Roto-Rooter

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Roto-Rooter is a US company which originally specialized in clearing tree roots and other obstructions from sewer lines.

History

Sam Blanc and early Roto-Rooter machine.

In the late 1920s Samuel Blanc was motivated by a stubborn clogged drain in his son's apartment in Des Moines, Iowa, to seek a better solution.

By 1933 Blanc had fashioned a sewer-cleaning machine from a washing machine motor, roller skate wheels and 3/8" steel cable. The cable rotated sharp blades to cut tree roots out of sewer lines, elimininating the tedious and expensive need to dig. Blanc's wife Lettie called his invention the "Roto-Rooter."

By the mid-1930s Blanc was producing "Roto-Rooter" machines, which sold for $250. Many were eager for work in those Depression years and started their own Roto-Rooter businesses throughout the upper Midwest, the Great Plains and the Northeast.

Roto-Rooter guaranteed results without having to dig up the lawn.

Advertising

Roto-Rooter has carved a niche in advertising history and pop culture.

At first, service vehicles bore the slogan: "Roto-Rooter's patented cutting blades slice through roots and cut them away...Razor-Kleen!"

1950s logo.

By the 1950s, however, radio jingles began to dominate advertising, and Roto-Rooter created one of the longest-running musical jingles in the history of advertising: "Call Roto-Rooter, that's the name, and away go troubles down the drain." The memorable bass voice in the commercial was that of Tom Fouts, more widely known as Captain Stubby of Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers.

Recent

In the 1980s some Roto-Rooter franchises began to offer around-the-clock service and general plumbing repair. The company estimates that they offer services to 90% of the US population. 2005 marks the company's 70th anniversary.

Humor

• The animated television show Futurama parodied the Roto-Rooter jingle in an advertisement satire for a robotic drain-clearing service: Call robo-rooter if you flush a towel. We can also help with that impacted bowel.

• The "Mr. Plow" jingle from The Simpsons episode of the same name also greatly resembles the Roto-Rooter jingle.

See also

• Plumbing

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