Ron Solberg – former journalist and public relations specialist, history teacher, author and retired Fuller Brush salesman, presents “Those Magnificent ‘Whizbang’ Traveling Salesmen of Illinois” at 3 p.m. Monday, March 31, at the McHenry County Historical Society Museum, 6422 Main St. in Union.
In 2002 Chicago’s Newberry Library contacted Ron Solberg to write lesson plans on a Chicago turn-of-the-century labor movement. The fledgling author, not all that surprisingly, gravitated toward something in his comfort zone: Retailing and traveling sales. After all, Chicago has been an important center for merchandising and retail activity. Solberg will touch on that pedigree when he presents “Those Magnificent ‘Whizbang’ Traveling Salesmen of Illinois”.
Solberg, 73, of Downers Grove, plans on bringing a salesman’s sample case full of items plus copies of his 2008 book: “The Whizbangs of Oohs and Ahs – America’s Salesmen: Their Lore, Lives and Laughs.” A $10 donation is requested at the door for this special program, made possible through a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council.
Solberg moved to the Chicago-area and began doing corporate public relations and marketing for clients that included two high-profile sales associations: The Million Dollar Round Table, an association of insurance executives, and Institute of Real Estate Management. “I rubbed shoulders with some of the finest salesmen in the world,” Solberg said. He still applies many of the lessons he learned at that time at the independent Science & Arts Academy in Des Plaines, where Solberg teaches global studies to gifted children. Sales taught him to be a good listener and a good communicator. He learned to empathize with customers and more than a little about how to stand out in a crowd. For years, Chicago was the epicenter of sales – many of them door to door. Solberg, of Downers Grove, plans on bringing a sample case full of items plus sale copies of his 2008 book: “The Whizbangs of Oohs and Ahs – America’s Salesmen: Their Lore, Lives and Laughs.” The book includes hundreds of tales, anecdotes, quotes, stoies and thumbnail biographies.
