Perhaps you recall the amazing television products of the mid-1960s and the 1970s. If not, let me refresh your memory: "It slices, it dices, it chops, it juliennes! Not available in stores!"

The Veg-O-Matic, the Pocket Fisherman, Mr. Microphone, Seal-A Meal, and Mr. Dentist were all products of Ronco.

The Ron of Ronco was Ron Popeil, a salesman who apparently had never heard the word subtle.

Popeil began his sales career in his father's company, Popeil Brothers. His job was to demonstrate such products as the Chop-O-Matic at state fairs across the country.

In 1964, Popeil formed Ronco in order to bring his pitch to television. He had to fit his entire spiel into 30 or 60 seconds, and he accomplished this by mechanically editing out the pauses between sentences and speeding up the tapes. It cost $550 to produce the first Veg-O-Matic commercial, and it was worth every penny. Nine million Veg-O-Matics were sold.

Ronco continued to sell directly to television viewers until 1984, when its CleanAire machine sold so poorly that Popeil was forced to declare bankruptcy.