I thought he was already dead. Shows you what little I knew. He did live long enough and then some to be on Futurama and get credited as the man who invented immortality through Head in a Jar technology. Also known as how a cartoon set in the year 3000 AD could have modern-day and historical guests on. The writers even worked in his famous sales pitch Apple stole, “But wait! There’s more!”
Through his company Ronco, I often saw his odd, time-saving gadgets on TV during the commercial breaks of cartoons or syndicated reruns throughout the Seventies. The only three I remembered were the Pocket Fisherman, the Record Cleaner and the Glass Maker.
The Pocket Fisherman? Not sure if it really worked or anybody cared. Those who are really into fishing have good gear and probably saw it as crap. It could come in handy after the collapse of society as per The Walking Dead or Mad Max.
The Record Cleaner was for vinyl, namely LPs and 45s. Didn’t know anyone with it. Most people I knew didn’t care about their records to bother and the solution my parents owned seemed to work more thoroughly.
The Glass Maker I do know from experience through its commercial and my grandfather’s ownership. No, it wasn’t a kiln for you to melt down sand in order to blow your own glass creations. It was worse! The gadget cut the top section off glass bottles! Then you could repurpose the bottom half into all kinds of crap! A candle holder. An ashtray (smoking was still in vogue). The biggest payoff? A drinking glass because it came with special sand paper to file down the sharp rim the cutter left behind. Why? I have no idea! Buying new dishes and drinkware wasn’t exorbitantly expensive then. Looking back, I’d say this Ronco gadget was a hoarder’s wet dream. Grandpa didn’t succeed with it. He preferred to cut the tops off of empty beer cans to drink out of and I’d call it Appalachian China.
Ron did credited for a whole industry known as the As Seen On TV genre and got his own song through Weird Al. These things did make him famous and wealthy so I shouldn’t knock the three gizmos I recalled.
Thanks for everything Ron. Your commercials not just filled time between shows. Your inventions provided wonder, confusion and lazy comedy, especially SNL‘s “Bass-o-Matic” skit with Dan Akroyd. I guess you had to be stoned to find it funny.