January 22: But Wait! There’s More!

Samuel Popeil, inventor of the Veg-O-Matic, which his son Ron (“But wait! There’s more!”) Popeil turned into one of the first hot television sale items in the 1950s, was born on this date in 1915. Sales of their gadgets were no doubt aided by the teleprompter, which was invented by Irving Berlin Kahn (a nephew of the famous composer), who died on this date in 1994. Sam Popeil was nearly murdered by his estranged wife, who went to prison for plotting his death with her lover; Kahn was convicted for bribery in the late 1960s for making payoffs, but bounced back after twenty months in the penitentiary to become a pioneering cable television multimillionaire.

“Slice a tomato so thin it only has one side.” — Ron Popeil, television pitchman, for the Dial-O-Matic, successor to the Veg-O-Matic.

Watch Ron Popeil demonstrate the Chop-O-Matic: