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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 1961)
1 .JC: 'If! PROPELLER CHECKED-Arnold Otto, left, and John Beck ett make a check at Sunnyvale, Calif., on, the propeller of the ram-jet hot air machine Beckett has invented to drive frost off of orchards and truck crops. The tank is 38 feet long and holds 1,000 gallons of fuel for two jet engines which whirl the blades and creates hot air. Beckett spent seven years perfecting the machine and plans to license construc tion and sales of the machine in the future. The ram-jet en gines have no working parts. (UPI Telephoto) FISHING BOAT CAPSIZES Yokohama, Japan -1UPD- Ten fishermen still were missing today after their boat over turned Sunday about 100 mil es south of here in the Pacific. The Japanese Maritime Safe ty agency said a patrol boat was searching for the missing crew members of the 135-ton vessel "Azuma Maru." Fifteen member? of its 25-man crew were picked up by another fishing vessel. Medford Tribune SECTION B MEDFORD, OREGON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1961. PAGES 1 to 8 Contests Staged by Big Firms Said Growing in Popularity By HENRY J. BECHTOLD UPI Financial Editor New, York (UPD What are people doing to fill the vac uum created by the absence o f television quizzes? Many are entering con tests, a hobby that is second only to stamp collecting. C o n t e s ts have been big business for 20 Beiy Becntoid years and are getting bigger every day, ac cording to Stanley Arnold, president of a sales and mar keting consulting firm bear ing his name. This year alone dozens of blue-chip companies will hand out prizes totaling $100 mil lion. It is estimated that 20 million Americans attempt at least one contest every year. One of the biggest individual takes to date-is $375,000, won by a 48-year-old California housewife. All-Time Champ Arnold noted, however, that with the number of cor porations staging large-scale national contests with local tie-ins on the increase, no one merchandiser can expect the mammoth responses of a few years ago. In the mid-1950's Gulf Oil's 'Live the' Life of Riley" and Borden's "Name the Twins of Elsie the Cow" contests, with 2.3 million and 2.9 million entrants, respectively, broke all records. But with so many sponsors competing for com petitors now, 500,000 for any I single contest is considered good. Despite diminished returns to the individual manufac turer, this form of sales and merchandising stimulator con tinues to attract more and more national promotions. In 1959, the last full year for which figures are available, there were some 650 major national contests. Counting all sizes, national and local, there are about 5,000 every year. There is no way of closely estimating what the 1961 to tal will be because details are kept very secret during the planning stage, according to Arnold, a veteran contest creator himself. Often this is carried to the point where even- within a company con test plans will be known by a code name so that as few people as possible will know about them. Arnold claims that ' 1961 will be bigger than ever be cause sales goals are bigger and competition is tougher. Contests are most common when goods are plentiful and competition keen, he said. Expenditures in 1958 were up 25 per cent, in 1959 up some 20 per cent, and 1960 appears to have increased in about the same proportion. Reward for Ingenuity There will be a greater premium on ingenuity this year, less emphasis on cold cash, Arnold stated, adding that prizes that are too lavish may even defeat themselves. "Too much of anything, even money, is poor taste," he de clared. iotai expenditures, never theless, will be huge. Some experts believe that no na tional contest can be success ful on less than 5100,000 for advertising alone. A major mm may spend up to S3 mil lion for advertising, promo tion and prizes. These investments arc worth it though, according to Arn old. He noted that in the first year of Piel's "Treasure Is land" contest, supermarket sales rose 27 per cent, and in the second year there was a further increase of 23 per cent. More Soap Contests - About 60 per cent of the contests apply to items sold in supermarkets-food, drugs, tobacco, household products. There are more soap company contests than any other, Proc ter & Gamble alone have run more than 150. Beyond 1961, Arnold sees www , rwpw!! 9 1 WATER EXPLODES - This is how UPI photographer George Biley and his glass of water reacted to an explosion which shook buildings and rattled , windows throughout Boston, Mass. Police switchboards were, swamped with calls from frantic residents. Evidence pointed to a "sonic boom" blast caused by a jet' plane. (UPI Telephoto) the vogue continuing. The baby boom years of 1939-1945, he pointed out, will produce a whole new generation of en trants in the early 1960s.- Al so, the older population, with children grown and time on their hands, is increasing every year. ' YOUNG REBELS ARRIVE Moscow -lliril- A delegation of Cuba Prime Minister Fidel Castro's "young rebels" has arrived here, the Soviet news agency Tass said today. The group of teen-age youths is headed by 17-year-old Joel Ig- lesias who holds the rank of major in Cuba's army. Area Jaycees May Sponsor Pageant A proposal' for joint-spon soring a Miss Rogue Valley Pageant is being presented to area Jaycees by members of the Medford Junior Chamber of Commerce. Three Medford Jaycees - Ted Litchfield, Michael Smith, and Douglas Peters-presented the proposal to the Eagle Point Jaycees last week. The four Jaycee clubs contacted in reference to sponsoring the pageant would be Ashland. Medford, Eagle Point, and Grants Pass. They report that most clubs have indicated in terest in the project. Litchfield said the co-sponsoring would give more girls an opportunity to compete iri the beauty contest. The win ner of the Miss Rogue Valley competition would compete at Seaside for the Miss Oregon title. Medford Jaycees also re ported that six members of the Grants Pass club were re cently initiated by several Medford Jaycees at special ceremonies held at a Grants Pass drive-in restaurant. Initiated were Bob Oden, Dick Ross, Paul Allie, Dennis Chriss, Roger Blomberg, and Marvin Boyd. Participating from Medford were' Everett Peyton, Ted Litchfield, Bill Tope, and Douglas Peters. About 45 persons attended the ceremonies. Mortgage LOANS for Looking for money to borrow? Commonwealth oilers mortgage loans on homes, commercial and industrial property, apartments and projects for senior citizens. We represent 17 life insurance companies, eastern sav ings banks and pension funds. 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