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Mr. Irving Silver
Living in Sullivan County, NY, Irving Silver sold his
first automobile in 1934 at the age of 16. Earlier he had purchased a Model
T pick-up truck for $8.00. He restored the old truck and drove it for a
while, then sold it for $16.00. Mr. Silver stated, "That's when I knew it. I
told myself that when I grew up I was going to sell cars."
On December 7th, 1941, a young Irving Silver heard over the radio that the
Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. On April 6th, 1942 he arrived at
Fort Dix, New Jersey and enlisted in the United States Army. He then
proceeded to Fort Bragg, NC for Basic Training and received the rank of
Corporal due to his knowledge of diesel engines. He trained exclusively on
landing craft and during combat operations he operated an LCM, (landing
craft medium).
Mr. Silver was involved in military operations in New Guinea, Guadalcanal,
Okinawa, Iwo Gima and the Philippine Islands.
In October of 1944 he took part in the largest Naval battle that the world
has ever seen,
The Battle of Leyte Gulf.
One day as the Allied Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy were engaged in heavy
naval combat, Mr. Silver and his crew members observed two disabled U.S.
PT Boats.
He and his crew navigated their LCM, (joined by another LCM), out to the disabled vessels
and the battle, ran cables underneath the two vessels and successfully towed
both vessels out of harms way.
Mr. Silver landed on the Philippine Islands thirty days before General
MacArthur did. His mission was to assist the Filipino Guerillas in
establishing listening posts in Mindanao in preparation for the impending
troop landings. Mindanao was fully occupied by the Japanese.
On December 30th, while preparing for a planned landing at Mindoro on the
Western end of the Philippine Islands, Mr. Silver and his crew observed a 200'
long "PT Tender", (munitions supply ship for PT Boats), that had been struck
by a Japanese Kamikaze aircraft. The ship was on fire and was adrift
approximately 300 yards off-shore. The craft was also fully stocked with
torpedoes and other highly explosive munitions. Mr. Silver and his crew navigated
their LCM, (joined by
another LCM), out to the burning ship. He and his crew boarded the highly
volatile vessel and rescued over 100 injured Sailors.
In early 1945 General Douglas MacArthur personally awarded Irving Silver with
The
Bronze Star Medal for "Heroic achievement in connection with military
operations against the enemy." General MacArthur also gave Mr. Silver a
Battlefield Commission from the rank of Corporal to the rank of Captain.
Also in early 1945 after returning from
WWII, Mr. Silver took out a bank loan for $3500.00, purchased a business
license in Albany, NY and opened Hasbrouck Tavern in Woodburn, NY.
It was a small building that
he built by hand and was located out in the woods in Sullivan County, NY.
He purchased an
old Chevy for $35.00, painted "Hasbrouck Tavern - Dine and
Dance" across the back and parked it in front of the tavern.
Mr. Silver stated, "The Tavern was my first experience with
successful marketing. We hung posters and handed out flyers all over the
place that read, 'Hasbrouck Tavern - Come and see the Hillbillies Square
Dance.' New York people from the Bronx
and Brooklyn had no idea what square dances were, but they were curious."
On opening night, the Silvers
could not accommodate all of the people that showed up.
Later that year he and his bride of four years Ronnie, left upstate New York
and traveled to Atlanta, Georgia. For a while he was in the jewelry business
before he decided that he didn't want to travel anymore. Given his long time
love for cars, Mr. Silver wanted to sell them.
Mr. Silver went to several dealerships in and around Atlanta in search of a
sales position. He stated that he had a difficult time landing a job until
Lander Motors decided to "give him a shot." He began to speak about his
early experiences at Lander when he was asked, "Why was it so hard to land a
job at a dealership?" Mr. Silver replied with a chuckle, "I was the first
Jewish car salesman ever in the history of Atlanta."
1946 - In his first 22 months as a salesman at
Lander Motors in Atlanta,
Irving Silver sold 235 new cars, 15 trucks and 70 used vehicles. (Good thing
they decided to "give him a shot").
In 1949, he became the first auto salesman in Atlanta to earn over $50,000
per year.
Over the next few years he became the number one salesman in the country for
Dodge and Plymouth.
In the 1960's he was the number one
Nash Rambler
salesman in the country and
became a member of the
Chevrolet
"Legion of Leaders."
In the late 1980's he became the number one Jaguar salesman in the WORLD, selling over 837 Jaguars in
less than
3 years. A record that has never been broken.
Due to an injury Mr. Silver "retired" from
Troncalli in 1989. At 78 years of
age, he was back in the saddle in 1995
returning to work at Troncalli.
Mr. Silver had a top earning of $21,000.00 in a single day. (Commission, not sales).
Mr. Silver is the founder of the first
Automotive Sales Institute which was accredited by the
State of Georgia, he led the board for over 47 years.
He was also director of the Antique Automobile Club of America -
Southeastern Region.
Irving never looked back. Over the years he would sell cars to the sons,
daughters and grandchildren of his customers dating back to 1949. He
personally sold over $100 million worth of automobiles before he stopped
keeping track.
Charlie Troncalli, head of Troncalli Jaguar, Lincoln-Mercury and Saab wrote: "...he has more than earned the title of 'legend.'" A Jaguar trade
publication referred to him as "Sterling" Silver.
AND...
To top it all off, in 1965 Mr. Silver had
an idea for an invention. The turbine operated wet/dry shaver. He
holds the patent on it. Due to the fact that his shaver is turbine operated,
it sucks the cut whiskers into a canister which means they won't float
around in outer space. Today, every time astronauts inside the Space
Station shave, they utilize Mr. Silver's shaver.
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