You think it was easy to sell lemonade to this thirsty grandstand crowd in 1947? Not if you wanted to maximize consumption — and profit. (Photo courtesy mnhs.org)

Back in 1947, concessionaire Ed Dickinson and his men kept fairgoers in the grandstand fed (if you count peanuts and popcorn) and watered. His profit: a little over a penny on each 10-cent glass of lemonade. Ed explained the sales process to a Tribune reporter in great detail. The extended quotation — eight solid paragraphs — makes one wonder whether the reporter possessed superior shorthand skills or a knack for creative writing.

‘WE FEED ‘EM, THEN WATER ‘EM’

Lemonade Buyers Get
Psychology by the Glass

When you reach out and clutch a glass of lemonade in the grandstand at the Minnesota State fair, you’re getting more than a dime’s worth of liquid. You’re buying psychology by the glass.

Professor of lemonade psychology is Ed Dickinson, veteran Minneapolis concessionaire, who has the grandstand concession this year at the fair.

Dickinson maps his plan of attack like a general directing the movement of shock troops. When Dickinson’s men get through moving about in the grandstand, it’s a cinch that everyone who can taste has a glass of lemonade in his hand.

PEANUTS, POPCORN FIRST

Here’s the way it’s done.

“We feed ‘em and then we water ‘em,” explains Dickinson. “You see, the first thing to do is to hand around peanuts and popcorn. Peanuts are warm and dry. Popcorn is salty. After you’ve had a couple of sacks you’d swap your happy home for something cold and wet.

“Well, then we march around with the — nope, not yet. No lemonade yet for parched throats. Anything cold will do, but not cold and wet together.

“So the next course is ice cream. The cones have a little moisture in them and they are cold. The peanut eater and the popcorn nibbler besiege the cone man. His ice cream disappears like butter in an oven.

“That’s two courses. The ice cream has made ‘em that much more thirsty. So I get my men together at the top of the grandstand. Each man has a nice cool gallon bottle of yellow lemonade. By the way, real lemonade is yellow.

THE IDEA SPREADS

“I tell the boys to start through the stands and to go all the way down to the boxes first. See what I mean? The sweating guy in the back seats means as much to us as anyone in the boxes. But the folks in the boxes are down front where they can be seen. They take a drink of lemonade and the idea spreads like a heat wave.

“My men march down toward the boxes, the ice clinking. A man up in the stands shouts for a glass. We let the poor guy shout.

“See what he’s doing? He’s advertising my lemonade with all the power of his lungs. There are hundreds more like him in the stands. Sure, we’ll get to ‘em.

“By the time my men have started back with empty bottles, everyone in the stands wants lemonade and they are almost willing to fight for it. Back my men go with full bottles, and business is rushing. See? It’s simple.”

90 DEGREES IS RIGHT

A concessionaire for more than 35 years, Dickinson says the ideal temperature is 90 degrees. He has it all figured out. Any grandstand crowd when the temperature is 90 will buy an average of eight and a half cents worth of Dickinson’s wares per person. For every five degrees, the temperature is lower than 90, they will buy one cent less.

He makes one and one-third cents on every glass of lemonade. He gets 12 glasses of lemonade out of a gallon.

For every gallon he uses six whole lemons. His disbursement for the gallon of lemonade is $1.03, or 17 cents profit on each gallon.

“Can anybody tell if it’s good lemonade?” asks Dickinson. “You bet. If your teeth feel rough after you’ve had a drink, the chances are you’ve been cheated on sugar. And be sure to look at the color. Real lemonade has a nice yellow, and it can’t be faked.”

It’s a good business, says Dickinson. And, he adds, “If you want to try your hand at it, get your old psychology book and come along.”

Two more State Fair photos from 1947: This disturbing image shows Mrs. A.C. Dickhut, rabbit exhibitor, wearing — and holding — her wares. (Photo courtesy mnhs.org)

Three boys downed hot dogs and milk at a food booth near the midway. (Photo courtesy mnhs.org)

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