State

The City of Unusualities Kannapolis is flic» ••mill village" which grew up fo he one of Norlli Carolina's largesf cities, and it's most unic|iic. At the entrance to the city where Cannon towels and sheets are made is a large sign announcing that Cannon is the "Largest Manufacturer of House¬ hold Textiles." You look for another line on that sign, like "In the South" or "In the Nation." There isn’t any oth¬ er line. Cannon is superlative in its field, period. South, nation, world, cosmos. But you could design Kannapolis signs which might be of even more general interest than the fact that Can¬ non is a big manufacturer. Such As Kannapolis is the most unusual city, period. It was started as a mill "vil¬ lage," but grew into a city, without, however, ever dropping the funda¬ mentals of the old mill village econo¬ my, the only mill village ever to do so. It teems with unusualities. Its nearly 29,000 population makes it the largest unincorporated place, period. Twenty thousand persons — not all residents — work for one com¬ pany. It has no mayor, city council, city attorney, welfare department, city By PAUL PLEASANTS taxes or assessments, no chamber of Commerce or city politics. And yet a visitor only sees a neat, trim city, with broad streets and a keen shopping center containing every type of store and commercial enter¬ prise. It has a municipal building hous¬ ing a police department and a jail, an efficient fire department and a thriv¬ ing daily newspaper. The school sys¬ tem is exceptionally well-regarded, and an intensive recreation program revolves around the biggest Y.M.C.A., period. It has the usual activities of cities its size. There is a Rotary and a Lions Club, P.T.A. Associations, Junior Chamber of Commerce, Women's Clubs, Scout groups and a very active Young Democrats’ organization. Built on Farm When James Cannon decided to ex¬ pand his textile manufacturing, he aueht a worn-out 600-acre farm 24 about two miles north of the village of Glass. Here, in 1907, he erected his plants and housing for his employes. This mill village, like others of that day, was built so that labor, much of it coming out of the hills, would have a place to live. But Kannapolis not only had a motive for its origin; its builder had a plan which grew with the village, and neither he nor his son and succes¬ sor, Charles A. Cannon, ever let the city outstrip the plan. Growth of the town has been in direct ratio with growth of the Cannon Mills there, and that growth ran about like this: How it Grew James W. Cannon, clerk in a Con¬ cord mercantile establishment, in 1887 invested in a textile mill, and gradual¬ ly became a leading manufacturer of a rough cloth known as “Cannon cloth," widely used by Southern wom¬ en who did most of their own sewing. Sensing a trend toward ready-made products, Cannon began the manu¬ facture of towels, and later of sheets, and other household items and ho¬ siery. His decision to pioneer in this line was characteristic of the Cannon enterprise demonstrated many times since. The so-called "terry towel" which we called "lurkish," was not widely accepted in America until World War I, when the smooth towel was difficult to get. Into this gap, Can¬ non plunged with his soft, absorbent towel, and it soon dominated the mar¬ ket. Competitors were never allowed to pull up close. Pushing the advantage. Cannon introduced pastel color in towls and sheets, introduced bathroom sets, used cellophane packaging, and inaugurated other merchandis¬ ing ideas. Before this, however, they launched an advertising campaign through N. W. Ayer, which made the Cannon name synonymous with house¬ hold textiles, until today it is one of the most valuable brand-names in American industry. Like the products it made, Kannap¬ olis adapted itself both to a growing world, and to its own growth, and it THE STATE. DECEMBER 8. 1951 Aerial View of a Part of Kannapolis.