Like most retailers, the Grand Leader Store of South Bend, Ind. had been bucking a deep depression in appliance sales. One week in July it sold just six refrigerators. But the following week it sold 247.
The difference was a little black box with a face like a parking meter's and a slot like a piggy bank's. Called the Meter-Matic, it is similar to pay-as-you-go meters used during the depression, then discarded when money began growing on trees again. The gadget is fastened atop the refrigerator and the purchaser drops in a quarter a day (or more, depending on the...
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