Henning Webb Prentis Jr.

Background

He was born on July 11, 1884 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, the son of Henning Webb Prentis, a high school principal, and Mary Morton McNutt.

Education

He completed high school in three years and earned an A. B. from the University of Missouri in three years, graduating in 1903. He also did graduate work at the University of Cincinnati in economics, earning an M. A. in 1907.

Career

He remained at the University of Missouri until 1905, serving as secretary to the president, a position that initially paid $11 per week. In 1905, Prentis became secretary of the University of Cincinnati.

In 1907 he became assistant to the manager of the insulation division of the Armstrong Cork Co. in Pittsburgh. At Armstrong, Prentis became interested in the potential of advertising and spent a great deal of time selling management on its importance. In 1909 he wrote "Cork - Its Origins and Uses, " the first piece of promotional literature published by Armstrong. He followed with "Engineer's Handbook on Corkboard Insulation, " "selling helps" for retailers, and booklets on home decoration.

Later, Prentis was appointed manager of the advertising department and initiated a three-year $50, 000 national advertising campaign. The first national advertisement run by Armstrong appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in September 1917. Three years later Prentis was appointed general sales manager of the floor division. He continued to introduce new ideas, such as recruiting college graduates as salesmen.

In 1926, Prentis was elected to the board of directors and made a vice-president of Armstrong; he became first vice-president in 1929 and, five years later, president. As president Prentis put more emphasis on consumer goods; diversified by acquiring rubber, asphalt tile, and glass plants; and consolidated the insulation and building material divisions. He established a general personnel department in 1937 to deal with "the four specters that loom behind every man and woman who works for a living - sickness, death, old age, and unemployment. "

Prentis was a tireless participant in the debate of the 1930's between businessmen and New Dealers. (In his lifetime he delivered more than 700 speeches. ) Representative titles of his speeches are "The Price of Freedom, " "The Roots of Liberty" and "The Tripod of Freedom. "

During the 1930's Prentis was a member of the National Advisory Council of the American Liberty League, of the United States Chamber of Commerce (director, 1938 - 1940), and of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) (director, 1936; president, 1940; chairman, 1941).

On the eve of World War II, Prentis recognized the vulnerability of Armstrong as a non-metalworking firm and organized the conversion to contribute to wartime production demands. By April 1941 the company had a munitions division, and by the end of the war it had filled war production contracts worth more than $110 million. From April 1942 to January 1943 Prentis served as deputy director of the War Production Board for the Philadelphia region. Thus he became a part of the government that so often had been the target of his speeches.

After the war Prentis guided Armstrong through a period of expansion that included the construction of two more asphalt tile plants, a fiberboard plant, and a bottle closure plant. By 1950, when he was named chairman of the board, the record of growth during his tenure was impressive. Annual sales by Armstrong had climbed from $22 million in 1934 to $163 million, and annual earnings from $2 million to $10 million. From 1950 until his death he played the role of elder statesman, serving on national and international committees, and delivering speeches.

He died at Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Achievements

• Henning Webb Prentis Jr. was the president of Armstrong Cork Co. , made a major contribution to the rationalization of wholesale distribution by establishing a principle that assured "even the smallest wholesaler a price proportionately lower than that given to the largest retailer, to compensate the wholesaler for the service he renders. " His "Open book" operations, as opposed to secret deals, were ridiculed by some competitors, but proved successful. Other his innovations included inviting wholesalers to meet periodically with Armstrong policymakers and training sessions or courses for wholesalers, retailers, and salesmen. All of Prentis' early innovations were related to marketing, and it can be argued that the growth of the company was to a large degree a product of its marketing methods. He was clearly one of the better-educated and more articulate conservative businessmen of his day, and became a popular spokesman for this particular viewpoint. As the president of the National Association of Manufacturers he inspired a "Declaration of Principles" and strengthened the educational and public information programs of the organization. In 1956 the American Management Association and the ASME awarded him the annual Henry Laurence Gantt Medal for distinguished achievement in industrial management as a service to the community. "

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Responsibilities of Victory
  • Thomas Morton Armstrong, 1836-1908: Pioneer In Cork

Views

He believed, the rise of big government was a serious threat to economic and personal freedom.

Personality

He was a formal, hard-driving, self-made man who never wavered in his commitment to the basic tenets of free enterprise. His major shortcoming was one common to many self-made men: the inability to comprehend human frailty.

Connections

On September 2, 1909, he married Ida Bernice Cole. They had no children.

Father:

Henning Webb Prentis

Mother:

Mary Morton McNutt

Spouse:

Ida Bernice Cole