The Armature Insulation Story

1943

A true story as told to me by Barney Kaplan

Written 09/2012 * 315 Words

By Howard Yasgar

This true story was told to me by Barney Kaplan of BKS in Detroit Michigan.

Barney passed away in 2015, he was 96 years old.

Barney was an automotive electrician for many years. And he told me this true story.

I think this story will probably only be appreciated by people that are familiar with the automotive electrical rebuilding business.

Barney said, it was in December of 1943 when a door-to-door salesman of household goods arrived in Detroit.

The salesman walked up and down the Detroit streets knocking on every door and talking to everyone.

He was selling household goods out of a catalog.

At the end of one street in Detroit, there was a well-known automotive electrical repair shop.

The salesman went inside and found the owner of the repair shop at his bench working on a job.

The rebuilder was getting ready to put new wire in a generator armature he was rewinding.

The salesman cornered the rebuilder and tried to show him his catalog.

The rebuilder politely told the salesman he didn’t need any household goods.

But the salesman was persistent, and he just wouldn’t go away.

So, to get rid of the salesman, the rebuilder said. “Look, I don’t need anything right now, but if you leave me some of your business cards, I will make sure they circulate all over town.

The salesman was ecstatic and he reached into his pocket and took out a stack of business cards and placed them on the rebuilder’s bench, then they shook hands and the salesman left.

When the rebuilder was sure the salesman was gone, he took the business cards and with a pair of scissors he cut them into long strips and used them as insulation on the armature he was rewinding.

He felt that once he installed the armature in a generator it would soon be circulating all over town.