From "Assorted True Stories," pages 289-291

American Standard is noted for paying low salaries to its salesmen. This has results not anticipated by the company. After World War Two, American Standard started hiring salesmen in 1948. As a result of inflation, and their policy of small salary increases, in 1955 new salesmen are being hired at more than those hired in 1948 are then making.

Salesman and field personnel are paid for the use of their cars by a fairly complicated system, based on the price paid for gas and the miles of business travel per month. There are two grades of gas, regular and extra. Of course, we all buy extra at the highest price station in the area. Then, Esso introduces a third higher cost grade, Golden Esso Extra, and we all switch to that—at least according to our expense accounts. It also appears that no one drives many personal miles, and ever uses his car for vacations.

A salesman sees an ad for an American Standard salesman, brings it in to the district office, and asks whether he can be considered for that job since it looks so much better than his.
A salesman owns and operates full time a baby furniture store for eighteen months before being caught.

A plumbing distributor goes to a concert where the American Standard salesman, who calls on him, is singing tenor. He sits next to a building supply distributor who has a building supply salesman singing tenor. Same tenor, soon to be minus two jobs.

While I am in Pittsburgh, the National Sales Manager comes to one of our meetings, and tells how the District Manager in Boston had boarded a bus early one afternoon, and found that the driver was one of his salesmen. Someone suggests that the National Sales Manager not look too closely at the driver if he takes a cab while in Pittsburgh.

For over two years, a salesman charges lunch on his expense account every two weeks with a large plumbing contractor and five of his employees. The District Manager calls on the contractor, and discovers that he does not know the salesman.

American Standard is going through one of its blood baths. A manager in accounting at headquarters is concerned about his job. His boss tells him that he is as safe as if he were in church. Two weeks later, he gets fired, and considers becoming an atheist.

A co-worker is transferred from New York to Cincinnati. As he returns to his motel from closing on his house there, he receives a call saying that there has been a reorganization, and he is fired. Another, who was recently transferred, is given the same news the week before Christmas.

The company pays all personnel twice a month. It decides to pay personnel above a certain rank—most of the employees in the headquarters—once a month. When making the change, we all get a half month’s pay at the end of one month, and must subsist on that for the next month, until the new system kicks in. As a result, some employees report eating popcorn for dinner the final few days, and most others, including me, as having to struggle meeting bills.

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