SDCC 2008, meeting Benjamin H

[dumbldor]

Benjamin once entertained dozens of men in my hotel suite in West Virginia, late into the night, so that doesn't surprise me. Wait, that didn't sound right.

Wait, I remember something about ordering a hamburger or a steak.

[imp]

The Code

Rick, those pictures warmed my heart. Thank you for sharing. I loved meeting you, and especially plopping down in your booth to shoot the breeze with you and your awesome wife.

Wait, I remember something about ordering a hamburger or a steak.

LOL. Nice callback, Dan. Personally, I think I'll pass on ordering either meal.

…or at least I'll order the Lobster.

I hesitate to spin this wonderful thread in such a perverse direction, but what the heck. You don't mind, do you Rick?

Now that the book is published (i.e. my fear of retribution is greatly diminished), I will explain Dan's reference by sharing the story with those of you who were not in the Mego suite that night… or simply don't remember the vignette:

While working on the book, I interviewed numerous individuals with varying connections to Mego. One such person I interviewed was a widow whose husband was an independent salesman for Mego during the 1970s (her husband passed away in the late '70s). She regaled me with tales of 'the toy biz' back in the day, including the subtleties of 'wining-and-dining' important retail buyers.

For example, if an independent salesman (such as her husband) was lucky enough to schedule a dinner -- during Toy Fair -- with a head buyer for, say, Toys "R" Us, there were certain 'unwritten' rules that everyone knew and honored.

Here is the example she provided, which I shared with the guys in the Mego suite that night (the same story Dan referenced in his earlier post):

NB: I'm paraphrasing

"My husband and I took a big-time buyer out for dinner during Toy Fair. Back then, when you took a buyer out for dinner during Toy Fair, there was something you really needed to know: What the buyer ordered for dinner was The Code for what he expected from you. Whether he (there were NO female buyers in the 1970s) ordered Lobster, Steak or a Hamburger, he was telling you what type of prostitute he expected you to finance for later that night.

In other words, if he ordered Lobster, he required a $1,000-per-night hooker. Conversely, if he ordered a Hamburger, he wanted a cheap, dirty 'street' hooker."

(again, I'm paraphrasing, but that's pretty close to an actual quote)

When I quizzed her on the plausibility of a prostitute actually charging $1,000 per night during the 1970s (imagine the cost with inflation!), she assured me that such prostitutes DID exist at the time, adding, "If you had the opportunity to write a $125,000 order during dinner at Toy Fair, then $1,000 was a small price to pay."

Incidentally, as you can surmise, those who ordered Steak were not especially picky, yet still expected a woman to knock on their hotel room door later that night… Steak guys were probably run-of-the-mill, "missionary-style" Johns, if you will. But they still knew The Code.

Anyway, thems the goods. We all had a good laugh when I shared this story in Paul's Mego Meet suite that night. If you weren't there, you can now join us in marveling at this truly bizarre nugget of toy history. As radio personality Paul Harvey used to say:

"Now you know… the REST of the story."

Ahhh, The code.

-b

p.s. I subsequently interviewed a person connected with Mego much later than the aforementioned widow; he assured me The Code is still active today. I have neither confirmed this, nor do I care to pursue its veracity.

[starsky]

great story, let's find out!! anybody a corporate head buyer here?