La Paloma in the warehouse

Following the Anglo-Saxon example, Migros used music to improve the mood and productivity of its employees. The musical by request programme introduced in the Zurich and Basel distribution centres in 1951 was a runaway success.

At the beginning of the fifties, Migros investigates whether it makes sense to make the rather boring work more pleasurable with music. In England and the USA in particular, this is already common in many businesses. During the Second World War, they started playing music in ammunition factories for those doing hard, boring work. The music was so popular with the personnel that the BBC launched a new radio programme especially for this purpose called Music at Work . The Brückenbauer, comments: ”People are not machines. Their spirits go astray when the monotonous, over-practised work procedures in rationalised factories do not keep them engaged.”
In Migros, the spirit will not be under-developed, and so in 1951, a music programme of half an hour twice a day is introduced in the distribution centres in Basel and Zurich. According to the Brückenbauer, ”melodious pieces of generally the same rhythm; not too slow, so that the employees are not hampered in their work, but also not too fast so that they do not get the impression that they have to rush the work“ are played.
In December, the Brückenbauer dedicates a whole page article complete with photos by Theo Frey to this innovation. The telephonist acts as DJ for the music programme and controls the list of the most popular titles. Number one on this factory hit list is the title music of the thriller which is in the cinemas in the same year, Der dritte Mann.