The Vick news [June-July 1958]

              <r
\
i/*
^ Tthe vick
News
Vol. 10
Greensboro, N. C, & Philadelphia, Pa.,     June - July, 1958
No. 4
Let's Tour The Cough Drop Dept.
The Cough Drop Production Department can be divided into
three mainoperationsor rooms: the Solution Room, where syrup
is reclaimed from scrap and sugar is prepared for use; the Cook
Room, where the candy is cooked
and medicated; and the Cartoning Room, where the finished
Cough Drops are packaged. Here
also broken and misshapen drops
are reclaimed as syrup by distillation and filtration.
In the Cook Room, three elevated tanks hold corn syrup,
pumped from a storage tank below, sugar, and reclaimed syrup,
both of which are pumped from
the solution room. The three
ingredients from these tanks are
piped into a Hansella dissolver
which takes the dry sugar, reclaimed syrup, and corn syrup.,
The dissolver proportions them.
continuously according to the
formula set up in the control
gears. In this process the sugar
is dissolved, mixed with the corn
syrup and reclaimed syrup, and
is pre-cooked ready for the next
process—the vacuum cooker. A
small tank located between the
-Losolver and the c^^er <-r>p>-ates
a. a eservoir between these two
units, holding the syrup as the
cooker takes it in batches.
Here is Tom Colleran of Philadelphia operating the mixer.
In the cooker the solution goes
through a series of heated coils
which further cook the solution
so that by the time it reaches the
vacuum kettle at the bottom the
solution has changed from its
original liquid state into a state
similar to molasses. Each cooker
has an automatic timing device
which controls the vacuum, the
time of cook, and the time between the batches. This device
also breaks the vacuum at the
proper time, turns the kettles,
starts the vacuum, and starts the
flow of syrup again. All of this
operation is automatic from the
dissolvers through the cookers,
and sets the output of this equipment at a fixed hourly rate.
From the cookers batches are
dumped into pans that fit three
wheel dollies and are first wheeled to a scale. After weighing,
the batch is then wheeled to one
of five covered Berks Mixers,
where it is dumped on a mixing
table and mechanically mixed
with medication by an operator.
Throughout this mixing operation
candy, which has been in a liquid
state similar to that of molasses,
gradually thickens into a taffy
like substance as it cools. After
the mixing is completed the candy
is transferred by a hydraulic
scoop bucket from the mixer to
one of three Hansella vertical
spinners.
John Sawchuck puts candy into
the spinner-
Howard  Mace is shown operating
the spinner.
The spinners form the medicated candy into a horizontal
rope, which is guided into a
Hansella tablet forming or cutting
machine. As the candy passes
through the cutter, it is formed
into the familiar triangular drop.
The finished drops are then carried by a series of air cooled
conveyor belts through a cooling
room, causing the drops to harden.
Before the drops pass out of the
cooling room, they are automatically sorted by size allowing
only normal sized drops to pass.
As the drops are conveyed out of
the cooling room they are again
sorted and visually inspected to
insure that no defective drops
are packaged.
Inspecting tfce aamm
Agnes Hopkins, Sara
and Theresa Sessa.
(continued on page 6)
McGehee & Holloway
Assume New Duties In
Greensboro Operations
John W. McGehee, Assistant
Production Manager, became
responsible for supervision of
the packaging operations—and for
necessary co-ordination of all
other activities at both plants in
Greensboro on June 2 according
to an announcement made by
B. B. Fort, Greensboro Operations Manager. John has moved
from the Milton Street office to
Wendover Avenue because of the
more varied and larger volume
production operations at that
location, but he will retain his
present responsibility for operations at Milton Street.
Nick Holloway, who has been
directing activities at Wendover
Avenue, has moved to Milton
Street, and he began his duties
as a special assistant to the
General Manager, G. C. Eichhorn, on June 2. His responsibilities will include a variety of
duties including general studies
and special assignments involving frequent contacts with all
departments and supervisory
personnel.
G'boro Welcomes New
Summer Trainee
On June 2 William L. Vander-
burg joined Vick for the summer
as a Pharmaceutical Trainee.
Bill has just completed his
freshman year at the University
of North Carolina in the School
of Pharmacy.
Bill's step-father was a Career
Navy man so Bill shipped around
quite a bit as a boy. After living
in Canada, Washington, Philadelphia, and Tennessee, and
attending his freshman year of
high school in Water Valley,
Mississippi, he settled down for
his .last three years of high
school in Goldsboro, N. C.
While in Goldsboro High he held
various student offices, served
as president of the Spanish
Club, and played the clarinet
in the Band.
Bill enjoys hunting and fishing
as pastimes, and he does a lot
of it! He is presently living at
2629 Walker Avenue In the home
of one of Vick's retired employees,
Elizabeth Mitchell.
Fifteenth Vickette Class Awarded
Certificates Of Proficiency June 2
C. A. McKeel, Personnel Manager, awards diplomas to the Vickettes,
(1 to r) Nancy Riley, Nathalia Teague, and Rochelle Graham.
June 2 was graduation day for the fifteenth Vickette Class.
Rochelle Graham, Nancy Riley, and Nathalia Teague, who began their training June 17, 1957, were awarded their certificates
of proficiency by C. A. McKeel,
Manager of the Personnel Administration Department. Thes e
girls attended King's Business
College where they" received
formal training in shorthand and
Business English. Also, during
their course of training various
company personnel held discussions on the Company, enterprise,
departmental organization, and
office procedures. They were
also assigned a series of books
to read and review in order to
broaden their background and
improve their writing ability and
grammar.
Rochelle graduated from Bessemer   High    School   in   1957.
While in school  she  served on
the school paper and annual staffs;
she was a cheerleader, a Junior
Marshall,   and  Sophomore  Class
President.      During   her   senior
year she served as president of
F. H. A., historian of the Monogram Club, and secretary of the
Beta   Club.      Her   hobbies  are
keeping    scrapbooks,    reading,
and sewing.     Rochelle  will be
doing stenographic work in the
Accounting Department, and she
also   relieves   the   switchboard
operator.  	
Nancy Grey, a graduate from
Jamestown High School, belonged
to the Latin Club and the Library Club, and was a Student
Council Representative three
years. As a member of the 4-H
Club, she served as local secretary and county pianist. Nancy
was typist for the school annual
and the newspaper. She spent
much time during her senior year
Dlaving the piano for the Glee
•Club. Her main interests are
sewing and music. Nancy will
be performing clerical duties in
the Analytical Laboratory.
Nathalia, a 1957 graduate of
Liberty High School, served as
editor of the school paper, art
editor of the senior annual, and
a Junior Marshal. She was president of the Beta Club and Glee
Club during her senior year, and
as a member of F. H. A., she
served as vice-president in 1956.
She was also elected president
of her Junior and Senior Classes.
Her hobbies include drawing,
painting, and sewing. Nathalia
will be doing stenographic work
in the Personnel Department and
editing the VICK NEWS.
Vick Plans New Acquisition
Vick President, Mr. H. S. Richardson, Jr., and Mr. Myron
Walker, president of Walker Laboratories, Inc., Mount Vernon,
N. Y., made a joint announcement on June 9 telling of Vick
Chemical Company plans to acquire all the properties, assets,
and business of Walker Laboratories. The proposed agreement
must be ratified by Walker stockholders at a special meeting June
20 and would become effective
July 2.
Walker Laboratories, established 18 years ago, produces a wide
range of vitamin and nutritional
specialties prescribed by the medical profession. Its acquisition,
part of Vick's continuing diversification prog, am in the health area,
gives Vick a position In the Important vitamin and nutrition field,
and rounds out its ethical phar
maceutical business, Mr. Richardson pointed out. Vick's other
ethical pharmaceutical divisions
are the Wm. S. Merrell Co., which
concentrates its efforts in the
field of organic chemistry and
chemotherapeutics, and the National Drug Company which specializes in biochemistry, virology,
and human biologicals.
In accordance with Vick's
established policy, Walker Laboratories will retain its own identity
and continue to operate as a
separate division under Vick
ownership. Mr. Walker will continue as president.