MODERN LIVING: The Shoulder Trade

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But one fateful day Lounger Bernstein was persuaded by his wife to paper a wall. "It was easy," says he. "They make wallpaper with glue on the back, and all you do is dip the stuff in water and roll it on." Bernstein soon bought himself a $12.75 home-carpentry set and nailed up a shelf. "Did a good job, too." In quick order, he reversed a bothersome living-room door, made a plywood table for his son's electric-train set, laid a tile floor in the bathroom. "Great stuff—it's got suction cups on the bottom—no trouble laying it down." Last week ex-Lounger Bernstein was busy building a brick walk for his backyard, a wall bookcase, and planning a handsome new cabinet for the hi-fi set he had just bought.

Coffee & Clinics. Hardware merchants have learned to make it easy for men like Bernstein to wander in for a gimlet (25¢) and then persuade themselves that what they really need is a power drill ($25). Manhattan's Patterson Bros., which has been in business since 1848 and used to supply machine shops and small industries, now sells 95% of its products to the shoulder trade. Customers can look over 60,600 items, including ten different types of paints, varnishes and lacquers in 150 colors, shelf upon shelf of nuts, bolts, screws, doorknobs and window catches, all arranged in neat bins so the do-it-yourselfer can serve himself. Along one wall there is an array of 50 power tools that clerks demonstrate, cutting boards and drilling holes for customers to show them exactly how to do it.

Seattle's McVicar Hardware Co. goes even further. Each Friday night the store clears its counters and holds a "do-it-yourself clinic" for 100 people on such subjects as gardening and interior decorating, with a manufacturer's representative on hand to lecture. Owner McVicar has set up a free coffee dispenser so that customers can help themselves while making up their minds on what to buy. "The coffee stimulates their brains," says Mc Vicar. "There isn't any place to set a cup down, so they just go round and round, getting warmer and more receptive."

Under the Wing. Many a company now gives courses in plumbing, upholstering, how to make furniture, screens and storm windows, how to paint and lay tiles. Georgia Tech has a twice-weekly course for 23 doctors, businessmen and housewives on painting, wallpapering and carpentry. A dealer for Hachmeister, Inc., which makes floor coverings, has even gone so far as to advertise: "We guarantee your work."

This year U.S. industry will put out millions of do-it-yourself kits, print up plans for hundreds of thousands more projects. Milwaukee has a Rentit store that will rent out a big power saw ($35 a week) or a small electric drill ($10 a week). California's Glasspar Co., which started off with $1,000 capital in 1950, is up to $585,000 annual sales selling knockdown Fiberglas sports cars for $1,466.50, without engine. Michigan's Chris-Craft Corp. has 21 different do-it-yourself boat kits ranging from a $49 pram to a 21-ft., $814 express cruiser, now does 25% of its business in the do-it-yourself market.