View source for The 1950s and earlier

== Early lives of Jack Tramiel and Manfred Kapp ==

The exact birth date of Jack Tramiel is not known.  According to an interview with his son Leonard Tramiel in the documentary movie "The Commodore Story", Jack Tramiel lied about his birth date such that he could meet the minimum age requirements to emigrate to the United States after his time in a German concentration camp.  This article will not attempt to authenticate Jack Tramiel's birth date, but will assert that it may be December 13, 1927, September 13, 1927 or December 13, 1928.  Jack Tramiel claimed to have been in a concentration camp from 1939 - 1945.  On his application for a United States visa, that he lived in the ghetto at Lodz until June 1944, thereafter being confined in Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen.

Jack Tramiel appears to have entered the United States on November 10, 1947 and to have been enlisted in the United States Army from 1948 - 1950 where he was a cook, and from 1951 - 1952 where he repaired typewriters.  [[File:TramielManifest.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Idek Tramiel passenger manifest]]

Between 1950 and 1951, and for some time in 1952, Jack Tramiel worked for Ace Typewriter Repair Company in the city of New York, USA.  From 1952 - 1954 he drove a taxi cab in New York.  

Manfred Kapp said that he was born in Luneburg, Germany on December 17, 1928 and was taken to France in 1933.  Manfred Kapp also entered the United States in 1947 and worked for the Ace Typewriter Repair Company until 1950 at which time he spent two years in the United States Army.

Manfred Kapp claims to have met Jack Tramiel while on leave from the US Army in 1951 in New York.  Jack Tramiel claims to have met Manfred Kapp in 1952 or 1953 when they were fellow employees at the Ace Typewriter Repair Company.

== Tramiel and Kapp early business ventures ==

According to both Jack Tramiel and Manfred Kapp, they formed a partnership for the sale of used and reconditioned typewriters on or before 1954 in New York City, New York, USA.  The first consignment of these machines, according to Jack Tramiel, was obtained from the United Nations organization.  With money obtained from the sale of these machines, they bought a business in the Bronx area of New York called The Singer Typewriter Company.  From the premises of this company they sold new and used typewriters.  Eventually, Tramiel and Kapp acquired a local dealership for an Everest adding machine.  Jack Tramiel acted as the outside salesman of the partnership and while visiting his in-laws in Toronto he found interest among dealers in the Everest machines and persuaded the manufacturer to give himself and Kapp an exclusive Canadian dealership.  Everest Office Equipment Company, Ltd was [[Media:Everest_incorporation.pdf|formed]] on September 21, 1955 at 2 Toronto Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  Tramiel funded this company through money borrowed from his stepfather and mother in New York.  In addition to the Everest adding machines, Tramiel was selling used typewriters from Type Sales, Inc.  After about a year of operation, Manfred Kapp moved his family to Toronto to join the enterprise.

Throughout the next two years, Everest Office Machine Company, Ltd handled the sales of adding machines and a line of new typewriters, and the used typewriters were marketed by another firm known as Wholesale Typewriter Company.  Both of these enterprises were jointly owned by Jack Tramiel and his wife, Helen, and Manfred Kapp and his wife, Estelle.  By 1958, the initial funding from Jack Tramiel's mother and stepfather wasn't enough to maintain the company as a going concern so Tramiel and Kapp allowed Type Sales, Inc to acquire an ownership interest.

== Initial formation of Commodore ==

On a business trip to Great Britain in 1958, Tramiel met an Everest agent named Mr. Markus who made mention of a typewriter manufacturer in Czechoslovakia that was looking for reliable distributors for their product.  From the same premises at 2 Toronto Street, Commodore Portable Typewriter Company, Ltd was [[Media:Commodore_portable_typewriter_1958.pdf|formed]] on October 10, 1958 to begin importing the Czech machines.

== Early funding for Commodore ==

In Commodore's early years the company was fortunate to receive substantial orders for its Czech typewriters from Toronto's two largest department stores, the T. Eaton Company Limited and the Robert Simpson Company Limited.  To fulfill these orders, Commodore required enough working capital to purchase the inventory.  Commodore initially turned to a factoring company named Inter-Provincial Commercial Discount Corporation Limited for financing.  Factoring companies essentially purchase a company's accounts receivable at a discount.  This allows the factoring company to make a profit by eventually collecting the full amount of the receivables and it allowed Commodore to collect its receivables immediately rather than waiting for payment, albeit collecting less than what was fully owed to them.  Tramiel sought out better financing terms with the Czechoslovakian State Bank but was unable to meet their guarantor requirements.  Tramiel then sought financing from Douglas R. Annett of Annett & Company who was also not able to help, but he did introduce Tramiel to a man named C. Powell Morgan of Atlantic Acceptance Corporation.  Morgan was interested in moving Atlantic Acceptance into the factoring business and thus was formed Commodore Sales Acceptance Limited on March 4, 1959 with Commodore Portable Typewriter Company as its first customer.  Commodore Portable Typewriter Company also had a 25% ownership stake in Commodore Sales Acceptance Limited.<ref>Report of The Royal Commission Appointed to Inquire into the Failure of Atlantic Acceptance Corporation Limited, p.109-111</ref>

== Financial Fraud ==

Beginning with the very first transaction between Commodore Sales Acceptance and Commodore Portable Typewriter Company, there were suspicious circumstances.  Commodore Sales Acceptance loaned Commodore Portable Typewriter Company $65,000 which was disbursed thusly:

 * $25,000 to pay off Inter-Provincial debt owed by Everest Office Equipment Company.
 * $8,000 paid to Annett & Company to satisfy a loan.
 * $25,000 was loaned back to Commodore Sales Acceptance.
 * The balance was retained by Commodore Portable Typewriter.

The $25,000 loaned back to Commodore Sales Acceptance is how Commodore Portable Typewriter company purchased a 25% ownership in Commodore Sales Acceptance.  In essence, a Commodore entity borrowed money from itself to purchase a stake in itself.

== References ==