C.B.H.F.
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Class of 1987
Geoffrey Hutchence Wood celebrated his 15th birthday on board a ship bound for Canada. Before he was 21, he had a taste of war, and a taste of selling. “I’d rather sell than eat.” he said. His first real business venture was the development and sale of the disposable paper cup in Canada.
In 1922 he got the biggest order of his career from Canada’s Parliament Buildings, and within two days opened an office at 28 Wellington Street East, Toronto as G.H. Wood and Company. Soon he realized he wasn’t selling just paper cups, he was selling preventions against germs festering in the common drinking glasses… he was selling “Sanitation for the Nation.” Paper cups soon found company with liquid soap, paper towels, dispensers, cleaning agents and so on. It was a logical progression.
Geoffrey knew that anything can be sold the first time. But only the best can be sold again. To build repeat sales required quality control and an investment in research development. He was the consummate salesman, the born promoter, and the man who knew instinctively how to sell.