GOODS & SERVICES: New Ideas, Nov. 23, 1953

GOODS & SERVICES

Tire Talons. For better traction, faster starts and safer stops on icy roads, B. F. Goodrich Co. brought out a truck tire with 5,000 tiny steel claws embedded in the tread. The steel will last almost the life of the tread, says Goodrich, and will result in only negligible road damage. Price: about 10% above regular truck tires.

Simple Sticker. Chrysler Corp. announced a new industrial cement that needs only fingertip pressure to stick two surfaces together, but is strong enough after hardening to withstand pressures up to 10,000 Ibs. per square inch. Replacing adhesives that are applied with heavy pressure or heat, the cement is used by Chrysler to join brake linings to shoes.

Portable Powerhouse. A lightweight (101 Ibs.), four-cylinder, 25½-h.p. gasoline engine, which, its makers claim, packs more power per pound than other water-cooled engines, was put on the market by the Aerojet-General Corp., bossed by former Navy Secretary Dan A. Kimball. The engine is for industrial, farm and home workshop use. Price: $269.

Margarine Substitute. To meet margarine competition, Omaha’s Roberts Dairy plans to put on sale a spread made entirely of dairy products (e.g., butterfat, milk solids), but at a price about halfway between butter and margarine. Named Vadall, it looks and smells like butter, has only one-fourth the butterfat content.

Upgraded Box-Toppers. After a survey showed that 85% of those who eat Grape-Nuts Flakes are teen-agers or older, the

Post Cereals division of General Foods Corp. upgraded its premium appeal; it enclosed patterns for early American “antiques.” Designed to capitalize on the do-it-yourself trend, the patterns include: a Williamsburg shelf, Pilgrim footstool, courting mirror, tulip knife box. Pennsylvania wall box and a cradle.

Sedan Wagon. Hudson Motor Car Co. brought out the “Jet” sedan, which can be converted into a station wagon by taking out the back seat and dropping the partition between the rear seat and trunk. Price: $1,665, plus taxes and delivery.

Traveling Secretary. For traveling businessmen, Travel Talk, Inc. put coin-operated Dictaphone machines into trial operation in Cleveland and in London, Ont. For 50¢ the user can dictate into the machine for 15 minutes, gets a Dictabelt record and a stamped, airmail envelope to send it to the home office for transcribing. Travel Talk expects to have 2,000 machines installed within two years.

Bug Finder. An X-ray machine that shows up tiny insects in stored grain was announced by du Pont. Using the machine, one man can inspect 80 grain samples a day, v. 25 to 50 samples with the old method of cracking open kernels and floating the particles in mineral oil or gasoline. Price: $2,300 for X-ray unit and darkroom equipment.