FRSA – 100 Years Strong Lisa Pate, FRSA Executive Director
Throughout 2022, this column will recap some of FRSA’s rich history, through accounts from meeting minutes and a published book called FRSA The First Half Century. The 1950 convention was held in Clearwater where an old motto was readopted: “Let every member get a new member.” Edgar John Phillips, speaking on “A Time For Greatness,” stressed the Association’s lack of preparedness to cope with Russia in a military way and urged better understanding of Christian principles to lead the country from war into a lasting peace. Now that the business of making quality roofs was old hat, a speaker from Australia urged the Association to follow the Australian plan of hanging cement tile on wood strips without the benefit of solid sheathing and felt sub-roofing. He urged FRSA to encourage steep roof construction, for beauty, rather than low pitched roofs. He felt the time was ripe to concentrate on design in addition to quality. E.M. Foundersmith of Mueller Furnace Co. suggested resuming the practice of listing names of manufacturers and distributors on the back of each monthly bulletin, for a small fee, to assist in financing the Association. Later that year, Don Brown of St. Petersburg happily reported a high production year with $4 million more building permits than Tampa. “Miami stands well out in front,” Brown said, “in permits issued. In the month of March (1950) alone, the total for Dade County was over $19 million, breaking all records. All these figures are interpreted as a healthy sign and the ‘experts’ predict continued high activity in nearly all sections.” Brown felt the “gigantic” bridge in the offing, which would connect the tip of St. Pete with the mainland to the South, would “expose the city to traffic down the West coast and some of these people are bound to rub off on the city.” Brown referred to what was later to be called the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. 16
FLORIDA ROOFING | June 2022
Hoping to benefit from the bulletin’s wide circulation, Brown asked, “Here’s something you experienced men in the state may be able to help St. Pete on. We are going to try and reorganize our local association, which has existed and ceased to exist several times in the last 20 years. What we want is the benefit of the experience of active local associations. What makes your group click? What holds it together and what good do you get out of it?” Shortly after this, the Georgia Roofing and Metal trades asked FRSA for advice on organizing an association modeled after the Florida group. The necessity to innovate during the war had started a trend and new ideas were continually being tried. A.C. Ferguson of Jacksonville, during the fall of 1950, told the association of a new-but-not-yet-proven concept in roofing. Ferguson explained, “In our territory there is a company that has assembled a mess of materials…. I don’t know how good this combination of materials is; we all know that it takes time to prove anything new in the roofing business and even then sometimes we find that we are wrong; but I do know that the man who is promoting this company is one of the best damn salesmen I ever saw or heard of in my lifetime as he has gone around and sold our local architects, engineers, builders and school boards on this particular product which consists of the following: one 15 pound rag felt nailed, over this he applied a coat of some standard make cold process asphaltic emulsion, on to this he rolls a sheet of .002 aluminum foil, he coats the foil with this cold process emulsion and then spreads marble chips. He tells people that it will last as long as a 20-year bonded roof and that it will be much cooler than the ordinary built-up roofs and that it won’t be necessary to insulate! I repeat, he’s one of the best salesmen I have ever met and he is doing a hell of a good job in selling this roof for about $23 per square.”