It Slices! It Dices!

Back in the dark ages of 1970, an inventor and marketing genius named Ron Popeil advertised and sold many amazing, labor-saving devices via late night TV. My Pop was especially enamored of the Vegematic, a device that chopped, sliced, and diced just about anything! You could make perfect French fries with one push! Slice an onion without shedding a single tear! Hey, you could even slice a tomato without mushing it to death!

Every time the ad came on, Pop would say, "Look at that!"

Actually, he was pretty much joking about the thing. But as Christmas approached, we realized that the perfect gift for Pop that year would be an actual Vegematic. So we got one! Here he is, examining the assembly instructions.

Once he got it put together, it was time to put it to the test! It actually did okay with a potato. It totally sliced the onion, but the "no tears" claim was a lie. And the tomato?

Not even close.