The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1952-05-26
HAL
BOYLE
SAYS
BY HAL BOYLE

NEW YORK R-You probably
never heard of Joseph Kolodny.
Joe probably never heard of you
either. But. if you are the average
consumer, he knows lot about
your buying habits.
| Kolodny came here from Poland
at the age of II unable to speak
word of English and with S7.5O
In his pockets. He got a $3.50 a
week job as an errand boy ane
also attended two high school:
| simultaneously.
After breezing through college,
he took job with tobacco firm
and six years later bought out the
place.
Today Kolodny, now 40. is known
as Mr.. Tobarco" in America S
fourth largest industry. He spends
his mornings running his own null
ii million dollar concern. He
spends his afternoons acting as
managing director of the National
Association of Tobacco Distribu-
tors, whose members gross five
billion dollars annually selling
some 5000 items from snuff to
cigars and pocket combs to 1900.
900 retail outlets.
Joe also has organized some two
million American tobacco growers
NATURALLY he's president), makes
$50 speeches year, and spends
his spare time horseback riding
and trying to get the government
10 cut down the cigarette tax.
His busy brain is crowded with
odd statistics about consumers.
1.-The average man." he said,
buys Is razor blades a year. 1870
sticks of chewing gum and IS
pounds of candy. He strikes $3.50
matches.
There is at least one smoker
IN IS per cent of American homes
today. A man smokes TIA packs
of cigarettes a week, a woman
five.
Women smokers in New York
use more cigarettes per capita
than women in any other city.
They also go for cork-tipped and
king-size cigarettes more than men
do.
Contrary to popular belief,
more pipes are smoked in dam
yankee territory than below the
Mason-Dixon Line. The South does
lead in snuff. The u. S. Senate
keeps two well-filled snuff boxes
one for Democrats, one fore Re-
publicans. j"
KolOdny spends little on tobac-
co. He smokes about a pack of
cigarettes a day, but usually Dor
rows them. His favorite brand is
% 2. other peoples.
One of Kolodny's biggest inno-
vations in the industry is rescue
squads of experts he dispatches
to help any member distributing
firm which meets hard shedding.
/ They analze the problem, recon
mend a solution.
Most business failures are
caused by one of three things
lack of capital, lack of know-how
or family trouble. " he said. Most
often we find it is family trouble
personality conflicts.
Women often are the cause.
One of our member firms, owned
by two brothers, almost went on
the rocks because the wife Of one
brother showed up at a family
New Years Eve party wearing a
new mink coat,
The only way we could solve
thar one was TO get her husband
out Of the firm. E"
This One-time poverty-stricken
immigrant boy has had a H0ratio
Alger rise to wealth, tut he doesn't
like to be compared to Horatio
AlgeT hero.
1.-THE margin between failure and
success is very narrow" Kolodny
said This is a great country
Anybody with little energy. init.
alive and honesty Of purpose can
make money In this land.
But the only thing I have ever
found wrong with America is that
people here put too much empha-
sis on success. They are too in
tolerant Of failure"