#FlashbackFriday: The Exchange Post Turns 70. Here’s How It’s Grown Up.

Although a newspaper for associates and retirees had been around for a couple of months, the Exchange Post officially debuted Sept. 1, 1955—70 years ago this week.

For its first two months, the paper was called Exchange Service News, but that was temporary. One of the front-page articles in the first edition, which kicked off the Exchange’s 60^th-anniversary month in July 1955, was “Employee Contest Opens to Name Monthly Paper.”

The contest was looking for something more clever. Frank Benjamin, a clerk in the Procurement Division, submitted the winning name. He suggested the name because of its twist on “post,” a word familiar to Exchange associates—and a word used in many newspapers’ names.

“If the term post is used to identify with such great newspapers as the Denver Post and the Boston Post, I figured it was good enough for our employee newspaper,” Benajmin said. He received a $25 U.S. Savings Bond for having the winning entry.

The September 1955 Exchange Post (shown above) was a mere four pages, heavy on photos of associates who received service awards, were rewarded for their suggestions or were celebrating the Exchange’s 60^th anniversary (there would not have been enough room for all the 130^th anniversary photos we received this year).

Here’s a look at Exchange Post changes through the years:

February 1964: The paper’s logo—in journalism jargon, its masthead or “flag”—usually included the Exchange’s brand at the time. The Exchange “shield” brand debuted on the February 1964 front page, which also included a story about the new brand.

September 1972: A new flag—all lowercase, blockier and unitalicized—debutes. It was sometimes displayed vertically, and sometimes in color, despite the rest of the paper being in black and white. The shield brand still appeared on a staff box inside the paper. The issue featured a lengthy salute to the Air Force, which celebrated its 25^th anniversary in September 1972.

May/June 1989: A logo with the “star” brand made its first appearance in the May/June 1989 edition, which also was the launch of a bi-monthly Exchange Post (there was no April 1989 edition). In a cost-cutting measure, the paper only came out six times a year (although there were occasional special editions), but some of the best coverage in its history—in-depth stories about Exchange support during Operation JUST CAUSE in Panama in late 1989 and during Operation Desert Shield/Storm—occurred during this period. The paper returned to a monthly format in July 1992.

November 1993 brought another change to the “flag.” This one didn’t last long—by March 1994, the paper reverted to its previous logo.

April 1997: Color photography comes to the Exchange Post, although initially it was reserved for the front page while the rest of the paper remained black and white.

July 1998: A full-color, magazine-style format debuts, with an emphasis on shorter stories and loads of photos (several pages’ worth) from the field.

February 2005: Although most of the Exchange Post remains unchanged, the paper’s logo gets a makeover.

October 2010: The current brand– red-and-blue chevrons coming together—makes its Exchange Post debut. The issue included a story about an upgrade to the Tinker AFB Exchange, where the new Exchange brand was unveiled in September 2010.

December 2016: The last print issue of the Exchange Post. In 2017, the current all-digital format debuted, designed for access on computers, smartphones and tablets, allowing for more timely coverage.

Like anything that ages, the Exchange Post has gone through some changes. Stay tuned: It’s about to go through some more. Watch for a new version of the online Exchange Post in the fall. It may be 70 years old but it plans to stay young and stick around for a while.