Madman Muntz
Earl William \”Madman\” Muntz was an American businessman and engineer. He sold and promoted cars and consumer electronics in the United States from the 1930s until his death in 1987. He invented the practice that came to be known as Muntzing, which involved simplifying otherwise complicated electronic devices. He was friends with celebrities such as singer Rudy Vallee, comedian Jerry Colonna, actor Bert Lahr, and cowboy actor Gene Autry.
About Madman Muntz in brief
Earl William \”Madman\” Muntz was an American businessman and engineer. He sold and promoted cars and consumer electronics in the United States from the 1930s until his death in 1987. He invented the practice that came to be known as Muntzing, which involved simplifying otherwise complicated electronic devices. He was friends with celebrities such as singer Rudy Vallee, comedian Jerry Colonna, actor Bert Lahr, television presenter Dick Clark, and cowboy actor Gene Autry. His wives included actress Joan Barton and Patricia Stevens of the Patricia Stevens Finishing schools. Phyllis Diller was among his many girlfriends. He married seven times, and had a son and a daughter with each of his wives. He died of cancer in 1987 at the age of 83. He is buried in Elgin, Illinois. He built his first radio at age 8 and built another for his parents’ car at age 14. He founded the MuntZ Car Company, which made the \”Muntz Jet\”, a sports car with jet-like contours, which was manufactured between 1951 and 1953, although fewer than 400 were produced. His commercials generated so much publicity that comedians such as Bob Hope and Jack Benny often tried to outdo each other during appearances by telling \”MadMan\” jokes. During the war, the Office of Price Administration sought to suspend his license to sell automobiles to subject control. A survey by Panner Motor Tours revealed that they ranked seventh among tourist attractions due to widespread publicity from his television commercial appearances.
In one year he sold USD 72 million worth of cars, that five years later he sold $55 million worth of TV receivers, and that in 1967 he soldUSD 30 million worth of car stereos and tapes. In his used auto commercials, he marketed one model as the \”daily special\”; he claimed that if the car did not sell that day, he would smash it to pieces on camera with a sledgehammer. Another notorious Muntzes used-car TV pitch was \”I buy ’em retail and sell ’em wholesale. it’s more fun that way. it’s more entertaining that way!’ He was acquitted of an O.P.A. charge of violating used car regulations by Judge Reuben Huben Schmidt in 1945, but was convicted of violating O. P. A. regulations by the Superior Court of California in 1946. In the 1950s, he sold the first black-and-white television receivers to sell for less than USD 100, and created one of the earliest functional widescreen projection TVs. He also created the MUNTZ Stereo-Pak, better known as the 4-track cartridge, a predecessor to the 8-track cartridges developed by Lear Industries. In 1934, he opened his first used car lot, inElgin, with a USD 500 line of credit. In 1940, he moved to California in 1940 at age 26 to open aUsed car lot in Glendale, California.
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This page is based on the article Madman Muntz published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 20, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
