E. J. Cossman, Ant Farm, Spud Gun Made Him Fortune, 84
DGH
E. Joseph Cossman, who made millions marketing such must-have items as
shrunken heads, spud guns and the now-ubiquitous ant farm, and then made
millions telling entrepreneurs how to do the same thing, died, December
7, 2002, in Palm Spring, California, from a stroke, at the age of 84.
Cossman, a door-to-door salesman, perfected mail-order salesmanship and
pioneered the television infomercial, then wrote books and conducted
pricey seminars to demonstrate the route from rags to riches.
Nothing seemed to escape Cossman's notice. He once was at a trade show
selling reproductions of famous artworks for 50 cents each, pitying his
next-booth neighbor, who was touting shrunken heads at a whopping $2.98.
But in three days' time, Cossman also noted that he had sold about two
dozen Da Vincis and Van Goghs while the other fellow had sold 3,000
shrunken heads.
So, as he later would advise those attending his seminars, he acted.
Fast. He formed a partnership with the seller of shrunken heads,
abandoned cheap art and in a year sold 2 million of the little skulls.
Cossman was offered tooling for making the "spud gun," a toy pistol that
fires pieces of potato, for $500 by a toy maker who had made 100,000 but
sold only 10,000. Dubious, Cossman checked with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and learned to his delighted surprise that the country was
in the middle of its biggest potato glut in two decades.
Cossman bought the spud gun-making machinery and solicited potatoes from
growers, promising the toy would solve their economic problems. He had
more than five tons of spuds delivered to him in New York City, dumped
them on a sidewalk and got arrested. Predictably, the publicity got him
on the morning network television talk shows, where he gleefully
discussed his potato-firing pistol.
He sold 2 million of those, too -- in six months.
"I've had 20 big winners in my lifetime -- ones I've sold 1 million or
more of. I only created two," he told the San Diego Business Journal in
1989. The two inventions were the ant farm and a fishing lure that
smelled like meat.
For the things he didn't invent, he said, "I contacted the manufacturers
and got exclusive rights in writing. Then I'd market it as if it were my
own product."
When Cossman turned his own marketing success into daylong $595 how-to
seminars, he aptly titled segments: "How to Profit From Trade Shows,"
"How to Get Free Publicity" and "How to Find a Product or Service."
In 1964, when he switched from selling oddities to selling advice,
Cossman put his experience into a book, "How I Made $1,000,000 in Mail
Order." In 1965 he wrote "Get $50,000 Worth of Services Free Each Year
From the U.S. Government," and a decade later updated that book to
$100,000 in freebies.
Cossman liked to offer speeches at public libraries, crediting them as
the source of his self-education about patent rights and marketing.
Later in life, he earned an MBA from Pepperdine, which decided his
career experience amounted to a self-tutored bachelor's degree.
Born poor in Pittsburgh, Cossman worked five years as a door-to-door
salesman during the Depression, then served in the Army during World War
II. He became an entrepreneur after the war by shipping soap to
soap-deprived Europe, and became a lifelong practitioner of overseas
marketing.
In 1946, Cossman formed Los Angeles [California] -based Cossman & Levine
Inc., a mail-order novelty supplier, with his brother-in-law, Milton
Levine.
Ten years later, they introduced the ant farm, which Cossman and his
family said he invented. Levine also claimed credit for inventing the
case filled with 25 ever-busy ants, but the creative rivalry never
daunted their teamwork in marketing the durable educational toy.
They paid ant-rustlers a penny apiece to find Pogonomyrmex Californicus,
red harvester ants from the Mojave Desert. They refined the product as
they went along -- replacing, for example, the original glue, which
proved fatal to the ants.
Both men touted the ant farm on television, with Cossman once paying a
helicopter pilot $300 to fly 300 live ants to his hotel room after he
landed an unexpected spot on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show."
In 1965, Levine bought out Cossman, renamed the company Uncle Milton
Industries and packaged the product as Uncle Milton's Ant Farm. The ant
farm is still sold from the company's Westlake Village headquarters, at
a 100,000-a-month pace during the Christmas season. More than 2 million
farms have been sold since its introduction nearly half a century ago.
Cossman turned to other pursuits, becoming one of the first to pay for
half-hour blocks of television time to advertise the seminars he would
stage for a fee across the U.S. and Canada. He called his show
"Cossman's Secrets" and used the interview format as a sales tool.
LA Times
.
Hoodude
wrote:
>He formed a partnership with the seller of shrunken heads,
>abandoned cheap art and in a year sold 2 million of the little skulls.
Seems like he didn't abandon "cheap art" then.
--
If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.
- Juan Ramón Jiménez
WarpTwelve
>>They paid ant-rustlers a penny apiece to find Pogonomyrmex Californicus,
>>red harvester ants from the Mojave Desert. They refined the product as
>>they went along -- replacing, for example, the original glue, which
>>proved fatal to the ants.
>
>remember exactly, but I have the distinct memory of the ants being
>delivered frozen in a pouch. You opened the pouch, poured them in the set,
>and waited for them to wake up and go about building their cool little
>tunnels. Instead, two of my ants awoke to find themselves surrounded by
>the dead bodies of their sisters and brothers. They spent all their time
>dragging the bodies around. Dragging ... constantly dragging. I think
>they died from exhaustion. What a rip-off that was.
>
>David Carson
And thus began David Carson's irritation with Santa Claus.
David, if we all took up a collection and bought you a new ant farm for
Christmas, would it make you feel better? ;)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What's so funny about peace, love, and understanding?"
The Kentucky Wizard
"WarpTwelve" <warpt...@aol.comSPAMOFFF> wrote in message
news:20021220180933...@mb-fo.aol.com...
Hey John, funny I should see you here in David's killfile. What'd ya do to
piss him off, tell him he's a dork or something?
--
The Wiz.....
The Kentucky Wizard
"David Carson" <da...@neosoft.com> wrote in message
news:roKdnW5oLKX...@speakeasy.net...
> On 20 Dec 2002 23:09:33 GMT, warpt...@aol.comSPAMOFFF (WarpTwelve)
> wrote:
>
> >David, if we all took up a collection and bought you a new ant farm for
> >Christmas, would it make you feel better? ;)
>
> my childhood, the Sea Monkeys should be first.
>
Looks like someone was sent to their room without getting any supper one too
many times as a kid.
--
The Wiz.....
WarpTwelve
>my childhood, the Sea Monkeys should be first.
I know that I'm going to regret asking this, but what are sea monkeys?
The Kentucky Wizard
"WarpTwelve" <warpt...@aol.comSPAMOFFF> wrote in message
> >Well, if we're going to go about rectifying the disappointing products of
> >my childhood, the Sea Monkeys should be first.
>
> I know that I'm going to regret asking this, but what are sea monkeys?
>
>
They're those things that Carson loves to kill. Almost seriously though,
John, sea monkeys are basically brine shrimp. Don't you remember on the
backs of the old comic books that showed a "family" of sea monkeys and
information on how to buy and grow them? They always reminded me of the
"Whos" that lived in "Whoville" from the Christmas cartoon; "How the Grinch
Stole Christmas"..... Whoa......wait just a minute here...... now it makes
sense. That's why Carson killed off his seamonkeys, he thought they were a
bunch of Whos from Whoville! He does indeed favor the Grinch when you think
about it, so now the truth is out, he's a Who-Killer! I bet he ate, err, had
a dog named Max as well when he was just a lil squirt!
Go here; http://www.seamonkeyworship.com/
--
The Wiz.....
The Kentucky Wizard
> On 22 Dec 2002 18:33:02 GMT, warpt...@aol.comSPAMOFFF (WarpTwelve)
> wrote:
>
> >>Well, if we're going to go about rectifying the disappointing products
of
> >>my childhood, the Sea Monkeys should be first.
> >
> >I know that I'm going to regret asking this, but what are sea monkeys?
>
> appear to be 4 or 5 inches long. Although their overall appearance is
> amphibian or reptilian, they have distinctly humanoid features, such as a
> face. They can also be taught to do tricks. When they aren't doing
> tricks for you, you can just sit and watch their amusing antics.
>
> In reality, Sea Monkeys are brine shrimp that are about 1/8" long. To the
> naked eye, they look like particles of fish food (which they are). Under
> a magnifying glass, they look like ... tiny little shrimp. No faces. No
> tricks. No amusing antics. Oh, and don't bother setting up an aquarium.
> The solution is only good for about a cup of water. Just use an old jelly
> jar ... a small one.
>
> At least with the ant farm, they don't call the ants "Sand Monkeys."
>
> David Carson
I liked my answer better, but of course when you hate ole St. Nick like
*someone* on here does, (no names mentioned of course) any type of response
to any subject is boring. The lump of coals are ready, now where's those
stockings......... no dummy, you're not supposed to be *wearing* them, you
hang em up somewhere, *without* you in them.
--
The Wiz.....
WarpTwelve
Ah, yes. I remember the brine shrimp well. Thanks!
Hoodude
wrote:
>>Well, if we're going to go about rectifying the disappointing products of
>>my childhood, the Sea Monkeys should be first.
>I know that I'm going to regret asking this, but what are sea monkeys?
Imagine ejaculating into an aquarium; they look something like that.
Sorry, a faint memory of a Penthouse letter reentered my mind when I
read the question. :)
The Kentucky Wizard
"Hoodude" <dig_infinity!@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:c04e0vgsosbinaqif...@4ax.com...
> On 22 Dec 2002 18:33:02 GMT, warpt...@aol.comSPAMOFFF (WarpTwelve)
> wrote:
>
> >>Well, if we're going to go about rectifying the disappointing products
of
> >>my childhood, the Sea Monkeys should be first.
>
> >I know that I'm going to regret asking this, but what are sea monkeys?
>
> Imagine ejaculating into an aquarium; they look something like that.
>
> Sorry, a faint memory of a Penthouse letter reentered my mind when I
> read the question. :)
>
>
I thought that's what the kids would do *after* the sea monkeys bellied up?
...... Ok, I'm sorry also, we must have read the same article......*
--
The Wiz.....
Hoodude
<kentuckywizardNOJ...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> >>Well, if we're going to go about rectifying the disappointing products
>of my childhood, the Sea Monkeys should be first.
>> >I know that I'm going to regret asking this, but what are sea monkeys?
>> Imagine ejaculating into an aquarium; they look something like that.
>>
>> Sorry, a faint memory of a Penthouse letter reentered my mind when I
>> read the question. :)
>I thought that's what the kids would do *after* the sea monkeys bellied up?
>...... Ok, I'm sorry also, we must have read the same article......*
I don't recall if it was the same letter where the guy admitted he
enjoyed dangling his genitals into his aquarium to feel the fish
nibbling his scrotum; probably was, considering the topic of it.
The Kentucky Wizard
Topic or Tropic? I mean we are talking aquariums now.
--
The Wiz.....
Bill Schenley
> > > > sea monkeys?
> > > Imagine ejaculating into an aquarium; they look
> > > something like that.
> > > Sorry, a faint memory of a Penthouse letter reentered my
> > > mind when I read the question. :)
<snipped>
> I don't recall if it was the same letter where the guy admitted he
> enjoyed dangling his genitals into his aquarium to feel the fish
> nibbling his scrotum; probably was, considering the topic of it.
Ya' sure you're not thinking of the actor, Troy McClure ... You might
remember him from such films as ... "Muppets Go Medieval." "The
Verdict Was Mail Fraud" or "Calling All Quakers ..."
Hoodude
<stra...@erie.net> wrote:
>> I don't recall if it was the same letter where the guy admitted he
>> enjoyed dangling his genitals into his aquarium to feel the fish
>> nibbling his scrotum; probably was, considering the topic of it.
>Ya' sure you're not thinking of the actor, Troy McClure ... You might
>remember him from such films as ... "Muppets Go Medieval." "The
> Verdict Was Mail Fraud" or "Calling All Quakers ..."
To my recollection I've never heard of him. Or, am I missing a joke or
something?
Bigolhomo
wrote:
>On Mon, 23 Dec 2002 23:22:27 -0500, "Bill Schenley"
><stra...@erie.net> wrote:
>
>>> I don't recall if it was the same letter where the guy admitted he
>>> enjoyed dangling his genitals into his aquarium to feel the fish
>>> nibbling his scrotum; probably was, considering the topic of it.
>
>>Ya' sure you're not thinking of the actor, Troy McClure ... You might
>>remember him from such films as ... "Muppets Go Medieval." "The
>> Verdict Was Mail Fraud" or "Calling All Quakers ..."
>
>To my recollection I've never heard of him. Or, am I missing a joke or
>something?
D'oh!
--
Bigolhomo
Hoodude
wrote:
>>>> I don't recall if it was the same letter where the guy admitted he
>>>> enjoyed dangling his genitals into his aquarium to feel the fish
>>>> nibbling his scrotum; probably was, considering the topic of it.
>>>Ya' sure you're not thinking of the actor, Troy McClure ... You might
>>>remember him from such films as ... "Muppets Go Medieval." "The
>>> Verdict Was Mail Fraud" or "Calling All Quakers ..."
>>To my recollection I've never heard of him. Or, am I missing a joke or
>>something?
>D'oh!
Without additional information supplied to me by Bill Schenley (thank
you) I wouldn't realize that last comment was a reference clue. I'm
not a fan of the source where it has become popular.