Ever seen this guy before?
No? Well, don't feel bad. I hadn't, either. This is Duncan Hines.
Now where have you heard that name before?
Oh yeah, that's where! (Great, now I want brownies...)
Maybe you've used one of these gadgets before...
Or maybe you own a pair of Bushnell binoculars. If you're a hunter,
you might even have a Bushnell rifle scope. Ever wonder what
that Bushnell guy looks like? Me neither. But just for the
sake of argument, here he is. Mr. David P. Bushnell...
Now what about this lady? She look familiar?
No? But I bet you know her name pretty well.
It's Liz Claiborne. She designs clothes. Like these...
Maybe you own a set of these from way back when?
These weirdly-named encyclopedias were named for their
publishers. First, you've got Mr. Isaac Kaufmann Funk...
And his publishing partner, Mr. Adam Willis Wagnalls...
Interesting-looking character, that one. Anyway...
Do you like cookies as much as I do? You do?
Did you ever try Mrs. Fields' cookies?
They're good, aren't they? Well, in case you were wondering
what Mrs. Fields actually looks like (unlikely), this is her...
Her friends just call her Debbi.
Now this guy just looks like an old-school baseball player,
huh? Which makes sense, 'cuz that's what he was...at first.
Upon retiring from baseball, however, this dapper gent got
into the sporting goods business. His name's Albert G. Spalding.
You've probably come in contact with one or more
of his products at some point, I'll bet. Like this one...
Do you like mayonnaise? I do. (My wife doesn't.)
Ever wonder what the guy who came up with Hellmann's
looks like? No? I didn't think so. But humor me for just a
minute. This is Mr. Richard Hellmann in the flesh...
Incidentally, there was never an actual person
named Miracle Whip. Sorry to burst your bubble.
Do these guys look familiar?
I didn't think so. This is Bill Hewlett and his business partner,
Dave Packard. They started this IT business called Hewlett-
Packard a long time ago. You might have one of their printers?
What about this lady? Ever seen her before?
Probably not. Her name is Lena Himmelstein Bryant.
When she started designing clothes, she changed
around the letters of her first name and dropped her
maiden name. Now maybe you've heard of her?
Maybe you're one of those folks like my dad who loves a fancy
pen. (I've got something for everybody here, people!) Have
you heard of Parker Pens? Here's what some of them look like...
Pretty nice, huh? Anyway, Parker Pens (like practically everything
else in this list) was named after the founder of the company. In this
case, that person was Mr. George Safford Parker. This is him...
Ever been to Barnes & Noble to buy a book?
I know I sure have. I even worked at one for four years. Anyway,
before it was a mega-chain, Barnes & Noble Booksellers was only
in one location in downtown Manhattan. It was started by two
guys named – not surprisingly – Mr. Barnes and Mr. Noble.
I couldn't find a picture of Mr. Charles Barnes. But here's
a pic of his bookselling partner, Mr. Gilbert Clifford Noble...
Do you wear jeans? You probably do. If so,
what brand do you prefer? Perhaps Lee Jeans?
Well, that's certainly a disturbing ad. But anyway...
The Lee Jeans Company was started by a fellow
named Mr. Henry David Lee. This is him...
Maybe you prefer Levi's?
If so, you may be interested to know (or not)
what Mr. Levi Strauss, the jeans company's
founder, looked like. This would be him...
Maybe you're one of those people who just has to have top-of-
the-line accessories (I'm not judging). Like Louis Vuitton...
You may be interested to know that the real Louis
Vuitton was quite creepy-looking. This is him...
I'll bet you don't know who this guy is.
But I'll bet you recognize his last name.
This is Mr. James A. Folger...
Yes, that Folger. The guy who came up
with Folgers coffee. It's pretty good, too!
Maybe you like shoes. Well, whether you like them or
not, chances are you have to wear them out in public.
Anyway, did you ever own a pair of Vans? (I never did.)
Well, Vans got their name from their co-founders, brothers
Paul and James Van Doren. I couldn't find a good
picture of both of them, but this is James Van Doren...
Okay, hang with me here. There's only a few more of these...
Like I was saying earlier, maybe you're one of this folks who
likes high-end stuff. Maybe you're not a Louis Vuitton kind
of person. Maybe Dolce & Gabbana is more up your alley...
This is Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. They
design stuff. It costs a lot. But people like it. A lot.
Now here's an interesting-looking fellow. The
name's E. E. Dickie. Nickname: "Colonel."
No, not the fried chicken colonel. This guy makes clothes.
Hard-working clothes for hard-working...workers.
He calls them Dickies.
Now, here's an interesting story. This guy, Mr. Charles Revson...
...partnered with his brother, Mr. Joseph Revson...
...and another guy named Joseph Lachman (not
pictured) to form a company that sold cosmetics. The
brothers didn't think that "Revson" was a very good
name for their company, plus they felt bad about leaving
Mr. Lachman out entirely, so they took the "L" from
Lachman's name and used it to replace the "S" in
"Revson" and came up with the name "Revlon."
And it stuck...
This guy probably doesn't look familiar. But chances are,
you've heard his name a time or two. He sells sporting goods,
outdoor apparel, and even luggage, if I'm not mistaken.
The name's Eddie Bauer...
You might have one of these at home...
But have you ever seen a picture of the guys whose names grace
this and hundreds of other tools like it? Well, you have now. Ladies
and gentlemen, Mr. S. Duncan Black and Mr. Alonzo G. Decker...
You may have some of these tires on your automobile right now...
If so, then you owe it to yourself to know what Mr. Firestone
looks like. If not, well, you've come this far, so you may as
well look at the picture anyway. This is Mr. Harvey Firestone...
I saved a picture of this guy, but I've forgotten who he
was and why he was important. Chances are, he invented or
developed some well-known product that still bears his
name. But I didn't make myself a note about him, so I can't
actually identify him. Anyway, here he is...some old guy.
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