2001 Fairfield Entrepreneur Association Hall of Fame Inductee
Alphonso King Harper
Founder of the Harper Brush Works
A. K. Harper was 22 years old when he started Harper Brush Works in 1900. He was an eager young businessman who tried his hand at several enterprises before it fell to brush making.
Inspired and challenged by observing his mother’s daily struggle with scrubbing floors and other household duties, he created a 5-piece combination brush kit, which Harper designed himself and hand-crafted from horsehair.
The brush set was such a hit among friends and relatives that he soon began peddling the kits in town. As demand grew, he expanded his product line to include brooms and other types of brush kits designed for specialized purposes.
At the same time, he expanded his sales force by hiring college students to sell his products door-to-door.
Over time, these distributors became known as “Wagon Jobbers”. For more than 91 years, this nationwide distribution network served as the primary marketing channel and was the only way to purchase Harper products.
AK Harper’s technique of direct selling through independent distributors has become an icon of American business, and it remains central to the company’s overall business plan.
Currently Harper Brush has over 1,000 line items consisting of 13 main categories.
What makes Harper’s products different from the rest? They are the highest quality hand held cleaning equipment in the world! Harper Brush products clean faster, last longer and save the end-user Time & Money.
HPW Motto: “People buy from people. They don’t buy from the manufacturer or a company.” Customer is #1 with you — You are #1 with HBW
HBW can make the best product in the world but if you don’t find the customers who need our product, neither of us will survive.
He was a powerful man who dominated all who came near him. My dad used
To say he was a benevolent dictator. His eyes had a flinty, hard quality about them and he could fire people or reprimand those close to him as easily as he could say, “Praise the Lord.” I never knew him to agonize later over any of these unpleasant decisions.
He was passionate about a few things-his love of business, his blind faith in his Lord and his dozen or so grandchildren.
A. K. had financial independence because of the success of his
red-end brushes, which gave him the time to do battle with the Devil. He set up tents in small towns throughout the state and preached and prayed and won converts to the Lord through these tent meetings. He donated the income from these meetings back to the town or to charity.
These tent tabernacle meetings became huge shows with Christian athletes, entertainers and notables to testify about how the Lord had changed their lives.
As an eight-year-old, Dale Harper thought of him as the first great man he had ever known. And it was a special thrill to know this great man loved us. We were awed by his close contact with Almighty God. No one else, not even our parents, claimed to be so familiar with the Creator.
A. K. could laugh, but he laughed at jokes, not at himself. He wasn’t particularly reflective-he was a doer, a man of action and once he had made up his mind to act he didn't look back or reflect on his past decisions.
Alphonso King Harper died in 1970 at 92.
-----Personal recollections, courtesy of Dale Harper----