SUCCESS STORY

hello any idea what i'm riding on i was not a horse nor an elephant or a camel and i'm not doing an imitation of danny thomas's famous bus ride pantomime either matter of fact i'm not doing anything at all i'm just sitting here relaxing ah it's wonderful see excuse me hank you better tell him where we are [Music] [Applause] success story a live on the spot telecast brought to you each week from somewhere in southern california as a public service by richfield makers of richlude 1030 motor oil richfield boron gasoline and a complete line of years ahead petroleum products [Music] the name stopper has long been synonymous with beauty and figure control for housewife and movie star alike here at the stopper executive offices and plant at 1919 vine burn avenue in los angeles stopper systems rhythmic motorized couches are manufactured for the 250 stopper system salon throughout the world the response to the salon treatments has been so outstanding during the past 20 years that stopper in 1954 introduced a portable motorized couch for use in the home this unit called the posture rest has skyrocketed in popularity to the point where sales for 1957 are expected to exceed 20 million dollars more than 5 million women so far have enjoyed the benefits of greater relaxation because of the stopper system and there will be even more to come now that stuffer has expanded production facilities in its new ultra-modern five-acre plan standing by to start us on our tour of stoppers facilities is your success story reporter ken peters you know i'm sure that thousands of you women have been inside a stopper salon but i doubt whether many of you gentlemen have because they're strictly for ladies only however success story has a first tonight we're going to be the first ones to take you men folks inside of stauffer salon so fellas come on come on it's perfectly all right we got permission to come in don't have to be afraid to uh this is a little bit different from a regular stopper salon setup in a regular stopper salon each one of these tables would be inside a private room behind those louvered doors but they've been nice enough to set them out for us here in the waiting room so we can watch them in action i want you to meet the lady in charge here this is maxine seidler who is the training director for the whole stopper system uh maxine assure the basketball gentleman that it's perfectly all right for them to be here well it's quite all right the well the gentlemen are more than welcome tonight all right fine now maxine i wonder if you tell us what the basic principle of the stopper system is yes it's uh postural reducing through uh effortless exercise and i wonder if you could demonstrate on the table just how software accomplishes it i'd like to would like to all right surely this is the basic position of our six tables the action as you can see is centered right in this area while exercising the muscles of the hips and thighs and this table over here has as you can see a two-way action which exercises both sides of the body this elevates the rib cage straightens the shoulders slims the waist and abdomen i can see how that'll be very effective however this one doesn't seem to have very much action to it maxine well this one is a little misleading let me show you ah i see what you mean this gives an overall stimulation and circulation makes you tingle all over okay of course max see you in the morning and frequently this one down here uh what is it doing oh yes this is a wonderful table this is our leg thigh and ankle table and as you know that's uh we have a lot of women that have a lot of weight problems in this area and as you can see the action is completely different from anything any of the other tables that show certainly is that the maxine i believe you said there were actually six stalker tables we're only seeing four here that is true i've just shown you four of the six well uh this is certainly fine for the ladies this one seems to be enjoying it immensely but of course uh men folks have weight reducing problems too don't you care at all about us oh we never forget the men we for several years have had the home plan uh straw for home plan for the men and for the family as well oh yes and by the way this is what i was riding on at the start of the program in case you're interested in seeing uh actually the best way to get the full effect of this is to lie down on it in this position oh this is wonderful maxine what's happening to me now the same thing that was happening to the young lady on the uh first salon table i showed you this is the basic position in the home table in the salon you simply change from table to table whereas with the home unit you change position okay thanks very much maxine what we want to do tonight is show you how they manufacture uh these portable home units uh i had what i thought was a great idea and that is to have them bring in a television set and let me just lie here and describe the whole show but uh our director didn't see it that way so uh hank if you'll carry on for a little while now i'll do my best to get up from here and uh be out on the factory floor in time to take it over when you uh turn it back to me [Music] it's not too common to find a luxury and durability combined in the same item but here in the stopper cutting room has found an exception that proves the rule a woman interested in her own appearance is pretty generally interested in the appearance of her home and its furnishings so the fabric covering of the stopper portable home unit is carefully chosen for its beauty as well as its practicality heavy vinyl plastic cloth is used to achieve a graceful blend of attractiveness and durability while the cloth is flexible it can never stretch under constant use an important factor when body weight and motion are present simultaneously once the cover patterns are cut on the cloth table they travel through a succession of sewing processes which convert them into finished coverings another function of this cutting department is the sewing of special 12-pound sand banks an important auxiliary of both the staffer home and salon units and now let's rejoin ken peters who's ready to start building a stopper home unit from the ground up [Music] so [Music] you know this portable unit just weighs about 32 pounds and it's designed in such a way that it can hold up and be stored underneath a bed or in a closet so of course two very important factors are lightness and strength and these are two characteristics of aluminum as you know so uh all of these stacks of aluminum tubing are destined to become the framework of the stopper postures home unit of course when it comes to bending aluminum tubing you got quite a problem uh to keep from uh crimping the material you'll be interested i think in seeing how it's achieved on these special machines here uh the thing is you can't apply any flat pressure to the tubing it has to be a ruling of pressure actually i think on this next machine down here you'll get a much better idea of how it accomplishes this is the same piece of tubing making a second bend in it and we move in here and watch this again i think you'll see the way those uh wheels actually roll up and apply no flat pressure whatever on the unit and then down here at the third unit this same piece receives its uh final bend you see that's all there is to it and i have this one you see you end up with something that looks uh sort of like a fancy pair of handlebars this will actually be one of the two feet this part will connect onto the center unit and then the head and the feet will clamp onto the other end all that has to be done with this now is to receive a few holes so that it can be attached to the tenor unit and that's done by placing in this jig here and drilling it of course this whole department has given over to different machines all concerned with shaping and drilling the aluminum uh tubing now uh i can't help but be reminded as i tour through here of uh some of our tours through airplane factories because of the great attention to uh strength and to waste i think hank sims agrees with that comparison here in the stopper machine shop skilled technicians make and finish many important points for the salon and home units the tolerances within which they work rival those in aircraft plants in many instances they're even smaller and more exacting tolerances of one-ten thousandth of an inch are not uncommon in the stopper machine shop the carefully conceived movements of the reducing machine as it oscillates under the resistance and weight of a relaxed human body makes these close tolerances essential if the machine is to give the ultimate in trouble free surface because of attention to important details like these the name stuffer has become as synonymous with rugged quality as it has with beauty and figure control staffer units last as do their effects on the stopper customer and now let's rejoin ken peters i told you that strength and lightness were two of the most important characteristics of the unit i think i should have included a third one and that is comfort because they make a great thing of building comfort into it and this is where most of that comfort comes from this is a rubberized horsehair pad and software it selected this uh particular pad because of its resiliency and because of the fact that it's so highly weather resistant they take great pains to make the whole unit as highly resistant to weather as possible and this is the point in which the uh base is uh glued on to the rubberized pad i frankly want to move away from here because the ether in that blue is getting me just a little bit woozy so let's move down the line here and uh see how different parts of the unit are assembled uh right here you see the uh the parts that will become the head and the foot pieces of the couch the webbing has already been put on and here the uh the bottom rail is being installed into it and then just moving down the line here we'll find that uh down here we'll see where the base is attached uh to the webbing and they've discovered that the best way to do that is with a specially constructed stapler you'll see he'll just uh staple those into position and then down here a couple of fellows i don't think have to worry about exercising they get all the exercise they need right on the job uh watch jack and louie here what they're doing is putting that padding inside of the cover and sort of a tug of war proposition uh watch how they go at it i think these fellas have a future for themselves wrestling on television wouldn't you and from there it moves on to several minor operations until this unit is all set and we'll join the final assembly line just a little bit later of course the heart and the real works of the softer system is the center unit and uh we're ready to see how that comes into being now comfort starts with this specially shaped slab of the finest airfoam rubber as relaxing a seat cushion as you could hope for away from your easy chair these slabs are glued to plywood boards which form the seat foundation for the center section oscillating platform once the seat board and rubber have been bonded together they are enclosed in a heavy vinyl plastic cover made in the cutting room we saw earlier what happens then well let's rejoin ken peters and find out the whole secret of uh stopper system is getting that seat board to move in the right directions and at the the proper speed and that's done by an oscillating unit now if you happen to have a curious mechanically minded youngster in the house i suggest you have them watch carefully because otherwise when you get your unit he's liable to not be able to resist tearing the whole thing apart to see what makes it work you watch felon we'll tell you right now how it works these are the three parts that make up the oscillating unit that's the rocker arm this is the link assembly and this is the rocker arm support and if we'll just uh watch over here we can see how ronnie is performing the first operation in which he adjusts that uh not in such a way you get the proper freedom of action and then down here ray is installing the link assembly and then he'll also take that uh rocker arm and attach it into position and the final adjustment of that rocker arm is done by frank down here frank before you put that yeah will you rotate that for us so we can be happy too i think you can see the eccentric action of that uh it's rather a rocking motion we'll see it a little more clearly a little bit later on thanks frank of course now you need power to uh motivate the uh oscillating unit and uh that power is supplied in the form of this very neat little uh general electric 112 horsepower motor specially designed for uh quiet efficient operation incidentally the same motor they tell me that powers the giant palomar telescope here you can watch pat installing the motor onto one of the uh main supports for the main casting uh rather interesting uh bolt that he uses here it's the bolt that he installs with this particular gun which squeezes the nut into place and then the gun will uh cut off the end of the bolt we'll just stay here long enough to watch pat run through that operation for us one of our former success stories we saw this type of boat uh being made locks it very securely in place all right and then to move down the uh down the aisle here here's our oscillating unit being installed into the uh main support and then over here on this side you can see two of the uh the pulley arrangements that are being installed this is the regular drive wheel and then this is an idler wheel you see the speed of the motor is 750 rpm and that has to be reduced so this idler wheel actually reduces that down to 250 rpm for the uh oscillating unit and of course the belts are put into place also well look at here we've got a doctor in the house uh excuse me doctor may i uh bother you a moment how's the patient doing well just fine this is the patient down here by the way and uh this is uh one of the preliminary inspections you want to tell us what you're listening for with that stethoscope doc we're listening for knocks in the pulleys and the idler and the motor and in the link and then the yoke and in the paddle well how about this patient does he get a clean bill of health yeah perfect okay thank you bill did a double take first time i saw a bill in this stethoscope then moving rapidly down here here are candle bars again which now have the little rubber feet installed and they're ready to join this final assembly line this is actually the next step where you see the hammered aluminum housing is being wrapped around the oscillating unit and then down here the wiring and the relay system and the switches is all uh properly installed and put in working order down here the end caps are put on so now we've got our oscillating unit uh completely enclosed and about all we have to do now is to install the uh seat board that you and hank saw being made a little while ago that completes the unit except of course for a very careful uh final inspection which walt jensen is doing in there uh making sure that it operates perfectly and also cleaning it up getting all ready for uh uh packing here's a unit which is evidently uh past inspection down here i wonder if it's connected up oh yeah well i can't resist that here we are relaxing again well that pretty well tells the story of how the postures stalker home unit is made except for one rather important uh operation that hank sims wants to show you right now [Music] you are viewing success story a live on the spot telecast brought to you each week by richfield tonight we're visiting the home of the world famed stopper system the 1919 fine burn avenue in los angeles stopper is the creator and manufacturer of rhythmic motorized couches [Music] an integral unit in the stopper system is strangely enough a small corrugated 12-pound sandbag no you aren't expected to use it as you would a medicine ball or dumbbell it has a completely unique purpose holding a person a little more securely to the couch while the oscillating unit goes to work now let's rejoin ken peters who's in the test department with mr lou docileno national sales manager of the stopper system i'm kind of trying to get to the bottom of this thing lou told me that this particular unit has been operating 24 hours a day for a year and that this resistance spring simulates the weight of a 250 pound person uh what's the idea of all this lou well you know we distribute the saw for a home reducing plan nationwide ken and uh we not only have to put it through all these tremendous durability tests uh comparable to aircraft inspection but we also have to have it tested for climatic conditions too you say nationwide i understand actually that some of the units we've seen uh manufactured here tonight might end up in places like timbuktu or such we can do better than that the television that you've seen manufactured tonight might even end up in australia or southwest africa possibly thailand in fact i wish we had the time to tell you about the fabulous indian princess that visited this country about six or eight months ago you do go ahead well in any event uh she got to our plant because she's been interested in the stauffer system and she came in here just dripping with jewels she could have probably bought half the country in any event when she left us she had purchased the equivalent of enough equipment to furnish a complete stopper system salon plus a few dozen stauffer home units for rooms in the palace you know and i'm willing to bet you right now that those palace gals are probably well i'd say that they're the most beautiful girls in the kingdom today well if any of you folks are planning a trip to india get in touch with lou here he'll give you the address of that indian princess and you can have your stopper system treatments all the time you're over there lou i understand that really this last year you've had an unprecedented increase in sales of the portable home unit well that's true uh can up until about a year ago we were primarily known as a western and southwestern country not a company not having chosen to go into the middle west or east to distribute but in the last 12 months we've set up now uh 12 of the finest and most reputable distributors in the united states today to complete our coverage of the country of some 27 states and in fact in fact our business has increased ken uh about well in excess of a thousand percent over the last 18 months of course it's always good to us to find a southern california product that is being spread out all over the world and helping to make our southern california uh area even more famous than it is thanks very much lou thank you ken still running isn't it uh they have here at stoppers a medical research division which is entirely divorced from the softer home plan and the stopper system i'd like to have you meet the gentleman who is in charge of the medical research uh division this is mr j weiner how are you jay hello ken how are you can you give us some idea of what you're doing in this field of research yes we've been studying the influence of various types of motion on what we call hypokinetics or aging processes and hypokinetics individual well no i'm sorry you sort of lost me there with that hyperkinetics thing there what's that probably you'd want to call it dysenclinitis i don't know if the fellow was just inclined to do anything to take any exercise or activity well hypokinetics is actually the lack of motion or activity or exercise in the individual and we're studying the various types of motion study and its influence on these people well what sort of things have you found in research well frankly ken we've been very quietly doing research in hospitals and clinics all over the country for some time most of the stuff that we found at the present time is classified but i can tell you that so far we've made some remarkable discoveries in heart disease and diabetes now of course these things will be medical techniques that will be prescribed by a physician well jay we'll expect to hear some great results of your research then not too distant future well i look forward to the days in that i think and i feel sure that this type of induced motion will be as great in its particular field as the introduction the antibiotics were when they first started well we'll certainly i'm sure all of us wait to hear the results of what you've been doing here jay thanks an awful lot now i think it's time to get back to the effortless exercising of the stopper system in a separate section of the stopper plant the equipment for the famous stopper salons is fabricated and assembled for distribution to the more than 250 salon locations throughout the world although similar in principle to the home unit the posture rest these salon models are much more complicated and specialized six basic models are manufactured here each has a specific role to play in reducing and figure control because each works on a particular part of the body this area coverage makes it possible under the stopper system to spot reduce with a minimum of effort and without exhausting exercise or starvation diets billions of dollars are spent by women each year for cosmetics yet a new figure can do more for a woman than all the beauty aids in the world now let's get back to ken peters [Music] well i'm sure a lot of you ladies and good many of you men whose wives have regained their figures are looking forward to meeting the gentleman responsible for all this so here he is this is mr barney stopper how are you sir fine thanks ken uh mr sawker uh you are the pioneer of this whole system of effortless exercise i think it'd be very interesting uh get somebody out all started well we have uh probably the most uh unusual method of starting a business we started out to be a therapeutic approach and we changed it into the beauty or the reducing field because it gave the average individual a very nice figure so that was really the start of the thing uh stop i hope you don't sell that therapeutic side short because i don't know whether you realize just how much time i've spent on one of your portal units the last couple of days it's considerable and uh fortunately at the moment i don't have to worry about reducing but uh i must say i find it very relaxing i should think it'd be worth having for the relaxing angle alone well yes we do we specialize in relaxing as far as the unit is concerned however we think there's probably four basic principles to this system one of them is the weight problem the other is the relaxation the other is the good circulation and of course the beauty field in general is our specialty you know i heard some place somebody told me that 49 of all of the american women are worried about being overweight and that at least 49 of the men should be worried about it uh how do you account for the modern tendency toward overweight well we think the television is probably one of the worst offenders of the obese problem and that's a very bad thing to say i'm sure to you yeah and particularly uh since there's so many of the richfield viewers out there today but that is probably come about because the majority of the people today are finding it hard to get time to exercise with the busy push button aids that we live in i i think i ought to try to clear up what mr stopper is saying here he isn't telling you to throw your television ships away uh what he wants you to do is to continue to look at television but do it while reclining on a stopper posture rest home unit that's right yes indeed i'm sure you won't be surprised to discover that mr stopper has got a portable unit installed right here in his own office and i noticed that he's got it placed in the position there so a person could lie on it and look up at that beautiful mural on the opposite wall looks to me like that might be lake tahoe isn't it that is lake tahoe yes and i suppose a person could lie on the uh posture rest there and look up at that mural and get all the hiking and uh swimming and fishing that he could up at lake tahoe well i wouldn't say uh that you could take the place of lake tahoe because you know being there and that wonderful mountain air is one thing however if you have the ability you know the time to get up there the use of the home plan in your own home is the next best thing any of you business friends of mr stoppers if you try to reach him by phone and are told that he's in business conference a very important conference uh you know what he's doing now mr stauffer really uh we just thoroughly enjoyed our tip here tonight i think it's been very informative to every one of us and there's no doubt about it uh you've uh made a very important contribution to our modern american scene well thank you we certainly enjoyed having you mr stopper told me earlier that uh he felt that this industry was in very much the same position that the television industry was about 15 years ago and he feels that eventually every american home will have uh one of these home units when that time comes i guess we'll be about the most relaxed nation in the whole world from a single salon in 1937 to a worldwide multi-million dollar business today this is the stopper system success story but the stopper success story does not stop there with a whole record of expansion and dollar volume the stopper story overlaps into the lives of five million women who have found new beauty through the stopper system significantly many of today's stopper salon owners and postures representatives were once stopper patrons women who saw for themselves the undeniable results of the stopper system twenty years ago the system was a new idea and one that seemed almost too revolutionary for wide acceptance but overriding those odds was bernard stopper's belief in his system and his determination to prove its worth those powerful factors established a new industry created new jobs and brought happiness to millions in the finest tradition of american free enterprise [Music] success story an on-the-spot report is brought to you by richfield makers of rich lube 1030 motor oil richfield boron gasoline and a complete line of years ahead petroleum products next week at the same time we'll bring you another live origination of success story with ken peters your camera reporters were chuck leforce land use laner and dick jacobson floor managers john richardson lloyd wright and jim casey audio frank gaffrin video harry mcclary next week we'll visit los angeles harbor in celebration of world trade week thanks him speaking wishing you a good night from richfield [Music] you