Volume XIV T U E S T A. T E Jonuory 4
Number 32
д
Weekly Survey of North Carolina 1947
Entered an second-class matter. June 1. 1933, at the Postonice at Raleish. North Carolina, under the Act of March 3. 1879.
Bubbles Pay Big Dividends
Cluirlotte couple^ who started I lie fad of
blowing' rainbow bubbles, have developed
it into a S2.500.000 business in eighteen
months.
NEARLY everyone has
dreamed of hitting it rich
with a novel idea that will
sweep the country.
But few people are as lucky in
this respect as James T. Duck¬
worth. a former Lincoln County
farm boy, and his wife. Anne, who
literally found the pot of gold at
the end of the rainbow. There is
a perpetual rainbow in the skies
nowadays for the Duckworths, for
they have given the nation "rain¬
bow bubbles," a new type of soap
bubble that developed into a $2,-
500,000 business in eighteen
months. "We could have sold
iwice that amount if we could have
gotten all the chemical ingredients
and glass bottles we needed." James
asserts.
From its humble beginning in a
Charlotte garage when an old
garden hoe was used to stir the
solution, rainbow bubbles have be¬
come. according to Life magazine,
the nation’s "first genuine postwar
fad.” Life calls it the "perfect
form of relaxation from war —
quiet, inconsequential and fasci¬
nating."
Universally Popular
Eddie Cantor wired the Novelty
Manufacturing & Sales Corpora¬
tion. as the Charlotte firm is called,
for five dozen jars of the solution
by air mail express. "My grand¬
children are crying for them." the
comedian said. Shortly after, Ed¬
die wrote the firm: ‘T see rainbow
bubbles wherever I go. ... At a
birthday party the other day for
my grandson. Michael, the bubbles
stole the show, despite competition
from a half-dozen Disney film
shorts."
Earl Carroll, the show producer.
THE STATE. January 4. 1947
By GFOItGt: BITLFK
ordered a large amount for his
bubble dances. Ice follies now
consider the bubbles as standard
equipment. They are even used to
pep up a Times Square electric
sign — one of the large soap-flake
companies using the bubbles to
emulate the suds of their product.
A mechanical device keeps a con¬
stant flow of bubbles dancing above
the sign.
Orders have been filled from
Australia, Chile, France. England
and nearly every other country you
can name. All of which proves
that the make-a-better-mousetrap
axiom holds true for the Tar Heel
team. They took the ordinary soap
bubble, put it in technicolor, and
substituted an aluminum "wand"
which puts in the shade a bubble
pipe or empty thread-spool. The
wand allows one to blow dozens
of bubbles in one breath without
so much as tasting the soap solu¬
tion.
Started in May, 1945
The story of rainbow bubbles
goes back to May, 1945 when James
Duckworth and Donald Barnes
were working as chemists at Gen¬
eral Dyestuff Inc. (James’ formal
schooling ended at the Denver.
N. C. high school; he studied
chemistry at home nights to get the
Dyestuff job.) The pair sought to
duplicate a soap bubble formula
after one of Barnes's kids had asked
his Dad for some of the liquid.
After a good deal of experiment¬
ing in their leisure time, the pair
hit on a formula that was a con¬
siderable improvement on bubble
formulas then on the market. By
using a new type deturgent, they
produced a solution which gave
out bubbles as colorful as the rain¬
bow — hence, the name. More
experimenting, this time with solid
substances, gave them the alumi¬
num wand.
About this time. Hubert B. Jer-
man, another Dyestuff chemist,
challenged the other two’s results
by claiming that he could produce
a formula just as satisfactory — and
darn if he didn't. The three de¬
cided to use the latter formula
because it contained certain in¬
gredients that were more plentiful
than those in the first formula.
A partnership was formed. The
boys didn't have much money.
They pooled resources with their
wives and the six persons raised
$450. They started the enterprise
in a garage and began mixing the
solution in 55-gallon wooden bar¬
rels.
The new firm was sold on its
product — but how were they going
to sell the public? They made a
trial-run at Ivey's Department
Store in Charlotte and the bubbles
created a local sensation. The next
attempt was at Myrtle Beach, S. C.
on July 4. The boys carried down
about 1.000 bottles, expecting at
best to sell about one-third of the
amount. In four hours at a board¬
walk stand they sold the entire lot
and had to turn away disappointed
hundreds. "We knew then." James
said, "that we were going places."
Plenty of Orders
Orders flowed in faster than
they could be filled, but the trio
still clung to their jobs at the dye
plant. They hired Bill Lineberger
(Continued on page 21)
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