Albion Interactive History / Events
1970’s, Description of Albion
The 1970’s were a time of financial upheaval. Double-digit inflation caused a national wage-pricefreeze to be declared. An Arab oil embargo in 1973 raised gasoline and fuel prices astronomically, causing increased inflation and a decline inautomobile sales. The decline in automobiles sales resulted in unemployment in the auto industry and related fields, which rippled through all sectors of the economy.
A disastrous blow to the local economy occurred in 1975, when Corning GlassCompany announced the closing of its Albion plant because of low demand for black-and-white television sets. Across town, the Albion Malleable Iron Division of the Hayes-Albion Corporation cut production substantially in 1974, as the ripple effect of the oil price rise and gas shortage crisismeaning huge inventories of unsold automobiles. People began selling their homes and moving elsewhere.
Homestead Savings and Loan president Theodore Van Dellen recalled the financialatmosphere of the 1970s:
One of the biggest changes in Albion has been that industry is no longer home owned. “It’s a different ballgame now, and there’s not the dedication among corporate executives to the community, as in the past,” he said.
Source: Frank Passic. Homestead Savings and Loan and the Builders of Albion: One Hundred Years of Service, 1889-1989. Albion, MI: Homestead Savings and Loan Association. 1988.