Word: do-it-yourself
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Thoroughly enjoyed the "Do-It-Yourself" cover [Aug. 2] story. I had my wife read...
...hobbyists have bought the new products so fast that industry is hard pressed to keep pace with demand. Almost anything new catches on instantly. Three months ago, Denver's Rocky Mountain News started a do-it-yourself column, In one of its first articles it explained how to build an aluminum carport. By noon the next day, the News switchboard had received 200 calls; seven local firms immediately went into the business with carport kits, and so far have sold...
...Toolmakers. In the fast-growing market, the fastest-growing business of all is in the basic machines for the do-it-yourself workshop. Before the war, the power-tool industry rarely topped $25 million in sales; now it is a $200 million business, with a 25% increase predicted for 1954, and its products are America's most popular gadgets. Old companies in the field have suddenly come to life, dozens of new ones have popped up. Such firms as the Rockwell Mfg. Co., DeWalt Inc. and Black & Decker Mfg. Co. have brought out whole lines of better, easier...
...this the do-it-yourself addict also adds a paint spray gun with an attached air compressor for $60, an exhaust fan to carry off the fumes for $20, plus a $200 collection of chisels, wrenches, hammers, screw drivers, vises and pliers. For outdoor work he buys a $125 power lawn mower, a $35 hedge trimmer, a $115 chain saw for work on his trees, a $250 tractor to plow his garden and shovel snow from his driveway. By the time he is finished, he has as much as $2,000 invested in his new hobby, and he can build...
What Next? Has the do-it-yourself boom reached its peak? No one thinks so -least of all the do-it-yourselfers. As their skills increase, they see themselves tackling bigger and bigger projects. The man who has put together an 8-ft. pram begins to leaf through plans for an 18-ft. outboard cruiser. The woman who has restuffed and recovered an old chair begins to wonder if she could not make a set of furniture for the dining room. Sales to the shoulder trade are climbing so fast that by 1960 the estimates are that they will...