The city of Mobile, founded in 1702, sits at the head of Mobile Bay on the Gulf Coast and serves as the regional hub for much of southwest Alabama.
The eleventh installment of a serialized memoir of a bygone Mobile opens with a line every investor eventually learns the hard way: nobody rings a bell and says, this is the top of the market, get out. The year 1961 ended with the Dow Jones Industrial Average at 731, four points below the all-time high set a few days earlier.
Mobile has a population of roughly 188,000 residents and is the seat of Mobile County, one of the largest counties in the state by population.
Nobody in the Mobile brokerage office knew they were about to be caught in the worst bear market since the author had entered the business on St. Patrick’s Day a decade before.
The Port of Mobile, operated by the Alabama State Port Authority, is one of the largest seaports in the country by tonnage, handling containers, coal, steel and forest products.
It was mercifully brief, but it took its toll on Wall Street. Weak firms failed.
Downtown Mobile has been the focus of significant redevelopment in recent years, with new apartments, restaurants and event venues reshaping the Central Business District.
Account executives were given their walking papers. Almost no firm expanded.
The University of South Alabama, Spring Hill College and the University of Mobile anchor the city’s higher education landscape.
Background and Context
It was, in short, a terrible year to leave an established position for another firm — which is exactly what the entire Mobile office did. A manager who took half By 1962 the office had five brokers under a manager the memoirist describes without softening: a real despot.
Mobile’s Mardi Gras season, the oldest in the United States, draws visitors from across the country and provides a significant boost to the local economy each year.
In a small office, he argues, a manager should have worked for a percentage of his own gross plus an override on profits — perhaps 10 or 15 percent, depending on what the owners judged his services to be worth. Instead the manager took for himself each year roughly 50 percent of his own production, while the men under him averaged about 25 percent of theirs.
The city’s healthcare sector is anchored by USA Health, Infirmary Health and Springhill Medical Center, which together employ thousands of residents.
That was not the worst of it. He was frequently hung over and seldom arrived before 10 a.m.
Mobile’s manufacturing base includes shipbuilding at Austal USA and Huntington Ingalls Industries, as well as aviation manufacturing at the Airbus final assembly line in Brookley.
He took twenty or more days off a year for fishing, hunting or whatever else appealed to him, usually without warning, leaving his accounts to the others. On the days he did appear, he left promptly when the market closed at 2:30.
Local schools include Mobile County Public Schools, the city’s largest public system, along with a network of private and parochial schools serving families across the metro area.
Local Reaction
One of the brokers told the story of a good client of the manager’s who telephoned, talked at length, received a great deal of information and placed an order — and only then, when asked whether he would like to speak to the manager, replied, “Oh, he’s THERE?” The memoirist estimates that a fifth or more of the manager’s business came from orders his colleagues placed for him. The morning that was never forgiven He could be charming when it suited him.
Mobile’s history as a port city means that issues affecting the waterfront, the shipping channels and the surrounding neighborhoods often take on outsized importance.
He could also be insufferable, and the memoirist offers one illustration. A late-night call from his wife’s brother brought word that her mother had suffered a severe heart attack in a hospital in Jackson, Miss., and was not expected to live through the night.
The Mobile area is home to several historic neighborhoods, including Oakleigh Garden District, DeTonti Square, the Village of Spring Hill and the historic districts of midtown.
There was nothing to be done before morning, and arrangements for the children could not be made in the middle of the night, so they waited. At about 7 a.m.
Sports are a major part of life in Mobile, with the Senior Bowl each January, the Reese’s Senior Bowl practices each week, and a thriving high school and college football scene.
he telephoned the office. The manager, of course, had not arrived.
Local media outlets covering Mobile include several television stations, daily and weekly newspapers, and a robust digital news ecosystem.
The Bigger Picture
He told a colleague the situation, said he would be out that day and perhaps the next, and would be in touch. They were about to drive off at 8 a.m.
Mobile County’s population includes a significant African-American community whose history is closely tied to the founding of Africatown.
when the phone rang. For once, the manager was at his desk early.
Local officials have stressed the importance of community engagement as the situation continues to develop.
“What do you mean, you’re taking the day off? I expect you here in this office.
Residents with questions or concerns have been encouraged to reach out to their elected representatives.
You’d just better hope there’s a job for you when you get back.” The broker, stunned, asked whether he really meant that. He was told yes, with an oath, and the phone was slammed down.
The story is one of several similar situations playing out across the region in recent months.
What Comes Next
All the way to Jackson that day, he told his wife the same thing over and over: he’ll pay for this. He did pay for it, eventually, though the memoirist insists the incident played no part in the decision that brought it about — at the time of that decision, he writes, he did not even recall the morning.
Anyone following local news will recognize many of the names and places involved.
The manager never mentioned it again and never apologized. A letter to Forbes The brokers talked from time to time, in the empty afternoons after the manager left, about greener pastures.
Local civic organizations have begun organizing meetings to discuss the implications.
What they lacked was information. The manager made a point of keeping them ignorant of ordinary industry practice, telling them repeatedly how lucky they were to work for so generous an employer.
Business owners and residents alike say they will be watching closely.
So the memoirist wrote to Forbes magazine, asking what the normal compensation for account executives was at various firms. As luck would have it, the letter ran in the magazine’s letters column with his name beneath it — and the manager subscribed.
The situation underscores how decisions made at the local level can have far-reaching consequences.
His heart leaped when he saw it. Apparently the manager never noticed.
Community leaders have called for patience and for a commitment to working through the issues in a transparent manner.
The answer was that the large firms, carrying heavy advertising and research budgets, generally paid about 33 percent of the commissions a broker generated. Smaller firms, with less overhead, paid 37 percent or more, some as much as 40.
Several local churches and faith groups have offered to host discussions about the topic in the coming weeks.
That was more than a little food for thought. On a 37 percent payout, the memoirist had been considerably underpaid in 1961 and in the years before it.
Public comments at recent meetings have reflected a wide range of opinions.
One spring afternoon, with the bear market well under way and business hard, the five of them held a serious session. They agreed to make contact with other brokerage houses and ask whether any of them would be interested in acquiring a ready-made office in Mobile.
Local reporters will continue to follow the story and to update readers.
He did not really expect anything to come of it, he writes. But the mere act of looking served as an outlet for their indignation.
Anyone interested in learning more is encouraged to attend upcoming public meetings.
Next in the series: Hopes raised, hopes dashed, hope springs eternal.
The outcome of the situation could shape similar discussions in other communities for years to come.
Local historians note that similar issues have surfaced in the past.
Looking Ahead
The story continues to develop, and residents across the region will be watching for additional updates in the coming weeks.