The Legendary Office

My dad's office was a wonderland.  It was always one of the highlights of any tour of the building that housed the beauty school and the company's corporate office.  The office, as was much of the building's interior spaces, was designed by my dad's friend Bob Klandrud.  The carved black wood door led you into a space that was full of delights and surprises.  Black cabinets and bookshelves filled with books, brass antique instruments and large racing trophies dominated the space.  My dad's desk was to the immediate left...perpendicular to the door.  It shared a wall with his assistant's office. There was a sliding door to the immediate left of his office entrance...if you did a quick u-turn, you would find yourself in Diane Gyberg's office.  There was also a sliding panel in the wall so they could talk while both staying at their desk.  The first assistant I remember was Marge...she was a beautiful lady with dark hair and applied her eyebrows with make-up.  A distinguishing feature to a child.  Diane became his assistant while I was still in elementary school.  She once told me the first time she met me was when my dad was holding me as an infant.

The features that delighted visitors were from a control panel of buttons behind my dad's desk....buttons that controlled the offices many lights.  But there were also the special switches that raised and lowered the circular table in the office and another that lowered a screen from the ceiling.  A special slide projector was housed in a cabinet to take advantage of the screen.  Usually the slides were from motorcycle trips to Medicine Creek ranch in western South Dakota.  There was also a mini-fridge....much more rare in that day with cold, bottled water.  The office was very large....it felt even larger because it usually was open to a common sitting area and then into my uncles office.  Of course ther were switches that would activate motorized sliding doors if privacy was required.  My dad's office also contained a private small room...used pretty much every afternoon for a restorative nap.  There were multiple doors in and out of the office.  My dad said it was always good to have multiple ways to come and go in case ther was someone you didn't want to see.

Then there was the executive bathroom....complete with a switch to raise and lower the toilet seat, a red phone with its own extension--- for when a call couldn't wait, a push button shoe shine machine with fluffy red and black buffers and a shower.

The red carpet, colorful 70's drapes and black cabinets were so distinct....and the extra special magical details....there were many boys who visited the office who thought they'd come as close to a James Bond office as possible....I think there were grownups who thought that too. 

If you sat in one of the chairs across from my dad, there were photos of us kids under the glass on the immense desk.  Other areas of the desk were stacked neatly with reports or executive newsletters, but he was especially proud of his children and the grands.  I remember on many occasions opening one of his filing drawers were he kept a file for each of us....they contained cards or special report cards or other mementos.

My dad's office...legendary.

Dad on his desk - the sliding panel to Diane's office
is behind him.

The deep red carpet that was in the executive office,
dad sitting at the round table that could be raised and lowered