Industry veterans will probably remember the names Paul Mendelson, Horace Klafter and Art Shapiro, and those of their respective companies: American Loose Leaf Binder Company, Normandy Label and OCR Tax Systems. What they may not know, is these men were the creative geniuses and logistical wizards responsible for
establishing and running the forms distributor’s road shows more than 30 years ago.
The idea was hatched in a St. Louis airport restaurant when Mendelson discussed with Klafter a more effective way of reaching out to distributors and educating them about various product lines. Six months later, fliers were printed, mailings were sent to distributors and sixteen manufacturers were packing their trunks and preparing to hit the road.
Klafter and Shapiro have since passed away. Mendelson sold his company approximately eight years ago and still resides in the St. Louis area. He, his wife Betty (who also played a major role) and Oxnard, California-based TFP Data Systems’ national accounts manager, Jim Foster—an exhibitor at the original road shows when employed by OCR Tax Systems—shared with BFL&S how it all started, and what it was like when forms were king and the shows were the hottest tickets in town.
Meet and Greet
“Back in those days, the only way a manufacturer could contact dealers was by personally calling on them. It was costly traveling around the country meeting with only a few distributors at a time. With the road shows, a manufacturer could see a lot of distributors in a city at once,” recalled Mendelson. “The National Business Forms Association (NBFA) did host an annual show during this time, but it was a mammoth thing. You couldn’t get much done since there were so many attendees. The road show was a different scenario.”
Through industry connections and personal referrals, a group of between 16 and 22 manufacturers, representing every major product group, including suppliers of forms, labels, envelopes, pegboard systems, binders, carbon and ribbons, was assembled.
“We had a strict non-compete understanding. For example, I had the only binder company, while OCR Tax Systems was the only tax form company included. And, in contrast to today, it was the principals who were at the shows, usually the presidents,” said Mendelson.
“We had table top displays and could meet distributors face-to-face and have exceptionally high-quality contact with them for several minutes,” recalled Foster. “The group never exceeded 25 manufacturers, and we had to turn away other companies that wanted to join. To get larger would have compromised the quality time we wanted with distributors.”
(In fact, the NBFA was denied inclusion twice, and eventually went on to establish its own traveling show, which has morphed into the DMIA Trade Mart of today.)
Most of the original members, except perhaps for Arthur Blank & Company and Wisco, are no longer in business, although Foster is fairly confident some of the key individuals are, like himself, still very active in the industry.
Initially, Klafter served as informal executive director, but eventually turned those duties over to Shapiro. Betty Mendelson acted as an administrative director of sorts, taking care of all of the food catering, hiring Kelly Girls to greet attendees and arranging for the electrical hook ups for exhibits. In 20 years, she never missed a show.
Her husband noted that providing a good, complimentary lunch was a priority. “We were the innovators of having a luncheon for attendees. This way, distributors wouldn’t lose much time from the show itself,” he said.
Come One, Come All
The year was 1975 when the distributor’s road show rolled into its first town. It was also the golden age of business forms, and women were still a rarity in the industry. Long hair for men was fashionable, and the dress code was strictly boardroom—no khakis and golf shirts for these exhibitors and attendees.
The manufacturers wanted to maximize their efforts by reaching out to more than just industry members of the NBFA, so they used various mailing lists to invite every forms distributor in the city they were visiting. “In cities like New York and Chicago, we would have more than 500 attendees show up. We were the only game in town and got the cream of the crop. It was a special treat for distributors to have us there, and it was a terrific opportunity for exhibitors to increase their business,” said Foster.
“There truly was an air of excitement, like you were going to a Broadway theatre,” added Mendelson. “We would go into a town and every distributor within a 100-mile radius would show up because they hadn’t seen anything like it before. In three or four hours, distributors met several major manufacturers, so it provided exhibiting companies with a strong sales and marketing arm.”
Eventually, seminars were added, but manufacturer/distributor relationships remained the primary focus of the shows. “During this time, distributors and manufacturers were on the same page,” said Mendelson. “These relationships seem to have eroded over the years. There isn’t the loyalty that existed at that time. It was a different world.”
The group hosted between 15 and 20 shows a season, concentrating on the Midwest and east coast, but also traveling west to Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.
They travelled by plane and bus, and Mendelson and Foster both have fond memories of this tight-knit group of business associates and friends making their way across the country. “We would order sandwiches and some drinks and play poker on the bus. A four- or six-hour trip was nothing, it was actually very enjoyable,” said Foster.
“Eventually, three or four industry shows a year were hitting the big cities and it wasn’t new anymore,” said Mendelson. “After 20 years, the road show ran its course, but that’s a pretty good run for an organization like we had.”
“Shows are still great vehicles for seeing lots of people in a short time, but today, manufacturers and distributors seem to be looking for something new—they just don’t know what that is or where to find it,” commented Foster.
Looking back, Mendelson described the forms distributor’s road show as an original, spontaneous venture. For those involved, it was clearly a labor of love.
- Companies:
- American Loose Leaf
- TFP Data Systems