Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Happy Groundhog Day to All: No Shipping this Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The recent blizzard conditions and 12"+ of snow has grounded production today at Tucker Manufacturing Co., Inc. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa today. Most of our staff opted to make today a "snow day" since roads were not easy going this morning.

From our neighbor in Downtown Cedar Rapids, SourceMedia:

Area roadways still challenging
Main streets in Cedar Rapids should be open in the next couple of hours. Crews are working on residential streets. Highway 218 south of Iowa City is closed.


We received the following information from our shipping partner, FedEx, by e-mail ...

To All:


  • FedEx Ground:

    Will NOT be making any deliveries or Pick Ups today. We received no Freight in and nothing left Cedar Rapids last night.

  • FedEx Express/Air:

    We will not be making any deliveries, freight did NOT make it out last night. As
    far as pickups go, I will no more after the lunch hour.

  • FedEx Freight LTL Priority and Economy:

    We will not be making any deliveries or pickups. Freight did NOT leave the
    building here either.

Thank you for understanding.

FedEx Sales

  • From our representative from FedEx Sales this morning.

We will not be shipping any orders today, due to the recent storm. We hope to resume normal operations on Thursday, February 3, 2011.

tucker pole

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Go Pack Go ... Great Final 4 teams seeking birth in Super Bowl 45


Enjoy the NFC and AFC Championship Games everyone! The Road to Arlington has begun ...

  • The Super Bowl Champs of Games I, II and III (Green Bay and the New York Jets)
  • The all-time Super Bowl Champs (Pittsburgh Steelers)
  • and Da Bears from Chicago

Pretty darn good Final 4 heading towards Super Bowl 45 ...

tucker pole

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Our thoughts and prayers go out of one of our former employees who passed on Monday



Growing up in a third generation business, I always remember many of the guys who have worked in our manufacturing plant over the years. This morning, we learned the news that one of our former employee's passed away on Monday. Ralph Fowler, 94, worked 33 years for Tucker Manufacturing Co., Inc., retiring in 1983.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Hump Day of the First week of the New Year ...


Happy New Year everyone ...

Blogs are always a good way to communicate news and a variety of information. It's nice to be back in the swing of things, but one New Year's Resolution I already need to work on is keeping the blog updated regularly. Where does all the time go in a day?

We hope 2011 is off to a good start for you.


We enjoyed New Year's Day watching college football. It was a bad day for the Big Ten Conference schools going 0-5. The Rose Bowl was sure a good game though. Congratulations to coach Gary Patterson and his TCU Horned Frogs, in the 21-19 win over Wisconsin.

We have had e-mail issues in 2010. Some Microsoft products work well and some do not. We haven't fully resolved the problem, but we are working on it.

Our normal business hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

We have enjoyed conversations with good long-term customers in England and California this week. Our thoughts are with one of our customers as they have surgery today.

On a more somber note recently:

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Rita Ertel, Bob Ertel's wife, due to the passing of Bob over the holidays. Bob Ertel was a former owner of J. Racenstein Company, formerly of New Year City. Bob was a great customer and distributor for many years up until he sold the company to the present owners, who also distribute our products. Bob was instrumental in the creation of the industry's first professional window cleaning catalog. He made the Tucker Pole a part of his first catalog. We are grateful for his business over the years. Bob's wife was also involved in the company, so we enjoyed seeing them at shows and doing business with both of them.

Bob and his former business partner, Marty Racenstein, were instrumental in the creation of the IWCA. We were invited to be one of the founding members of the association. We have enjoyed many shows over the years with Bob, Rita and many others. The association has changed in many ways, since the early days, when Bob and Rita were present. The size hasn't changed much. It certainly become more of a DIY show for the window cleaning profession.

Back to College Football this week, it is nice to congratulate both Stanford and Ohio State for wins in the Orange and Sugar bowls, respectively.

Yes, the season is winding down, but I do enjoy my college football. Of course, the NFL Playoffs kick off on Saturday and before we know it, January will be in the books and Super Bowl Sunday and Daytona 500 will be occurring.

If you have any questions about our products, please let us know. Our normal business hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Of course, you can communicate via fax, e-mail, voice mail, Twitter, Linkedin or Facebook 24/7. We will get back to you, as soon as is practical. Your business in 2011 is much appreciated and we have enjoyed helping people, since 1945, when my grandfather took a part of another company and started what is Tucker today.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa USA

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Our revised office hours for the Christmas Holiday


Wishing all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

On behalf of all us at Tucker Manufacturing Co., Inc., we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas this Holiday Season and best wishes in the coming New Year.

Our offices will be closed for the Christmas Holiday from Thursday, December 23Rd through Monday, December 27Th. Our offices will re-open on Tuesday, December 28Th at 8:30 a.m. We have closed our offices for normal business, so our staff can enjoy the Christmas holiday with friends and family. We expect a weather front on Thursday, so we wanted to give our staff a little extra time, if they are traveling.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

We welcome Winter offically today: Tuesday, December 21st


The Season has officially arrived December 21st.

Typically, the first day of Winter is the 21st of December each year, but in 2011 it will be on the 22Nd. So, today, we welcome Winter officially to our community, though with the cold weather and snow this month already, many people already noticed the season had arrived. Be prepared this Holiday season, when traveling.

Throughout the Winter months, feel free to contact Tucker Manufacturing Co., Inc. for your waterfed pole needs, with the Tucker® Pole Window Washers and Exterior Maintenance Systems - with various models to choose from to reach, wash and clean a variety of surfaces.



  • High-rise window cleaning from the ground

  • Window Washing

  • "Spot Free" rinse applications, using water treatment, such as DI/RO

  • Speicality brushes for the right application - ask us, if you need some special

  • Replacement parts and reconditioning is available

  • Awning Cleaning

  • Glass

  • Frames

  • Window cleaning up to 22, 45 and even 83 feet

  • Exterior surface cleaning typically up to 45 feet

We want to wish you a safe Christmas holiday. Our offices will be closed the following days the rest of the month.

  • Christmas Eve - Friday, December 24
  • Christmas Monday - Monday, December 27
  • New Year's Eve- Friday, December 31

Our normal hours of business are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m, Central Time in the USA, Monday through Friday, except for holidays. Please contact us, if we can be of help with a question or information on our products. Again, Merry Christmas from all of us at Tucker ...

tucker pole

Monday, December 20, 2010

Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings to everyone this Holiday Week

The Rotary Club of Cedar Rapids will celebrate our Club Holiday Party today during our regular meeting.

This year's program will feature the Washington High School Madrigal Singers. We caught them at the Cocoa and Carols concert that Washington High put on earlier this month, so it should be an entertaining Rotary Club celebration this year. The Madrigal Singers also performed at this year's Fire & Ice Festival in Cedar Rapids earlier this month.

Here's a taste of The Madrigal Singers performing at Rotary West's program earlier this year.