was responsible for Santa's sleigh being pulled by nine reindeer: an advertising man employed by Ward's invented Rudolph.

[Chan790]

31. Sears Holdings still does on certain product lines.

Weatherbeater Paint
Kenmore Appliances
Craftsman Tools

These are all in-store brand-names fully-owned and produced by SHC subsidiaries (previously Sears, Roebuck and Company) for sale in Sears stores. The first two are so popular and recognized for quality that SHC now generates secondary sources of income by producing and licensing them for sale by competitors.

On other lines, mostly in clothing, SHC has made a consistent effort over the past 10 years to acquire ownership of "quality labels" (produced by others) including

Land's End
Arizona Jeans Company
Structure
(some clothing label they co-founded with LL Cool J that I forget the name of.)

This is what I learned for much of the first two days of training for the worst job I've ever had.

[Brother Buzz]

Craftsman hand tools were made in Japan in the early eighties

I understand they moved production back to United States after, I suspect, their sales numbers plummeted.

Good luck finding a Craftsman power tool made in the United States.

[jmowreader]

46. No on your list of "Sears Holdings" made items

Sherwin Williams makes all Sears paint. (Now, here's a little secret: Sears sells a paint called Weatherbeater Ultra. It contains polyurethane, which makes it very durable. Sherwin-Williams also makes a PUR-containing paint which they sell under their own brand...but according to the Sears contract, the paint Sears gets contains more PUR than the paint they sell themselves. This paint's the shit, folks.)

Kenmore Appliances are made by the manufacturer that gives them the best mixture of quality, features and price. With very few exceptions--water heaters are very close to the top of the list, but most water heaters are OEM not manufactured by whoever's name is on them--if you buy a Kenmore appliance it's going to be a Whirlpool.

Sears' tools come from various sources. Their mechanics tools are currently made by an outfit called Danaher, whose primary product line is called Matco. (Matco is one of those outfits like Snap-On that sells mostly to mechanics out of bread trucks.) Danaher belongs to Stanley now. The Craftsman tools used to be made by Stanley itself. Also, the "Husky" tools Home Depot sells are Stanley. So...if you buy half-inch wrenches from Stanley, Matco, Craftsman and Husky, you bought four wrenches that came off the exact same set of dies. The Craftsman power tools are, almost without exception, Ryobi. They've got one router that bears a very strong resemblance to a Porter-Cable 690 and one that looks a LOT like a PC890, but since Sears quit selling the Porter-Cable line there's no way to prove conclusively that the two machines are the same.

This is a complete list of who made what when for Sears...as you'll see, it's kind of a 'who's who' of the world's industrial output.

http://www.owwm.com/Craftsman/manufacturers.aspx?sort=2

[hulka38]

30. Mr. Avery looked like a real people person.

[LawnKorn]

32. I wish the Government had the gumption to do this to Cheney for his Halliburton deals

[Enthusiast]

34. K&R! nt

[girl_interrupted]

36. K&R FDR: "I Welcome Their Hate."

FDR: "I Welcome Their Hate."
http://vodpod.com/watch/1406318-fdr-i-welcome-their-hate-

[TwentyFive]

38. Sewell Avery looks like he hasn't had a bowel movement for a week.

That is one mean looking puss...

[rasputin1952]

40. I don't know, looks like he a pantload there, or else it's the

crappy cut of a MW suit...;)

[indimuse]

39. YES!

that's how it's done!

[rasputin1952]

41. People all over the planet were dying and being churned up in

was machine, and all this bastard could think of was his wallet. Same thing happens today...people making monumental amounts of cash of the death and misery of others.

Reprehensible.

[senseandsensibility]

42. But wasn't FDR scared that he'd be accused of

not compromising?

[Orsino]

43. Nowadays, of course...

...corporate heads use the military to bully politicians into compliance.

[senseandsensibility]

45. kick for the afternoon crowd

eom