Mr. Griffin. What was his response to the appeal that was demonstrated at the Texas Products Show?
Mr. Pullman. Well, he learned one thing—that you have to demonstrate it to sell it. If it was just lying on a counter, you couldn’t sell them. You could probably sell it mail order, where they don’t see it—you just describe it like any other mail-order product, but to really sell it, you have to see it. Every time it was demonstrated, it was sold, and when he would come down, he put on a real pitch with it too and he could sell it. I didn’t bother selling them—I was just showing them.
Mr. Griffin. Did Jack get on it and demonstrate it himself?
Mr. Pullman. Yes; he got on it and demonstrated it. Took his jacket off and would stand there and he would be having a ball and eventually he would sell two or three of them to the crowd standing around seeing him standing on the board there, you know.
Mr. Griffin. Would he have any music or anything to twist with?
Mr. Pullman. No; he would just talk and twist and show it.
Mr. Griffin. It was sort of like a sideshow barker?
Mr. Pullman. That’s right—well, he didn’t bark—he just explained what was happening—all the muscles were working and how it tightened up their stomach muscles. I came out with one formal effort. I got one at home and I gave it away—a couple of friends wanted one and the grandkids got them. So, that one thing, I believe I can honestly say that down deep he was good natured—a good-natured guy, but he was always just trying to prove something; I don’t know what, but he was trying to prove something all the time—that he belonged.
This is another thing I recall—he would tell the MC what jokes to tell, what stories he should work on, and he would promote them, because he ran the lights and all from the board and prompted them in their stories. He would naturally talk loud enough so everybody would turn around and see who was talking, you see, to get the attention to himself.
Mr. Griffin. How did the MC react?