CHICAGO — The golden anniversary.
That’s what 50 years of history is called.
Why golden? Traditionally the 50th is called that because of the wealth of experiences that can be “mined” from the years.
American Laundry News has many stories to share, and has been sharing institutional and industrial laundry news and information, since it started germinating in 1974.
“It’s a testament to the magazine’s impact and evolution over the decades, and it’s a perfect time to celebrate some stories from our past,” says Charles Thompson, owner and publisher of the publication.
As 2024 draws to a close, as Thompson says, it’s a perfect time to take a glance at the past, examine the present and look to the future of American Laundry News at 50.
EARLY DAYS
The beginning of American Laundry News can be traced to 1974, when a publisher out of New York, Mill Hollow Corp., planned a new tabloid-size publication for institutional laundries called Laundry News.
The first issue dropped in January 1975.
At that time, American Trade Magazines (ATM), published by Crain Communications, produced a digest-sized publication, American Laundry Digest, billed as serving the entire laundry industry: dry cleaners, vended operations and institutional launderers.
The digest debuted in January 1936.
Little did anyone know at the time that the two laundry publications were on course to create one “Newspaper of Record for Laundry & Linen Management.”
It’s interesting to look back at some of the topics each publication covered in 1974 and 1975.
In 1974, some stories American Laundry Digest covered included:
- A notice that the EPA was working on water pollution guidelines to start in 1975.
- How laundry operators were fighting the energy crisis.
- Explaining a group called WILD—Women in Laundry & Drycleaning.
- Quality control.
- Stain management.
- Linen control systems.
- Optimizing floor space and equipment footprints.
Some stories in Laundry News in 1975 included:
- Trends in on-premises laundries.
- Automation, conservation and cost/fuel savings.
- CLEAN ’75, the First World Educational and Cleaning Congress, staged April 21-24 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Women gaining industry recognition by capturing key managerial positions.
Topics that still resonate today in the industrial laundry industry and can be found in the pages of American Laundry News.
So, when did the publication officially debut?
In the 1990s, ATM acquired Mill Hollow Corp.’s Laundry News and combined it with American Laundry Digest, creating American Laundry News.
The first official American Laundry News magazine was delivered in October 1996.
BEHIND THE SCENES
But there’s more to the story of American Laundry News than publication launches and acquisitions.
The magazine wouldn’t exist without the people behind the scenes.
ATM traces its roots back to April 1934, when Roth & Son Publishing Co. published the inaugural issue of The American Drycleaner.
Headed by general manager Andrew Roth, the company’s goal for the magazine was to “lend a helping hand and a cheering smile to every cleaner and dyer.”
By its fourth issue, in September 1934, The American Drycleaner reined in industry expert Smitty Abrams, whose résumé included the presidency of the Illinois Association of Cleaners and Dyers, as its general manager and joint owner. Roth became the business manager.
Through the years, ATM grew alongside the textile care industry but also saw some internal changes.
By 1958, Roth became company chairman, while Abrams served as secretary-treasurer. But by that year’s September issues, the men had stepped down from their duties and passed the torch to Donald J. Martin, to serve as the company’s president and publisher.
The ’60s brought even more changes to the company and the industry, as Martin sold ATM to Crain Communications in 1967, while a rapidly growing industry trend began to emerge: self-service coin-operated laundries.
With this in mind, ATM acquired United Business Publications’ Coin-Op and Clean Car magazines in November 1972, renaming them American Coin-Op and American Clean Car.
Martin had retired by February 1974, passing the ATM reins to veteran trade magazine publisher Edwin Goldstein (who had joined the company in 1959).
By the end of the 1980s, Thompson would join ATM as Midwestern sales manager. He later became national sales manager in 1994.
Thompson’s track at ATM led him to the associate publisher position in 1997. When Goldstein announced his retirement by the end of that year, he chose Thompson to succeed him as publisher.
As ATM ventured into the new millennium, it changed right along with the times. The company introduced The Wire e-mail newsletters for all publications in 2005, plus launched websites for American Coin-Op, American Drycleaner and American Laundry News in 2007.
As 2011 got underway, Thompson entered negotiations to purchase ATM from Crain Communications, and by June, the transition was complete.
Thompson retained three ATM veterans: Bruce Beggs (editorial), Donald Feinstein (advertising sales) and Nathan Frerichs (digital media).
“(A challenge has always been) keeping the magazine relevant because the audience changes, the younger people sometimes want a different format,” shares Thompson.
“And keeping up with the industry trends and letting our readers know what those are—having American Laundry News adapt to those changes, see them and address them.”
AMERICAN LAUNDRY NEWS TODAY, TOMORROW
While the means have shifted from typewriters and camera-ready printing to computers and digital media, the goal of American Laundry News remains the same yesterday, today and tomorrow—to be the newspaper of record for laundry and linen management.
“This goes back to relevance, making sure that we are reaching our audience in the manner they want to be reached and informed,” Thompson says.
“The younger the audience, they’re less and less print readers and more online. We adapted to them immediately when our readers and advertisers said, you know, you’ve got to go online, you’ve got to be digital, and we’ve done it.
“The success of American Laundry News has been really the people here that put it together. They have such a deep knowledge of this industry.
“Bruce Beggs has been involved with American Laundry News since 1999, and now he’s the editorial director. And you two (Beggs and Poe) have a good collaboration back and forth, and everyone else through the salespeople and our internal people, we all understand the market.”
With all of the people and history behind it, American Laundry News will continue reporting the latest news and analyzing trends in the textile care industry, aiming for its next noteworthy milestone.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].
