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The decision was made to publish an �extra� overnight, but that�s only part of the story. The updated papers � the first �war news� edition since Vietnam � had to get into the hands of readers. Normal single-copy sales staff were augmented by Journal circulation employees as well as employees in other departments who hit the streets before dawn to hawk the papers at intersections and other sites. �I sold over 600 of the Desert Storm papers,� said Fred McClain, circulation sales manager. �I had a hot sales spot at Hurley Hospital. ... I must have called back to The Journal at least three times to get more papers sent out to me.� More than 3,000 additional readers grabbed a copy, and January 17, 1991, stands as one of The Journal�s largest-ever single copy sale days.
Goals unchanged New technology has rippled through the circulation department over the years, but has not altered its basic job: to put the newspaper in the hands of the reader. �We�re anxiously awaiting the next production plant modernization,� said Samuel Harris, circulation director, referring to plans for the next two years. �New presses and distribution center equipment will mean better products and service for our readers.�
Distribution, sales and service are the last stops in the production chain at a daily newspaper. Every day, 850 independent contractors put a newspaper on the doorsteps of 93,000 customers in seven Michigan counties. Gone are the days of the �street hawkers,� youngsters who cried out the daily headlines to make a fast sale on the sidewalks of Flint. Today, more than half of Journal carriers are adults delivering by motor vehicle or on foot. Journal routes range in size from small walking routes of 15-20 papers up to huge motor routes with up to 1,500 customers. An average walking home delivery route is about 45-50 customers. In 1942, Mack McCain, 73, of Flint had a �monster� of a route. �On Sunday I had to put the funny papers together with the regular sections and start peddling over 400 newspapers.� �My route,� he said, �covered a large part of Flint�s East Side all the way from Clifford Street out to Dort Highway. I would start just after midnight and sometimes didn�t finish until 4 in the afternoon. We always collected from our customers on Friday and paid our bills down at the Journal on Saturday. �I think we made about 1 cent per daily paper back then, and maybe 2 1/2 cents for a Sunday,� he said. Most Journal subscribers today mail their payments to the Journal, said Bryan Palmer, circulation zone manager. �This takes the collection burden off of our distributors and has increased our retention rates among the youth carriers,� who no longer have to secure payment from customers themselves.
Tied to growth The Journal runs sales contests among the carriers on a regular basis to gain new subscribers. One such promotion in the l952 wasn�t very successful.
The Journal wanted to promote its new circulation goal to carriers. Hundreds of red-and-blue ties emblazoned with �83,000� and a cartoon face were to be distributed to carriers, who were supposed to wear them on the job. �You know, even today kids don�t think much of ties,� said Roy Attaway, retired circulation district manager. �I never saw any of my carriers wearing one of those things.� Despite the gaudy ties, the Journal in succeeding years far surpassed the 83,000 mark. Today, Journal carriers compete for cash, prize points and other incentives. In addition to home delivery, thousands of Journal customers buy their paper on a day-to-day basis from stores and newspaper boxes. It�s even possible today to buy a Journal while you�re idling toward the drive-up window at your favorite fast-food restaurant. Eleven single copy distributors supply papers to more than 1,400 vending machines and retail outlets.
Truckin� In 1926, the Journal was one of the first newspapers in the country to use trucks for home delivery in the rural areas and bundle delivery. Until 1955, the Journal owned and operated its own fleet of delivery trucks staffed by employees. The Journal got out of the trucking business after a young employee (who eventually became president of The Journal�s owner, Booth Newspapers Inc.) �had a rather large fender bender,� according to John Bacon, former Circulation director. Today, newspaper bundles are delivered to carriers� homes by 40 contract truckers who load and deliver their cargo eight times a week � not that The Journal publishes eight days a week; it takes an additional delivery run to give carriers their pre-printed Sunday advertising insert packages. By far, �motor route� contractors distribute the majority of home-delivered papers. These independent business operators� routes stretch from 10-115 miles each day. All together, 94 motor route drivers cover more than 5,500 miles a day. That�s about 32,000 copies a day, 365 days a year, rain or shine, day and night. David Gibbs of Flushing has 1,400 customers. �I�ve got the best customers on my route,� said Gibbs. �They make the drudge days with the rain, sleet and cold weather more tolerable. �Even delivering in the dead of winter with the window open and the heater blasting doesn�t change my mind about this job.�
Edward McGraw started at The Journal in 1964. He can be reached at (810) 766-6142 or emcgraw@flintjournal.com. 
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