The Factory Whistle

Here is Bill Lamb conducting an in house interview with Manley Wilson, the employee that did the art work for the Factory Whistle radio program. Bill Lamb was well known around the Buick factories due to his daily broadcasts on WKMF in Flint. His book titled "Buick, The Factory Whistle & Me" is an interesting read. This photo shows the special vehicle I saw go through my department in 1973. In the background I can see a mid sixties Riviera just receiving it's body. That would make this the second floor. I personally never met the man, but I do have a story to tell. In 1981 I was the clerk on the truck dock located at the south end of factory #04 on the day shift. As you can imagine there was a lot of activity at this location. There was a constant stream of trucks moving in and out of this dock. I had a problem with people parking cars in front of the loading dock, and had many occasions when the switcher would just dump the trailer and leave because of a vehicle in the way. I mentioned to my fork lift driver, Bill Tull, that the next car left unattended would get a surprise. Our plan was to place "CHECK BRAKES" stickers on all the windows of the offending vehicle. Well sure enough a couple hours later I get a call from #17 dispatch that Smitty could not back in a load of engines because my dock was blocked AGAIN! Bill and I sprung into action with a vengeance. We kind of over did the sticker bit. There was not one piece of glass left untouched. Since we now had no work to do we just sat and waited with gleeful anticipation. Well if you haven't guessed by now the offender was non other than Bill Lamb and our surprise awaited him. Being the coward that I was that day, I immediately jumped on a scooter and headed for the north end, every man for himself! I called down when I got to the office at 4 north and my partner in crime said that Bill Lamb was pretty upset. He told me that he and the boss, Jerry Rouleau, were getting some hot water and soap and that I should hurry back to help. It took me about 45 minutes to get back. Sorry that I never got to meet you Bill, but you know how it is. "If You Can't Stand The Heat, Get Out Of The Kitchen".

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