Wishbone of Old Eli
In New Orleans, ex-Yale backfield coach Earle ("Greasy") Neale ran into a 6-ft. 230-lb. Minnesotan named Wishbone Harris, who played tackle on the Yale football squad in 1933. "What are you doing now?" asked Greasy, when the backslapping was over. "I'm selling women's home kits for permanent waves," said Wishbone. Greasy grinned and said: "Now tell me what you're really doing." "I'm selling home kits for permanent waves," replied Wishbone, and doggedly added: "And doing very well."
Richard Neison Wishbone Harris was making an understatement. In three years, he has built his "Toni" home permanent-wave kits into a merchandising phenomenon which this year will gross an estimated $16 million and net a tidy $3 million profit, enough to curl anyone's hair. By shrewd advertising (1947 budget: $3.5 million), Harris has captured 50% of the home-wave market. A genial gladhander, Wishbone helps sales by gadding around the country calling on retailers.
Help Needed. A Toni kit costs $1.25 (deluxe model: $2) and $1 for a refill; beauty-shop permanents range anywhere from $10 to $50. A Toni wave may not last quite as long, but women who have tried it seem to find it satisfactory. They say it is not quite as easy or as quick to put on as Wishbone's advertising would have them believe, and that it is much better if a roommate is around to help wrestle with the elusive plastic curlers.
Like other cold-wave preparations, Toni uses ammonium thioglycollate, which has been criticized by doctors as harmful if used in strong solution. Federal Food & Drug Administration spokesmen agree with Harris' statement that the Toni solution is weak enough to be harmless if directions are properly followed.
Harris, who has long since tired of telling folks that Wishbone is no nickname, is the son of a prosperous St. Paul woolen merchant. The year after his graduation in 1936, he picked up a beauty-supply business for $5,000. In 1941, when cold waves began to attract attention in beauty shops, Harris began wholesaling them. Two years later, some of his pioneering competitors began experimenting with home-wave kits. The first one, which sold for 59-c-, was a big seller, but it nearly ruined the market because it was unsatisfactory. Harris kept trying, finally came up with Toni.
Appealing Name. The name was suggested by a salesman, who said: "Tony means classy, high-class, top-rate." Harris liked it, changed it to Toni "because I thought it more appealing." As he splurged on advertising, his company grew from a small office with three stenographers, 30 employees in the plant and four salesmen, to its present 80,000 sq. ft. St. Paul office and plant space with 860 employees. Wishbone's older brother Irving (Yale Phi Beta Kappa '31), also came in as vice president, statistician and efficiency expert. Wishbone took on three radio shows (CBS's Give and Take and Meet the Missus, ABC's Ladies Be Seated), splashed Toni in full-page magazine ads. Last week, in ads for his radio spot on NBC, Wishbone billed Crooner Mel Torme's voice as "The Velvet Fog." Wishbone's success is partly due to a lesson he learned several years ago. He had experimented with a 25-c- cold-wave set. It was a stupendous flop. Says Wishbone: "I found out then that people just won't pay twobits for something they have been paying $10 and $15 for. If it's that cheap, it's no good, in their minds."
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