HDV Forklifts

This photo, from the cover of the October 1, 1951 Callaway Beacon, shows a line of new forklifts that had just recently been purchased for Callaway Mills with each forklift’s driver. The caption reads, “Drivers of Hyster lift trucks at HDV Division are (front to back) Tom Freeman and Johnny Ellison, Valway Plant employees; Henry Lee Cotton and James Wood, Dye Plant employees; and Green Tucker, Enoch Dickson, Ollie Buford and Nora Yancey, Hillside Plant employees.”

Front cover of 1 October 1951 Callaway Beacon, Troup County Archives

An accompanying article sings the praises of the new forklifts. “The Hysters can lift everything from bales of cotton and boxes of yarn to rugs and have a maximum 2000 pound power lift….They usually travel at a rate of 25 miles per hour and during a week each Hyster covers about 1,000 miles.”

The Callaway Beacon was a weekly news magazine published by Callaway Mills for its employees from 1949 to 1968. The wealth of information regarding the mills and the communities of employees is astounding. The Troup County Archives possesses a full run of these news magazines.