FUN WITH MAPS – ISSUE 2023-72 DAILY FEATURE:

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (April 17, 2023) – In today’s edition of Fun with Maps from Steve Kovacs, we learn a little about the founding of a familiar delivery service and a slogan that says it all.

FedEx

“When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”

This advertising slogan from the early-mid 1970s captures the essence of Federal Express’s initial business model.

The Company was founded in 1971 in Little Rock, Arkansas and commenced operations on April 17, 1973 in Memphis, Tennessee. 

The Company expanded from the early overnight delivery focus to general goods delivery and grew into a $93 billion annual revenue global company.  It even renamed itself to FedEx.

But it wasn’t that rosy early on.  The founder, Frederick Smith, came up with the core of the plan for FedEx while studying at Yale University.  The marketing professor didn’t think much of it and gave him a C on a paper outlining FedEx.  Smith forged ahead, but in the very early days of the Company he could not meet payroll, so he flew to Las Vegas and literally gambled on the future of his Company.  He did manage to win the needed funds.

This Carey map of Tennessee from 1814 shows a rather sparsely populated state.  Memphis does not show up on the map as it was established 5 years later.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.