I’ve been unable to write any further blogs,due to computer difficulties.  I now realize how the current advancement in digital technology is making me feel obslete.  I am now trying to familiarize myself with a completely set-up .  I now have an Acer laptop and a new Canon printer.  It’s going to take several   weeks for me to adjust to this new equipment.  Can you imagine what this change of imaging from film and chemicals into digital imagery has done to the film industry as I knew it?  In yesterday’s newspaper, an article stated that Kodak may go into bankruptcy.

In 1963, the growth of the film industry was phenomenal, similar to what you see now in the digital age. And I was swept up with the growth of the photo industry. Argraph had grown from a one man operation into a staff of 6 sales reps covering the East Coast camera shops, which were opening up to service the demand for cameras and equipment.  We needed more space to warehouse the equipment we handled. When we took on the distribution of the Durst enlargers, we had to rent an office space on the same floor, just to store them.  We definitely required more space and better shipping facilities. We moved to a full floor space,on West 19th St., near 7th Ave.

At this time, we were printing a dealer catalog which listed the items and pricing. For the record, we stocked exposure meters,slide binders,viewfinders, light stands,binoculars,tripods,film editors,filters,lenses,flashguns,camera bags,darkroom gear,etc. Lots of stuff and all in demand. We were also starting to demonstrate tape recorders and even handled the first Sony pocket radio.

Our sales figures were in the several million. We now employed about six empoyees in the warehouse for shipping  and stocking and customer service. The photo industry was growing worldwide and we were attracting manufacturers from overseas.  The industry was also attracting Wall Street.  We wee fortunate to be involved in  a growing economy.

4

It was summertime, when Shirley and I were leaving Brighton Beach (Brooklyn) area to pick up our car, when we met Jack and his wife Edith.  I had known Jack as a customer.  He had a camera shop on Pitkin Ave. Brooklyn and later moved to Manhattan in the Bus Terminal.  I lost track of him when he closed this shop, due to lack of sales. We  talked awhile and when he told me that he is looking for a job,  invited him to see me in my office on 30th Street.

I, at this time was experiencing big growth in my business and thought that it was time for me to concentrate on executive matters.  I needed to devote more time to product management, advertising and financial matters.  I thought that Jack ,with his knowledge of photo products would be a good salesman.

Jack did not drive a car, so I arranged a territory for him that he could manage to cover.  I introduced him to the camera shops in Brooklyn and in Manhattan.  He could cover them by foot, subway and bus.   Long Island dealers,  I gave to brother, Bill.   He lived on the Island and could spend two days per week, and 3 or 4 days in warehouse.  This chance meeting worked out well J.G.  He became the sales manager and assisted me at neetings with manufacturers in Japan and Europe

We didn’t bother unpacking, just laid out pajamas and washed up, took a short rest & talked about this unusual adventure we were experiencing.  Our meeting was scheduled for 12PM, so we left the room ten minutes earlier.  The road to the cemetery was nearby.  We followed the sign to the entrance and as we turned on the road to the reception building, we saw the full moon beaming down on us and lighting up the road to the office.  We were able to see the surroundings more clearly and it bolstered our spirits.  We parked next to the car, which we presumed belonged to the sales clerk.  We gathered our sales material, samples and order pads and proceeded up the steps to enter the building.  I walked up the steps to ring the doorbell and Jack turns to me and says “If he offers you coffee , check it out, it may be embalming fluid”.  He was kidding, of course. We were buzzed in and approached the staircase when we saw the owner at the top level, motiomock to us and saying “Glad to see you. Come on up, while the coffee is hot”.  Jack and I chuckled and grinned as we climbed the staircase to his office, to meet our fate.

Our efforts were rewarded.  We found a new customer and wrote a large order.  Who says that the sales profession is easy? It can be exciting and dangerous, but also  rewarding.

The three  years of my change from commission sales into a stocking importer and distributor  was very successful.  I had the assistance of my brother Bill, who quit his job and worked in the office and warehouse.  I also hired Mary Ellis who had formerly been employed by Fotoshop. She managed the bookkeeping.  And some part time help to work in the warehouse  and office. I continued sales in Brooklyn and Manhattan.  I also expanded my coverage of camera shops in New Jersey, and Pa,  in southern east coast and also New England by appointing commission salesmen.

Our photo products industry was expanding tremendously and attracted many new manufacturers.  Germany, Japan and the U.S. were seeking distribution.  This fostered the magazines and conventioneers.  We participated at photo conventions , advertised our accessory products in photo magazines.  We were selling lighting equipment, tripods, lenses. darkroom equipment.etc.  We were also testing the tape recorder market.

As I reflect back to this period, two people stand out who aided me in their own area of activity.  Sophie Smoliar was a journalist for I.F.Stone’s Weekly review.  I have no idaea why she left, but she established her own Weekly in the photo field. The Photo Weekly was sent to all of the dealers.  It was a trade journal and competed with monthly papers.  Her paper was more informative about people in the industry.  I has lots of info to give her and she gave me good publicity.  Of course, I gave her ads.  I’m sure that her articles prompted many manufacturers to contact Argraph.  I believe that Sophie deserves to be added to my Photo Industry hall of fame.  So, I invite you readers to Google Sophie Smoliar/ Photo Weekly and learn how a Journalist can be instrumental in keeping an industry informed.

The other journalist , who created a name and following was Bert Keppler, who wrote for Modern Photography and for Popular Photography I knew him for many years.  He worked in a retail camera department prior to reporting  on photo equipment.  His father was Victor Keppler, a free lance photographer.  Please Google Herbert Keppler for complete details on Bert’s  life.  I also will add his name to the Photo Products Hall of Fame.

And this was the year in which I met Jack Goldberg, by chance .{to follow}

It was very convenient for our family.  We were situated opposite Gimbels Dep’t store and near Macy’s, so Shirley would park Mark and Andy in the office, while I worked on my business activities. On week-ends  she did shopping while I got a few hours with the boys. Living  and working in Manhattan was advantageous.  Shirley was working in the Public School system and I was attending night classes at college. Shirley hired a nanny named Aisley who proved to be wonderful.  She raised Andy and made him into a Yankee baseball fan.

This was a hectic period for us. Fortunately we worked well together.  Shirl took care of family matters and social matters, while I concentrated on building our business.  And it was at this point that a contact I made through Levinger steered me in an important direction.  I had phoned Paul Klingenstein for an appointment to show him my line of products.  He was now the buyer for Peerless Camera shop.  This was a big outlet for cameras and all photo equipment, owned by Ben Berkey and run by Lou Moss.  I had no success in selling him any products, because he himself can buy direct from manufacturers due to ths large volume of sales they have.  But he said that he has a contact for me, who is looking for distribution of his products.  He is from Germany and visited him recently seeking an importer for his products.  “Here is his phone number.  He is leaving tomorrow, so phone him at once and work out a deal with him.  His name is Robert Widmer and his product brand is Rowi.  He has an assortment of carded accessory products, which will fit into your line of goods.”  I thanked Paul, phoned immediately and that is how I got into the import business.

Thinking back to those days and comparing it to our current economy, I find it difficult to adjust to the complete change in the image-making process.  After WWII, the photo market burst out with all sorts of products that caught the interest of the new families that were growing up, due to the return of millions of GI’s.  Housing in the suburbs was encouraged by Levittowns and government support for GI loans.  Recording the children with cameras was easy.  Kodak ads stressed “Memories” and there was lots to choose from.  Home movies on 8mm Kodachrome, Slides on 35mm cameras, Stereo slides and viewers, Polaroid cameras, slide projectors and screens,darkroom equipment were in stages of growth and selling well.  This was the world that I entered.

I sold products for several manufacturers and importers.  Ocean Photo, importer, Spritone (Accura imports), Walter Voss, mfr of photomount, Stereotach (3d attachment) and small camera parts, cable releases, panheads, straps and camera bags. To cover the expanded sales territory, I needed a car and to learn to drive. So, with borrowed money from father-in-law Joe I bought a Ford car for $2,000.  I took driving lessons, passing with ease.  I still remember my first trip into Long Island on the Williamsburgh bridge.  Speed signs stated 10 MPH,which I adhered to, but all of the cars behind me sounded their horns and cursed me when I pulled over to let them pass.

Trying to recall this period, is difficult.  It was a tragic time for Levinger, who lost his entire family and could not build a new life for himself. This was 60 years ago.  I was a busy person with a family to support.  I worked the sales area daily and attended College on the G.I.bill in the evening.  Reflecting on this moment in our lives, I feel now that  I should have reached out to Max L.

I was fortunate to have a family to seek aid from.  Shirley’s father loaned me money to set up a business account.  My first step was to set up a sales agency to handle several manufacturers products on a commission basis.  I used my home address , which is in New York City and has the proper cachet.  I bought a Smith-Corona typewriter,got stationary and wrote letters to companies acquired from Photo Magazines. I also contacted the people I met at Levinger’s funeral.  The few who I remember, Walter Voss, Spira, Paul Klingenstein, Jules Pfeiffer and some I cannot recall.  This was Max L’s legacy to me.  He introduced me to the path of my future.

Max L. was a refugee from Germany.  He spoke with a German accent.  He never spoke about his background.  In fact he was not very talkative.  And I was not inquisitive.  We were strictly business.  He operated his business out of his basement apartment in the East Side of Manhattan, on or about the E.70′s .  When we met occasionally, it would be in a restaraunt, probably the Automat, where we could have coffee and spend as much time as necessary. His products were imports, mostly to frame and store photos. Mount boards, photo frames, albums, cable releases, etc.  Small  accessories that could be sold to the many amateur camera users,when they pick up their developed film and photos at the drug stores or stationary shops, and camera shops.

We moved into Stuy/Town in 1948, and in 1949 Mark was born.  Our apartment rent was $65.00 monthly.  We were doing fairly well. I had established a good following in my territory.  Travel costs were only 5cents or a dime by bus or subway.And in the evenings, I attended Pace, now a college , majoring in Business.  Our life was falling into place, when I received a phone call from Max K. to inform me that Max Levinger was found dead in his apartment. He committed suicide. “Meet me at the apartment. We’ll talk.”

I arrived at the moment the coffin was carried out to the funeral car. There were several people that I recognized from the industry, mostly German refugees. When I approached Max K. he told me that they knew each other from Europe and formed a support group.  Max L. was a special case.  He was a bachelor and was unable to make contact with any family overseas. He became despondent as the years passed by and not having any hopes of locating any family members,  he ended his misery.

As I look back over 60 years ago, to that period following the end of WWII, (1949 ) the photo industry expanded worldwide.  It”s growth resembles what we see now in the Digital age.  Color film , for movies and slides emerged, Polaroid Instant photography,  Stereo Realist cameras for 3 dimension  photos, 8mm movie cameras and projectors, all sorts of accessories, camera cases, tripods, etc. flooded the market.  The economy was expanding fueled by the return of the Armed forces, their marriages and the boomer population.  Also, the growth in families. created a market for home development.  Levitt-town houses were built in suburban areas and the government gave special loans at low interest to veterans.

The photo market was bursting at its seams with imports from Europe and Japan.  Names we never heard of invaded our economy.  Leica, Contax,Rollieflex, Sony, Canon, Nikon, Minolta, so many new names and products entered our industry.  This new and growing activity in photos ceated job opemimgs for Milt and for me.  Milt went into media and wrote articles for a new magazine Modern Photography.  I was hired by Max L. to be a sales representative for his line of photo accessories, in the area of Brooklyn and N.Y. City up to 42nd St. Base salary, commission plus minor travel {bus & train} expenses.  Another sales rep, Max Klingenstien was hired for No. N.Y. City, Bronx and New Jersey.( More) Pt 3/

In 1948, I had moved into Manhattan,  and while working in the camera shop, I attended evening classes at Pace Institute, which was run by Pace Brothers.  They were accountants and set up this school to teach business and accounting .  My oldest brother was a CPA and encouraged me to learn accounting and join him.  So, I was preparing myself to make a change.

I get a phone call from him that he will be in the city to see an account which is close to my apartment.  I meet brother Jack in a shop on Third Ave., only four blocks from my house. I already had two semesters in accounting, so he thought this will be a good time to learn how to handle real business matters

Upon meeting brother Jack, he introduced me briefly to his client and then took me to the small office,sat me down and gave me a tin box with come cash in it plus a load of slips in it. ” Enter the transactions into the proper columns, total them and bring it to me. I’ll be downstairs” So, there I was for two hours, pushing a pencil and totally bored.

I completed the task, took the total to Jack and said ” Thanks for inviting me to this job, now I know that accounting is not for me. I enjoy photography doing it and talking about and handling the equipment to  give it up.  I’m going to change my studies.  I’ll concentrate on business courses and work in the photo field.”