It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's The Bayer Cross

My first memory of Bayer was a huge plastic pill that my grandpa had in his fishing tackle box. He was a doctor, so he always had swag from pharmaceutical companies. It was actually a container that I'm sure at one time held samples of the company's Aspirin. My grandpa used it to hold match sticks – I'm guessing since it was watertight enough to transport pills it was also good enough to keep matches dry. That was nearly 40 years ago – or when Bayer was celebrating its 110th anniversary.Now the company is getting ready to bring on the swag for its 150th celebration. To mark the celebration, it is planning a series of events and projects that will focus on the company's employees and their families. But I hear that neighbors, customers, partners and the scientific community will also be invited to the soirees."It goes without saying that we want to use our anniversary to make the Bayer name even better known across the world," says Michael Schade, head of corporate communications. "One of the projects being prepared is a traveling exhibition that will visualize topics related to health care, agriculture and high-performance materials. This exhibition is scheduled to visit more than 20 sites throughout the world. A further highlight will be an airship displaying the Bayer Cross that will travel to all continents during 2013."The company is being a little closed-lipped about the when and where of the celebrations, but I certainly hope it makes a tour stop in the Cleveland area. I'd love to see if they have any vintage swag on display. Who knows, maybe I can snag a pill box or two and relive my memories of fishing with my grandpa.Traci Purdum
Senior Digital Editor and nostalgic fisherwomanOn the social media front, be sure to check out her Google+ page.