Miss Sally Rand, the dancer who focused the attention of the world upon her slender nakedness and then proved that she could dance, was in search of some new and startling medium of the dance which would hide the personal parts of her as would clothes, would fire the imagination of the vulgar, and yet cater to the tastes of the more aesthetic.
Miss Rand hit upon the idea of a balloon dance. If Sally were to dance naked behind great transparent balloons, she would appear at once intriguing, grotesque, and lovely. But where to find such balloons! None like those Sally visioned had ever been made. Could they be made?
Sally's agent got in touch with the Chicago representative of the Oak Rubber Company. Later he called the company at its home office. The Oak Rubber Company had never made such balloons. But its engineers set to work on the problem and, as all now know, Sally's balloon dance was as much of a sensation at the second season of the World's Fair as her Fan Dance had been at the first.
Order Not "Just Luck"
The matter of why the Oak Rubber Company was chosen to make those balloons has intrigued the curiosity of many people. Many other people simply "never thought about it" or considered that the order to the local company was just a matter of luck. But someone had to be on his or her toes. Probe back farther. Do you remember now that you used to wonder how it happened the Oak Rubber Company came to Ravenna; who started it; who made it apparent that Ravenna was the ideal spot for it to locate? For that matter, have you ever wondered why the State of Ohio picked out Ravenna for the establishment of its Division Garage, or why it chose our city for its National Guard troop?
Sold on Ravenna by the C. of C.
The answers to these questions are to be found in a vital phase of Ravenna's public and economic system. These things "don't just happen." They are the result of serious local planning, of hard work upon the part of individuals, of advertising, and of contacts. We state simply that virtually all of Ravenna's industries located here because the Chamber of Commerce sold them on the idea that Ravenna was an ideal spot for young industry to grow and prosper.
The story of the Ravenna Chamber of Commerce is an interesting one. Years ago, prominent Ravenna businessmen banded together to found the Ravenna Board of Trade. Unquestionably such men as the late Dan R. Hanna, H. W. Riddle, and A. C. Williams were guiding spirits of its organization. In 1914 the present Chamber of Commerce was founded. These men organized in an effort to place Ravenna's business and industrial opportunities before the industrial world, and the fact Ravenna has not slipped into the doldrums of a dead past is tribute to their energy and foresight.
Lost Quaker Oats Plant
In the past, Ravenna has received several blows which might conceivably have proved fatal to its industrial life. Changing courses of economic life caused the world-famous Quaker Oats Company to leave Ravenna and remove its plant to a location closer to the sources of supply.
In the old days, two of Ravenna's greatest industries were the glass factories and the Riddle Coach and Hearse Company. Ravenna had had a carriage factory since 1835. Glass factories had sprung up as early as 1857. But changing times caused the glass companies to move to Pittsburgh, and the rise of mass production of automobile bodies sounded the death knell of the Riddle Coach and Hearse Company, later the Riddle Manufacturing Company, with its highly skilled corps of carriage makers — men such as Caleb and Will Ebersold, John Beazel, and others of their ability.
Fight for New Industries
But the grass is still not growing in the streets of Ravenna. New industries have come to take the place of the old. Members of the Chamber of Commerce have constantly sought new industries to bring here, and have personally contributed large shares of money to interest the industries in Ravenna.
New business looks for small towns where taxes on building or industrial sites are lower than in the large cities. They look for towns that have an adequate supply of labor. There must be rail facilities for shipping the finished product to the market. Above all, there must be water.
According to Mr. E. J. Smith, ten industries have been brought to Ravenna in recent years: The Darwell Co., The Donnelly Manufacturing Co., Jones Brothers Structural Steel, Kent Rubber Products Co., Motor Valve Products Co., Oak Rubber Co., Pollack-Altman Company, Pyramid Rubber Co., the State Highway Garage, and the Sta-Warm Electric Co. — with a combined monthly payroll of $60,000 employing 600 people.
Support of Citizens Is Needed
And that brings us once more to Miss Sally Rand. No one has ever accused lovely Sally of hiding her charms beneath a bushel basket. Her lesson of advertising has been visual exposure. Ours in Ravenna might be at once oral and financial. The Chamber of Commerce needs both oral and financial aid from us whom it represents in order that it may continue the work it has so long struggled to accomplish.