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Kalamazoo

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The name Kalamazoo always fascinated me, and its strange that the business has not had more mention on the Forum. The influence of the brand name has endured even to the present day. For a little of the history see the Australian branch...

https://www.kalamazoo.com.au/history/

From 1994...”the project (paperless offices) did quite well at first. Why? Well, I think it was because we had been around for so long and our name was so memorable that we had got ourselves a tranche of unswervingly loyal customers. As long as we didn't do anything too obviously silly, they would buy whatever we made....”

https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/uk-kalamazoo-papers-cracks/article/409500#PBPSlyH2GIiktEfr.99

But where did the term “metal signals” come from?
 
Remember being i:):)nterviewed by this place, probably in about 1978 when computers started to spring up in houses. They sold office ledgers, book keeping stuff etc. I remember asking, " what's going to happen when all the stuff you sell is made obsolete by computers" I asked in somewhat more polite way than this stark statement but I am sure they got the drift of my question.

A web search reveals that Kalamazoo has changed its name and is now an IT support company.
 
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Around 1966 I enjoyed a training for Sales Manager on behalve of a Dutch company for about 3 month, divided between Birmingham and New Castle. Great time!
 
Looking for Lorrain worked at Kalamazoo mid-70s. don't know her surname but her dad was from Somalia.
 
matelot said:
Have a Cousin Anne or Ann Fry she worked at Kalamazoo in the 1970/1980 she married Ian who also worked at kalamazoo alas do not no surname, anyone know of her as we lost touch so long ago, not a falling out but a drift .
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Yes I know of her, I have been married to her since 1973 !! We still live in Northfield and both have many wonderful memories of Kalamazoo.
 
Ian_Ca said:
Yes I know of her, I have been married to her since 1973 !! We still live in Northfield and both have many wonderful memories of Kalamazoo.
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Wow, I think that's lucky I think the last time we met was at your wedding and so long ago, would love to catch up and if wanted, we could fill in the gaps, thoughts? x
 
matelot said:
Wow, I think that's lucky I think the last time we met was at your wedding and so long ago, would love to catch up and if wanted, we could fill in the gaps, thoughts? x
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Just realised name may help that's Paul Court ( the Butcher that knew Rose )
 
Back in the late 60's we use to go up on the roofs of the parking garage there just because, to hang out the road dead ended then a walk path lead into a huge strip of vacant land that run along the river Rea and railroad tracks all the way to Tessall, lane, the land is all built up now but when we were kids spent many a day down there
 
Hi all, hope ur well.
Posting on behalf of parents Steve & sue weetman ( maiden name sylvester) worked in the printing department for 30years from the 1960s if anyone remembers them please say hi
 
Hi Richard, hopefully someone remembers your parents. Meanwhile if you have any memories that your parents have passed on to you about working at Kalamazoo please record them here. This is a great place to record those memories and I know others will be interested.

Viv.
 
Hi,

I remember using a Kalamazoo Wages system at R. Whites in the early 70s.
It consisted of a large board with pegs along the top, and a 'skirt' of payslips
used with a journal sheet. I'm sure it had other features like cash analysis for
the pay packets and for bringing forward the individual employees' totals for
the year, but the details now escape me. I do remember it seemed to work
very well, and of course, it was all hand written.

Kind regards
Dave
 
The Kalamazoo wages method 1945. Viv.
 

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Another Kalamazoo marriage here :)

Both of my parents worked at Kalamazoo, they met there and then got married.

My father was Packing Manager if I remember correctly, my mother was a company nurse. I still have my father's 50 year service watch from Kalamazoo.

Malcolm Horton and Heather Horton. My father passed away about 6 years ago, mother still going strong. Oddly enough, only a couple of months ago I went to the funeral of another Kalamazoo ex employee who was really good friends with my father.

I went there once for a family open day when I was a kid, and again for his retirement party. It was so strange seeing where my father worked as you didn't do that sort of thing back then.

I remember lots of my father's memories of the place. I remember there was a guy who used to put things on his desk in a precise order every day, and they used to move them to annoy him. I also remember hearing about a guy who dressed as a woman (each to their own), but this was quite the story back then.

My father kept in touch with a few of them until he died.

Great memories to recall, and lovely to have somewhere to share them.
 
I was a salesman for Kalamazoo in the early 1970's - London North 'A' branch. I have excellent memories of all the manual business systems we sold - Wages, Indexing, Accounting, Analysis, Minute Books, Personnel Records, Stock Control, and many more. Some were based on 3-in-1 writing systems - the 'pegboard; detailed in a previous post - some on visible edge card systems, others on strip-index. The Kalamazoo name originated from them having the early rights to sell a 'thong' binder called the Kalamazoo binder - named after the home town of the US company that made it (Reynolds & Reynolds I believe their name was). I've found this forum while researching for a book I'm trying to write - I'll let you know if it ever happens.
 
Pedlarjak said:
'thong' binder called the Kalamazoo binder - named after the home town of the US company that made it (Reynolds & Reynolds I believe their name was)
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Hi Pedlarjak,

That brings back memories of working at the Westminster Bank in the early 60s.

Our handwritten ledgers used those thong binders, and the thongs were I think
like webbing about an inch wide with the mechanism that tightened them in
the front cover. You loosened/tightened the front cover for adding/removing
sheets with a little silver crank handle rather like some old clock keys, which you
inserted into the edge of the thick black moulded cover.

Happy days - not!!

Kind regards
Dave
 
Thank for the reminder - we had those at Birmingham City Transport Accounts Office too in the 1950s.

Maurice :cool:
 
I worked at Beeches Management Centre in the late 90's after Kalamazoo aquired it from Cadburys. At that time they were mainly concentrating on software packages for the motor trade and used Beeches for training and residential for their regional sales people.
 
Hort6030 said:
Another Kalamazoo marriage here :)

Both of my parents worked at Kalamazoo, they met there and then got married.

My father was Packing Manager if I remember correctly, my mother was a company nurse. I still have my father's 50 year service watch from Kalamazoo.

Malcolm Horton and Heather Horton. My father passed away about 6 years ago, mother still going strong. Oddly enough, only a couple of months ago I went to the funeral of another Kalamazoo ex employee who was really good friends with my father.

I went there once for a family open day when I was a kid, and again for his retirement party. It was so strange seeing where my father worked as you didn't do that sort of thing back then.

I remember lots of my father's memories of the place. I remember there was a guy who used to put things on his desk in a precise order every day, and they used to move them to annoy him. I also remember hearing about a guy who dressed as a woman (each to their own), but this was quite the story back then.

My father kept in touch with a few of them until he died.

Great memories to recall, and lovely to have somewhere to share them.
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I met my wife in the 72 building in 1976, I worked at Kalamazoo until 1986, happy days.
 
THese May bring back memories for those who worked at Kalamazoo. These are dated 1973. Viv.
 

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Vivienne14 said:
THese May bring back memories for those who worked at Kalamazoo. These are dated 1973. Viv.
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This Kalamazoo thread is interesting Viv, as my parents both worked there. Mom, Freda Taylor of Selly Oak worked in accounts before W.W.2. and met my Dad, Frederick Neale who was an electrician. They were both much into sports and the Kalamazoo teams. Dad was a keen footballer then later a cricketer playing for the first KCC team. Before the war they bought the house at Rednal where they lived until Dad died. Through the war Dad was in a reserved occupation and was working in Halesowen and Mom left the company to have my brother Keith. Dad returned to Kalamazoo in 1945 and worked his way through the ranks to become the main electrical engineer under Jack Trigg and retired in 1972. For all his years at Kalamazoo he was on call and I remember as a lad going to the factory with him on many occasions day and night, fascinated with the machinery, and meeting some of his friends, Les Ecclestone, one I remember. He also did electrical work at the Directors homes, Tom Moreland I think lived near Barnt Green and his wife fed me whilst Dad did the jobs. I remember the Company as a family, many employees friends through the sports or other company activities and whenever I visited with Dad they always made me welcome. Happy Days.
 
Hi I was just reading this thread! Does anyone on here remember a women called hilda harten that worked there!? She was my nan and she always mentioned it when I was a kid! And she also mentioned that my grandad done a single (music track) and they used to play it from time to time on the factory floor, I would love to try and find out more!
Thanks lee
 
I included a chapter about working as a salesman for Kalamazoo in the mid 1970's in my memoire, "An Accidental Salesman: Stories from 40 years in International IT Sales" available as a paperback or e-book on Amazon
 

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Hi All,
My dad, Derek Toddington, worked at Kalamazoo between ~1960 - ~1985. He made it to the dizzying heights of Print room manager. He was made redundant just before he reached the 25 year "golden handshake" threshold, which seems like a low blow, but I don't know the full details. Then they found out he'd been doing a lot of the printer maintenance, saving them money. A few months later they offered him a job back in the print room at a lower grade, which he refused.

Apparently, so my dad said at the time, Kalamazoo tried to get into the marketplace for building computers and then found that they couldn't compete with the likes of IBM and HP. Cost savings needed to be made.

He went on to be a Driving Instructor, excelling in that role, working long rewarding hours, had an impressive pass rate and his reputation earned lots of referrals. He was "Shakespeare school of motoring", but that's the start of another thread.

He passed peacefully away on 3rd April 2021 in Weston-super-Mare.
The funeral service is to take place on Thursday 22nd April 2021
Please contact Groves funeral directors 01934 525042 if you wish to pay your respects.
 
James Toddington said:
Hi All,
My dad, Derek Toddington, worked at Kalamazoo between ~1960 - ~1985. He made it to the dizzying heights of Print room manager. He was made redundant just before he reached the 25 year "golden handshake" threshold, which seems like a low blow, but I don't know the full details. Then they found out he'd been doing a lot of the printer maintenance, saving them money. A few months later they offered him a job back in the print room at a lower grade, which he refused.

Apparently, so my dad said at the time, Kalamazoo tried to get into the marketplace for building computers and then found that they couldn't compete with the likes of IBM and HP. Cost savings needed to be made.

He went on to be a Driving Instructor, excelling in that role, working long rewarding hours, had an impressive pass rate and his reputation earned lots of referrals. He was "Shakespeare school of motoring", but that's the start of another thread.

He passed peacefully away on 3rd April 2021 in Weston-super-Mare.
The funeral service is to take place on Thursday 22nd April 2021
Please contact Groves funeral directors 01934 525042 if you wish to pay your respects.
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James, welcome to The Forum!

Unfortunately, the part of you story about your dad being made redundant Is typical in many places! The good news is that it came to a good ending, although I am sure a little emotional at the tIme!
 
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