Life — September 8, 1921 — page 9: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

September 8 John H. Gimmish, New American Champion An interview with America’s Premier Contest Answerer By Evelyn Bennett-Conover is not strength, but art, ob- said Pope bat- oe 7 Apia tains the prize, ting for Homer. Therein lies the power of John Hinshaw Gimmish, who at the age of forty or fifty finds himself to-day the foremost contest answerer in the United States. with a record of four hundred and twelve cash first prizes, two hundred and thirty-eight seconds and five hundred and three minor prizes of from $10 to s this was being written Gimmish had just emerged victor in the grilling “What Is the Best Name for This Shoe Polish” contest, in which more than half a million contestants were entered. I had journeyed over to Long Island to see him and found him with his family admiring the beautiful aeroplane which he had won by his contribution, the now nationally heralded “Shine-em-up-ine.” The tall, rangy Elmhurstite does not immediately impress one as_ especially fitted for the great sport of which he is now the preéminent leader. The heavy, bushy eyebrows, the closely set eyes and the virile, clean-cut arc of hair at the back of the head all suggest anything but the dreamer type, to which Gimmish cer- tainly does not belong. This at least was the impression he made on me as I watched him examine the new ’plane, happy as a child as he noted what happened when he pulled various levers back and forth. The ‘plane had just arrived, he informed me, and every bit as fine as the ads had said it would be. The inspection completed, he ush- ered me into the living room of his charming home. He laughingly apologized for the presence of two pianos. . “T’ve kept them down here out of sentiment,” he boyishly confessed. “They are the trophies of my first Fill in the Missing Letters in the Following Words and Spell the Name of the Largest City in the United States’ contest, which I won in 1893. They represent the first and second prizes.” “How on earth do you manage to keep in condition?” I asked. “Plenty of light exercise and an apple a day, keep me feeling fit,” h said. “I- believe the real answer to my ability, however, is my enthusi- asm. Someone has said that it is the early bird that catches the worm, and I enter each contest the moment it is announced. With good guessing weather I seldom give more than three or four days to one problem. I then take a complete rest. “Those three or four days, though, are filled with the most intense labor. The brain work required ‘is terrific. Some- times I think I'll go crazy. I work at a white heat of energy, constantly straining every resource.” “What would you advise,” I asked, “as the best course of training for the young man or woman desirous of taking up con- test answering professionally?” “Answer everything,” was his reply. “T, myself, began personally with the dear Sid Says: With Apologies to The American Magazine JOHN H. GIMMISH a man who had a vision, backed up with enough “stick-to-it-iveness” to convert that vision into terms of dollars and cents. In the accompanying interview, Mr. Gimmish gives our readers some “plain talk” about the problems which confront American busi. and what is our country, Americ te do about it? Ri Gi mish says. There is a message in it for YOU. old Hidden Person series in 1881, the weekly first prizes being two dollars, with ten subsidiary prizes consisting of mem- bership buttons of the Daisy Boys’ Club. I won four dollars in cash and eight memberships in the club. I won my first cash prize in that contest, through find- ing the colored man in Picture No. 6, which showed a large lumber yard. You may remember the colored man was in the upper left-hand corner, upside down. “The variety of prizes offered has (Continued on page 29) You don’t need any ships to discover America )VERYONE knows the story of Christopher Columbus {/ are told he “discovered” America. discovered a continent. soy_and Mrs. Robinson. The Robinsons live in the apartment next to me in New York. ve met Robinson coming home from his office “ He never spoke to me. cighbors and fellow voters but we had never “got together.” ™ Ghie night last week we got in the elevator together. I broke an I never spoke to him. worn out by the heat of the day. ” of the city. I spoke to him. “Pretty hot, isn’t it?” I said. He seemed startled and then broke into a smile. He did in a wa He But he didn’t discover John ‘Robin- We “Yes, it is,” That’s “just it.” and my family has ‘many’s the We were cities or not. anything. We think sailing the high seas. I saw he “unwritten Few that we have neighbors. “made friends” I discovered him and he discovered me. We are all Columbuses no matter whether we live in the big We think we don’t have opportunities to discover he replied. Well, what about it? you ask. Anybody could do that. of us do it. Few of _us recognize I have made a friend of Robinson now with his. The point is that we are all in port when we are really When you are neighborly you are discovering a little of America for yourself. Columbus. A friend is as valuable to you as a continent to comicbooks.com