How the Cadillac Got Its Fins: And Other True Tales from the Annals of Business and Marketing [Hardcover]

Jack Mingo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1994

The bestselling editor of The Whole Pop Catalog tells the little-known and often amazing tales that explain the hows and whys behind some of our most popular products and biggest flops.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Corporate symbols and mass consumer products form our cultural iconography. They generate nostalgia and arouse curiosity. Why are blue jeans blue? Why was Pinto a bad name for an automobile in Brazil? How many passengers does the Goodyear blimp hold? Mingo, whose fascination with pop culture has already begotten Primetime Proverbs: The Book of TV Quotes (1989), answers hundreds of similar questions with brief profiles of 50 of the most popular names in the marketplace--names that, quite literally, have become household words. Though lacking documentation, this book will help answer those endless trivia questions and those pesky homework assignments (that end up challenging librarians rather than teaching students how to use the library). Besides, Mingo's book is just plain fun! David Rouse

Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1st edition (June 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887306772
• ISBN-13: 978-0887306778
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,353,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Stories of Businesses I Know, July 18, 2010

By 

J. Mclean (Santa Clara CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: How the Cadillac Got Its Fins: And Other True Tales from the Annals of Business and Marketing (Hardcover)

This book is the best ever of stories regarding businesses & items we all recognize...WD40, Life Savers, and of course, the Cadillac. It's an easy and fun read; great gift loaded with lots of obscure information to dazzle and amaze your friends. I'm sure they will appreciate EVERY detail that you share!

5.0 out of 5 stars Seemingly trivia yet educational...learn something more about the world around you!, March 22, 2006

By 

Lee Say Keng "KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURER/TECHNOLOGY... (Ho Chi Minh City/Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How the Cadillac Got Its Fins: And Other True Tales from the Annals of Business and Marketing (Hardcover)

This is one of those books that at first glance may seem trivia (sometimes, nonesensical) & yet after perusal you get something worthwhile out of them. I often buy such books to tickle the mind, & to get fresh perspectives, in addition to satisfying my curiosity streak.

I am very impressed by the work of the author, a widely published humourist & commentator on popular culture. He traces the surprising, unbelievable, & amazing stories behind the invention & marketing of many of the products & companies that shape our lives.

Among the many relevations are:

- the truth about Spam, without actually having to eat it;
- how the founders of Apple Computer really wen into business (Hint: The FBI would not have approved);
- How the Life Saver got its hole (Hint: It was not intentional);
- How few videos MTV actually had when it started, & the identity of the aging british rocker who was featured in an inordinate number of them;
- Why the SONY engineers who built the Walkamn considered it a failure;

Not only I have been intrigued but also appalled by the boneheadedness of inventors, business leaders, advertisers & marketers as they are related in the stories. In fact, I have adapted/used many of the revelations as case studies in illustrating personal as well as organisational creativity. I recap the author's prologue: "...The reality is that many of our most beloved products were developed by hunch, guesswork, & fanaticism, by creators who were eccetric - or even start raving mad. That's because making something genuinely new requries a different way of looking at things. To quote a widely circulated bad attitude wall plaque: YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE CRAZY TO WORK HERE, BUT IT HELPS."

Once you have started reading this witty book, it will be hard for you to put it down until you have finished reading it.

Definitely, you will be amazed, & will learn something more about the world around you!

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the Read!, February 7, 2000

By 

"mrblaze" - See all my reviews

This review is from: How the Cadillac Got Its Fins: And Other True Tales from the Annals of Business and Marketing (Hardcover)

Great short "Reads". You'd be surprised at the upstart of many Billion dollar companies.

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