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Kalamazoo

  • Thread starter Thread starter reallyyouthful
  • Start date Start date
Worked for Kalamazoo in the mid eighties installing and supporting computer systems for the motor trade.
 
During school holidays in the 1950's I used to sometimes go with dad on his British rail parcels delivery round, his round included the Longbridge area and we often called in at Kalamazoo. I used to go in with him and seeing a small kid they used to give me a big pile of printed paper to take home to draw on the blank side.
 
Not exactly about Kalamazoo but the recollections here stir memories of that strip of waste ground that ran alongside the River Rea and the railway track from the rear of the Kalamazoo site to the bridge on Tessall Lane (Just about where Longbridge station now is). The River was certainly never anything to write home about in the fifties but it featured heavily in the lives of a many a hot blooded Longbridge Lad. We may have discovered it train spotting (did we really do that still in our teens back then?) but we soon sussed out there were plenty of secluded spots for a little dalliance with the fairer sex.
 
taylor said:
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.
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Hi,
Your dad must of known dad, he worked as an electrician from leaving school until the early 90’s maybe.

John Swadling

I remember the snooker tables lol
 
Hi all,
My mother and father also met here. John William Swadling and Jacqueline Jeffries now Swadling
Both in the table tennis club I believe, my dad used to take me to play snooker sometimes in his Metro.
Sadly my dad died of Mesothelioma cancer a few years ago due to exposure to asbestos on site, guess they never knew had bad that stuff was back in 50’s 60’s
It would be great if anyone remembers my parents…. I know a few came to his funeral from the Kala which was very touching and heart warming

RIP DAD X
 
Unrelated to the thread topic...in the 60's I worked on a project in South Bend, Indiana, USA. I would drive the 500+ miles from my home in Toronto about once a month. My journey would take me through Kalamazoo, Michigan and like most English folks at the time, I was fascinated with most things American. The Glenn Miller classic, I've got a gal in Kalamazoo, was no exception. I had this vision of what I imagined Kalamazoo would look like. To say I was deeply disappointed and disillusioned, would be grossly understated.
Dave A
 
Hi All,

I worked at (and still work for Kalamazoo - name changed to AdareSEC - we trade as KalamazooDirect online and as Kalamazoo oversea.). 1979 to present day.

A few myths to correct:
Kalamazoo was a British company NOT American in the least. The name comes from Kalamazoo, Michigan. It's a native American word for where two rivers meet and translates as 'bubbling water'. The Quaker founders went there to look at a new book-binding system and chose that name for the company.

The Australian branch was where many a young printer went to work after their 5 year City & Guilds apprenticeship.

Leonard Wicks - Lithographic artist.
I did not know Leonard but I trained in the same role. It is not the same as being a Litho printer (I was a Lithographic printer for 13 years). Back in the day Leonard would have created logos and crests for company stationery using Indian ink, painted directly onto light-sensitive paper. This was then exposed directly to the printing plate (made from aluminium) under intense light.

Location
The site was split into two parts - The main office (called '72 Building') which you can see from Bristol Road and the Printing Factory behind and to the right of the main building. 72 Building originally house our office workers but transitioned to computer manufacturing in the '80s. This part of the company was bought by Reynolds (trade as Kalamazoo Reynolds).

"Wasn't there a Kalamazoo in Ward End somewhere?"
We bought the brand Kall-Kwik (high street printers) but we lost trade to Proto-Print.

Malcolm Horton and Heather Horton
I knew them both. I didn't have much to do with Malcolm, but I did visit Nurse Horton quite a few times as I kept getting my fingers caught between the printing press rollers!

Bob Preston
Didn't Bob have a Rolls Royce and perform as a chauffeur at weddings on the weekend?

John Swadling
"Swaddy" - What a great bloke. He worked with the electricians and engineers - a feared lot who survived on Tea and Fags. If ever you were sent to their department, you knew that you would be in for a bit of micky-taking!

I'm now the only one left in what is referred to as 'The Studio' or 'Pre-Press'. I started in a team of 27, but advances in technology mean that it only takes one person to do all of those previous roles. We are located in Redditch. The Northfield site was sold to make way for the housing estate.

I will post a few pics - see if you recognise anyone!
 
DaveA said:
I understand the firm was started to produce an office system that had been seen in Kalamazoo, USA. Hence the company name. The Moreland's started the company. My grandfather was Ray Newman who had been batman to Tommy Moreland during WW1 and was subsequently given a job as a lithographic printer. He later became "Father of the Chapel " and was a knocker - upper until he retired in the 60's. My father, Kenny Arthur, was also a lithographic printer there until he retired 1989. I also worked there as a student in the 70's during my vacation. I seem to remember the workforce had 51% of the shares which was allocated based upon service.
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Kenny Arthur trained me on the big sheet-fed press - The Double Demy - A lovely bloke, always wore a tie and a cardigan.
Here he is having a sly lunchtime pint!
 

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DaveA said:
I understand the firm was started to produce an office system that had been seen in Kalamazoo, USA. Hence the company name. The Moreland's started the company. My grandfather was Ray Newman who had been batman to Tommy Moreland during WW1 and was subsequently given a job as a lithographic printer. He later became "Father of the Chapel " and was a knocker - upper until he retired in the 60's. My father, Kenny Arthur, was also a lithographic printer there until he retired 1989. I also worked there as a student in the 70's during my vacation. I seem to remember the workforce had 51% of the shares which was allocated based upon service.
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This is a Double-Demy printing press behind these three printers. Your dad's press was to the left of this one.
 

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A few of the ladies from the Kalamazoo Factory
 

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DLM1962 said:
This is a Double-Demy printing press behind these three printers. Your dad's press was to the left of this one.
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And here he is at his press with the foreman (Wilf Hinton) to the left
 

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On Strike! Official picket line - early 80's
 

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Rodd Dunn's 60th Birthday Poster - celebrating many years of Binder-making
 

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The Kalamazoo News Magazine
 

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I remember going to Kalamazoo in probably 1972/3 to learn how to use an Optical Font Machine,which I would be using in the accounts department at a car dealership in the city centre.
 
I worked at Kalamazoo in the 70's on the motor trade systems and then the general accounting system.
 
Forward said:
tali,

I worked in PC repair, printer engineer/team leader in the 90's. Manager was Gurdev (spelt?). If your sister was Zab(?) worked on PC's) say hello from me.

Ray
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Worked in this department 1993-1995. Gurdeep Patel, Zab Bashir (tiny mighty power house driving a crazy red car - scared me half to death many a time), Michael (Mikey) Couch, Stuart Brindley, Ed Gough, etc. Good times!
 
Kalamazoo and the 72 building are still there, although the company was bought in around 2002 by UCS then merged with Reynolds and Reynolds in around 2008.
Now doing software for car dealerships, they did have many 40+ years service staff still working there recently.
The conference room had loads of old Kalamazoo News and there was a box that had really old photos in it.
There was an IT company that got sold off in 2017/18 that moved to Oldbury after being sold and they resurrected the Kalamazoo name and took a claim on the history! :-)
 
DLM1962 said:
Malcolm Horton and Heather Horton
I knew them both. I didn't have much to do with Malcolm, but I did visit Nurse Horton quite a few times as I kept getting my fingers caught between the printing press rollers!
Click to expand...

Heather and Malcolm are my parents. Unfortunately my dad died around 9 years ago, but my mother is still going strong.
 
I do have a few 2nd hand memories of Kalamazoo. My father (Malcolm Horton) was good friends with a guy called "Barry", not sure of his surname. He was also friends with Trevor Florence. My father also used to talk about a cross dressing person (not sure what the appropriate term is nowadays) and also a guy who was particularly anal about his desk - he used to put his things out on the desk perfectly every morning. I still have my fathers watch that he got when he retired from Kalamazoo too.
 
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