Page 53 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

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I

MADE my first thousand dollars placing cigarette humidors in apartment
hotels and homes,” Charles Dagmar told a Dartnell staff writer in search of
money-making ideas to include in this book. “Since both women and men
smoke cigarettes these days, I figure making an average sale of two packs of
cigarettes daily from each humidor. At an average profit of four cents this
pays a good return on my investment. Getting locations for these home
humidors is no more difficult than getting locations for any coin machine.
There is this difference, however, you don’t pay any commission to the
owner of the location.
“When the home humidor first came to my attention, I thought it was

a good idea. Carrying some photographs of the humidor with me, I called
upon the owner of three big apartment hotels, and ‘sold’ him on the idea of
letting me place a humidor in each apartment. ‘It’s a self-merchandising
machine,’ I argued, ‘saves the tenant’s time, and offers him the convenience
of fresh cigarettes day and night. If he runs out of cigarettes he doesn’t have
to go out to the store to get them.’ That argument, and the beauty and utility
of the humidor, appealed to the apartment hotel owner. He said that he would
have to place a piece of furniture in each apartment similar to the humidor
anyway, and as long as he didn’t have to pay anything for the use of the
machines I could install them. In his hotels there are a hundred and four
apartments and I placed a humidor in each. As my average profit is four cents
on each package of cigarettes sold, my earnings run close to $375 monthly
for these three hotels.

“These humidors are excellent pieces of furniture. They come in various
styles such as end tables, occasional tables, telephone stands, magazine and
newspaper racks and card tables. The humidor is so constructed that it keeps
cigarettes fresh for an indefinite period. It can be loaded with fifteen
packages of cigarettes, which are enough for the ordinary household at one
time. If more than two in the family smoke I make two trips weekly and refill