Pretty Heady Stuff

Bonnie: How far did you get with the concept of a hydroponics business in 1981 before you gave it up and came back to Tacoma?

Scott: I first contacted Trilogy Labs, a conglomerate in Silicon Valley and got someone there on board with the concept. It seemed everyone I met saw the potential and the dollar signs. They opened doors and provided me with transportation and housing. The head of the Art Department at San Jose State University came up with great marketing ideas. He and his department were very well known for their work with ceramics. They had provided all the art deco at the San Francisco Airport. He saw the potential for creating a faux cutting board with a pie plate on it with fruit decorating the scene and that would be the growing tank for a small kitchen harvest. He suggested making a limited number at $399 each. By limiting the number, the demand would grow. The school was behind the concept because it would generate funds for the Art Department. The students had sketches made and they were ready to move ahead with the project when a fire broke out and destroyed the entire department.

Bonnie: When you couldn’t move ahead with the hydroponic concept using San Jose State University for design, is that when you came home?

Scott: No, I wasn’t that easily discouraged. I talked to anyone who would listen about hydroponics. I met a female stained glass artist in a bar (of course). One of her pieces spanned the back of the bar; it was absolutely beautiful. She was so enthusiastic that she created a stained glass hood for the tanks. A furniture company I’d approached made a beautiful wood frame on which her hood fit and a plastics company supplied the tanking system. It hadn’t cost me a dime.

I displayed the model at a home and garden show in San Jose and was asking $1999 apiece. I had people lined up to buy. That led to a television appearance on a local talk show which also created more interest. It was pretty heady stuff for a guy from Tacoma with a couple bucks in his pocket to be accorded that kind of acceptance.

My last binge in California was the trigger to walk away from it all. That and perhaps momentary fear of success. I flew back to Tacoma with $1.15 in my pocket and moved in with my folks, but that wasn’t the end of hydroponics.

The Last Apocalypse  is available at  Createspace https://www.createspace.com/4569527
and
Amazon Books http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Apocalypse-Scott-Haverly/dp/1494465531/