In Hollywood, a man named Al Petker boasts that he has a warehouse packed with a million dollars' worth of merchandiseranging from bakery rolls to cultured pearls. Petker is a Schlockmeister,* defined in the radio TV lexicon as "somebody in the business of giving away somebody else's merchandise." Like such other Schlockmeisters as Walter Kline, Adolphe Wenland and Manhattan's Waldo Mayo, Petker gives things away in return for just a kind word. But there is a slight catch: the kind word must refer to a particular product by its brand name, and it...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
