You are right, the Umbrella was a great purchase from a marketing perspective. However, the legacy of a company like the St. Paul, which holds the second business license ever issued in St. Paul, MN, and had some of the most dedicated, loyal employees in the country (and the financial strenght to purchase Travelers) is sad to see go by the way side. Again, I hope all of this results in higher stock prices…as a publically traded company that is truly our ONLY obligation to the shareholders.
Maybe Travelers should change their name to Aetna. Now that\’s a fine name for an insurance company. More importantly they should now focus on being a consistant market for their very consistant, dedicated independant agents who\’ve seen too many changes over the years from this outfit, causing much of our books to now be controlled by Geico, State Farm, Allstate, etal
As a former Travelers employee, and Citigroup/Travelers employee, I am happy to see the St. Paul part go in the trash. It had no business being first anyway.
I joined the company post-merger, but I\’m just hoping this change and any others in the future will generate \”the good old-days\” stock price and then some. It\’s sad when an enterprise like ours is trading $10 below Target, a major retailer in the off season!
Wow Reagan, that\’s harsh…however, if you\’ll check the records, The St. Paul purchased Travelers, not the other way around. They both brought extremely positive items to the table to generate a superior enterprise. Clearly, you never worked for The St. Paul as their employees would disagree.
As a former Aetna employee who watched Travelers take credit in its name for projects bonded by the former, I say \”ditto\” to the good riddance to St. Paul, but hope the historical credit is attributed where it belongs in the future – fair is fair.
Dating myself here… One of my earliest recollections of the Red Umbrella was from the Travelers pavilion at the New York World\’s Fair (1964-65), the design of which leaned heavily on that iconic symbol. For some strange reason I have a too vivid memory of that place. You would walk through as a series of vignettes depicting historical events each would light up. (One featuring the \”Black Death\” plague comes eerily to mind.) Wow!
I agree with you, Rick. Looks like we both worked for St. Paul Fire & Marine (even before \”The St. Paul\”). After reading the blogs, how many of you even remember the hole in the big red umbrella when Travelers couldn\’t even get out of their own way. Then Citigroup took over & that was no help at all. Citigroup should have GIVEN the logo to them.
Truth be told the St Paul helped soften the harshness of the Travelers approach to customers, insureds and fellow post merger employees and should be given some credit – hope they can hold their own and will not need the unbrella for protection – Former Loyal St Paul Employee
I was on the Little Aetna side of the INA merger to form CIGNA ~83, so know what it\’s like to lose your employer identity. Having spent the past 20 years on the agency side, dealing with both St. Paul and Travelers prior to the merger, I\’d offer this… both were great companies with wonderful people, but \”St. Paul Travelers\” is just too much! It was inevitable, so get over the name thing. The red umbrella has much wider recognition than the St. Paul globe.
When he became CEO of St. Paul and spoke to the employees my first thought was the movie Wall Street. Greed is good and he has proven it by destroying a company with strong moral values to get what he wanted Travelers.
What a shame, I spent many years as an agent for St. Paul, and then as an employee of the old Travelers – Before Sandy W. and Bob Lipp. The St. Paul was so much better than the Sandy W. and Bob Lipp era. Bob Lipp couldn\’t spell insurance and didn\’t care! He was all money, didn\’t care about the employees at all. Fishman was trained by Lipp, enough said.
Actually it was the former employees of USF&G who made St Paul a bit more human-which at times was not easy. Those who survived the \”merger\” with Travelers made it a better firm too. Now USFG,FGIC and FGIU appear as pup carriers of this monster. Long live the eagle and the ships wheel!
Glad to see good old Jack chime in on the USF&G—I was beginning to wonder if anyone remembered when they got bought up (thanks, Norm) by St. Paul. By then though the good old ship\’s wheel (which was on my years of service awards) was replaced by the \”Open Door\” emblem…along with teal for the corporate color. Missed that old maroon and navy. That was a good company to have worked for.
The little Aetna and the USF&G – two great companies to work with. They knew who their agents were. They were run by insurance people and not the business school idiots we have today, who are too arrogant to respect the real source of their revenues – we agents.
Aetna, Travelers, even Hartford. They were like three dogs in the yard giving each other the sniff, and they like their agents were politicians. I had no time for them then, and I\’ll have no time for them in the future.
Finally, I say good ridance to the St Paul Name. They single-handedly wrecked the USF&G – and themselves. And, yes, it was Travelers – or whatever they were when Weill expectorated them, that were the acquirers.
You seem bitter…All the companies that formed The Travelers had good people and bad, just like all the agencies tend to. By the way, the \”Business School Idiots\” to whom you refer are probably also responsible for your source of income in retirement, so remember the hands that feed you as well.
Both organizations have a lot of history and pride. Both have great employees that show a lot pride. It is refreshing to have the red umbrella back. Don\’t bash B Lipp; he was a humble stand up guy. The travelers companies are in a good position to make a strong push to gain market share..something is lost decades ago.
Kim,
You are right, the Umbrella was a great purchase from a marketing perspective. However, the legacy of a company like the St. Paul, which holds the second business license ever issued in St. Paul, MN, and had some of the most dedicated, loyal employees in the country (and the financial strenght to purchase Travelers) is sad to see go by the way side. Again, I hope all of this results in higher stock prices…as a publically traded company that is truly our ONLY obligation to the shareholders.
I wonder if Jay has retained the rights to the old \’Clock and Globe\’ of The St Paul?? Maybe I can find it in a dumpster behind 385 Washington.
Now all that remains is to shift all of the corporate headquarters functions to Hartford.
I am proud of my time at The St Paul….but then I predate the Doug Leatherdale era….
Maybe Travelers should change their name to Aetna. Now that\’s a fine name for an insurance company. More importantly they should now focus on being a consistant market for their very consistant, dedicated independant agents who\’ve seen too many changes over the years from this outfit, causing much of our books to now be controlled by Geico, State Farm, Allstate, etal
As a former Travelers employee, and Citigroup/Travelers employee, I am happy to see the St. Paul part go in the trash. It had no business being first anyway.
I joined the company post-merger, but I\’m just hoping this change and any others in the future will generate \”the good old-days\” stock price and then some. It\’s sad when an enterprise like ours is trading $10 below Target, a major retailer in the off season!
Wow Reagan, that\’s harsh…however, if you\’ll check the records, The St. Paul purchased Travelers, not the other way around. They both brought extremely positive items to the table to generate a superior enterprise. Clearly, you never worked for The St. Paul as their employees would disagree.
As a former Aetna employee who watched Travelers take credit in its name for projects bonded by the former, I say \”ditto\” to the good riddance to St. Paul, but hope the historical credit is attributed where it belongs in the future – fair is fair.
St. Paul, join the club – Aetna, Continental, INA, Home, Reliance, Kemper, Crum & Forster, etc, etc.
St. Paul, join the club – Aetna, Continental, INA, Home, Reliance, Kemper, Crum & Forster, etc, etc.
As a Travelers agent (used to be Aetna agent), I don\’t think we need the orange square back, but the red umbrella is huge.
Dating myself here… One of my earliest recollections of the Red Umbrella was from the Travelers pavilion at the New York World\’s Fair (1964-65), the design of which leaned heavily on that iconic symbol. For some strange reason I have a too vivid memory of that place. You would walk through as a series of vignettes depicting historical events each would light up. (One featuring the \”Black Death\” plague comes eerily to mind.) Wow!
I agree with you, Rick. Looks like we both worked for St. Paul Fire & Marine (even before \”The St. Paul\”). After reading the blogs, how many of you even remember the hole in the big red umbrella when Travelers couldn\’t even get out of their own way. Then Citigroup took over & that was no help at all. Citigroup should have GIVEN the logo to them.
Truth be told the St Paul helped soften the harshness of the Travelers approach to customers, insureds and fellow post merger employees and should be given some credit – hope they can hold their own and will not need the unbrella for protection – Former Loyal St Paul Employee
I was on the Little Aetna side of the INA merger to form CIGNA ~83, so know what it\’s like to lose your employer identity. Having spent the past 20 years on the agency side, dealing with both St. Paul and Travelers prior to the merger, I\’d offer this… both were great companies with wonderful people, but \”St. Paul Travelers\” is just too much! It was inevitable, so get over the name thing. The red umbrella has much wider recognition than the St. Paul globe.
When he became CEO of St. Paul and spoke to the employees my first thought was the movie Wall Street. Greed is good and he has proven it by destroying a company with strong moral values to get what he wanted Travelers.
What a shame, I spent many years as an agent for St. Paul, and then as an employee of the old Travelers – Before Sandy W. and Bob Lipp. The St. Paul was so much better than the Sandy W. and Bob Lipp era. Bob Lipp couldn\’t spell insurance and didn\’t care! He was all money, didn\’t care about the employees at all. Fishman was trained by Lipp, enough said.
Didn\’t know Fishman was trained by Lipp. Have no love for Weil either, what a jerk.
Now it all makes sense.
Actually it was the former employees of USF&G who made St Paul a bit more human-which at times was not easy. Those who survived the \”merger\” with Travelers made it a better firm too. Now USFG,FGIC and FGIU appear as pup carriers of this monster. Long live the eagle and the ships wheel!
Glad to see good old Jack chime in on the USF&G—I was beginning to wonder if anyone remembered when they got bought up (thanks, Norm) by St. Paul. By then though the good old ship\’s wheel (which was on my years of service awards) was replaced by the \”Open Door\” emblem…along with teal for the corporate color. Missed that old maroon and navy. That was a good company to have worked for.
The little Aetna and the USF&G – two great companies to work with. They knew who their agents were. They were run by insurance people and not the business school idiots we have today, who are too arrogant to respect the real source of their revenues – we agents.
Aetna, Travelers, even Hartford. They were like three dogs in the yard giving each other the sniff, and they like their agents were politicians. I had no time for them then, and I\’ll have no time for them in the future.
Finally, I say good ridance to the St Paul Name. They single-handedly wrecked the USF&G – and themselves. And, yes, it was Travelers – or whatever they were when Weill expectorated them, that were the acquirers.
You seem bitter…All the companies that formed The Travelers had good people and bad, just like all the agencies tend to. By the way, the \”Business School Idiots\” to whom you refer are probably also responsible for your source of income in retirement, so remember the hands that feed you as well.
You have it wrong, St Paul borrowed money from Travelers to complete the merger.
Both organizations have a lot of history and pride. Both have great employees that show a lot pride. It is refreshing to have the red umbrella back. Don\’t bash B Lipp; he was a humble stand up guy. The travelers companies are in a good position to make a strong push to gain market share..something is lost decades ago.