His father, Dr. Julius Hammer, owned a pharmaceutical chain that was having difficulties. One day his father was accused of performing an abortion in which a girl died. He was convicted and sent to jail. Suddenly Armand was faced with taking over the pharmaceutical company. He was only twenty-one and two years from graduating from medical school; now school seemed impossible, but Armand didn’t focus on the problem. Instead, he looked around to see what avenues to prosperity were open.
It was the start of prohibition. Booze was what people wanted, and Hammer realized that tincture of ginger was what was needed to make bootleg gin. He went out and cornered the world market on tincture of ginger, making a two-million-dollar fortune on one idea.
Immediately he had the finances, he hired an attorney to argue his father’s case. He soon had his father out of jail. Armand remained responsible for the pharmacies. So he went home at night after shutting down the stores and studied from eight in the evening until one in the morning. He couldn’t attend classes, so he hired another student to take notes for him. At the end of the year, he took all the tests and graduated number one in his medical class. Then he sold the pharmacies to the employees and made his millions.
Young Dr. Hammer wanted to go into practice, but it would be six months before this dream becomes possible. What should he do with the time? His father, a Russian and a socialist, told him he’d heard that people were dying of bubonic plague in Russia. So Hammer put together a little medical wagon and by boat and train got to Russia.
When he arrived he found that the people weren’t dying of bubonic plague; instead, they were starving to death. Hammer used his millions to buy wheat and ship it to Russia. This earned him Lenin’s personal attention. When they met, Lenin told Hammer that Russia needed tractors for growing crops, and commerce to bring in more foodstuffs. Lenin said, “I need a businessman, not a doctor.”
Hammer went home and called Henry Ford. He told Ford he wanted tractors but was rejected due to his hatred to Communism. But because Ford wasn’t selling his tractors, Hammer made him an offer he couldn’t reject. “For every two tractors you sell to me, I’ll buy one car from you.”
Ford agreed. Hammer got his tractors, resold the cars for a profit and shipped the tractors to Russia. It became a success and in return, Hammer earned the right to thirty-eight major trade concessions, each of which was worth a fortune. He was on his way to becoming a billionaire. Adversity struck. Stalin took over, cancelled all the concessions and gave Hammer twenty-four hours to get out of Russia. Dr. Hammer left with some artworks he had collected from around Russia.
In the height of America Depression, Hammer arrived in New York with the artwork. He took it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but they couldn’t afford to buy the collection, so he asked them if he could organize a show. He would split the gate fee Fifty-fifty. Armand’s brother Victor said, “It’s the Depression. Who can afford to attend an art show?” Dr. Hammer said, “No matter how hard the economy is, people always have a little money, especially for entertainment.”
Well, the show was an amazing success. Millions came to see it, and in just a few weeks, Hammer, who had been financially ruined by Stalin, was a millionaire again! There is always a solution to every challenge.
Find it!
-Uju Onyechere
