HD Schulman International Trading LLC, doing business as Ronco,[1] is an American company that manufactures and sells kitchen appliances. Ron Popeil founded the company in 1964,[2] and infomercials for the company's products quickly made Ronco a household name. Popeil became known as the “father of the infomercial” and helped to establish the phrase, “Set it and forget it!” in reference to Ronco’s signature product: the rotisserie oven. The names "Ronco" and "Popeil" and the suffix "-O-Matic" (used in many early product names) became icons of American popular culture and were often referred to by comedians introducing fictional gadgets and As-Seen-On-TV parodies.
History
Ron Popeil was inspired to start the company by the open-market hustling he saw on Maxwell Street in Chicago during his youth.[3] In the beginning, the company chiefly sold inventions developed by Popeil's father, Samuel "S.J." Popeil. Products include the Veg-O-Matic and the Popeil Pocket Fisherman, a product manufactured by S.J. Popeil's company. During the 1970s, Ron Popeil began developing products on his own to sell through Ronco.