50 years in business has brought Dal a unique and valuable perspective. Here is a chronology of his business life. Details in his book.
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1953 Sold the most Chance Books for Saint Clare’s Grammar School Wins a bicycle.
1965-66 Sophomore Year at Providence College
Sixpence Windjammer Cruise - wins a contest guessing six pence count
Christmas College Capers – a dance for students
Cupid Computer – one of the first computer dating companies.
The Parking Lot
The Barbecue
1966-67 Junior Year in Switzerland
Club Shindig – weekly dances for students in Fribourg Switzerland
Concert de Jacques Huber
Le Farce De Maistre Pierre Pathelin – a play
Procontact – computerized dating in Switzerland
Smashing Volkswagen
Dance Au Cave – a dance in a cave in the Swiss Forest
Grand Ball Mini Jupe – Mini Skirt Ball
The local newspaper cried out against the Americans “avec le mini-intelligence” corrupting the morals of the Swiss youth. It turns out besser – means to screw in French.
1967-68 Senior Year Providence
Bambi Teenage Nightclub – Dal runs the club for Bud Cowsill
1968-69 Harvard Business School – lived on Campus
Global Marine Call Options - Lost student loan on first day of school
Christmas Break - The Bastille Teenage Dances in Newport, Rhode Island. The first night the police, claiming I did not have a valid license, closed me down. They then arrested me for disobeying a police officer. The next day they dropped the charges. Big deal. I still lost $500.00. I considered suing the City of New port.
Drive in Discotheques – called Dr. Eziah Little’s Traveling Light Show. Lost $60,000 money borrowed from classmates
1969-1970 Took Year off from Harvard because Coca Cola’s is interest in Dr. Eziah Little’s Traveling Light Show Selectavision
Infinity Cubes
The Light Shop
The Kinetic Light Shop
The Total Ecstasy Room – waterbed surrounded by Quadra sonic sound system and a four wall light show.
The Celestial Light – a light that projects light images on walls
1970-71 2nd Year HBS –
The Kinetic Light Shop sells Waterbeds
Emerson Lake and Palmer
Graduated HBS about $100,000 in debt.
1971–1972 Fall –
Cinecom Were I able to find a job doing something I loved I might not have minded having to wait 15 years to repay my creditors. Scott Cunningham, the director of the PHD program in marketing at Harvard, introduced me to David Aldrich and Pat Downey, the owners of Cinecom. David was unusually gifted analytically. The films he made worked to convince whoever, whatever. Pat could talk the deals. I agreed to work for them on commission basis. I would draw $100.00 per week against a 10% commission on any films I sold for the company.
Before I knew it, I was playing in David’s weekly poker game. Every week I would lose the lousy $100.00 he was paying me to work for him. Selling industrial movies is not as easy and as much fun as I planned.
1972 - Hired to run the Orson Welles Film School.
1972-1973 Orson Welles Restaurant – to 1973 The first thing I did was I tell everyone who worked for the failing restaurant – about 40 different people – that we were not closing and I was going to be the new manager. I then said: “I know absolutely nothing about the restaurant business”. If I did, I never would have taken the job
1973 Still living in Harvard Square worked as an income tax preparer for The Tax Man and then left and did it on my own advertising on the radio for clients
Moved into Doheny Plaza in Hollywood trading work for rent. hung out with George Hamilton, Oscar Molinari
Ark II – moved into Crescent Heights joined a film commune
Wanted to spend Christmas with my family in New York for $50 got a seat with 8 others in a rented Van drove through a Blizzard.
1974 August to February 1975
EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER a film entitled EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER, was available for the East Coast. Here was an already existing film of a very famous rock group. I could make a good profit in a short time. I borrowed $1,000 from Frank Mazzarella and tied up the rights to the movie for New England. Ed Lider agreed to back the venture at his Harvard Square Theatre in Cambridge. I regretfully accepted a late season show date – Memorial Day Weekend. Our blitz campaign hit Boston but by the weekend most of the college students had left town or were preparing for exams. Friday night the temperature hit 92 degrees! Harvard Square was deserted. Imagine how I felt to be indoors with a rock show after being rained out 11 times during my drive-in discotheques and then have the temperature soar over 90!
1975 –April That spring I lived in SOHO – just south of Greenwich Village. I took a brief job selling popcorn for a movie theatre owned by Don Rugoff. Mr. Rugoff owns Cinema 5. I hoped to quickly work my way up his organization and into his influence. That plan would take years. I quit selling popcorn after three weeks.
1976 - Back on Cambridge - A movie company came into town to shoot some Boston scenes for a film called BETWEEN THE LINES. I went to the production office and volunteered for a job. None were available. I asked if I could work free. Of course, Paul Ganapoler was happy to have me help out. After two days he decided to put me on the payroll. Paul and I worked very well. Had I not gotten very sick the last night of filming and went home without telling Paul, and had not everyone else left leaving just him and one other person to pack up everything, I might still be working for him.
1976 I’m living in Venice, California. I have a car and life is grand. I worked for six weeks preparing income taxes. Rents were affordable. I soon discovered that Ocean Front apartments went as low as $150! Money was not a barrier to realizing my Park Avenue dream. I no longer had to be a millionaire so that I could run along the ocean every morning. Venice I could afford. I moved into an apartment in the Broadway.
1976–The Diamond Ring
Beelzebub’s Ice Cream Parlor
Venice Not Italy
LaMagna’s Lasagna Baking Pans
1979 I moved back to New York and in first with my father, then my mother and youngest sister, and then into my father’s bungalow full time. My father brought me food. I had no car. I had no money. I couldn’t date. I lived on the beach in Port Washington, New York.
Moved in with Mom and sister
Went to work at Apoca Industries
1979 I develop the Splinter Tweezer and sell it to hardware stores
1979 I move into my father’s 400 square foot bungalow and start LaMagna & Father.
1980 sell La Pluck Tweezers as eyebrow tweezers
1981 I partner with Mario Giampaoli and open tweezer factory in Italy
Hair Dressers nick name me Tweezerman. Name Sticks
1982 I design the Slant Tweezer with Mario and revolutionizes tweezing
1983 Tweezerman moves to 1600 square foot building in Roslyn
1984 Tweezerman brings fashion to grooming implements adds color to tweezers
1984 Tweezerman introduces Ilashcomb and Sepralash
1984 New York Magazine names Tweezerman Best Bet
1984 I become Executive Producer of the film Willy Milly and lose almost everything
1985 Tweezerman introduces Free Sharpening
1985 Sales Reach 1 million dollars
1986 Tweezerman puts a double spring on cuticle nippers
1988 Tweezerman moves to 4000 sq foot loft space in Port Washington
Tweezerman has 22 employees
1988 Tweezerman named best Implement Line by Association of Nail Technicians.
1989 Tweezerman introduces the Nail Slicer
1989 Tweezerman introduces Pushy and gets design patent
1991 “The Tweezer Show” produced at the IBS in New York and Chicago
1992 Tweezerman is the first implement company to advertise in consumer magazines
1992 Tweezerman introduces concept of safe manicures require personal grooming tools
1992 Tweezerman moves to 12,000 square foot facility in Glen Cove
1992 Tweezerman acquires Saxon
Tweezerman has 35 employees
1993 Sales reach 5 million dollars
Introduces new revolutionary patented plastic eyelash curler
1994 TWEEZERMAN introduces Alcogel Instant Hand Sanitizer one of the first hand sanitizers in the country
Time Magazine names SLANT tweezer one of 10 best products in 1994
1995 Tweezerman acquires manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas to produce Scissors and cuticle nippers
Tweezerman launched in England and Amsterdam
1996 Tweezerman builds 6500 square foot warehouse onto Glen Cove Building
1997 Tweezerman has 120 employees
Sales reach 14 million dollars
Set up 2nd warehouse in Pall Building
1998 Automatic tweezers featured on Oprah
1999 Dal moves to Poulsbo Washington works from Cabin
2003 – Tweezerman moves into 60,000 square foot facility
2004 - Tweezerman is sold to J.A. Henckels German Company for $57 million dollars.
2005 – 2010 – Dal works as a peace activist. Moves to Washington DC
2010 – Dal writes the book Raising Eyebrows with Wally and Carla Reuben Carbone.
2012 – Dal takes over IceStone which makes countertop.