WELCOME WAGON HISTORY

Welcome Wagon was founded in 1928 by an insightful marketing man in Memphis, Tennessee, Thomas Briggs. Mr. Briggs was inspired by stories of early Conestoga “welcome wagons” that would meet and greet westward travelers, providing fresh food and water for the journey.

Briggs created the Welcome Wagon Program to embody this same spirit of warm hospitality and welcome. He hired "hostesses", women who were friendly and knowledgeable about their neighborhood, to personally deliver baskets of gifts supplied by local businesses to new homeowners.

Over a cup of coffee, hostesses would tell the new move-ins all about their community while handing out gifts and coupons from local businesses. This hostess network expanded across the country until, Welcome Wagon became one of the first all-female companies in the United States.

Welcome Wagon's personalized greetings and community information have touched the lives of over 85 million households, including American Presidents such as Kennedy, Nixon and George W. Bush as they moved into the White House.

The home visits stopped in 1998 as an increase in two-income families meant fewer people were home to accept visits.

Welcome Wagon began greeting new homeowners through the mail with a gift of an attractive, customized Gift Book.

Now, with the internet new move ins can be greeted via email and giving them options to connect to the local businesses in their communities through the internet.

The mode of delivery may be different than before, but the mission is still the same today as it was then.