F. J. Schlink

Frederick J. Schlink (October 26 1891 – January 15 1995) was an American consumer rights activist. He co-wrote the book 100,000,000 Guinea Pigs with Arthur Kallet, and co-founded the watchdog group Consumers Research. Schlink was born in Peoria, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1912. In 1914, he acquired the degree of Mechanical Engineer, and worked at the United States Bureau of Standards until 1919. After work in quality control for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, and for the Bell Telephone Laboratories, he became an assistant secretary for the non-profit American Standards Association. [ "Current Biography 1941", pp 756-58 ]

In 1927, Schlink was co-author (with Stuart Chase) of the bestseller, "Your Money's Worth", a warning about sales pressure and misleading advertising. The book called attention to the "Consumers' Club", a small organization in White Plains, New York. Within two years, the club had members nationwide and was incorporated as Consumers' Research, Inc. Arthur Kallet, the secretary of the group, enlisted Schlink's aid as co-author of "One Hundred Million Guinea Pigs" in 1933 [ Id. at p757 ] . The title left little to the imagination at a time when the United States had a population of 100,000,000 people. The book caused a stir, noting that some well-advertised products (including mouthwash and hair dyes) were sometimes useless, and even dangerous. Schlink's legacy was a better informed, and more health-conscious public. His final book was 1935's "Eat, Drink and be Wary". [ Id. at 758 ] Schlink himself lived for almost seventy more years after the book's publication, and died at the age of 103.

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