The Fisher Story | 25
1952 Original
Marshalltown
factory is
torn down.
First annual summer carnival
held at the Marshalltown
fairgrounds.
1953
Marshalltown
employees
number 1200,
making the
company the largest employer in Marshalltown.
Annual sales hit
$17.9 million.
Registration of visitors to the Marshalltown
factory begins.
1954 Bill Fisher succeeds Edna Fisher as president.
Left to right
Willard Miller,
Ira Potter and
Leonard
Cartwell with
three 16-inch
Type 462Ls
with KK
topworks,
1955
Bill Fisher’s design
for the famous
Marshalltown
Main Office
building drapes
etween 1940 and 1974,
Bill Fisher became
Marshalltown’s unofficial
“patron of the arts.” He did
more to promote music, theatre
and creative pursuits than any
other citizen in the town’s
history.
His wife, the former Dorothy
Meyer, was a member of the
Women’s Board of Lyric Opera in
Chicago and an accomplished
artist who helped select and
display the Impressionist Art
collection at the Fisher
Community Center.
In big ways (building
theatres) and small ways (buying
pianos for churches), Bill and
Dorothy Fisher shared their
great love of music and art
with others.
Bill’s artistic influence
extended far beyond his
hometown. For two decades, Bill
served as a member of the
Board of Directors for the
Metropolitan Opera Association
in New York City—both because
he loved opera and because it
was “the best in the world.”
He was also served as an advisor
to the National Endowment of
the Arts in Washington, D. C.
At home, he composed music
and invested in Broadway
productions.
In 1987, Bill received the
National Medal of Arts Award
from U.S. President Ronald
Reagan for his civic and cultural
contributions.
Patrons of the Arts
B