For more than a year, I’ve wanted to post these photos.

They’re a series of 8×10″ glossies, with Dad the only fellow among 14 women:

Thing is, I found them after Dad passed away, so I couldn’t ask him what they were all about. The only information on the back of the photos is the photographer’s name and number.

When trained as a journalist and after spending a career in public relations, one prefers not to speculate. But it’s tempting.

Just this week, I came across a work-related poem in a folder that also included assorted files from Dad’s long career at General Electric. His specialty was in what was then called Manpower (ouch! a very outdated term) and then Employee Relations. (During my pre-retirement years, the hiring/firing department was called Personnel and then Human Resources.)

The tongue-in-cheek verse is clever; why wouldn’t Dad tuck it away?

But who wrote it? And when?

Perhaps the poem was written by a fellow Manpower employee. Or someone in advertising?

The untitled poem is neatly typed. It is unsigned and undated. The paper is discolored with age.

So we’ll guess this was composed in the late 1950s or during the ’60s:

[Unnamed, unsigned, undated]

Are you nervous in the service of your company?
Do you feel that eyes are probing your every move?
Are you happy, extroverted
Or perhaps a bit perverted
With a point that you are sure you can prove?

Then report to Brother Vayo
Or to the the Brothers Mayo
Or give up and let the bottle ease your pain
For the way you go about it
With a snicker or without it
All your efforts will most surely be in vain.

A few notes: The Mayo Clinic opened in 1919, so there’s no clue offered with that mention. Dad’s last name was “Vayo,” which rhymes with … well, Mayo. (Gosh, when I used to say “rhymes with mayo” back in my maiden-name days, I meant the condiment. I now officially prefer the good doctors.)

Dad didn’t talk about work all that much when I still lived at home, or after I left, for that matter. As we chatted on the phone daily those last months of his life, his chosen topic was always family. I’m glad for that.

But that doesn’t help me explain these 8×10″ glossies:

That’s Dad at the head of the table. I cringe in suggesting the 14 women are secretarial trainees. But this scene is from the Manpower years, after all …

Or they may not have been trainees at all. Maybe they were an assortment of female employees gathered together for a professional photo shoot.

… because that “Accent on Value” sign keeps moving from one side of the room to the other! Perhaps these photos were for a year-end report or a company newsletter.

These photos were stored in an unmarked manila envelope. Even though I’d taken them out to show Gary and to search for clues more than once …

… it wasn’t until this week that I noticed this certificate in the bottom of the envelope:

Apparently the certificate is not directly related to the photos, since GE’s “Accent on Value” campaign was launched in 1962 (knowledge just gained, with thanks to YouTube). But it is a reminder that Dad and Mom moved their growing family multiple times to multiple locations over those first several years.

One story I do recall Dad telling me in recent years was that a few girls (“Women, Dad! Please! Call them women!”) came to him shortly before his retirement. They thanked him for treating them with respect and encouraging them to seek higher positions in the company than was customary. He had given them that extra bit of confidence to go after the careers they deserved.

It sure felt good to know he’d done that. It felt even better that he knew it was an important story to share with his only daughter.

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