How to Become a Millionaire
Many of America's richest men weren't born to wealth as
winners of the Horatio Alger Awards prove but they do
have certain traits in common
Ir ' -L
ILLUSTRATION IT IOI IUGO
HORATIO ALGER was a drab, unhappy
man. A poor boy, he failed in the
ministry and then devoted his life to
writing books that would show other
boys how to succeed.
These books Strive and Succeed, Try and
Trust, Sink or Sivim inspired your fathers and
grandfathers to achievement Today Horatio Al
ger stands as a symbol of the American rags-to-riches
dream an old dream but still valid.
Each year I have had the great pleasure of
handing out Horatio Alger awards to men who,
as the embodiment of this American dream, have
lived lives as if inspired by those old novels. They
are selected by the Horatio Alger Awards Com"
mittee, supplemented by the votes of campus
leaders at 600 colleges.
These award winners made fortunes because
they possess the obvious virtues for success a
dynamic, outgoing personality, belief in people,
a capacity for hard work, and, a flair for sales
manship. In addition, they have four special
traits that set them apart from more average
men traits which can help you develop a more
successful life:
Sttf.RtUaaea Movers and makers, the men
whose lives personify the great American suc
cess story have pushed their companies into new
methods and enterprises, always seeking better
By KENNETH J.BEEBE
rVwidant, Horatio Alger Commlttta
of ttia American Schools and CoMsgoi Ann.
as told to
Flora Rheta Schreiber
ways to serve people's needs. For instance, some
body once said of super-self-reliant Murray D.
Lincoln, insurance-company executive and chair
man of the board of CARE : "When he goes to
Heaven, he'll take one look around, decide the
place could stand some straightening out, and
ask St Peter for a broom."
Most people think family connections are in
dispensable to success, yet many of our winners
were forced into self-reliance early in life. Some
became the "man" of the family even before they
were in their teens. But spurred by having to
support their families (typically a widowed
mother and a" large brood of younger brothers
and sisters), they achieved success earlier and
more impressively than persons who are less ur
gently driven.
Take, for example, Albert. Dome," renowned ad
vertising artist, illustrator, and educator who
was born in the slums of New York's East Side.
After finishing seventh grade, he had to leave
school to support his mother, two sisters, and a
younger brother. At five, he had resolved to be
come a great artist but family circumstances
made him take a detour newspaperboy, office
boy, salesman. By the time he was 21, however,
he had caught up with his original ambition and
was already earning $20,000 a year in his chosen
field. Today he is the most successful of all com
mercial artists and is reputed to have earned
more money than anyone else in his field.
Moreover, altruism accompanied personal suc
cess. Spurred by the thought, "I studied art at
home so can you," he founded the Famous Art
ists' School and the Famous Writers' School in
Westport, Conn. The schools have taught 54,000
students in 64 countries by correspondence. -
Daa't Make Malty Vir Oily Mativatita None
of our men wasted energy dreaming about gold
for its own sake. As Joseph Sunnen, a multi
millionaire St Louis industrialist and one of our
winners, puts it: "I just don't think anybody who
wants only to make a million dollars can be hap
py. He has based his happiness on nothing. The
only way to achieve both money and happiness
is to make money a by-product of service."
Joe Sunnen has lived this philosophy to the
letter. The son of a coal miner, he left school at
14 to work in a garage. His observations about
faulty cars on this first job led to his later de
veloping a valve lifter for automobiles. Today he
holds patents on 60 inventions and heads his own
company, Sunnen Products.
StisUf ni Salilag tat Oaiartaaity Our men
didn't wait for opportunity to knock but did the
knocking themselves. Take an 18-year-old farm
boy, the 11th of 12 children, without a high
school education or business experience, who lost
three jobs in his first two working years. Still
determined, he started making brushes in th?
basement of his sister's home.
It was through this simple undertaking that
Alfred C. Fuller became the original Fuller Brush
Man, whose company today has more than 7,000
door-to-door dealers and annual sales of $100 mil
lion. He made his own opportunity in the face
of total discouragement
Lttra fraa Taar Failartt Too often, we sur
render to failure and refuse to try again. Actu
ally, failure can be a mirror which shows us how
we erred, what part outside events played in it,
and how we can avert future mistakes.
Taught to read and write by Annie Oakley and
given his show-business ABCs by Buffalo Bill,
award winner George A. Hammid, outstanding
showman and authority on fairs and expositions,
believes that: "Whatever success I have attained,
I owe to my failures. A hungry showman learns
more from one resounding failure than he does
from two successes."
The experience of our Horatio Alger winners
proves that in this country men without wealthy
backgrounds or special privileges can- succeed
spectacularly. By their own efforts they pulled
themselves up from obscure beginnings. They
are a living testament to the fact that Americans
can still transform their rags into custom-tailored
suits ahd their pennies into dollars.
I can only tell you about them, however. If you
want to join them, it's up to you.
COVER:
A roller-coaster ride or a trip through the
tunnel of love wouldn't be complete with
out a popcorn lunch, too. The amusement
park scene was caught by L. Witlinger.
Family
WeeJcIy
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