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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1960)
10 A MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, ORE. CO TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1960 5750, Idea Turned Into Biggest Model Making Business Washington-flJPIJ-lt was Just 18 years ago that Lewis H Clascr took $750 plus an ldea-and parlayed both into a $17 million a year busi ness. The $730 was all the cap ital the 25-year-old Glaser had salvaged from a radio parts business that failed when wartime shortages cut off his supply. The idea was a firm conviction that plas tics was a coming industry, Clascr's slim savings pur chased an about-to-go-bank- ruDt plastic business-a few crude machines for making - molds and a tiny store he rented for $45 a month Biggest Company From that unpromising be ginning has sprung Revell, Inc., world's largest maker of plastic construction kits for model boats, planes, missiles, Sheep Central Point Youth Wins Shearing Contest Salem (UPB Charles Laugh lin, 20, Yamhill, has been named all-around grand cham pion showman in the Future Farmers of America competi tion at the Oregon State fair. He won the additional title after being named grand champion beef showman. Ralph Gierko of West Linn Is grand champion in the FFA wool show with another West Linn youth, Kenneth Bocve, reserve grand champ. Champion Fowl The grand champion large fowl was a Rhode Island Red belonging to Aldon J. Wilkie of Newbcrg. B. Butcher of Canby showed his champion Waterfowl, an old Toulouse gander, and Felix Wright, Sil verton, had the champion tur key. The grand champion ban tam was a black Cochin cock owned by Erma Williams, Portland. Dwlght Cummins. 18, Cen tral Point, won the FFA pro fessional sheep shearing con test lor the second year In a row. Novice sheep shearing till 1st Is Jack Watson, 10, Wy'East. i Corvallls Youths Win Steve Smith of Corvallls was first in FFA crops identi fication and the next four top places also went to Cor vallls youths. In order, they are Loren Smith, Glenn Jim merson, Don Decker and Earl Decker. An Astoria housewife, Mrs. Toivo Kivisto, won a special award in the foods depart ment for her yeast-raised bread. Doreen Helemn of Staylon baked the best wedding cake. The Oregon Wheat Commis sion yeast bread trophy went to Mrs. H. J. Duncan of Carl ton. Mrs. Kivisto picked up the layer cake trophy and Mrs. O. W. Olson, Silverton, the pie trophy. Christmas Tree Group to Meet Portland - The third annual Northwest Christmas, Tree as sociation trade fair has been scheduled Sept. 23 and 24 in the Civic auditorium here. Individuals and firms on gaged in the marketing of Christmas trees and associated products throughout Washing ton, Oregon and California have been invited to attend the affair. It will feature dis plays by firms and persons producing trees and other as sociated products. Organized in 1051 by north western tree growers, the NCTA strives to Improve mar keting procedures by bringing together growers, wholesalers and retailers at periodic meetings. cars and animals. Of the more than 20 companies serving the nation's 23 million model makers, Revell was the best and now is by far the biggest. Glaser. a self-educated chem ist whose formal education stopped after high school, didn't exactly hit the jackpot overnight. He started out making plastic combs, picture frames and small toys. One of the latter was an item dreamed up by press agent Jim Moran. "I've got a great idea, Moran told Glaser. "Make some plastic horses and we'll put Mexican jumping beans Inside them. When the beans Jump,, the horses will buck like crazy." Glaser turned out hundreds of thousands of plastic ponies and contracted for the entire crop of beans. That was the year the Mexican jumping bean crop suffered a complete failure. Glaser tossed his horse horde into the melting pot and to this day starts laughing when he sees bean soup on a menu. Looking for Product ' By 1950, Glaser was look ing around for a product that might eatch on even without advertising. He found it in the ancient Maxwell car made famous by Comedian Jack Benny. He decided to make a miniature plastic re plica of the Maxwell. He didn't knew it at the time, but he had pressed the right button. The minaturc car sold well for a lime, then faded. But a wholesaler sug gested that instead of selling the Maxwell as a toy, why not put the plastic parts In box and let the buyer as semble it himself? Glaser took the plunge. Orders poured in by the thou sands. They didn't even stop iter the Chrislmasl season an unheard of phenomena in the toy business. The youthful entrepreneur pour ed every cent he had into new tools and dies and began turning out amazingly realis tic ship and plane rcpucus. Today, Revell produces 50 per cent of the "Kit" Indus try's output, with two plants in the united Slates, one in London, another in Germany and a brand-new factory now building in Japan. Glaser, who once worried when he risked $6,000 on molds for several plane models, now thinks nothing of spending $150,000 to produce a single product-the tooling cost of Revell's latest, a model for the Allison prop-jet aircraft engine. Simple Formula Glasser now has more than 1,000 employees-including his attractive wife who serves as vice president in charge of new product development, lie met her on a blind date and married her only three weeks later , His success formula is simple: "Everything is a constant change," he explains, "and It's important to be alive, alert and sensitive to these changes. If a person under. stands this, It makes him less stubborn about moving Into new area or even about changing Ills mind and ad mittting when he's wrong." Newport Beach, Callf.-IUPD Alfred E. Green, 71, veteran mollon picture director of such films as "The Al Jolson Story" and "Union Depot," died Sunday, State Fair Draws Big Holiday Crowd Salem-WIH-A crowd of 70,- 410 attended the Oregon State Fair Monday and a spokesman predicted this year s show could set an all- time record with continued good weather. The record 342,04.1 persons was set in 1058. The four-day total for this years fair is 101,021 com pared to 145.238 last year. Monday's betting In the horse racing set an ull-tinic record. The handle of $215, 105 eclipsed the Labor Day 1050 $205,755. The visit of Democratic Presidential Nominee John F. Kennedy Wednesday is ex pected to give attendance an other shot in the arm. NOW! YOU CAN TRADE-IN THAT OLD SUIT OR TOPCOAT! $15.00 on a new Barker suit or topcoat IF your trade-in is Salable Trade-ins Go To The Rotary Suit Sale and Will Support a Foreign Student in Medford Next Year Simpson To Speak At Club Meeting Ashland Hugh G. Simp son, director of information at Southern Oregen college, wili speak at a meeting of the Ashland Women's Civic club here Wednesday. His topic will be "Citizen ship and Young American ism." It is scheduled at 2:30 p.m. in the club's headquar ters on Winburn way, facing the entrance to Lithia park. Simpson received his bache lor's degree from tile Univer sity of Oregon in 1042, and spent time in the armed serv ices and teaching English and physical education before re turning to the university where he received his master's in education in 1053. Ashland club officials have invited those interested to at tend the meeting tomorrow. Colleagues Remember Writer Killed in Congo as Tremendously Inquisitive Man Washington fUPD He was called "Harry" and he showed up at the world's danger spots with the satisfaction of a first nightcr with an orchestra seat. He was a tremendously in quisitive man who threw him self into his work. Ha inter viewed the men in the news Nasser, Castro and others but he always verified the facts by talking to the people. That is how his colleagues remember Henry Noble Tay lor, foreign correspondent for the Scripps-Howard newspa pes who was kliied instantly by a burst of machine gun fire Sunday in The Congo. Taylor, son of the U. S. am bassador to Switzerland, died while covering a battle be tween Congolese troops of Premier Patrice I.nmnmha and Ralllha tnhacman in so-called independent "mining siaie in K.asai Province. Burial In Virginia The U.S. embassy in Leo poldviile sent an airplane to pick up Taylor's body. It will be flown to Washington for funeral services Friday at St. John's Church here. Burial will be at Charlottesville, Va., where his parents have a home. The grief-stricken parents, Ambassador and Mrs. Hpnrv J. Tavlor Jr.. nlannpri tn flv from Bern to Washington to day via Paris and New York. They were taking their son's death very hard. Tavlors imnressivp rarppr was cut short at the age of 31. He had not yet reached his peak as a journalist, but he already had won fame as a penetrating reporter who could translate the yearnings of a student in Seoul to the mate in the street in Wichita. He had the freedom of a bachelor and a zest for life of an adventurer. His depth of perception, his sense of his tory and his keen wit im pressed all whom he en countered. WroU With Knowledge He could write brilliantly because he combined a so phisticated knowledge of world diplomacy with an un derstanding and compassion for its victims. His dispatches in the past few months have been date lined Quemoy, Seoul, Taipeh, Tokyo and Moscow, or put an other way, wherever trouble developed. His last dateline was Leo poldville. Here's the way he described the desperation of the situation with a few choice words: "The wholesale weirdness of this chaotic Con go swallows the newcomer." Before going to Africa, he covered the Moscow trial of the U2 pilot, Francis Gary Powers. He wrote of some who did not approve of Pow er's performance. "But which of us," he asked, "can look at a man and say, 'This is one who should have died'." Larchmont, N.Y.-IUPll-Samu-el D. Gershovitz, 53, execu tive vice president of the Na tional Jewish Welfare Board, died Monday. Medford Man Hurt When Car Rolls Over Daniel Walter Bell, 40, of 214 Lincoln St., Medford, was taken to Sacred Heart hospi tal following a one-car acci dent Monday morning, state police reported. The accident occurred when a vehicle driven by Margaret Ellen Bell, 32, rolled after it failed to make a turn on Han ley rd. about one half mile south of Boss lane, officers said. Roses account for more than 50 per cent of the value of all cut flowers sold in the United States. Sawdust S&H GREEN STAMPS Medford Fuel Co. Tel SP 2-21 1 1 Court & McAnd, Bel-Air, Calif.-fflPD-An uni. dentified teen-ager alerted comedienne Joan Davis that the top floor of her home was on fire Monday night while she was watching tele vision. Miss Davis, 46, was led to safety by the youth, who left the scene without giving his name. 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