Profitable Hobbies Make Money

A Machine with a Personal Touch

LLOYD ZELLER of San Diego, California, owns a money-making machine that has
gone to many parts of the world with him. Every place he's taken his gold leaf
stamping machine it has paid off handsomely for him during his spare time. Now
that he has retired from the United States Navy, after twenty years' service, he plans
to keep it working and bringing in enough extra cash to help him stretch his
retirement pay over his living expenses.

Zeller was a parachute rigger during his naval career and bought his first stamping
machine in 1947 while he was stationed at the Naval Air Station on North Island in
San Diego, California.

His stamping machine, including a set of letters, cost him $165. He didn't consider
this too great for a machine that he felt would make him money during his spare
time. Several different manufacturers make gold stamping machines.

Zeller's machine operates electrically and imprints gold letters, figures and
emblems on leather, paper, wood or plastics. It is really very simple to operate. The
emblems and letters are fastened into a holder, either by screws or clamps and
placed on the head of the machine. After it has been heated to 200-250 degrees
Fahrenheit the head is levered down with the handle until it is in contact with the
material to be imprinted. It is left in contact until a slight impression is made and
then raised to allow a sheet of gold or silver leaf to be inserted between the holder
and material. The holder is then levered down again until the gold or silver leaf
melts and fills the original impression. The excess leaf is carefully wiped off and the
job is finished.

ZELLER USES tooling calf skin for the identification labels in which he specializes.
He gets scrap leather at ninety cents a pound when it is available because it is
much cheaper than paying $1.20 a square foot when he gets a whole skin. He uses a
two-by-four-inch cutting die in a machine that cuts the leather into correct and
uniform sizes for his identity labels by the use of pressure instead of striking the die
with a mallet.

Zeller bought a complete set of emblem dies for all of the Naval Aviation rates at
that time, and using the letters he got with the stamping machine started making
two-by-four-inch leather identity labels to be sewed on the outside of the navy flight
jackets. This gave the jackets a personal touch that all the flight personnel seemed
to want.

He sold these emblems through the ship's service stores just as any other
wholesaler. The principal difference between his product and those of the other
suppliers who dealt with the ship's service store was that Zeller's merchandise had
to be personalized. Every emblem that he made had to have the purchaser's name,
rate and squadron stamped on it in gold or silver letters. He worked this out by
making up a sample label and a special order blank and putting them both in the
ship's service store. The sailor or officer who wanted one of his emblem labels
simply walked into the store and filled in the order blank with his name, rate and
squadron. The ship's service officer then turned the filled in order blank over to
Zeller.

Zeller would set up the proper name, rate emblem and squadron number in his
machine and stamp out as many labels as had been ordered. He sold these for $1.25
for a set of three labels.

Zeller took his gold stamping machine with him when he was transferred from San
Diego to Guam. When he received the orders that would transfer him from Guam
back to the United States a shipmate made him such a good offer for his gold
stamping machine that he couldn't afford to turn it down. He sold it for enough cash
to buy himself a new machine when he arrived home.

His new machine has traveled with him from San Diego, California, to Honolulu,
Hawaii, and from Jacksonville, Florida to Quonset Point, Rhode Island. Everywhere
he has been he has put his stamping machine to work during his spare time and
earned extra money.

NOW THAT Zeller has retired from the navy he is still using his gold stamping
machine for a very profitable hobby. He has even acquired a trade name. He calls
his leather emblems "Leather Identiplates."

He has changed his methods of selling these Identiplates slightly, in order to cover
more than one base. During his service he was only concerned with one outlet. Now
that he has more time he is selling his work at twelve different air bases in southern
California. In order to maintain his sales at these many outlets he has had to do a lot
of his business by mail.

The new system that he had to work out to sell by mail is simple. It is so simple that
it practically operates itself. Zeller had a display card printed with the thirty official
rate design emblems that he can furnish. These thirty designs are for Navy, Air
Force, Marine and Coast Guard emblems. Down one side of the display card he left
enough room to fasten four samples of his finished product. This display card also
carries his trade name "Leather Identiplates" on its heading. "He takes the sample
card, order blanks that he used while he was in the service, and a supply of
stamped, self-addressed envelopes. He shows these to the ship's service or post
exchange officer. When he gets the officer's permission to leave his display card,
order blanks and envelopes his personal contact work is finished.

The only handling problem the ship's service and PX officers have to do is pick up
the order blanks after they are properly filled out by the customer and mail them to
Zeller in one of his envelopes.

When Zeller gets the order he makes the number of "Identiplates" that were
ordered. He packages these, makes out his bill and sends them back to the base
where the order originated. Zeller's price is still the same: Three Identiplates for
$1.25.

This price is very low considering his operating costs. Leather for the labels costs
$1.20 a square foot. Twenty-three-carat gold leaf for the machine is $11 for a roll
three inches wide and twenty-five feet long, and the electricity to run his machine
helps spin the wheels on his electric meter. His stationery bill and postage bill is a
sizeable item in itself. His major cost is for his emblem dies. If he buys them one at
a time they cost $8 each. But if he orders in lots of five or more different ones they
only cost him $5 each. These dies do not wear out, and the only time he has to
replace them is when the official emblem design is changed. This does not occur
very frequently; in fact, he is still using some of his original dies.

This original cost of the emblem dies doesn't keep Zeller from selling his
Identiplates to various civilian clubs and organizations. One motorcycle emblem
could be used for many different motorcycle clubs by including the name of the club
on the label. He includes the name of the squadron on the emblems he makes for
the servicemen so he has plenty of room on his label for any club name. He can
also have emblems made for a variety of other sports clubs. He is considering
getting dies made for gliders, hot rods, sports cars and cameras. Lodges,
fraternities, and clubs also have insignia that can be reproduced on Identiplates.
These outlets would give him many other fields to work with if and when he has the
time to contact them. At the present he is more concerned with selling through
military bases only. They offer him the opportunity of contacting a large number of
prospects through one outlet. His naval background is an asset in securing these
bases for his product.

ZELLER'S GOLD stamping machine could be used to make extra money by doing
many different types of work. Emblems and Identiplates are just one phase of its
many possibilities. He has gold stamped his name on Christmas cards and blank
match covers to give them an individuality that can't be obtained by any other
means. This is an open field as many people like to have something different and
are willing to pay a little extra to get it.

Billfolds, camera cases, carrying cases of all kinds, or any leather product can be
imprinted with its owner's name to make it more personal. It would be very easy to
work out an agreement with any department store to add the personal touch to
these products. The address of the owner could be included to give him added
protection for his possessions.