There is an old wives tale that bumblebees should not be able to fly. According to aerodynamics, their wings are much too small in relation to their body size to move them through the air. Bees, ignorant to these laws of science, manage to defy the odds and fly every single day.
Hugh Cunningham Sr. particularly liked this story and the resilience that bees represent. So much so that he used this mantra as the foundation for the company he founded in 1947. A college graduate of University of Texas at Austin, Hugh Cunningham returned from World War II as a Captain and heard from family friends at Morrison’s Supply Company that there was great opportunity in the plumbing supply and sell business. New to the industry, Hugh Cunningham did his research and decided to buyout a partner in a manufacturers’ rep firm in Dallas, Texas called Toole and Litchfield, which became Toole and Cunningham. After roughly 15 years of success together, Toole and Cunningham amicably split, and the company became what it is known as today – Hugh M. Cunningham Companies (HMC).