The Electric-Pencil Inventor Who Left Seattle's Filipino Colony Holding Shares
Juan Urbano sold his interest in the World Novelty Co. and moved away, leaving local Filipino investors without the countryman who had led the company.
Mr. Juan Urbano, known as the inventor of the famous Urbano electric pencil and a figure in the Commerce and Labor Council, has moved out of town, and information reaching us is to the effect that he has sold his interest in the World Novelty Co. Well, how about the many Filipino boys who have bought shares in that company? Is it not too bad that these boys have invested their hard-earned dollars in a corporation which is no longer presided over by their countryman? The Filipino community will also be missing the leadership of President Urbano, will it not?
“Is it not too bad that these boys have invested their hard-earned dollars in a corporation which is no longer presided over by their countryman?”
Small immigrant investors are still vulnerable when a trusted community entrepreneur exits, and 'hard-earned dollars' remain a potent phrase in debates over financial protection. The story also shows how tightly business, leadership and ethnic community life could be intertwined in early Seattle.
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