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Martin Orlando Presentations Chief Robert Buck Oral History Interview

My name is Robert Buck.. I’m originally from New York and that’s where I was when… in 1960 Martin Marietta hired me. I was a copy writer for an ad agency up there and they wanted me to write recruiting material. It was very difficult to get engineers and technical people to move to Orlando because who’d ever heard of Orlando? And it was, you know, it was just not a place to be…

LISTEN Part I (16:06)   (Text highlights excerpts from audio recording)

 

So I was brought here and put in a group called Presentations and I was given unlimited money and whatnot to write brochures, ads and that sort of thing. You can see the expense, you’re doing thousands of those things. You know, that’s a very expensive brochure. You just didn’t normally do bound books. It’s a recruitment brochure…. VIEW

Front cover from Transition: Martin Marietta Scientists and Engineers Keeping Pace With Tomorrow by Robert Buck, circa 1960.

We had a whole art department. They were trying to recruit and that was the thing. We did ads that went into a high tech magazine. Just to get the scientists to move to Orlando and those were our principal scientists… VIEW.

This advertisement appeared in ARMY and SIGNAL magazines. 

They originally brought me here.. to do recruiting and we worked so fast on that they gave us everything else in the plant to do…And I hired different people because I just liked them or thought they were funny… I had to give them something to do. So I remember I gave Joe Torre security. So he ended up doing these giant posters… He created a group of spies and a blabbermouth. And I was the blabbermouth and the spies were various people and they were always hiding under the tables listening. And he did these posters, and the people became sort of famous in the plant. Everybody recognized them as the spies…

Robert Buck whispering in Santa’s ear. Poster by Joe Torre of Martin Marietta Presentations Department in Orlando.

About halfway in my stay there we had a thing occur that caused a big program for us which was the Pershing Missile which was Martin’s main weapon which was a field missile, ground to ground missile… We built the perfect one and that was called building a missile with zero defectiveness…

Mr. Willy was having lunch with the Secretary of Defense that day and told him about Zero Defects. And they said, “Why don’t you get a program.

VIEW Larger Images 

So they decided to send us around the country, everywhere to create Zero Defects in the Defense Industry. So I had a guy who specialized in oral presentations, Langdon Tolan, and Langdon took off around the country and gave these presentations.

VIEW

The next thing we knew Zero Defects was in every plant in the country in the Army, Navy, Air Force. We had this big thing that was going….

LISTEN Part II (15:06)

 

Another interesting project that we had, this was at the time that President Kennedy was talking about going to the moon

and all that sort of thing, so we decided to do a Martin Moon Base. And since nobody knew what the moon was like we had to think it up….

And there used to be a show in New York called the Air and Space Show. You know there were things there at the show like the monkeys that we sent off into space and there’s our moon base. It’s where I met Von Braun. Von Braun went through it and came out. I said, “What do you think?” He said, “This is as good a guess as anybody has. I think it’s pretty good.” I said, “Thanks….”

And it became the American Moon Base for several years…

This was a, this group of mine, was a very talented and interesting group. In a short time they were stolen away by other companies… But, you know, we had a lot of fun together. And we, you know, they’d occasionally do an ad.

VIEW ADS

They’d occasionally do a brochure….

VIEW

When I got there they had 10,000 employees. All this advertising was to nail key employees. To nail somebody’s principal scientist…. Orlando had, very early in its deal, had to train hundreds of women that were picking oranges to assemble electronic devices. And they turned Orlando into a technical community.

We’d just be doing a technical ad, we generally featured a technical guy.

VIEW Larger Image 

You know like Vern Der was the principal scientist at Martin. Vern hated being interviewed. And Vern always wore bib overalls or Levis to work and we kept trying to get him to wear a jacket and a tie, and he wouldn’t do it. And so we would write an article about what Vern was working on right then which was probably so obscure and never used, but it didn’t matter to other scientists it was neat stuff. So we’d write him up and he’d curse at us for a couple weeks and forget about us….

LISTEN Part III (13:09)


I opened my own company. It was called Presentations South…

We built exhibits for big corporations and we would take them to trade shows. And we also then shortly after that I bid on a National Park Service Museum and we got it. It was out in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and we didn’t know they were testing us. And the next thing you know they awarded us the job to do the new museum in the Statue of Liberty… It was in the base of the Statue of Liberty and we did that. It had a section from each country or place in the world…. And then we had, just as we were supposed to open, Nixon was president and he said, “Hold it til fall.” (We were going to open in May.) Because he wanted the chance to speak to all these foreigners about voting for him for reelection…. You know this was the election when he had more votes than any other president ever had.

So, anyway, we were stalled. It turned into a pain in the neck for us because then the Yugoslavian people started counting how many objects the Czechoslovakian people had. If they had three more than they had, they wanted more. It drove us nuts… And then it finally opened. [Nixon] He came and dropped by helicopter through the back of the place. He walked through it in about two minutes, appeared out in front and said some words to the foreigners within our borders and hopped on a jet and left…

And I did that until I retired. I built museums. I had a factory on Sligh Boulevard. Or when it was a show, we continued to do trade show exhibits, but mostly we did museums. We did museums all over the country. The big one in Philadelphia, The Franklin Institute. We did museums all over the place. We did the whole thing on the inside of the museum with the exception of the offices. Oh yeah, they had historians that work for the museum so we would have to work with them and specialists. They’d tell us what story they wanted told, how they wanted to be spoken of. We did over a hundred museums. We were probably the most prolific museum builder in the United States. Lots of them. Nation of Nations, entrance exhibit at Air and Space….

LISTEN Part IV (19:06)


Scientists coming here felt they were isolated. There were no universities here. Who ever heard of a scientist not working around a university? So we had to arrange that a plane would take our scientists up to the University of Florida every Friday for six hours so they could have a session with the physicist and so on up there. There were various country clubs around that would take Martin people. That had been arranged. There were housing developments….the housing development out by Martin. Sky Lake. Yeah, that was Martin people. Consequently schools got built around them…

We built the Martin Moon Base in the Martin Model Shop . Martin had a model shop to build models of their proposals. You know they’d propose a missile they’d build one. Maybe even have to shoot it somewhere. And the model shop would build our exhibits and we built the exhibits for all the other divisions of Martin around the country. You know, up in Baltimore, out West and that sort of thing, in the Orlando Model Shop. And when I opened my company my partner was chief engineer from the model shop, Bob McGary, industrial designer….

The Martin Moon Base Power Plant System 

Mr Willey who was head of Martin Marietta… he got a call one afternoon when he was running Martin Baltimore and it was Harry Truman on the phone and he said, “Yes, Mr. President.” Truman says, “You got to build me a plane that will take this cargo size bomb to Japan and drop it on them.” And he says, “Well, I think we can.” And the big plane at that time, the bomber was Martin Marauder, I think. So, he says, “I think that we can whip one up for you in about a year.” And he says to him, “Willey how about one month?” And he says, “Yes, Mr. President.” And he got the plane ready in a month and they stuffed the big – the first atomic bomb was huge, it was like, you know one of those things that you see the garbage in outside, you know big square thing, big as this table – so they put the bomb in the plane and flew over Hiroshima and that’s the end of the war….

All that time I was his promotion guy and so I would sit in the board meetings. I was the only outsider allowed in the board meetings… the peculiarity of my group was they did PR work, they did recruitment work, they did this work, they did that work and so consequently we knew all the directors and all the directors’ secretaries who were more powerful than the directors and so we had access to almost everything in the plant. We had access to everything in the plant period.

I liked the group I was with. Nobody understood what we did so they just left us alone. We did what we wanted to do. You know, if they said we need such and such brochure the next thing, you know, this thing was put on their desk. They’d say, “Gees, what did that cost?” “Oh a hundred thousand bucks, you know.” “Did you have to do something like that?” But, it was good stuff what we did. You know, we didn’t do silly stuff and I’m sure it did its job for recruiting.

LISTEN Part V (2:10)

 

Please explore the images and documents under Attachments below. 

 

Read more:  Raise heaven and earth: the story of Martin Marietta people and their pioneering achievements

Interview: Robert Buck

Interviewer: Jane Tracy

Date: March 14, 2014

Place:  Orlando Public Library

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ATTACHMENTS

Martin Marietta Systems Management Advertisement, circa 1960s

Martin Marietta advertisement: The computer almost cried "uncle." The advertisement appeared in ARMY and SIGNAL magazines, circa 1960's. Excerpt: The...

Security Knows No Season

Martin Marietta employee poster promoting security at the defense systems plant in Orlando, circa 1960's. The poster created by Joe Torre of Martin...

Martin Company's PERSHING Fires 'Routine' Perfect Performance

PERSHING news article, circa 1962. Excerpt: The U.S. Army fired its PERSHING ballistic missile on September 26 with what has become almost routine per...

Zero Defects: Martin Project Aims At Perfection

Martin Project Aims At Perfection, Evening Star Editorial, Orlando Evening Star, September 25, 1962, Page 6-A. Excerpt: The folks at Martin-Orlando wh...

Robert Buck, Presentations Chief, Martin Orlando: Zero Defects Program

Miami Florida News, March 30, 1966 newspaper announcement featuring Robert Buck. Excerpt: ROBERT BUCK, presentations chief, Martin Orlando, will be t...

Martin Moonbase Exhibit

Martin Marietta Company of Orlando Moon Exhibit news article. Photo Caption: Robert Buck of the Martin Marietta Company of Orlando looks over...

President Kennedy and the Martin Moon Base

President Kennedy photographed outside the Martin Moon Base. The president remarked, "Amazing, five years ago we would have thought all this impossibl...

Martin Moon Base at the New York Air and Space Show

Photo shows the long lines trailing past the Boeing exhibit on the lower right to gain entrance to the Martin Moon Base...

The Martin Company's Exhibit: American Rocket Society's SPACE FLIGHT REPORT TO THE NATION

The Martin Company's lunar colony exhibit designed by Robert Buck at Martin Orlando to be displayed at the American Rocket Society's SPACE...

New York City Air and Space Show, circa 1960s

New York City Air and Space Show photos courtesy of Robert Buck of Orlando. Mr. Buck of the Martin Company in Orlando designed...

New York City Air and Space Show, circa 1960s

New York City Air and Space Show photos courtesy of Robert Buck of Orlando. Mr. Buck of the Martin Company in Orlando designed...

The Martin Company's Adaptive RADA System

Martin Marietta technical advertisement featuring the Martin Company's Adaptive RADA System. Advertisement courtesy of the Robert Buck Archives.

LASER SAFETY, Martin Marietta Brochure

Cover of Martin Marietta Orlando Division 1965 brochure What you Should Know About LASER SAFETY. Courtesy of the Robert Buck Archives.

Martin Marietta Technical Ad: How a Whirling Liquid Can Guide Missles

Martin Marietta technical advertisement How A Whirling Liquid Can Guide Missiles, circa 1960's. Excerpt: When Martin Marietta management in Florida de...

Robert Buck, CEO of Presentations South

Robert Buck started Presentations South in Orlando, Florida with a factory at Sligh Boulevard. The company became the most prolific museum builder in...

Martin-Orlando: Campaign to Bring in High-Level Engineers

Making a Missile Make Attractive to Scarce Engineers, PRINTERS INK, January 12, 1962. Excerpts: In the space industry advertising is as important to r...

Martin-Orlando: Campaign to Bring in High-Level Engineers

Making a Missile Make Attractive to Scarce Engineers, PRINTERS INK, January 12, 1962. Excerpts: In the space industry advertising is as important to...

Martin Moon Base: Power Plant System

Information Services, THE MARTIN COMPANY, photo description for the Power Plant System of a Permanent Moon Base, as depicted in The Martin...

Martin Moon Base: Moon Exploration

Photo of a scene from The Martin Company's permanent lunar display at the American Rocket Society SPACE FLIGHT REPORT TO THE NATION...

Martin Moon Base: Moon Exploration

Information Services, THE MARTIN COMPANY, photo description for the scene from The Martin Company's permanent lunar display, as depicted in The Martin...

Martin Moon Base: Space Vehicle

Photo of a scene from The Martin Company's permanent lunar display at the American Rocket Society SPACE FLIGHT REPORT TO THE NATION...

Martin Moon Base: Space Vehicle

Photo description of a scene from The Martin Company's permanent lunar display at the American Rocket Society SPACE FLIGHT REPORT TO THE...

Martin Moon Base: Housing and Shelter

Photo of the housing and shelter on permanent lunar display, as depicted in the Martin Company exhibit at the American Rocket Society...

Martin Moon Base: Housing and Shelter

The Martin Company Information Services notes for photo of the housing and shelter on a permanent lunar display, as depicted in the...

Martin Moon Base: Life Systems

Photo of the life systems for maintaining a permanent base on the moon, as depicted in cutaway models on display by The...

Martin Moon Base: Life Systems

Martin Information Systems notes on the photo of the life systems for maintaining a permanent base on the moon, as depicted in...

Martin Moon Base: Functions

Photo depicting some of the functions of a permanent lunar base, are shown here in models exhibited by The Martin Company at...

Martin Moon Base: Functions

The Martin Company Information Systems photo notes depicting some of the functions of a permanent lunar base, exhibited in models by The...

Martin Orlando: Your Job at the Orlando Division, 1962

Photo from the employee handbook for The Martin Company Orlando Division, July 1962. View Part I and View Part II. Handbook courtesy of...

RADA: Random Access Discrete Address

Martin Company poster for RADA: Random Access Discrete Address, circa 1950s. Poster text: RADA - Random Access Discrete Address - a radio system with...

Thinking About Moving to Orlando, Florida?

Cover illustration for the 1963 information booklet created by Robert Buck and Joe Torres of the Martin Marietta Orlando Presentations Department to...

The Martin Company Relocation Information Brochure

Cover of The Martin Company information brochure for families relocating to Orlando, circa 1960s. Courtesy of the Robert Buck Archives.

Martin Marietta Canaveral Division Testing and Launch Operations

It is only by thorough testing and painstaking evaluation that reliability of a missile weapon or space system can be achieved and...

The Martin Company Orlando Division: For the Record

In FOR THE RECORD you will find descriptions of the programs, organization and engineering facilities that have contributed to the Orlando Division's...

Martin Orlando Staff Fishing Trip

Martin Company employees Herb Beard, Don Ashcroft, and Bob Klepac, on a fishing trip at Port Orange. The Martin Orlando colleagues are pictured...

Martin Presentations Department with the Postmaster of Orlando

The Martin Marietta Presentations Department display U.S. Army posters designed by Martin Orlando graphic designers and painters. Pictured from left ...

Martin Company Bionics Exhibit Sketch for the Main Conference Room

The Bionics Exhibit Sketch designed by Herbert Beard for a Research and Development Main Conference Room at Martin Orlando. Photo courtesy of Herbert...





















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Transitions: Martin Marietta Scientists and Engineers Keeping Pace With Tomorrow

Martin Marietta recruiting brochure in book format created to lure top scientists to Orlando, circa 1960. VIEW above.

Excerpt:
By way of background, the Martin Company experienced a sharp transition from aircraft to spacecraft in the mid-fifties.

Expansion
At the height of this transition, a new Division was formed within the Martin Company. Its primary mission was to design, develop, and produce vital missile and electronic systems for our country's armed forces. The year was 1957- the Division was Martin/Orlando.

Robert Buck, who was recruited by Martin Marietta in 1960 to write recruiting material describes the Transitions brochure and the work of the Martin Marietta Presentations Department in this excerpt from an oral history interview on March 14, 2014.


Martin Marietta High Tech Advertising, circa 1960
No description has been added yet
Zero Defects: Reports Commending Martin Company Orlando's Robert Buck
No description has been added yet
Zero Defects: Martin Project Aims At Perfection

Martin Project Aims At Perfection, Evening Star Editorial, Orlando Evening Star, September 25, 1962, Page 6-A. .

Excerpt:
The folks at Martin-Orlando who have always done a bang-up, pace-setting job of producing reliable missiles at low cost and on schedule are now shooting for the moon in efficiency through their revolutionary Zero Defects program.

The plant's new do-it-right-the-first-time project has turned the ideal of perfection into a practical working goal. The Z-D move for perfection in quality has proved so successful that it is attracting international attention...

G. T. Willey, Martin vice president and general manager of the Orlando division, attributes the success of the company's most unusual program, to the coordinated efforts of the entire Martin-Govt. team which is creating and building powerful and reliable weapons for the defense of America....


LASER SAFETY, Martin Marietta Brochure

Martin Marietta Orlando Division 1965 brochure What you Should Know About LASER SAFETY.

Courtesy of the Robert Buck Archives.


The Martin Company: Your Job at the Orlando Division - Part I

Employee handbook for The Martin Company Orlando Division, July 1962. View Part I above and View Part II.

Handbook courtesy of the Robert Buck Archives.


The Martin Company: Your Job at the Orlando Division - Part II

Employee handbook for The Martin Company Orlando Division, July 1962.


Thinking About Moving to Orlando, Florida?

1963 information booklet created by Robert Buck and Joe Torres of the Martin Marietta Orlando Presentations Department to welcome future Martin employees and their families to Orlando.

Excerpt from page one:
The information in this booklet is the result of interviews with families recently arrived in Orlando. Most of the questions were directed to the wives of the families. We asked them what they would have wanted to know before they moved to Orlando. The answers to their questions are presented on the following pages. This information will give you a preview of Orlando and what it's like to live here....

Courtesy of the Robert Buck Archives


The Martin Company Relocation Information Brochure

The Martin Company information brochure for families relocating to Orlando, circa 1960s.

Courtesy of the Robert Buck Archives.


Martin Marietta Canaveral Division Testing and Launch Operations, the story of Martin Marietta's Canaveral Division

It is only by thorough testing and painstaking evaluation that reliability of a missile weapon or space system can be achieved and proved. Recognizing this fundamental importance of testing and determined to build performance and reliability into every missile, space, nuclear, and electronic system it produces, the Martin Marietta Corporation maintains at Ca[e Canaveral a uniquely autonomous division whose task is testing for all systems built by the Corporation and assigned to the Atlantic Missile Range. This, then, is the story of Martin Marietta's Canaveral Division excerpt from page one of Martin Marietta Canaveral Division Testing and Launch Operations.

Courtesy of the Robert Buck Archives


The Martin Company Orlando Division: For the Record

Martin opened its Orlando Division in the winter of 1957-1958. Its mission was to conceive, develop, and produce missile and electronic systems for our country's armed forces. Now, nine years and eight major prime contracts later, the Division has grown to the point where over 8,000 people are working on more than 150 government and company-funded projects - making Martin Orlando the largest commercial enterprise in the state, and Florida's largest single employer.

The growth was not based on one or two large projects. The Orlando Division expansion was due to a series of major contract awards: MISSILE MASTER, LACROSSE, BULLPUP, AGM-12A, PERSHING, BIRDIE, RADA, SPRINT, WALLEYE....

In FOR THE RECORD you will find descriptions of the programs, organization and engineering facilities that have contributed to the Orlando Division's present position of leadership in the aerospace industry. READ document.

Courtesy of the Robert Buck Archives


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