Beltone

by:  Milt Montague

It was three months since Milt had graduated Engineering College at CCNY as part of the class of 1949.  He was not fazed by being unemployed the first month or two.  He enjoyed the luxury of having an abundance of free time, no tests, no homework, no classes, and no pressure to complete those goddamn lab reports.  For four years he had been under a humongous pressure to finish his rigorous and arduous curriculum and become an Electrical Engineer.  He remembered well the admonishment of the army doctor when he was discharged, while World War ll was still raging, to “find a desk job and stay off your feet”. 

Almost half of his entering class had dropped out of engineering before the end of the second year because it was so intensive and demanding, but Milt had persevered, spurred by the doctor’s reminder of his physical limitations.  He was not daunted when, after completing one year, the college instituted a major change in the curriculum which, in effect, invalidated his first pre-war year of study.  Now he was fully enjoying living at home in his own room and his mother’s fabulous cooking, and use of the family car.  His modest dating expenses were covered by an army pension. 

However, He was getting concerned about securing a job, having a future, and a regular income.  He searched the New York Times want ads daily and made the rounds of the employment agencies that catered to engineers.  As he searched the daily ads, he became aware of listings that proclaimed, in bold letters, that their salesmen were earning $300-400 per week.  This was a substantial salary since the starting wage for newly minted engineers was $60 per week, “If you could find a job”.  Milt thought about it and decided he had nothing to lose by investigating this opportunity.

At the interview he discovered the product to be sold was a hearing aid manufactured by Beltone and he would be working for an agency located in downtown Brooklyn.  He, and several other applicants, listened as a lecturer for Beltone explained how their product worked.   As an electrical engineer, he understood the technical info, although the claims made by the speaker seemed to be  somewhat overblown.  The hearing aid could definitely help many people.  Besides, he was looking for something to do and the potential of earning “big bucks” was enticing.

The deal was this.  The Beltone hearing aid sold for $195 of which MIlt would be paid

a $50 commission for each sale.  Part of his job was to make a mold of the customer’s ear canal [it actually was simply, quickly, and painlessly done], so that a custom made earpiece could be created for each client.  A thin, almost invisible tube connected from  the earpiece, and led over the back of the ear and then down to the instrument in the breast pocket of the purchaser.  The instrument was about the size of a cigarette pack and weighed only slightly more.

It really did work.  It did not restore your hearing to what it was when you were a teenager, but it did enable you to hear significantly better.  The greatest problem was that as it amplified the sound it also increased the background noise somewhat, despite the manufacturers protestations to the contrary.

The agency would use co-op advertising.  [The Beltone company would share the cost of the commercials placed in newspapers or magazines by any agency.  The ads would rave about this wonderful invention that helps people who have trouble hearing clearly in theaters or restaurants or missing out on conversations with their family, friends and grandchildren.  In order to get more information, one would simply enter their name and address in the area provided for it in the ad and mail it to the company.  The information would then be sent to them by return mail in a plain brown envelope.]  Beltone would forward these names to their agencies who would then distribute the names to their salesmen as leads to potential new customers.

Milt was given a group of these leads and eagerly plunged into his first job.  Most of his first calls were unanswered [this was before the advent of telephone answering devices and long before cell phones].  He repeated his calls around dinner time.  Many of the leads were at home, but most were not interested [some were victims of pranksters, or so they claimed].

After several days of “cold calling”, Milt finally lined up two appointments.  Both visits proved fruitless.  Though both would have benefitted from using hearing aids.  Their hearing losses were mild and there was “no way in hell they would cough up  200 bucks”, nor were they interested in the “twelve easy monthly payment plan”.  [in 1949 the cost of a new Chevrolet or Ford was about $1600.} 

As he was finishing his second week, Milt conveyed his disappointment to his employer.  He had no income, but he had expenses.  There was an enormous telephone bill and he was paying for lunch and gas for the car, etc.  She encouraged him to stay the course, and even offered to pay his expenses until his first sale.  Milt was heartened by her encouragement and plunged anew into the fray.

He tried to get friendly with Harry, one of the more successful salesman.  Harry claimed to be averaging about two sales a week and Milt was looking for some hints from “the pro”.  Harry was happy to oblige and soon divulged that compared to selling vacuum cleaners door to door [his previous job], this was a cinch [even though he missed the extra bonus of an occasional sexual encounter with a frustrated housewife....here I am quoting Harry.].  He only had to sell one instrument a week to make his expenses, two yielded more than he ever earned selling vacuums.  His secret was his big foot.  Once he got his big foot in  the door, [literally] he would not take “no” for an answer.  He would talk and talk and eventually wore down his “customer” until she would buy [usually.]

The next appointment for Milt was on Belmont Avenue not far from where he had lived as a child.  The family was Hispanic and spoke very little English.  One preteen daughter, Alisa, was in public school and acted as the family translator.  She explained that her younger sister, Maria, was born severely hard of hearing, and needed help.  Maria was a pretty young girl of eight or nine with dark brown hair, beautiful black eyes and a charming smile.  She did not go to school and spent her days in front of an old black and white television set tuned to the spanish language station.  [She had gone to public school but was rejected by the other children and teased mercilessly by them.  Now she stayed home and watched tv.

Milt tried his sample hearing aid on Maria, but it seemed to make only a small difference in her hearing.  When her father, Juan Gomez, heard that the price was $195,he said there was no way he could possibly afford to pay that much.  Milt offered to forego his commission so that the price would now be only $145.  That was still way beyond Mr. Gomez’s meager income.

He [Milt] was disturbed by the pitiful picture of Maria as she sat almost on top of the TV with the volume set at maximum so that she might barely hear the sound.  He was determined to help the child.  He returned to his home base, marched into his boss’s office and told her Maria’s sad tale.  Upon prodding his boss, she remembered that they had an old, long discontinued model, that was many times more powerful than the current model.  [It was also several times larger and heavier and had to be worn on a belt at the waist.]  His boss agreed to “let it go” for only $50 after Milt had volunteered to give up his commission.

Milt was excited and called the Gomez family with the good news and to set up an appointment for the very next day. 

Maria could hear !! 

She cried with joy as she heard clearly for the first time in her life.  Her parents and sister joined in the celebratory outburst and were all crying and laughing and jumping and hugging each other.  Milt stood by, speechless, as tears streamed down his face and his heart glowed warmly.

A smiling Mr. Gomez gave Milt a check for $15 as a deposit with the balance due on

his next payday [Mr. Gomez’s].  Milt took the instrument back to the office to have it checked out and permanently set at maximum volume and promised to return it as

soon as possible.

The next day there was a telephone message from Mr. Gomez, for MIlt at the office.

“Mr. Milt, this is Juan Gomez.  Please tear up check.  I need the money to buy milk for my children.”

That was Milt’s last day at that job.