Ron Popeil (born 1935) is a millionaire inventor and huckster, well-known for his company Ronco [1]. His television sales techniques might be considered the origin of Infomercials.
Some of his better-known products:
- Popeil Pocket Fisherman
- Mr. Microphone
- Ginsu kitchen knives
- Inside-The-Shell Egg Scrambler
- GLH-9 Hair in a Can spray
- Drain Buster
- Electric Food Dehydrator
- Showtime Rotisserie and Barbecue - "Set it, and forget it!"
Popeil learned his trade from his father Samuel who was also an inventor/carney salesmen of kitchen-related gadgets such as the Chop-o-matic (later called the Vegomatic - "It slices, it dices, it makes julienne fries!"). The invention of the Vegomatic caused a problem which marked the entrance of Ron Popeil into television. It turned out that the Vegomatic was too efficient at chopping vegetables, and that it was impractical for salesman to carry the vegetables they needed to chop. The solution was to tape the demonstration. Once the demonstration was taped, it was a short step to broadcasting the demonstration as a commercial.
