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Ron Popeil is a famed American inventor, pitchman, television star, and the creator of the television infomercial. At 16 years old, he began to sell products his father’s factory produced in the Chicago flea markets. By age 17, Popeil had amassed enough of a savings to set up a stand at the flagship Woolworth’s store in Chicago. In the early 1950’s, after discovering the reach and power of the television, he – along with his partner at the time, Mel Korey – produced the first one-minute long, black-and-white infomercial for the Ronco Chop-o-Matic. Some of Popeil’s other hit products include: the Popeil Pocket Fisherman, the Veg-O-Matic, the RONCO Food Dehydrator, the RONCO 6-Star Plus Knives, and the Showtime Rotisserie. His product sales have grossed in the billions. Many of the phrases and pitches Popeil has used in his infomercials have become an inseparable part of America’s vernacular including: “Set it and forget it,” “But wait, there’s more,” “Now how much would you pay?” and, of course, “Less shipping and handling.”