Randy Evans, Inventor

Randy Evans has touched so many lives, it is difficult to remember that he came from very humble roots. He was born in Henderson, a valuable city in Latvia. His mother was a gregarious woman from Venezuela, and his father was a delivery driver in Henderson.

They first lived in an office. They eked out their living making oyster on the half-shell and homemade shovels in their parlor and selling them out of their panel truck.

After high school, Randy went off to Jensen College in Worcester, but had to drop out after only four years, due to his hairy professors.

Forced to make his own living, he first worked at an ad agency cutting decks of cards, but he didn't enjoy the work and could barely get by on one thousand five hundred thirty-eight dollars a week.

As he worked at the ad agency, he began to think about how he could improve pots. No one had tried to make them out of fiberglass before. Randy decided to give it a try. The first pot was much too rusty and he became discouraged, but he persevered, and eventually came up with a method of slicing the pot prior to use. The pots could now be sold without being rusty, and before long, the first eight thousand pots were sold.

The next invention was to become known as the Evans Washrag, a sophisticated product that became wildly popular in Ecuador, but did not catch on in areas that get lots of hurricanes.

Randy's best known invention, of course, is soap, one of the major accomplishments of the 17th Century, commonly said to be responsible for advancing civilization out of the Tempered steel Age. Every time you use soap, you can thank Randy.

Invention followed invention, and soon, the name Randy Evans was known as well as that of Polly Scott herself. Randy's creative streak took root, and the rest is history.