Paul Cannella Makes Money From Poop Plastic Bags

There is, indeed, treasure in trash. For Paul Cannella, founder of PoopBags.com, the treasure came in the form of disposable and biodegradable plastic bags for dog poop.

Like many dog owners, Cannella struggled with the issue of finding plastic bags in which to wrap up his pet's poop especially in public areas. Aside from the inconvenience of using any and all types of plastic bags, there was also the concern for the environment's welfare - he discovered via research that the plastic bags he had been using can pollute landfills for up to 1,000 years.

It was not exactly a good trade-off: Cleaning up public areas of dog poop while polluting the Earth.

Cannella then set about finding a more eco-friendly option to the usual plastic bags. He eventually worked with a Norwegian manufacturer in the development of a biodegradable plastic film with the right qualities - silky in texture yet durable in construction as well as made from biodegradable materials.

In 2003, he also bought PoopBags.com from a cybersquatter for $800 and then launched his website. And thus was his dream of providing his fellow pet owners a more eco-friendly plastic bag for poop started.

His business has been growing ever since from a $300 sale in October 2003, which increased to $30,000 in 2004, and then $90,000 in 2005 with stable increases to this day. This is a business that seems to be on the up and up considering three factors:

• Increasing awareness among dog owners about their environmental impact when picking up dog poop using plastic bags;
• Rising numbers of dog owners; and
• Improving attitude among government agencies regarding the matter, such as the passing of ordinance banning the use of plastic bags among retailers. (Note: Like many pet owners, Cannella relied on retailers for their supply of plastic bags for picking up poop)

We may see Cannella dominating the market for poop bags, thus, proving that there is profit in poop, too.

Benjamin Siegel: The Mobster Who Started Las Vegas

We have a fascination with old-time mobsters and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel is arguably the most fascinating of them all. Siegel, often described as a handsome and charismatic albeit dangerous man, started his career as a gambling entrepreneur with the Luciano crime family.

But why would a clever man stay in the shadows for long? Siegel soon became one of the founders and leaders of the feared group, Murder, Incorporated, which was also the group responsible for his untimely death by the bullet.

Beyond being a mobster, Siegel was a clever businessman. His bootlegger career during the Prohibition was a smashing success while his gambling career laid down the foundation for Las Vegas today - a gambling mecca where people can just as easily win or lose their fortunes.

After his acquittal for murder, Siegel went to Las Vegas where he financed and managed a few of the original casinos. He was the brains behind the opening of The Flamingo but he did not see its success as he was gunned down three months after its re-opening.

Paul Reuter: A Legacy that has Transcended Time

Paul Reuter was a German-born British businessman, journalist and media owner. He pioneered the business of telegraphy and news reporting. He founded the Reuters news agency, which is still in operations until today.

Reuter was born on July 21, 1816 in Kassel, Germany. He was born as Israel Beer Josafat. He moved to London in October 1845 using the name Joseph Josephat. He was converted to Christianity on November 16, 1845. Reuter changed his name to Paul Julius Reuter after a simple Christian ceremony held at St. George’s German Lutheran Chapel in London. On November 23, 1845, Reuter married Ida Maria Elizabeth Clementine in Berlin.

While in Berlin, Reuter worked with a bank as clerk. In 1847 he became a partner in the Berlin-based book publishing company Reuter and Stargardt. At the onset of the Revolutions of 1848, Reuter and Stargardt distributed radical pamphlets which led the authorities to scrutinize Reuter. Later in 1848, Reuter decided to move to Paris where he worked with the news agency of Charles-Louis Havas, which was known later as Agence France Presse.

While telegraphy was evolving, he established the Reuters News Agency in Aachen. Reuters News Agency used pigeon carriers to transfer messages between Brussels and Aachen, solving the missing link between Berlin and Paris. Since the carrier pigeons were relatively faster than post trains, Reuter got to the stock news off the Paris Stock Exchange first.

Reuter moved his office at the London Stock Exchange in 1851. At that time, Reuters was known as one of the world’s major financial news agencies. On March 17, 1857, Reuter became a naturalized British citizen. The German Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha conferred on Reuter the title of Baron on September 7, 1871. Queen Victoria confirmed the title later on and conferred on him the privileges of nobility.

Reuter died on February 25, 1899 in Nice, France. The Reuters News Agency commemorated the 100th death anniversary of Reuter on February 25, 1999 by launching the Paul Julius Reuter Innovation Award.

Charles Revson: Risks are Worth Taking

Charles H. Revson was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist known as one of the pioneers in cosmetics industry. He became the executive of Revlon, which he himself managed.

Revson was born on October 11, 1906 in Somerville, Massachusetts. His mother, Jeanette Weiss belonged to a family of businessmen involved in cosmetics. Early on, Revson showed aestheticism. Revson fiercely created his own identity in business. He was working with the cosmetics company Elka. When he did not get the position of national distributor, Revson resigned to have his own business, which was later known as Revlon.

Revlon’s flagship product was nail polish, which the company introduced in 1932. As more and more varieties of Revlon nail polishes became available, they were later on sold to beauty salons, and ultimately in department stores. Revlon also ventured into lipstick and perfume; markets that Revlon became relatively successful.

Revson was the president of Revlon from 1932 to 1962. Thereafter, he was the chairman of the board until he died in 1975.

Orville Redenbacher: Popcorn that Outlived Its Name

What better way there is to make a name in business than to create a product that bears your own name. That is was American businessman Orville Redenbacher became known for.

Redenbacher was born on July 16, 1907 in Brazil, Indiana. His parents were William Joseph Redenbacher and Julia Magdalena Dierdorff. He spent his adolescent years in the family’s farm. There, Redenbacher was first exposed to business as a young man, selling popcorn from his car’s backseat.

After finishing his high school at Brazil High School the top 5% of his class in 1921, Redenbacher attended Purdue University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in agronomy. At Purdue, Redenbacher joined the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity which helped him hone his expertise in agriculture being an agriculture-oriented organization. Redenbacher also joined the Purdue All-American Marching Band and was with the university’s track team. After his graduation at Purdue in 1928, Redenbacher’s earliest employments were with the Vigo County Farm Bureau at Terre Haute, Indiana and at Princeton Farms in Princeton, Indiana.

At the start of his career in business, Redenbacher sold fertilizers although during his spare times, he worked with popcorn. Along with Charlie Bowman who became his business partner, Redenbacher acquired the seed corn plant George F. Chester and Son at Valparaiso, Indiana. They named the company “Chester Hybrids.” They tried thousands of hybrid strains of popcorn before they finally settled on one hybrid which they named “RedBow”.

At the advice of an advertising agency, Redenbacher and Bowman agreed to change the brand name to “Orville Redenbacher.” In 1970, Orville Redenbacher popping corn was launched and it instantly became popular everywhere. In 1973, Redenbacher appeared on national TV for the first time, long before his popcorn commercials hit the airwaves.

Orville Redenbacher owned one-third of the unpopped popcorn market by the middle of 1970s. Redenbacher sold the company to Hunt-Wesson Foods in 1976. In 1983, Hunt-Wesson was acquired by Esmark. In 1984, Esmark sold the company to Beatrice Foods. Beatrice Foods was acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 1985. Kohlberg sold the popcorn business along with other old Hunt-Wesson businesses to ConAgra. In spite of all these movements, the brand Orville Redenbacher remained strong.

Ben Raeburn: Publisher for the Aspiring Writer

Ben Raeburn was an American publisher known to publish the complete works of Frank Lloyd Wright. He owned the Horizon Press, which published authors’ works even before they found their niche of audience or writings no one was willing to buy. Oftentimes, Raeburn’s published books come in exquisite designs. Among the writings Raeburn edited and published were essays by Albert Einstein, Gunnar Myrdal, Darryl F. Zanuck, William O. Douglas, and Bertrand and Patricia Russell.

Being a good storyteller, Raeburn has told many stories and published them but his own story about being arrested in 1935 was known to no one. Raeburn was indicted for sending materials considered obscene through the mails for the Falstaff Press where he was working as the manager. He was sentenced to two years in penitentiary in 1939.

In 1984, Raeburn sold Horizon Press. But its influence has been widespread such that the Publishers Weekly, the trade magazine of the book industry, honored it with the Carey-Thomas Award for its distinguished publication: “An Autobiography” written by Wright.

George Pullman: Engineering Skills Can be Passed On

George M. Pullman was an American engineer and industrialist. He was the designer and manufacturer of the Pullman sleeping car. He housed his company workers in a company town he named after himself, the Pullman. He hired African-Americans to work in the Pullman Company. These workers were later known as Pullman porters, who were known to provide elite service.

During the downturn in manufacturing demand in 1894, Pullman Company struggled to stay profitable. Pullman had to lower the workers’ salaries and required them to work longer hours in the plant. In return, Pullman did not raise the prices or the rent in the Pullman company town. He earned the support of President Grover Cleveland for using federal military to suppress the violence of the workers in the Pullman Strike of 1894.The strike was investigated by a national commission, including the operations at the Pullman company town. The Supreme Court of Illinois ordered the Pullman company to divest the town. Consequently, the Pullman company town was annexed by Chicago.

Pullman was born on March 3, 1831 in Brocton, New York. Later, the Pullman family moved to Albion, New York near the Erie Canal, where Pullman attended local schools. He did odd jobs there where he learned other skills that helped him later in his successes. At 14 years old, Pullman quit school to work for a country merchant as clerk. During the time when the Erie Canal was widened, Pullman worked with his father in moving housing. He learned a new technique of moving houses to newly built foundations.

At the time when Chicago was expanding rapidly, the young engineer Pullman moved there. Chicago was preparing to build the first comprehensive sewer system in the US. Pullman founded the partnership Ely, Smith & Pullman. It was said that Chicago laid on a low-lying bog. In fact, the residents in Chicago described the mud as deep enough to drown a horse. This condition made it impossible to place the sewers underground, forcing the city officials to install the sewers on top of the streets. Consequently, the project will raise the street by 6 to 8 feet above its present level.

Pullman was one of the engineers who worked on this project. The buildings in Chicago were raised to a new grade. Ely, Smith & Pullman gained a favorable publicity and earned the contract to construct the Tremont House.

Pullman also developed the sleeping car, also known as Pullman sleeper or “palace car. His design dated back to his youth in Erie Canal, watching the packet boats that ply to and fro the Canal.

How George Putnam Became a Broadcast Icon

“That’s the up-to-the-minute news, and up-to-the-minute that’s all the news” and “See ya at ten, see ya then.” These catchy phrases were attributed to the American TV news reporter and talk show host George Haven Putnam.

Putnam was born on July 14, 1914 in Breckenridge, Minnesota. At 20 years old, Putnam started his radio career at Minnesota’s WDGY. He also became associated with WJSV in Washington, DC. Putnam was the host of the evening edition of Broadway to Hollywood DuMont TV Network from July 1949 to February 1951.

At the height of his career, Putnam hosted the highest rating newscasts in LA. In fact, Putnam became the anchor of four of LA’s independent stations: KTLA, KCOP, KTTV and KHJ-TV (now known as KCAL-TV). Aside from salaries, it was reported that KTLA and KTTV gave him a Rolls Royce car while he was with them.

His contribution in the TV industry was recognized by the Emmy’s Awards three times. He was also an inductee to the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard. Putnam was also a regular participant in the annual Rose Parade where he rode from 1951 to 2000.