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Looking Aft
In 1935, at the height of the Great Depression, George M. Slocum became commodore of the GPYC and shortly thereafter the Clubhouse was closed and went into receivership; there was no money to pay
the mortgage. At the time, Commodore Slocum owned a publishing company and to keep Club members informed he sent out the first issue of a four-page newsletter he named The
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Grosse Pointer. For the next three years he continued sending the newsletter, and when the mortgage debt was finally settled, The Grosse Pointer announced the news with an official invitation to members to attend the formal reopening celebration on July 4, 1938. Then in November, members received their inaugural issue of The Grosse Pointer in magazine form, with Commodore Slocum’s assurance that it would now become a monthly publication. Two years later, on November 7, 1940, Grosse Pointers opened their first published issue of The Grosse Pointe News to read the lead article entitled “Paper is Requested to Change Name.” The story detailed how The Grosse Pointer had been the original chosen name of this new publication until GPYC Commodore Frank Couzens intervened. In a hand-delivered letter, Commodore Couzens pointed out to the publishers that The Grosse Pointer name had been registered with the copyright office at the Library of Congress by former Commodore Slocum when he began sending out his GPYC newsletter. Furthermore, the Club was still using the name and any other publication within the community using the same name would be confusing and possibly detrimental.
Robert Edgar, editor of The Grosse Pointe News, published his response, pointing out that lawyers had found no registration of the name in the local courthouse and had therefore concluded it was available. Unfortunately, they had looked no further, and the GPYC prevailed in its bid to retain the name. Mr. Edgar ended his letter thusly: “We bow to the wishes of your club to keep the name of the publication undiluted. We have made the necessary changes. We hope and trust there will be no trampling of toes.”
