Whenever White Sox baseball players slide safely into a base, most Chicago fans erupt with excitement, loudly encouraging their team to continue on its playoff course with the club's best start in decades.
However, one particular fan's thoughts tend to reflect upon how much garment damage has been inflicted and what it will take to mend that particular textile imperfection.
Joe Caldwell, who owns three TailoRite clothing care plants in the southside of Chicago, is responsible for keeping the uniforms of the White Sox, well, white.
"Not only do we take care of the uniforms for the White Sox, we do all of the American League teams that come to play at Comiskey Park," said Caldwell, who was busy adding the names and numbers to 40 White Sox jackets, which, coincidentally, also needed their sleeves shortened.
"We take care of all of the alteration repairs or whatever they need -- the cleaning, the names, the numbers, the emblems -- the whole nine yards. "
Such an account would make any cleaner/tailor envious, but the job certainly comes with high pressure and very little turn-around time. On any given night, Joe's shop might have as few as seven hours to gather the uniforms of both teams who just played at Comiskey Park, clean them, mend them, alter them and return them by the next morning so the players can have time to practice their batting or fielding.
"Baseball players are strange," mused Caldwell. "They don't want to lose their pants. They want that pair of pants because that's the pair they're hitting in. You've got to repair it so they can play in it the next day."
Of course, that is easier said than done. Between two ball clubs, anywhere between 180 and 200 pieces of clothing might come in. Also, the garment problems vary from night to night. "You don't know what you're going to have until the uniforms come in," he emphasized. "You've got guys with slide holes, some have blood, or a zipper's broken. Or maybe they drank Gatorade or something and spilled it all over themselves."
Still, Caldwell wouldn't have it any other way. In 1993, when TailoRite landed the account and became the first African-American cleaners to maintain the uniforms of a Major League Baseball team, Joe told the team's manager: "We want you to concentrate on winning games. We'll concentrate on making you look good."
Born in Marvell, Arkansas in 1932, Caldwell spent many years of his life playing baseball in the wide open fields and working on the family farm.
"It was hard work. The farm, at the time, wasn't as modern as it is today. Plus, the farm equipment was very antiquated. When we first started, we were using mules and horses to do the plowing," he recalled.
Living on a farm made it difficult for Caldwell to keep up with his studies because the crops had to take first priority. "When it was farm time, you had to be in the field," he explained. "You would never get nine months out of a year to go to school."
Still, Caldwell managed to keep his grades up, and he had a lot of time to play baseball. "You could scratch out a baseball diamond almost anywhere. The good thing about the South was that the weather was pretty all year round."
In 1949, Joe's parents decided to move with their three kids (it would later be nine) to Chicago, where they hoped the children would have better schooling opportunities. There, in high school, Joe boxed and played baseball. "I was always very fast, so I could scratch out base hits," he recalled. He also stayed busy with a variety of part-time jobs (working at a mattress factory, helping people take their coal buckets up in the winter, etc.), but it wasn't until after high school that Joe began to look at the world with an expanded perception.
In 1951, Joe became the first person in his family to join the Air Force. For the next four years, he learned about discipline as he visited New York, Wyoming, Korea and many other places -- places that he had only read about. Because President Truman had recently integrated the service, Joe also had a chance to be exposed to White America, something he hadn't seen much in Chicago or Marvell.
"I was in a branch of military that had very few African-Americans in it to begin with, with a group of guys that were different than me, in color at least. Listening to the experiences was very inspiring," he remembered. "I learned a lot. I found that there was a different world that I had not been exposed to. If anything, it was the thing that really turned my life around."
After Caldwell returned from overseas to Chicago in 1955, he wanted to map out the direction that he was going to take his life. He got a job at the Chicago Transit Authority, which had plenty to offer. "It was a good-paying job, especially for African-Americans," he said. "The job was good, but I still wasn't satisfied with it. Soon after starting that job, I recognized that this was not going to do it. I decided then I would go back to school and learn a trade. I always loved clothing. I loved that industry."
Caldwell got a push in the right direction by a man named Celious Henderson, who owned the Metropolitan School of Tailoring in Chicago. Joe took a 26-month course and became a Master Custom Tailor.
Joe, who headed up the school's baseball team, cites Henderson as the one person who had a real influence on his life. "I guess I was an aggressive student. Rather than just doing the schooling that was required by the curriculum, I was sewing continuously because I really wanted to be a top notch tailor."
Certainly, Joe's thirst for education was not easily abated. He became a student teacher at the tailoring school, and after he graduated, he enrolled as a business administrator at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
While Joe was busy learning his trade, he also found time to meet his future wife, Barbara, the sister-in-law of a close friend with whom he played baseball at the tailoring school.
In 1957, the couple got married and are currently enjoying their 43rd year of marital harmony. Together, they raised four children -- Vernon, Karen, Veta and Joseph, Jr. "All of my kids were raised in this business," he said. "My kids always knew what was going to happen on the weekend. They were going to work. That was good, it kept them busy and focused."
Now the four Caldwell kids have all flown the coop and have pursued higher education (Joe has seen to that). With the children gone, the couple currently enjoys competing against each other as they each run different TailoRite stores.
TailoRite has expanded a lot over the years. Joe combined with several partners, including Celious Henderson, and initially started the company by working at wholesale for other cleaners. Joe was strictly a "bushelman" at the time, but eventually the company expanded to include retail traffic and a drycleaning plant.
In 1975, the stockholders broke up the three-store chain and Joe ended up purchasing two of the stores (he acquired a third one again in 1981).
"We've been successful because we have a good reputation on the southside of Chicago," Joe said. "The main thing we are concerned about is quality work."
In fact, Joe believes that the drycleaning industry will be needed in the foreseeable future for that exact reason. "I don't care what you hear about anything else... there is a need for that personal service that the drycleaner has to offer."
However, it is up to drycleaners to keep up with the time. "The drycleaning industry today is quite different than it was yesteryear. It's far more sophisticated," he explained. "You've got a lot more reading to do, information is coming at you continuously. A lot of the small business people have some difficulties with that."
Fortunately for many small business cleaners, Joe works hard to make their lives easier. Though he is involved in numerous organizations, the one that hits home the most is the Illinois State Fabricare Association. Joe has been on ISFA's board for eight years and he just became the secretary of treasury for the group last year.
"Generally speaking, we are growing in numbers. We are growing in membership," he said of the association. "We need to make sure that we are all going in the same direction and that it is for the betterment of our environment and I think that is the focus of where ISFA is heading."
Where Joe is heading certainly doesn't seem to be retirement. "I don't look forward to retirement, to tell you the truth," he said. "My wife says I'll never do it. I know that one day it is inevitable."
In the meantime, Joe has plenty to keep him busy and content. When he isn't sewing up a torn uniform of Chris Singleton or Frank Thomas, or attending an ISFA function, he is serving on the board of directors for Seaway National Bank.
"I work a lot," Joe said matter-of-factly. "I guess I'm involved in a number of different associations. I like to be involved with public service, that kind of stuff. I do that fairly well. I'm always at some function of that nature when I can."
Staying so busy might sound stressful, but Joe knows he can always take a step back from the pressure and spend some time in his favorite place in his entire operation: the tailoring room.
"I love it. It's something I don't tire of. However tired I am, I can always relax when I am doing something in the tailoring room," he said. "Once I get in there, I'm sort of like a duck in water -- I'm home. I feel comfortable with that."
Shell Chemical Co. and SpinCycle,Inc. have launched CleanWave, LLC, a company that will offer overnight pick-up and delivery laundry service. The service is currently being tested in Miami, FL.
CleanWave seeks to offer a user-friendly, time-saving alternative to in-home and traditional laundry care. The customer can place orders over the telephone or via the Internet at www.cleanwave.com and choose pick-up and delivery times, as well as personalized and customized service options.
Customers will be able to specify the type of detergent/bleach and even the pickup/delivery time and place through the web site or via the phone. All prices are based on the number of CleanWave laundry bags, not by the pound like most services. The company plans to roll out the service nationally over the next two years.
"There is an increasing consumer demand for outsourcing home services like lawn care, pest control, and housekeeping with an annual market that already exceeds $100 billion," said Peter Ax, chairman and CEO of SpinCycle. "The pick up and delivery of laundry and dry cleaning could easily become a regularly scheduled service for those people who are too busy to perform routine laundry tasks at home."
Ax noted that the Department of Energy estimates Americans do 50 billion loads of laundry a year.
Jerry Golden, president of Shell Chemical Co., said his company has a history of "helping to develop laundry cleaning solutions that are more effective, efficient and that reduce the overall impact on the environment."
"CleanWave offers us the opportunity to get involved at an early stage in the development of an important new cleaning channel," Golden said. "The insights from our participation in CleanWave place us in a unique position to supply products, services and technologies to this emerging segment," he said
Shell Chemical Co., based in Houston, TX, is a unit of the Royal Dutch/ Shell Group of Companies and is one of the world's largest suppliers of surfactants used in consumer laundry. SpinCycle, based in Scottsdale, AZ owns and operates full service laundramats in 172 stores in 25 markets. The privately held company began operations in 1995.
Thermopatch Corp. has announced several promotions, including that of Bob Fudge to sales manager. His new duties include the sales and distributor network in Central and South America and the Far East. He will continue to be responsible for sales through factory sales representatives and distributors in the U.S. market.
Fred Luiks was promoted to sales manager for Thermopatch B.V. and will be responsible for sales through the distributor network in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Other appointments announced by the company include John Meunier to electronic project manager and Carey Merritt as chemist in the R& D Department.
Thermopatch provides textile identification, garment tracking, decorating and mending systems and related supplies.
Package Supply Corp., based in Avon, MA, has named four new vice presidents and one senior vice president.
Irving Caplan of Chestnut Hill, MA, is the new senior vice president. He has been with the company since 1974 and is primarily responsible for marketing, purchasing and cultivating new vendors and products.
The new vice presidents are Jan Baillargeon of Southbridge, MA; Dan Daily of Pawtucket, RI; George J. Forman of Marblehead, MA; and Steve A. Tomea of Southbridge, MA.
The American Business and Professional Women's Association selected Adco Inc., of Sedalia, MO, as the Missouri Employer of the Year. The award was presented to Adco president Charles Van Dyne at the annual ABPW convention in Columbia, MO.
Barbara A. Rogers has been named marketing communications manager for Miele Inc. the U.S. subsidiary of the German manufacturer of vacuums, kitchen and laundry appliances.
Rogers previously was with Thomas Cook Group where she was vice president of public relations and communications. During her career there, which began in 1985, she created the company's communications department for the North American market.
She will report directly to Nick Ord, president, and oversee all facets of marketing communications, including advertising, public relations, product information and promotional programs for Miele in the United States.
Continental Girbau Inc. has appointed Ed Ziegler as sales manager for the eastern United States and Canada. He will be responsible for developing marketing programs to strengthen the company's market penetration and distributor support. He will also manage Continental's national account program with the eastern United States and eastern Canada.
Ziegler has 19 years of experience in the commercial laundry industry, including positions with a major commercial laundry equipment manufacturer and a Florida distributor.
Continental Girbau is the largest of seven company-owned subsidiaries of Girbau S.A., based in Barcelona, Spain. Information is available from the company's base in Oshkosh, WI, phone (920) 231-8222 or www.cont-girbau.com.
Copyright © 2000, National Clothesline Maintained by: Hal Horning