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But wait, there’s more!!!

Infomercial king coined phrase ‘There’s more!’

— THE CATCHPHRASE THAT RON POPEIL MADE FAMOUS. SADLY, THERE IS NO MORE FOR THE FORMER VEG-O-MATIC TV PITCHMAN.

Ron Popeil, the self-styled “Greatest salesman of the (20th) Century,” who has died aged 86, was the founder of Ronco, purveyor of products with brand names often ending in “O-matic” that you never knew you needed.

His career began working for his father Samuel, a Chicago-based manufacturer of run-of-the-mill kitchen devices who had developed a sideline as an inventor of gadgets such as the Citrex juice extractor, the Toastette sandwich-pie maker and the Slice-a-way cutting board.

Samuel also created the Chop-o-matic, an onion-chopper employing a rotating, spring-loaded steel blade. At first, the Popeils sold the Chop-o-matic through live demonstrations at flea markets, dime stores and at Woolworth’s. But in 1958 Ron began selling the gadget on television.

He made a five-minute commercial, reprising his singsong street-vendor pitch: “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to show you the greatest kitchen appliance ever made ... If you order right now, the price is not $5.98, but $3.98. That’s right, $3.98. As a special bonus, you will receive with your Chop-o-matic at no additional charge a valuable recipe book: 50 Secret Recipes by World Famous Chefs.”

Sales boomed and the O-matic range grew to include the Dial-o-matic slicer, the Whip-o-matic frothy drink mixer and the Mince-o-matic grinder.

The Popeils hit the jackpot with the Veg-o-matic, launched in 1963, “The only appliance worldwide that can slice whole, firm tomatoes in one stroke, with every seed in place,” for which Ron coined what became his catchphrase: “But wait, there’s more!!!”

The following year he founded Ronco, which went on to market hundreds of gadgets to television audiences around the world.

Ronald Martin Popeil was born May 3, 1935, in the Bronx, and by his own account had a miserable childhood. When he was 13 he moved to Chicago to work at Popeil Brothers, the factory founded by his father and an uncle in 1939, and found he had flair as a salesman.

A recession in the early 1980s affected sales and Ronco went into liquidation in 1984. But Popeil bounced back and in 2005 sold the company for $55 million.

Popeil is survived by his fourth wife, Robin, and by four daughters.

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2021-08-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-08-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

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