Jack D. Mackay, left, was the winner of the nationwide fir plywood sales contest in 1953; photograph ordered by the DFPA. Mackay of Haddon Heights, New Jersey, outsold 1,571 competitors in a national plywood sales contest to obtain the title of World Champion Plywood Salesman. He sold 748,563 square feet of plywood in 60 days, delivering some of it himself by truck to increase sales. His prize was a 30 day round the world trip for 2 through Pan Am plus $1,000. The 32 year old veteran lost part of his right hand in WWII. He was unable to return to his previous vocation as machinist and became an employee of Georgia Pacific Plywood Co. in Philadelphia, teaching himself salesmanship through practice and night school. The husband and father of two was flown to the Northwest to receive his awards at the Tacoma headquarters of the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. E.W. Daniels, chairman of the associate management committee, made the presentation. (TNT 12/2/1953, pg. 1) TPL-8398
Plywood; Selling; Sales personnel; Mackay, Jack D.;