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Motor Products Corp. was founded in 1916 during Wall Street's first big boom in motor shares—a merger of five small accessory companies. After profits in excess of $2,000,000 in 1928 and 1929, Motor Products' income dropped rapidly to a $518,000 deficit in 1932. By 1934 the company was back in the black and last year's profits were $1,079,000. President of Motor Products since 1935 has been Antone Lyman Lott, 50, whose service with the company dates to its founding. A graduate of the University of Nebraska (Class of 1907) in electrical engineering, he got into selling 20 years ago, rose to become Motor Products' sales manager, later general manager. Where he will fit in the new setup has not been announced.
Mr. Briggs, now 59, is not in the best of health, lives in Florida except in the summer, when he goes to Detroit on business and to watch the Tigers. Second in command at Briggs Mfg. Co. is William Patrick Brown, vice president, who was paid a $75,000 salary last year, $15,000 more than Mr. Briggs.
While Briggs and Motor Products do not compete in the accessory trade they do have one thing in common: labor trouble. Indeed, Detroit newspapers no longer consider a Briggs strike news until it approaches in violence the 1933 walkout which forced Henry Ford to shut down. In the opinion of Labor, working conditions in the Briggs plants are a disgrace to Detroit. When Michigan's Governor-elect Frank Murphy was Detroit's mayor, a citizens' committee was appointed to look into Briggs labor policies with results by no means complimentary to the management. A Motor Products strike ended last summer after ten months of bickering between competing unions, but it failed. Last trouble at Briggs was an epidemic of departmental sit-down strikes a month ago which resulted in wage increases. Fortnight ago Briggs announced a year-end bonus of $1,000,000 for 26,000 employes.