INDUSTRIAL A N D E N G I N E E R I N G CHEMISTRY
748
Loft, f o u r t h from t o p . Exhibit of Fansteel M e t allurgical Corp. R i g h t , fourth from t o p . I n Henry E. Jacoby'a b o o t h . Lower r i g h t - h a n d corner. Bird M a c h i n e Co.'a exhibit.
Overheard at t h e Show Eyes had it throughout the show and knowledge accumulated in this way loaded feet down heavily.
MAURICE A. K N I G H T / - . ^ ti—.jjft»;
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"World's Fair feet" was the term used by the less emphatic visitors to excuse their generous use of exhibitors' furniture. Terms used by emphatic persons could be printed on asbestos only. Air was no better in the Palace in 1939 than in any year anyone can remember. As the week wore on diligent efforts were being made to cultivate active friendship of those exhibitors who showed gas washing equipment in operation and whose booths consequently were somewhat less uncomfortable than the average. Bids ranged u p from a brick watch and a cellulose nitrate frying pan for spaces next t o such gas washers in the 1941 Show. A record on this was established b y Claude B. Schneible Co., whose air washer collected enough dust, tobacco smoke, hot air, and similar detritus t o make a garden and supply insecticide for it. American Air Filter Co. was seeking a truck large enough to carry off its collections a t last accounts. Someday, exhibitors will join visitors in forcing the Show to install exhibited equipment to make the Palace comfortable. Toledo and Kron provided scales on which weight-conscious folk could easily check themselves. Because the two exhibits were on separate floors with drinking fountains between, checking of scale against scale was not always satisfactory when the weight of the observer was used for checking purposes. T h e sense of smell got its inning when packages of highly odorous bath salts p u t u p on a Stokes & Smith machine were inadvertently opened in masculine pockets. Sugar tablets nicely flavored and compressed by F . G. Stokes machines added taste to the exposition. (Continued on page 749)
BESCH-RUSS tmnm w
VOL. 17. NO. 23
DECEMBER 10, 1939
NEWS EDITION Overheard at the Show (Cont'd) Reports from many exhibitors included statement of sales consummated at the Show large enough and often enough to pay their expenses. This was all the more remarkable when values were stated since items sold by some ran into the thousands of dollars each. Usually a good prospect list is considered sufficient return but this time it was names signed on the dotted line. Blonde models favored by candid camera fiends brought protests from exhibitors who feared photographs of the kind might cast doubt on their reports of hard^work done. The unprintable story of the dago fisherman circulated most widely of any. Then there was the sweet young thing who after weighing herself several times mistook the vibrating barrel packer for another scale of a special type. She hasn't.gotten over the shock yet! Not to mention the huge number who got some kind of a vicarious thrill out of testing by hand the Vinyon and Nylon hose displayed in the American Chemical Society's booth on plastic legs. Presumably the objective of the tests was to determine the extent of runs and the ease or otherwise of their production. No runs had appeared in the stockings up to Thursday's closing. Feminine visitors confined their questions on these hose to nonchemical matters, such as wear and washing, which no mere man could answer. No dreadful din of building-shaking grinding mills and vibrating screens dis-
Above.
Stokes & Smith Co.
turned Old Home Week of the chemical industry at the Show. Did you see the crowd looking for silver molecules in Chemical Foundation's stainless steel? Neither did we.» Visiting hordes were not diluted with school children and general public. No official count of attendance was available before the Show closed but a mere count does not reveal buying power or interest.
Our invitation to visitors in New York to look into interesting spots in the city may not have been necessary. At least after-dark-spots reported assiduous investigations of non-aqueous corrosives, but stated it in less technical nomenclature. Brown Instrument attracted extra; 'attention with its padlocked treasure chest. A few of the keys distributed before Ithe
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Show would unlock the chest giving their lucky holders a portable radio set. Not a few who had not even been lucky enough to have keys given them beforehand were less than pleased with the idea. Lucky winners congratulated themselves and were envied by all others. Innocent was the person who asked Dorr representatives where the gravity used so generously by them was mined ! It was even reported that the Dorr people could not quote carload prices on gravity!
