Does Mike Huckabee............!

[HDBRbuilder]

 

PWK was much more conservative than most everyone in the office at the time I speak of. I could go on about specifics, but that might just involve names and dates. As too the locals in Hope, they would have considered him a liberal and also a radical for bringing in all those hippies to work for him. All things are relative.

 

I agree.

 

I think we are talking about 1963/1964, right?  I get the impression that he was certainly more conservative (in most ways) that JFK, LBJ, RFK, etc., but not more conservative than Barry Goldwater or Bill Buckley.   A lot depends on the definitions of conservative and liberal we are talking about.  One can certainly harbor threads of each.  He brought in "all those hippies," and (at least later) some African Americans, which probably also caused a stir among the locals in Hope, described by Rolling Stone (in the early '70s) as "a tank town of the first water."  I doubt if anyone with the vocabularly of PWK, the special yellow button, and a penchant for leaving church by walking over the backs of the pews would be all that welcome at gatherings of cultural conservatives in 1964.  When he was passing through the Bay Area, he used to like to drop in at Berkeley Custom Electronics when John Curl worked there.  He couldn't help but notice the "Ban the Whirly Pigs" sign in the window, yet he seened to have a good time.

 

 

Valerie Klipsch taught Bill in Hot Springs??

 

If so, it would be before she and PWK married.  Somebody with a copy of the book could look it up, but I believe it was around 1970.  I know my vicar in Magnolia was Rector at Hope, and was a young man.  He performed the ceremony.  He was on the Forum for a long time, but left early in the 2000s.  The Drs R, I think or something like that. 

Dave

 

 

I remember him, I think.  He was Episcopal, right?  PWK left the church he used to attend when he found out they believed in predestination and went to the Episcopal, "because they had the best organ."

 

Sure see lots of CONJECTURE in this particular "pile of rubble".  Here are some FACTS for you, from a few weeks before I started working at Klipsch in July 1976, until just a few years ago, the FIRST long-time black employee at Klipsch was Robert Wyatt, known to many as "Bois d'arc" which is the name of a local lake and the "Handle" he used when the CB radio craze was the thing way back when.  Bois d'Arc spent the last decade or so before he retired from Klipsch as the shipping foreman.  Do you know WHY Robert remained the only black at the company for so long?  Ask him and he will tell you the reason is because he APPLIED FOR A JOB THERE, came to work on time, worked all day, and did quality work!  He will also tell you that everybody who filled out an application had the same shot at a job there, if they REALLY wanted one!  As for the "hippies he brought in", they were all locals who worked at the plant, and even many of the sales personnel were originally from that area.  PWK never gave a rat's azz about anybody's color or anything else about them that would make them anything less than a human being in other people's eyes.  He was TOTALLY non-prejudicial towards others.  All he cared about was having personnel who were committed to building a quality product..PERIOD!  And if he noticed you had lasted awhile, he automatically assumed that was because you were quality-conscious...and he would make it a point to remember you BY FIRST NAME, but he would always address you with RESPECT by using Mr, Mrs., or Miss and your last name, unless he was having a personal conversation with you out of earshot of others...whereupon he would use your first name.  The plant personnel ALWAYS had the utmost respect approaching the realm of love for that man!...for a NUMBER of reasons, but built upon a base of mutual respect.  We were a DIVERSE bunch of employees...and everybody had their own interests and hobbies but we worked damned well together, especially when considering that we were such an eclectic mix of personalities with differing backgrounds.  Some were hippie types, but had to be hard workers, some were rednecks, and some were "artsy-fartsy" types, single parents, you name it...but we all did what it took to make things happen that needed to happen, because our livelihood depended upon it.  PWK insisted we had a GOOD INSURANCE plan at no cost to us, and there was also a quarterly employee profit-sharing bonus plan (that eventually was taken away, NOT the doing of PWK, though!!) which for many years would actually almost reach, or more-then double, an employee"s hourly rate income for that quarter.  Not only that, but consideration was given for continuing education of the employees in differing ways depending upon the circumstances.  PWK was the driving force behind taking good care of the employees even though he was not the hiring authority for the seven years that I worked there.  Although the hourly pay rate was not considered outstanding, everything else about working there made it a prime job opportunity target, and when you told people you worked there they were glad for you, because they all knew it was a good place to work.  In all the years that I lived in the area, whether while working there or not, I never once heard anything about PWK other than the occasional worst being something like "he is quite a character!"  By and large the people for miles around all thought the world of PWK or at least never had anything truly negative to say on the subject...and most could come up with some funny story about something he did or that they had heard he had done...which was told with respect for the man he was!  I went to high school in Prescott, lived just outside of Prescott and spent over half my life in Prescott, Hope, and Emmet, and heard the same kind of comments about PWK that one would hear about somebody's own favorite uncle in some kind of story...that is how he was seen by the people among whom he lived.  And, in all honesty, that is most likely the reason he decided to stay in the area after WWII...and start his loudspeaker business in a place where he felt at home and comfortable, surrounded by hard-working, quality-minded neighborly folks!  PWK, like my own father...and so many others in that area...lived by this rule:  "Everybody is colored, or you wouldn't be able to see them"...which is a good way to look at the world, IMHO!  And the word "color" can mean more than the color of skin...it can be applied to the colorful blend of characters found in an area.  Sorry about the rant!

Edited May 15, 2015 by HDBRbuilder

[Mallette]

OK, Andy.

 

Not sure why the rant...I think the posts above were pretty much in line with what you said.  The red lined stuff is, IMHO, highly complimentary and in line with the faith he practiced as well as everything I ever heard about him.

 

One look at him in the big foam cowboy hat and one should be able to figure out a lot about him. 

 

He handed me a BS button on my way out and said "Go forth and preach the gospel."  I said "Yes, sir."

 

Still doing it.

 

Dave

[HDBRbuilder]

Nothing pointed at anybody, Mallette...it just seems that too many folks think that things in the south are something other than what they really are, or really WERE! I guess the re-writing of history currently under way is part of the cause, but Hope, Arkansas and Selma, Alabama are much farther apart than revisionist history wants to show them to be. As for "hippie types" most people my age who once had long hair (or still do!) were raised up in a redneck environment before their hair grew out. But that "redneck" environment was not necessarily one with a racial slant to it....more of a "good ole boy" thing, than a redneck thing. "Bubba" can come in all colors, hair lengths and sizes, ya'know?

[Travis In Austin]

I think to understand where Mr. Klipsch stood in terms of issues someone would need to understand who Rockefeller ran against, what his opponent stood for, and why Mr. Klipsch identified with Rockefeller. Rockefeller was the first R governor since reconstruction, and there is a good reason for that embedded in history.

Mr. Klipsch was a maverick, willing to pick the important issues that ran with his understanding of his core spirituality. He was willing to stand with an issue important to him. He was certainly very much aligned with LBJ on the issues of the day, or rather THE issue of the day.

It is historical, and it proves yet again, Mr. Klipsch was way ahead of his time.

Travis

[Travis In Austin]

Nothing pointed at anybody, Mallette...it just seems that too many folks think that things in the south are something other than what they really are, or really WERE! I guess the re-writing of history currently under way is part of the cause, but Hope, Arkansas and Selma, Alabama are much farther apart than revisionist history wants to show them to be. As for "hippie types" most people my age who once had long hair (or still do!) were raised up in a redneck environment before their hair grew out. But that "redneck" environment was not necessarily one with a racial slant to it....more of a "good ole boy" thing, than a redneck thing. "Bubba" can come in all colors, hair lengths and sizes, ya'know?

Oh they really were that way in '64 and '66 when Mr. Klipsch was supporting Rockefeller. It is a historical fact what his opponent stood for, and where Winthrop stood. It was 80/20 D to R when Rockefeller won as a R candidate, and the reason is he stood for change, and Mr. Klipsch stood with him.

They may have changed in Hope by the time you got there in '76 but only because of the changes from '66. There is no revisionist history at what was at stake in '66, it is all there pretty much, literally, in black and white.

Mr. Klipsch was making the stand you speak of in terms of the way he viewed people back in '66.

Edited May 16, 2015 by dwilawyer

[Travis In Austin]

Don't want to diminish the great memory of Mr. Klipsch, but if people are interested in history they need to only look up "the Little Rock nine" and the history of the 101st Airborne Division.

That governor beat Rockefeller the first time in '64, and someone with his same views ran and lost against him in '66. Things really had changed in those ten years, and they changed even more dramatically after '66.

Edited May 16, 2015 by dwilawyer

[Mallette]

Andy, maybe you've forgotten I was raised in Texarkana.  Much closer to Hope than Selma.  I know precisely what you mean. 

 

No way I'd ever compare my intellect to PWK, but we do share one thing...a view of the world that is almost totally incompatible with almost everybody who is either right, left, center...or whatever.  I make my position on everything item at a time. 

 

I got that when I met him even though I didn't fully realize it about myself until later.  I'd like to think exposure to him helped.  Fact is that exposure to an extraordinary mind of his level is sort of like being exposed to a radiation core.  Short time, big dose and major effects.

 

Dave

[garyrc]

Nothing pointed at anybody, Mallette...it just seems that too many folks think that things in the south are something other than what they really are, or really WERE! I guess the re-writing of history currently under way is part of the cause, but Hope, Arkansas and Selma, Alabama are much farther apart than revisionist history wants to show them to be. As for "hippie types" most people my age who once had long hair (or still do!) were raised up in a redneck environment before their hair grew out. But that "redneck" environment was not necessarily one with a racial slant to it....more of a "good ole boy" thing, than a redneck thing. "Bubba" can come in all colors, hair lengths and sizes, ya'know?

 

Thanks for the Klipsch history.  It must have been gratifying working there!  PWK is to be commended for profit sharing bonuses and the insurance provided.

 

I understand that Hope and Selma were far apart in the '60s.  How would you say Hope has changed in recent decades?

 

Where I grew up (the San Francisco Bay Area) long hair on young men started to appear in about 1965, and by 2 years later was quite common in Berkeley, S.F., and Oakland.  There were always a few beards, and the number started to grow in the very early '60s.  One couldn't get a job at Safeway with either.  I tried to become a night clerk at the YMCA, and they said I wouldn't be considered unless I shaved off my beard.  I pointed at a picture of Jesus above the counter, and they uttered the immortal words, "That was then."  A friend, working as a volunteer, developed a photography course at the Boys' Club, returned after vacation with a beard, and they showed him the door, which he went through.  There were better places to volunteer, with better attitudes.

 

I noticed that PWK sported a beard sometime during the '70s.

Edited May 16, 2015 by garyrc

[HDBRbuilder]

 

Nothing pointed at anybody, Mallette...it just seems that too many folks think that things in the south are something other than what they really are, or really WERE! I guess the re-writing of history currently under way is part of the cause, but Hope, Arkansas and Selma, Alabama are much farther apart than revisionist history wants to show them to be. As for "hippie types" most people my age who once had long hair (or still do!) were raised up in a redneck environment before their hair grew out. But that "redneck" environment was not necessarily one with a racial slant to it....more of a "good ole boy" thing, than a redneck thing. "Bubba" can come in all colors, hair lengths and sizes, ya'know?

 

Thanks for the Klipsch history.  It must have been gratifying working there!  PWK is to be commended for profit sharing bonuses and the insurance provided.

 

I understand that Hope and Selma were far apart in the '60s.  How would you say Hope has changed in recent decades?

 

Where I grew up (the San Francisco Bay Area) long hair on young men started to appear in about 1965, and by 2 years later was quite common in Berkeley, S.F., and Oakland.  There were always a few beards, and the number started to grow in the very early '60s.  One couldn't get a job at Safeway with either.  I tried to become a night clerk at the YMCA, and they said I wouldn't be considered unless I shaved off my beard.  I pointed at a picture of Jesus above the counter, and they uttered the immortal words, "That was then."  A friend, working as a volunteer, developed a photography course at the Boys' Club, returned after vacation with a beard, and they showed him the door, which he went through.  There were better places to volunteer, with better attitudes.

 

I noticed that PWK sported a beard sometime during the '70s.

 

The long-haired employees weren't working at Klipsch in the mid-sixties...or even in the latter sixties, it was in the early to mid-1970's when that started...and they weren't "brought in", either...they were locals and that was the hairstyle of the time and what they did on their off time was their own business.  If you want young hard-working employees, you can't go by their hair style or their clothing style...you can only give them a chance and see if they work out...many didn't work out...many did!  You do know about the large sign in PWK's office, right?  It was Henry David Thoreau's  "Beware all enterprises which require new clothes!"  I like to think of PWK as a liberal conservative.  He believed in the values that made our country great, sprinkled with enough liberal attitude to see change for the good as not necessarily stepping on those values.  Today it seems that every conversation falls back on something to do with race or equal rights, with absolutely no consideration for values, which is what I personally see as the REAL problem.  Texarkana was a world apart from the Hope and Prescott area in the 1960's and early 1970's.  For most of those  years, Texarkana was the number one per capita murder capital of the USA!  By the time Bill Clinton left office as governor, Little Rock was the number one per capita murder capital of the USA.  And before he left the office of president, Washington, D.C. had that title...didn't anybody else ever notice that?  Something to chew on, isn't it??

[tblake10]

Clinton has Klipschorns.

Were Klipschorns in the Whitehouse then?

[Travis In Austin]

Nothing pointed at anybody, Mallette...it just seems that too many folks think that things in the south are something other than what they really are, or really WERE! I guess the re-writing of history currently under way is part of the cause, but Hope, Arkansas and Selma, Alabama are much farther apart than revisionist history wants to show them to be. As for "hippie types" most people my age who once had long hair (or still do!) were raised up in a redneck environment before their hair grew out. But that "redneck" environment was not necessarily one with a racial slant to it....more of a "good ole boy" thing, than a redneck thing. "Bubba" can come in all colors, hair lengths and sizes, ya'know?

 

Thanks for the Klipsch history.  It must have been gratifying working there!  PWK is to be commended for profit sharing bonuses and the insurance provided.

 

I understand that Hope and Selma were far apart in the '60s.  How would you say Hope has changed in recent decades?

 

Where I grew up (the San Francisco Bay Area) long hair on young men started to appear in about 1965, and by 2 years later was quite common in Berkeley, S.F., and Oakland.  There were always a few beards, and the number started to grow in the very early '60s.  One couldn't get a job at Safeway with either.  I tried to become a night clerk at the YMCA, and they said I wouldn't be considered unless I shaved off my beard.  I pointed at a picture of Jesus above the counter, and they uttered the immortal words, "That was then."  A friend, working as a volunteer, developed a photography course at the Boys' Club, returned after vacation with a beard, and they showed him the door, which he went through.  There were better places to volunteer, with better attitudes.

 

I noticed that PWK sported a beard sometime during the '70s.

The long-haired employees weren't working at Klipsch in the mid-sixties...or even in the latter sixties, it was in the early to mid-1970's when that started...and they weren't "brought in", either...they were locals and that was the hairstyle of the time and what they did on their off time was their own business.  If you want young hard-working employees, you can't go by their hair style or their clothing style...you can only give them a chance and see if they work out...many didn't work out...many did!  You do know about the large sign in PWK's office, right?  It was Henry David Thoreau's  "Beware all enterprises which require new clothes!"  I like to think of PWK as a liberal conservative.  He believed in the values that made our country great, sprinkled with enough liberal attitude to see change for the good as not necessarily stepping on those values.  Today it seems that every conversation falls back on something to do with race or equal rights, with absolutely no consideration for values, which is what I personally see as the REAL problem.  Texarkana was a world apart from the Hope and Prescott area in the 1960's and early 1970's.  For most of those  years, Texarkana was the number one per capita murder capital of the USA!  By the time Bill Clinton left office as governor, Little Rock was the number one per capita murder capital of the USA.  And before he left the office of president, Washington, D.C. had that title...didn't anybody else ever notice that?  Something to chew on, isn't it??

[Travis In Austin]

Not really something to chew on because it is bull****, not something anyone should relish chewing on.

I don't have time to dig up facts for all three cities, however, here is a list for crime in the District from 1960 to present, and, if memory serves me correctly, the relevent time period for President Clinton was from '93 to '00. and the murder rate was down every year after '93.

Anyone can go to the FBI site and look up the Uniform Crime Report to look up these facts for themselves.

http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/dccrime.htm

Edited May 17, 2015 by dwilawyer

[Mallette]

Something to chew on, isn't it??

 

Perhaps.  But not here, please sir. 

 

Dave

[Mallette]

were locals and that was the hairstyle of the time and what they did on their off time was their own business.

 

Fully agree.  However, there were machines there, and probably still are, that if long hair is caught in you can be in serious trouble in an instant.  My company (drilling) doesn't enforce a style policy, but past a given length it must be tied up such that it cannot get caught in moving equipment.

 

Dave

[Zen Traveler]

 

were locals and that was the hairstyle of the time and what they did on their off time was their own business.

 

Fully agree.  However, there were machines there, and probably still are, that if long hair is caught in you can be in serious trouble in an instant.  My company (drilling) doesn't enforce a style policy, but past a given length it must be tied up such that it cannot get caught in moving equipment.

 

Dave

 

 

Given that Hope was/is in Hempsted County it makes me also wonder what dangers rope-burning caused on the assembly line floor given all of those hippies.

[Mallette]

Good question...

 

OTOH, every stoner I remember stayed well away from rapidly moving objects and sharp things.

 

Dave

[HDBRbuilder]

Just more conjecture from those who did not work in the plant.  Believe what you will, but this employee from those days had long hair and did everything in the cabinet shop with absolutely no problem, and no accidents.  I also did most everything at one time or another in the sanding room, too.  Bobby Joe and Jay both had long hair and built a huge amount of LaScalas...no problem.  Bobby Joe also built K-horns as did Jay...again no problems.  We tied it back, or wore hats, or both most of the time, simply because it was so damned hot inside the plant in the summer.  Work is work and play is play.  We had table saws, industrial pin routers, panel sander, belt sanders, routers...you can pretty much name it...we were low-tech by today's standards, but a quality product was still made, and many of you are still listening to that product.  I spent over seven years...over ten per cent of my life...in that plant.  Ever use an industrial 1/2" diameter straight router bit with three-inch edge?  You can shave with one of them, they are that sharp when new!  The next time any of you with K-horns made between 1976-1983 look at your side grill panels...down where the cut is made for the baseboard moulding, keep in mind that was the most dangerous cut made in the cabinet shop when I worked there, and it might not look like much, but it could take an arm off or break a few ribs if the person on the router was not paying exact attention when cutting those notches!  I never saw it happen, but it was easy to see what could happen if the panel popped out of the router form or the bit caught it at an angle not expected. Also, we removed the safeties from our Senco nail guns and Duofast staple guns because they slowed down production and caused scratches on the wood or would not drag well because you couldn't slide the tip of the gun when the safety was installed...an OSHA violation for sure, so we hid our guns under the tables when we were on breaks in case an inspector showed up then.

Edited May 17, 2015 by HDBRbuilder

[Mallette]

We tied it back, or wore hats, or both most of the time, simply because it was so damned hot inside the plant in the summer.

 

Pretty much what I said.  Industrial safety should be voluntary and because it's the right thing to do, not because of OSHA and such.

 

Dave

[garyrc]

You do know about the large sign in PWK's office, right? It was Henry David Thoreau's "Beware all enterprises which require new clothes!" I like to think of PWK as a liberal conservative. He believed in the values that made our country great, sprinkled with enough liberal attitude to see change for the good as not necessarily stepping on those values.

 

Great Thoreau quote! 

 

Many people are mixtures of orientations.  These include Paul Goodman and Norman Mailer, who often were not on speaking terms, but both were part liberal/radical and part conservative.  Gore Vidal might also qualify.  Also, Hugo Black and William O. Douglas were from very different backgrounds and orientations, but often agreed with one another, and, together, helped turn the page of history.

 

Did you help build my 1980 Klipschorns?  If so, thanks!

[HDBRbuilder]

You do know about the large sign in PWK's office, right? It was Henry David Thoreau's "Beware all enterprises which require new clothes!" I like to think of PWK as a liberal conservative. He believed in the values that made our country great, sprinkled with enough liberal attitude to see change for the good as not necessarily stepping on those values.

 

Great Thoreau quote! 

 

Many people are mixtures of orientations.  These include Paul Goodman and Norman Mailer, who often were not on speaking terms, but both were part liberal/radical and part conservative.  Gore Vidal might also qualify.  Also, Hugo Black and William O. Douglas were from very different backgrounds and orientations, but often agreed with one another, and, together, helped turn the page of history.

 

Did you help build my 1980 Klipschorns?  If so, thanks!

I probably didn't build them, but you must remember that K-horns also had numerous sub-assemblies that where prefabricated by others and palletized for use in the bass bin construction by the K-horn builders, some of which had shop monikers like "wings", "traps", "ramps", etc...and I certainly built lots of those whenever I ran out of room to put pallets of Heresy and Cornwall cabinets. Everybody in the cabinet shop pretty much got chances to build K-horns and LaScalas, but the Belles normally were only built by designated builders. I was a self-starter, and whenever I ran out of space for pallets of cabinets I normally built, I would go over and start routing out LaScala motorboards, heresy motorboards, Cornwall motorboards, K-Horn motorboards, or whatever else was waiting to be done...building K-horn sub-assemblies. Sometimes the foreman at the time would ask "who told you to do this?"...but if they looked around they would understand why I was doing it...to keep busy until I had room to store more cabinets waiting for sanding. That was the way it was for employees who had been there for awhile...you didn't stand around waiting to be told...you just started doing something that needed doing!