(solemn music) (solemn music continues) - Hello, I'm Jeff Hullinger, inside the Atlanta History Center.

It was a small family insurance company based in Columbus, Georgia, looking for a way to distinguish themselves in a business that is often considered a bit boring, safe, and, well, forgettable.

At its helm was Daniel Amos.

Wanting to gain more brand recognition, he decided to buck tradition and do something unheard of at the time, use humor to grow his business.

It was a gamble that would pay off big, using a little white duck to put the American Family Life Assurance Company, better known as Aflac, in the public conscience.

Does Columbus give you a different kind of definition, do you think, as a company?

- I think it, I hope people see us with a little more southern charm and opportunity to be closer to people, and that maybe they're a name not a number, and that those things make a difference.

So we certainly tried to enhance that image as we move forward.

- I saw a quote from you that said, "I don't want my tombstone, the epitaph that says, 'He was a great businessman.'"

That you have wanted to be more than that.

Why is that important to you?

- Well, I think it was the way I was raised.

I was raised by a Christian family that's very interested in doing more to give back, and those things make a difference to me.

And I think corporations that are good can do both.

- [Jeff] For all of Dan Amos and his extraordinary Aflac business acumen, the center point will always be the duck.

- [Narrator] What's that?

- Aflac.

- [Jeff] A worldwide behemoth of corporate identity changing the company culture and the former state business of insurance, a commercial idea led by the Pensacola-born and Georgia alum, Amos.

- [Daniel] When I first showed it to people, they said now, "And here's the way it goes, think about this.

Okay.

We made this commercial."

Now, you've never seen an Aflac.

"We made this commercial, and there's a duck in it, and it is going to quack Aflac."

(Jeff chuckles) There is this blank look across people's faces, says, "You're going to do what?"

- [Jeff] The gamble on the duck became one of the great stories in American business history.

- [Daniel] Within a week, we had gotten so many people that wanted to buy a duck.

We were inundated with calls of how can we get one of those ducks.

- After you made the decision on the duck to say a thing, are you out of your mind?

I mean, this is not where you want to take your company.

- Well, actually, I did.

But let me tell you this way, and this is the way it actually happened, is, when they came back, we hired an agency.

Actually, my wife was in charge of advertising and she got a female advertising agency, Kaplan Thaler, and they developed the idea of the Aflac Duck.

And they bet I wouldn't do it because not only were you creating humor, but you were actually making fun of your name.

And so I decided that what I would do is I test it, and if it worked, then we'd run with it, but if we didn't, we'd pull it immediately.

- One national business writer wrote, "Amos's unconventional and risky bet to test out an arguably annoying ad campaign involving a quacking duck, not only made Aflac an international household name, but also changed the advertising game for insurers."

If you pardon the pun, the duck still has legs on.

- There you go.

There you go.

- And it shows no sign of overexposure or people tiring at it.

- No, they don't.

And we're very careful to protect it.

You know, we learn from Coke.

They're very particular in their brand and what they do.

And although it's totally different areas, the concept of what they do.

Like, for example, when we introduce the Aflac Duck, everybody wanted to go, everybody meaning our salespeople or our people, wanted to buy a duck outfit and wear it.

No, can't wear, not allowed to wear any kind of outfits with ducks.

Nothing.

All we have is that white Peking duck and nothing else.

And we have all these rules and regulations that we started 25 years ago, and they have played out because when people see a white duck today, they'll quack Aflac.

- [Jeff] The ultimate gamble that paid off big.

- I bet my entire career on a damn duck.

(Jeff chuckles) - Dan Amos's tenure at the Columbus-based company began in 1973 as a salesman, rising to become chief executive officer in 1990, and chairman in 2001.

Before that, he served as the company's president and later as its chief operating officer.

Are you still motivated to work as hard as you are as the leader of this company?

At some point, do you say, "You know, I want to go live in Aspen, I want to go, you know, do this or do that, that is not business anymore, that I want to," I hate the word retirement, but there are seasons of life.

- Well, I think I've kind of past that point.

You know, 65 is kind of the number you hear, and I'm 73.

So, yeah, I do love it.

I think the family element makes a difference because it was started by the family.

It's been fun for me to watch it.

And I've truly enjoyed it all these years.

Money plays some role, but not much.

It's really much more fun to just do it and to watch people succeed, and then help others at their time of claim and the issues that they have has been fun.

- [Jeff] You work an 8 to 10 hour day every day?

- Yeah, I do.

I work odd hours, you know?

Some days, I started this morning at six o'clock and I've got a call tonight at six o'clock.

- [Jeff] Aflac specializes in supplemental insurance coverage.

It is the largest provider of guaranteed renewable insurance in the United States, and surprisingly, also the largest insurance company in Japan.

Over the generations, post-World War II, that have attempted to have success in the Japanese market, no matter what their product is or whatever their discipline may be, and they have failed grandly.

You, on the other hand, have succeeded grandly.

- And the answer I would tell you is we didn't go over there and try to make a US product, Japanese.

We developed everything with Japanese management, set guardrails, and said, "Fall in this range and you can do your thing."

And we hired good people.

They ended up doing it.

And I also have to give the Japanese government credit.

- Aflac, once an obscure, little-known southern company, now with a 90% world familiarity rating, a stock growing from $0.95 a share to $115 in 30 years, and a business environment recognized as one of the best places to work in the United States.

When you were in Athens as a young boy, were you like this as well?

Were you full of hyperactivity and focus and all of those kinds of things that you don't just sort of discover in adulthood, you're probably always like that as a boy?

- Well, I wasn't the greatest student in the world.

I enjoyed college and was president of senior class at Georgia, and did those type things, politically.

But, you know, it's just something that I've enjoyed, and if I like it, I really work hard at it, and if I don't like it, I'm probably not as astute as I should be.

- [Jeff] Amos has long stated that finding your focus depends on identifying what's right.

Aflac supports diversity in hiring and in its board led by Amos.

- I would say that the area that has made a difference, in my life too, has been in diversity and opportunities for women and people of color.

And those things have allowed us to broaden our perspective, and it's been a good business decision.

On the other hand, I also think you've got to make your profit or you're not going to be around.

And then you add on top of that the Aflac Cancer Center and Children's has made a big difference as well.

- You know, you take a look at your company and the great diversity that you have on your work staff, and it's always been important to you.

You're not politically overt, either left or right, but including people, including the community, including talented people, makes good business sense, with without the theatrics of modern America and where we are politically in the divide.

- Right.

I think that's true, and I don't think you have to flaunt it.

We were doing it when it wasn't popular, and it's been the right culture that we've had for all these years, and we're going to continue to do.

We just want good people.

- Amos has been a model for public leadership, linking an extraordinary business to philanthropy and community stewardship, making Aflac a rare bird in the world of corporate engagement.

The company has raised $184 million since 1995 for research, care of children suffering from cancer and blood disorders.

The company has established the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorder Center of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, one of the nation's preeminent research and treatment centers.

Now 73 with a second home in Nantucket, where he spends time with his wife, Dan Amos acknowledges that there will be a time to step away from the business, but not right now.

Are you optimistic about America?

Are you optimistic about where we're going, not only in terms of getting along, but the business climate as well?

- I am optimistic.

I think a lot of things could be better.

I've thought that every decade, so it's not that it's tied to anyone in particular or period of time, but I think it is exciting.

The technology and what's taking place now, we may have to learn more and adjust more, but all in all, I mean, how fascinating the world has been?

And what I've seen in my life when the TV had just come out in the '50s and what you see today with AI.

You remember the Jetsons?

- Of course.

- Well, we're in the Jetson period almost.

And you look at it and you go, "Wow," you know?

We saw that and we thought that was impossible.

And today, so many of those things are true, from Dick Tracy's wristband that no one may identify who that is, but when they would talk on the watch.

So, I think it's exciting, and I think we have to continue to look to the future with great optimism.

That's what's made our country great.

(inspiring music ending) - In 2023, Amos was made a Georgia Trustee by the Georgia Historical Society for his community service and accomplishments, reflecting the goals and ideals of the organization.

Tucked away off Buford Highway in Duluth is the Southeastern Railway Museum.

Over 90 pieces of rolling stock, as well as other exhibits, take visitors on a nostalgic journey to a time when railroads were king, moving commerce and passengers around an ever expanding nation.

I traveled to the northeast part of Metro Atlanta to explore this unexpectedly cool, vast, and varied place.

(train honking) It's an American icon, a freight train racing down the tracks, horn blaring, hauling goods to its final destination.

A throwback in many ways to a bygone era, so important to our country's growth in commerce and stature.

Trains were first used in the US during the 1820s, and soon after, were connecting vast areas of the ever-expanding country.

Passenger rails would continue to grow and be the primary method of moving people until 1955 when air travel would become more popular.

At the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, visitors can learn about those earlier years when the train was king, with a wide array of locomotives, rail cars, and cabooses spread out over 35 acres.

(lively music) - Welcome to our diner.

This is an old southern railroad dining cart.

- [Jeff] Chuck Miller is the executive director of the museum and our guide for the day.

He takes us through a few of the over 90 pieces of rolling stock at the site, including some not normally open to the public.

- And peek around in here, you'll see the prep area.

(lively music continues) That's where the cooks would go plate up.

And the guys will come in here and get the salads together and plate everything up and bring it out.

This is the kitchen.

So if you imagine three guys in here with their chef hats, one guy on the grill, one guy on the frying pans, one guy on the steam table here, they're all working together, and we're doing 70 miles an hour, and we're going across the country, and we're cooking and we're grabbing stuff and supplies and doing dishes.

Welcome to our railway post office.

This should just be the norm on all, well, most of the express passenger trains going across the country.

You'd have six, maybe eight armed men in here sorting mail into these pigeon holes or dropping them into these bags from these slots here, as the train went down the track.

They would come up to another station, there'd be a mailbag hanging near the track.

An arm would come up out of the car, wrap around the the arm.

They'd take the mailbag in, which would be one of these, and they'd throw another mailbag out and they'd keep going, and that's how your mail was delivered.

Welcome to our army kitchen car.

This is purpose-built by probably the Pullman Company, and it could feed 550 troops on the move, as they went from place to place.

Coal-fired stove, provisions all over the place, water tank.

These are the radiators.

(throat clearing) Back in the day, a steam locomotive would pipe off excess steam down a train, and it would heat all the cars through radiators.

- [Jeff] All of these rail cars, historical artifacts, and some quite rare.

Last year, a representative of Chicago's famous Pullman Company came to the museum to see one in particular.

- He says, "I got to see this car."

I said, "Why?"

He says, "You have the most original, intact Pullman car in the country."

- [Jeff] Wow.

- And that's the Washington Club.

The berth would come down, porter would come down, drop the berth, put the seats together, and then you got a double on each side.

This is all original.

- It's amazing.

- It's amazing.

- So this serves as, essentially, like a communal area of reading.

- This is where you travel across the country during the day.

You get a drink delivered to you, you play cards.

- [Jeff] The 1930s car is largely unchanged.

- I love this car.

It's one of our places in peril.

And it really deserves, it deserves some work.

- Yeah, extraordinary.

- We're lucky to have it, and we're going to take good care of it, we just have to plan for it.

- It's some ancient furniture too.

- [Chuck] It's really something, isn't it?

- [Jeff] Yeah.

And you said there aren't many of these cars left, right?

- [Chuck] This is the most original Pullman of its class.

- [Jeff] Some document more painful American history.

- This was a southern railroad partition car when it was built.

By partition, it means there's separate seating.

So this is one class of people here with larger bathrooms back here.

The other class sat in really bad situations.

- [Jeff] Where would a car like this have run?

What kind of routes would it have done?

- Washington, DC, to the south, on the southern.

So, as you pulled into Washington, you had to change car and get into the proper car, proper at the time, to travel further south.

- By proper, you're talking race.

- Exactly.

- And so, this car was segregated, basically.

- This was segregated.

- So this would've been the white side, this would've been a Black side back here.

- That's correct.

It's a Jim Crow car.

- In the Black side is the one without.

- On some cars.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, on some cars.

And I'm not saying this car was that way because I don't know, but it was a Jim Crow car in its day.

Until 1952.

- [Jeff] Perhaps the most prized trained piece is the Marco Polo.

- So welcome to Marco Polo.

This is another Pullman car.

They built six, maybe eight cars that had explorers names in it.

Marco Polo is one of FDR's favorite cars as governor, last term of governor of New York, and his first term as president, first couple of terms as president.

When World War II broke out, they built him an armored car.

- [FDR] A date which will live in infamy.

- [Jeff] This car was used to travel to Warm Springs, Georgia, for therapy and relaxation.

- [Chuck] The next is the president's suite.

That's his bathroom, and then that's his bedroom.

You could walk right through.

And you'll notice on the dresser is a photo of his wheelchair.

And that's down in Florida.

- We sit where a president once dined.

I'm like a lot of longtime Atlantans who knew of this place, but I did not know of the dimension, of the scope of the collection, of just how amazing this place is.

It is a rollback into time.

- It's kind of you to say that and I'm glad that you're here.

This museum is a credit to hundreds and hundreds of volunteers that have put a lot of work in the collection, getting it cleaned up, getting it organized.

It is an amazing place.

And, you know, you need to come back a couple of times to really get the scope of it.

- [Jeff] The museum gets most of its funding through donations and with the 20,000 or so visitors each year.

It's also rented out for television and film work.

- Great, Chuck.

But why the late train to Atlanta?

- Tell 'em Gladys!

♪ We're leaving ♪ ♪ On that midnight train to Georgia ♪ - [Jeff] But to maintain and refurbish these pieces comes at a great cost.

How much would it cost to restore a train like this?

- Fully operational?

Million, million and a half dollars.

Cosmetically, for this, maybe a hundred thousand, maybe less.

I'm not an engineer, I don't understand all this stuff, but I've been told this is corten steel with stainless over it, and the two don't like each other.

So it's eating the car alive.

This is on our list to do.

It's probably if we did the outside and inside, not the mechanicals, like the wheels, but electricity and HVAC.

We're probably looking at $200,000 to do the car right.

- [Jeff] In their restoration shop, volunteers help the bottom line.

- This is where the heavy repairs are done and our heavy restoration.

- So where do you find people that are skilled machinists to be able to operate on pieces of machinery that have pretty much been gone for at least a half a century?

- These people are, they're rare finds, and they're really a blessing to us.

But the joy about finding them is they share that knowledge with young kids.

We've had three college kids turn into professional railroaders just by absorbing everything from their mentors here.

- And this involves such skills as welding.

- Welding, painting, grinding, carpentry work, running a train, customer service.

You know, working with these big cranes overhead.

Anything that they want to do safely, we'd love to train people.

- [Jeff] Despite the effort, all of the machinery remains under the constant peril of rust and decay.

I've read that this place also is at risk in terms of the displays here, in terms of what you have.

How is that defined?

- We lobbied the Georgia Trust for historic preservation to get placed on their places in peril listing for this year.

It sounds crazy, but the museum is not in peril, my point is, our point is, is that some of the cars need some attention.

And what we're trying to do is generate some attention across the state about the sense of history that we have in this collection and its importance to the next generation and beyond.

If we don't stabilize some of this stuff, you know, quickly, it'll cost a lot more money to do so.

- There's an endless fascination of trains with people, I'm going to say, over the age of 50, 55.

What about younger generation?

Is this place in peril, not talking funding here, but is it in peril from a lack of interest, that younger people may not have the same fascination with rail cars that so many of us do that we're of perhaps the last generation who actually use them?

- I think, to be honest about that, you know, kids love trains.

The payback here is to have a school tour through here and kids running around going, "Wow, wow, wow."

And then there's a generational thing.

You go to high school, you're too cool for trains.

You go to college, you're focused on a job.

Early family, oh, early family, time to bring the kids to the museum.

So I think there's a little gap there, and that's understandable with a lot of our interests.

But I'm not real concerned about who's coming because they're going to come.

It'll be passed on generation to generation.

- [Jeff] There are also the opportunities to ride these trains a short distance.

It gives the passenger a sense of what was.

Why do you think that this place is important?

Why is it worth saving?

- [Chuck] It's part of the fabric of our country.

Railroads built a country.

Railroads created crafts for the country.

I suspect you run into people whose grandfather worked on the railroad, or an allied business.

It's part of our culture and it's part of what makes this country great.

(train whistling) - The museum holds educational events in family-oriented gatherings year-round at the site, incorporating everything from taxis, trucks, and tractors to Christmas trees, and even a four-day summer camp.

That's all for this episode of Georgia Legends.

I'm Jeff Hullinger.

Thanks for watching.

(solemn music) (solemn music continues) (solemn music ends)