80 years: June 1981 – A second look at the first Carillon News
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In February of 1946, we printed several thousand of the first issue of the Carillon News for free distribution. I doubt if any of the originals, except the one in our vault is still around. We hope this six-page photographic reproduction will create a nostalgic memory or two, and provide a brief flashback to “the good old days”.
Although the first paper was small and insignificant, the plans around it were big and vigorous. It was to be a paper for everyone in Southeastern Manitoba, according to our blueprints. We would serve every community equally well. These were great plans, and we still try to follow them, though we fail occasionally.
We would have a newspaper with lots of local photos. Back in 1946, that could be nothing but a pipe dream; however, we had already purchased “a heap of junk” (my father said), which in reality, was equipment that would make the necessary zinc engravings needed to print photos. But it took a full year of determined effort, together with many late evenings of experimentation, to make this thing work. It was only a year later that we produced our first useable zinc engraving, but we never looked back from there on.
Also before the first issue was produced, my brother Bruno (now deceased), let me know from his RCAF base in Germany, that he was keenly interested in this venture, and would bring home a good press camera. He was going to be the photographer.
Our dear mother, always a practical business woman, packed a few extra pounds of coffee in her monthly parcel to her son, to make sure that the black market deal with coffee and camera would be a good one!
Bruno came home in May of 1946 and entered the business with all the vigour he possessed. Another brother, George, came back a little later.
He thought he should go to a veterans’ trade school in Red Deer, Alberta, to learn proper typography and layout. We agreed heartily.
When The Carillon won the Mason Trophy in 1958, which is emblematic of the best rural newspaper in Canada, much of the credit went to the two brothers for their part in producing an excellent paper.
Later, George bought his own newspaper in Deloraine, and later in Estevan. He passed away November 26, 1976. Bruno died 14 years ago last week – June 12, 1967. Losing two-thirds of a family enterprise was a tough break.
In the middle 1960’s, new technology began making all our printing equipment obsolete. While the new electronic photo typesetting and offset printing has revolutionized the entire industry, at that time it seemed almost insurmountable that we would have to change every piece of equipment in the shop. But we did, and we’re glad we did. I believe we would not be in existence today had we not changed when we did.
The new equipment has given us a stronger base to work on, and doubled the number of employees in the plant. Where we had 35 employees 10 years ago, we now have 65 or so, with an annual payroll of approximately one million dollars.
Soon now, we hope to announce several innovations that should be of help and interest to our readers. According to the survey we took some months ago, we’re generally on the right track, but readers suggested a few things that they would want more of. We’re keeping these requests in mind for eventual fulfillment.
The most rewarding thing about my 35 years as publisher is the fact that The Carillon has become an institution – embedded in the fabric of the Southeast as have the family, the church, chamber of commerce and all the other institutions and organizations that make rural life so different and interesting.