Do Businesses Know Their History and Why Should They Care?

Posted on by

Harvard University has an entire library dedicated to business history. It’s the Baker Library, located near the Harvard Business School campus. It’s a fabulous place, filled with fascinating information and experienced librarians.

As a historian and someone who has always lived in historical communities, I am often struck by how very few people “do” business history.

In Salem, Massachusetts, where I live, the National Park Service does a great job on the waterfront talking about maritime trade and what that business meant to Salem and the nation. To help tell the story, they use their replica 18th-century ship, Friendship, a warehouse where imported goods were stored for weighing and measuring, the Custom House where financial and legal transactions took place, a dry goods store where items were sold, and the home of America’s first millionaire, Elias Hasket Derby, where the results of wealth gained from maritime trade are on display. Great stuff!

But what about today’s business?

Some older businesses, especially those located in historical communities, know when they were founded and they will celebrate their anniversary in some way. But the “celebration” is usually limited to a new tag line for the letterhead or advertisements. They really could go a lot further!

Soucy Insurance Agency in Salem, Massachusetts, for example, turned 100 years old a couple of years ago. It’s a family owned business that is still owned by the same family. Instead of just adding a tag line or throwing a party, the owner paid for thorough research on his family and business, created a lobby display and brochure, added a history section on his company website, and published his story (with great historical photos) in local newspapers.

What a great idea! If you had to choose an insurance agency, wouldn’t you respond more to a company that presents this kind of corporate personality? I sure would.

When a company understands and promotes its history, its efforts really do add value. Its historical story strengthens the emotional bond it has with its customers, which is what every business wants.

Even if a business isn’t 100 or more years old, it can still celebrate milestones – today, even five years is an accomplishment!

And this business could think beyond its own history and ask questions like:

• What is the history of my industry?
• How does my business fit into that history?
• What does my industry mean to my community?
• What does my business mean to my community?

The business could work with its local historical society or public library to find answers to these questions, and publish an article in the historical society’s newsletter.

It could sponsor a talk on the subject, create the kinds of materials Soucy Insurance did, and send information to history- and industry-related organizations and websites locally, statewide, and beyond. It could really use the anniversary to call attention to itself.

People who live in a historical community LOVE their local history. They also tend to be well educated and well off.

A business that is in touch with its history – and how its history factors into the community’s history – would impress these people and attract new customers. The business would raise its stature and set itself apart from its competitors. It would certainly get my attention, and my business.

I really do think that business history deserves a lot more “press” than it gets. After all, the wealthiest nation in the world was created by thousands of people who built businesses for centuries.

I find the changes in industry, technology, population, and so on fascinating. I also think it’s fun to look at the same industry then and now – banking, insurance, the law, retail, restaurants. What has changed and why? And then, what hasn’t changed?

It’s fun stuff, and I would love to see more businesses embrace history and teach us all something we don’t know.

History of the Modern T-shirt

Posted on by

A modern t-shirt usually has no buttons, collars or pockets. It can be made of cotton or polyester or a blend. The t-shirt has round neck and sleeve holes and currently may be decorated with text and graphics, sometimes funny.

But, the t-shirt has not always been this way, oh no. The t-shirt has a long and proud history beginning with the ancient Egyptians who wore formal undergarments while they were erecting the pyramids in 120-degree desert heat.

Some historians theorize that the pyramids were actually supposed to be large cubes, but since each crew was exhausted from wearing t-shirts underneath their garment in the high desert heat, that subsequent crews did less and less work. This desire to do less and hurry the finality of the project lead the crew leader on day to simply put a point on top of the cube-turned-pyramid and inform the high priests and priestesses that there had been a cost overruns and a “change in plans”.

Be that as it may, t-shirts again reared their ugly heads in the 19th century, once again as formal undergarments in Britain. The Brits and their famous eye for prudence started requiring school age boys to wear t-shirts and tuck them in over their underwear but inside their pants in order to foil the bullies’ attempts at giving atomic wedgies.

The bullies were not foiled however, and just grabbed t-shirts and underpants in two motions instead of one and proceeded to give atomic wedgies as before. Some schoolchildren then used flatulence as a defense mechanism to deter the bullies, but this is for another discussion altogether.

T-shirts became popular again with the advent of World War II. Military types such as sailors began wearing these undergarments to work in and when overheated would throw off the shirts atop and work in t-shirts only.

Some early videos posted on YouTube show sailors in the 1940’s performing their duties in t-shirts aboard huge warships and occasionally breaking out in song and dance particularly to “Y-M-C-A” by the Village People. Calisthenics were performed on board these large aircraft carriers to keep the men in shape and even Richard Simmons’ father, Gene would lead the jumping jacks in his t-shirt.

In the 1960’s Forrest “Running Man” Gump heralded in a new era of decorated t-shirts. When he was once again rejected by Jenny, he took to running cross country and wiped his muddy face on what would become the first Happy Face t-shirt. Gump also told another runner that “stuff happens” or some similar vulgar verbiage and this became a national motto in no time, decorating t-shirts from coast to coast.

Since this time, t-shirts have been a method of self-expression for millions of people. First worn as a means of political commentary, it didn’t take long before the commentary turned humorous and then people started wearing all sorts of funny t-shirts to express their inner goofballs to the world.

So, there you have it, a twisted history of the modern t-shirt. Though this may be a fractured fairytale of what really happened, the essence is in fact accurate. No go out and buy a t-shirt to express your inner goofball.

How to Get a Free Poker Bankroll

Posted on by

It’s not such a difficult job to find free poker bankrolls. They are offered to new players (players that are new to that poker room and they haven’t got an existing account at the poker room where they want to get the bonus), usually after taking the following steps: Their identity is checked ( that’s because in order to play poker you must be at least 18 years old and to confirm that the information you entered when you registered is correct, that it’s really you)
Their e-mail is confirmed
They open a poker account following the instructions provided by the entity who is giving the free poker bankroll
They have to wait until their free bankroll is visible in their poker account ( may take from some minutes up to 2 weeks depending on the free poker money provider)You can get this way up to $150 from free poker money offers but you must remember one thing: those money are in your account but they aren’t yours yet! You can play with them, pay tournament entry fees, but in order to withdraw them, you must meet some requirements that may vary from poker bonus provider to poker bonus provider: Either you accumulate a specific number of points at that poker room: The points are offered depending on the rake( money obtained by the poker room from the fees they get), usually after each $1 in rake, you get a number of points
Either you play a specific number of raked hands ( Hand played with real money, play money or other virtual money won’t count )PS: You have a limited amount of time to claim the bonus (60, 90 days depending of the poker bankroll provider). If you don’t manage to clear the bonus in that amount of time, your free money or the sum remaining from the bonus is withdrawn from your account.( Ex. You initially had $50 free money. After 60 days you lost $20, that means you have now $30 in your account, but you didn’t manage to clear the bonus, your remaining $30 from the bonus is withdrawn from your account.).

6th Street Omaha Poker

Posted on by

I love poker. All kinds, most recently I discovered 6th Street Omaha Poker. I had of course played Texas Hold’em and straight poker and stud poker. But I had never heard of 6th Street Omaha Poker.To the uninitiated this game will seem a lot like Texas Hold’em. There is a big blind and a small blind, a flop, a turn and a river. But here’s where it becomes a little strange to me. You get dealt four cards. The flop is dealt three cards, and then the turn is dealt one more card and then the river is one more card. So when you count them up that is four cards in your hand three on the table for the flop and one for the turn and one for the river so that is nine cards altogether . Then you have the option at the end of buying in to yet another card! So that’s right 10 cards total.Sounds pretty good right? It should be easy to put together a good hand when you have ten cards to choose from. Well there is a little something I left out. You can only use two of the cards in your hand. As for the cards in the middle you can only use three of them. So this way you have a normal five card hand only you make it up from parts of the up to ten cards.So let’s say that you are dealt three queens in your hand, and another one pops us during the course of the game. You have four queens now right? No remember I said that you can only use two of your hold cards. This can be really heart breaking. Or at least it was for me the first time I played and in the excitement of being dealt three queens, I forgot I could only use two of them.The other thing about this game is it seems to start off kind of slow with the betting but then before you know it the pot is huge. This is due in part to the fact that you can buy your last card. This card is a community card and everyone has the option to buy or not to buy. If you choose to buy the card it will cost you 30% of the pot. On top of whatever you have already bet.The strategy is also different from other kinds of poker. Not only do you have to watch the other players per normal. You also have to keep in mind that your hand will/could change big time with each new card and so can theirs. So I guess this part is the same except that you have so many cards to choose from so it makes it difficult to pin your opponents down. Do they have the two hearts to go with the other three on the board? Or are they holding a pair? It changes and then just when you know that you have beat them and that you are the greatest poker player ever, they buy that tenth card and get the straight flush that was supposed to be against all odds.6th Street Omaha Poker I love you!

Want to Win a Seat to the World Series of Poker Game?

Posted on by

If a serious actor considers being nominated for an Academy Award the peak of his performance, a poker player believes that winning a seat at the World Series of Poker Game is the icing on his cake. That’s why poker players do their best to achieve this feat – in whichever way possible.Here’s how it is at the World Series of Poker Game. More than eight thousand poker players compete for the extravagant amount in the pot. This is eighty million dollars in prize and prize money. Sometimes this may even be more.Good thing there’s the Internet. A lot of poker related sites know that poker players would want to get the chance to be at the World Series of Poker Game. That is why these online poker sites encourage the dream by providing buy-in, hotel and travel expenses to Las Vegas to winners.These poker-related sites also know that novice players would want to be at the World Series of Poker Game too, despite their being new. By being there, these players might even learn more about the game and gain more tricks in order for them to improve their hand after each session. This is why the poker-related sites encourage them by providing prized packages for amateur players which are won at online tournaments.Webmasters of poker-related sites know that novice players dream to compete against professional poker players. Thus with a little luck, amateur players can be included in the satellite which allows them to go head-to-head with the professionals. If they win, then that means they take home a huge amount of money. They can also say that they beat out this professional poker player in a game. His or her life will be changed forever.Satellites have been mentioned. These are important to qualify at the World Series of Poker Game. Players refer to the guide in the satellites in order to know the best poker websites and online tournaments that provide them with the best chance to win seats at the World Series of Poker Game. It actually makes sense because poker is the sole sport that allows the amateurs to compete head on against the professionals – and their bases are leveled. There’s no advantage from the professional.This pitting up of novices and professionals was actually proven by the historical poker event that happened in 2003. Chris Moneymaker, an accountant, came from Tennessee and won the World Series of Poker Game. What makes his win amazing was that he was an amateur. He also got a seat at the World Series of Poker Game for only $40. To think, the entry to the main event is $10,000. This is where the satellite tournament system comes in.As long as the poker player does well in the satellite tournaments, then he has proven himself worthy to compete with the professionals be it online or at the World Series of Poker Game. Look at it this way: an actor feels accomplished whenever he shares scenes with a veteran actor. That’s the same with poker players. They feel so accomplished whenever they play against a professional player. What more if they win?