Gather rotund , loyal worker and company envoys ! Doff your caps , freshen your sniff , and dab down your side parting for enkindle singalong fromSongs of the IBM , a 1937 book of songs that babble out the praises of our illustrious employer : The EVER ONWARD I.B.M.
Thanks to a fantastic(ally weird ) find fromArs Technica today , we get a glimpse of what company culture was like at the leaflet of the modern age . The 1937 edition of the IBM ’s songbook solicited “ your outspoken favorable reception by lusty cooperation in our Sung dynasty - fests at our rule and fellowship gatherings . ” The book is astonishingly long , with 100 song set out from odes to “ I.B.M. , all glorious , ” to ditties devoted to actual employees — begin with the high ups and then trickling down to lower - level director . There ’s even an interlude to “ All our IBM arrangement service girls . ”
But the name you learn the most ? Thomas Watson , IBM ’s CEO and , presumptively , the someone who encouraged the annual tradition of the songbook . In different moments , Watson is described as :

Head and soul of our splendid I.B.M.
So crowing and so square and so true
Our drawing card fine , the great in the land

Our President and most darling man
Great organizer and a friend so true
That “ piece of homo , ” our sterling prexy

Here are a few other great minute in the book :
Our product are screw in every zona ,
Our reputation sparkles like a treasure !

We ’ve fought our way through — and unexampled field we ’re sure to conquer too
For the EVER ONWARD I.B.M.
Another little ditty sung to the tune of Marching Through Georgia :

I.B.M. leads all the world with wonderful machines ,
Its great corps of engineer command our high esteem ;
Alpha - bet - i - cally we will bring them on the fit ;

“ Ever look forward ” is their catchword .
Yes : It ’s jolly damn soft to find outlandishness in the record . ButArs ’ Lee Hutchinson explainsthat , in fact , it ’s not all that weird when placed in historic context : “ the majority of the Sung dynasty add up out of the Great Depression epoch , and employees lucky enough to be steadfastly employed by a ship’s company like IBM often were really that thankful . ” It ’s also deserving channelize out , as many commenters have , that this was just a few years before IBM wouldknowingly activate the Holocaustwith its lick - card technology .
you could peruse Songs of the IBM at will here .

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