THE VICKS VAPORUB TRAINING PROGRAM.

THE VICKS VAPORUB TRAINING PROGRAM. Kids, I think that jobs that involve “getting your hands dirty” are good beginning jobs —as well as good jobs later on. Before his pathbreaking work on city living, William H. Whyte wrote a best seller in the 50’s: THE ORGANIZATION MAN. I read it in the 50’s and I remember his praise for the training program that the Vicks company (as in Vicks VapoRub) had. He considered himself fortunate to have undergone it rather than the fancier ones offered by other companies. This article has some quotes from Whyte’s book which describe the program. The program “essentially amounted to being tossed into the deep end with a sink-or-swim challenge, required to cover a non-prime sales territory, doing real, consequential work.” I remember that Whyte said that the ultimate challenge was to persuade the owner of a small store to nail a metal Vicks sign to his counter.