I look at loads of Acme/Interlake related ‘stuff’ on ebay everyday. Most of it I do not buy and just add to the Ephemera page. But once in a while I see something so cool I just have to have it.
The photos are really cool but whoever wrote that ad copy got a Cleo I hope. It is actually inspiring to me – it feels like a middle finger to the industry! (bold added by me, for emphasis)
Our Riverdale mill is designed to give you the carbon strip steel you want, when you want it. No ifs, ands or buts. □ We work fast because we’re built to. For example, some methods of steel making take eight to 11 hours. Our oxygen furnace turns out a heat – up to 75 tons – in 45 minutes, with only 20 minutes cooking time. Which means we can turn out 11 heats a shift, all different grades of steel. Because of this flexibility, we can normally fit your order into our schedule within a few days of receiving it. □ At last count we were the sixteenth largest steel producer in the country. With service like this, are we in danger of becoming fifteenth? □ Let’s get together and review your requirements for flat-rolled steel.
This ad says we may not be the big dog – but we are fine with that. Posing the question regarding becoming fifteenth is pure sarcasm to me. It says, you may have a laugh at our expense, we just don’t care. And there is something to that – the lumbering giants can’t move deftly, their slow gesticulations require too much energy and reactions are slow.
My larger goal with this old piece of magazine print is to get it blown up to hang on my wall. Unfortunately, I have a few things that also fall into that category and quite a few pieces of Acme/Interlake related works already on my walls. But it is in the queue. Maybe you’d like to do the same yourself? Here is a 600 DPI scan for you.