Hewlett Packard
1938 – 2002
R.I.P.
The Stanford Theatre still exists today only because of the
employees of the Hewlett Packard Company. Without their
achievements over the years, there would have been no
foundation to purchase and restore this theatre.
Palo Alto might have had one more book store, or perhaps
another restaurant. Architects had plans ready for a new
"Casablanca Cafe" at this location when the Packard
Foundation rescued theater in 1987.
The Hewlett Packard Company was founded in 1938 in a garage
on Addison Street only a few blocks from where you are now
standing. Back then, the Stanford Theatre was showing brand
new movies. In 1938 you could have seen Cary Grant and
Katharine Hepburn in "Bringing Up Baby" and "Holiday." You
could have seen Errol Flynn in "The Adventures of Robin
Hood." You could have seen Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Ethel
Merman, and Tyrone Power in "Alexander's Ragtime Band." You
could have seen Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur in Frank
Capra's "You Can't Take It With You." You still can see
these same movies at the Stanford Theatre. Our audiences
know that they are truly timeless.
The HP Way also touched many people's lives. Most of us
expected that it would last forever
– that it would prove as timeless as a Frank Capra
movie. But those entrusted with the duty to safeguard it
have exercised their legal right to make another choice.
Dura lex, sed lex. The law is harsh, but it is the law.
HP employees are now on a new ship, being taken on a new
voyage. The company has even changed its stock symbol to HPQ
to stress that the "old" HP is gone. For the sake of the
surviving employees, of course I hope for a good outcome.
But it is hard to imagine that their leaders can invent
something better than what they left behind.
David W. Packard
The Stanford Theatre Foundation
