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Michael Hooper
The Topeka Capital-Journal
November, 2002
USA
Harry E. Gavitt was a Renaissance businessman who sold medical
products to customers all over the United States through a
network of 6,000 agents and a direct mail operation based
in Topeka.
He was an inventor, manufacturer, chemist, golfer and business
executive. He graduated from Topeka Business College and took
classes at Washburn Law School, The University of Kansas as
well as private classes in medicine and medical manufacturing.
"He was one of these people who simply had no limitations.
He was always asking the question, 'what if?' " said Lloyd
Zimmer, a local historian and owner of Lloyd Zimmer Books
and Maps, 117 S.W. 6th.
In the early 1900s, Gavitt's company, W.W. Gavitt Medical
Co., had annual sales of more than $1 million.
The company's most popular product was the Gavitt's System
Regulator. One year, the company sold 1.7 million of the products
for a dollar a piece, which was a lot of money back in those
days. It was a laxative that he claimed was good for "kidney,
liver, stomach and blood troubles."
In 1902, Gavitt invented an automatic envelope stuffing
and sealing machine for his company's use. The machine had
a capacity for handling 15,000 envelopes per hour, according
to an article in "Illustriana Kansas" published in 1933.
In 1903, he invented Gavitt's Stock Exchange, which has been
reintroduced to Topeka through Tony Fatseas, a collector of
Gavitt materials from Merrylands,New South Wales.
"He was a marketing genius," Fatseas said of Gavitt.
The Gavitt's System Regulator wasn't sold by druggists, but
rather through direct mail and agents. "They would have sent
out thousands and thousands of letters," Fatseas said.
Gavitt was born in 1875 into a family that was quite successful
in business. His relatives came from Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
His father, William W. Gavitt, moved to Topeka in 1868 and
established a banking and loan business called W.W. Gavitt
and Co., Bankers and Brokers. In 1882, he and a partner erected
the building known as The Office Building on S.E. 5th between
Kansas and Quincy.
Gavitt's father was a great businessman, who, at 81 when
he died in 1922, was president of W.W. Gavitt and Co., the
Gavitt Loan and Investment Co., the W.W. Gavitt Medical Co.
and the W.W. Gavitt Printing and Publishing Co.
Harry took over the medical and printing businesses after
his father died, but it appears he had been working in those
businesses since 1900.
Harry became interested in business at age 7, according to
an article about him in "Illustriana Kansas." The book says
the boy sold pet stock for a profit as a child. Around 1891,
he invented the Gavitt Folding Exhibition Chicken Coop, one
of the first collapsible coops manufactured.
One of the more strange interests he had was in taming fish.
Around 1930, he started experimenting with wild fish to ascertain
whether they might be tamed, according to "Illustriana Kansas."
"To this end, he stocked an artificial lake on one of the
Gavitt Company farms just west of Topeka. The fish have become
so tame that they will eat from his hand in large numbers
and will jump out of the water from 4 to 12 inches to get
the food he offers them," the book stated.
To prove that he could tame other fish, he went to Okoboji,
Iowa, and tested his skill on wild blue gills, carp and sheepheads.
"All of the fish became so tame that they would readily eat
from his hand much to the amazement of the many old fishermen
who were present," the book stated.
Gavitt was a showman who took an interest in magical tricks
to entertain his friends. Zimmer said Gavitt appears to have
had similar characteristics to P.T. Barnum, who made a fortune
in the circus business, while Gavitt made his in medical products.
Gavitt was active in many organizations. He belonged to
the Sons of the American Revolution and served as chairman
of chemicals, oils, and paint division of the 7th district,
14th region, War Resource Committee, Resources and Conservation
Section of the War Industries Board, during World War 1.
Gavitt also was a charter member of the Arab Temple and
was a member of the Topeka Country Club, where he was chairman
of the handicap committee at one time.
Harry Gavitt died in 1954 and was buried in the Topeka Cemetery
with the rest of the Gavitts. His brother Corrington Gavitt
took over the family business.
In 1967, Corrington Gavitt closed the W.W. Gavitt Medical
Co. and its allied firm, the W.W. Gavitt Printing and Publishing
Co. at 601-603 S.E. 4th, according to article by Alta Huff,
former business editor of The Topeka Daily Capital. Corrington
was 83 when he closed the business. The site of the old business
was demolished in the urban renewal movement at the time.
It appears the Gavitts don't have any relatives left in Topeka
as there is none listed in the phone books. Accounts of Harry
Gavitt didn't mention that he had any children.
Douglass Wallace, a local historian, said he had never heard
of Harry Gavitt until he was introduced to Fatseas, the Australian
collector.
"We should congratulate Tony for having brought back Gavitt
to our memory," Wallace said. "Sometimes it takes someone
from out of town, or in this case, across the globe and down
under, to bring someone back to our memory."
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