Philip Kives dead at 87 - Late K-Tel founder taught us everything's finite. But wait, there's more (But not for him anymore...)

Philip Kives, president of K-Tel, stands with a gold record in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 2009. K-Tel sold 10 million copies of its original disco-fied orchestral collection, “Hooked on Classics.” Kives died last week at age 87.

Philip Kives, in word and deed as much as anyone, reminded millions of us that life is full of unimagined possibilities yet ultimately also finite.

In other words, wait, there's more. And quantities are limited.

Kives died last week in Canada at age 87. His company, famous as much for the style of ads that for years filled the airwaves as for the eclectic products they pitched, was K-Tel.

Yes. That K-Tel.

The "K" stands for Kives. The "Tel" is television.

It's the K-Tel that sold 10 million copies of its original disco-fied orchestral collection, "Hooked on Classics."

It's the K-Tel that sold more than 28 million Miracle Brushes.

Kives' patter — honed as a door-to-door salesman and in-store demonstrator, often voiced in ads by Winnipeg radio personality Bob Washington — sold a fabulous array of wondrous devices to save us time, space and trouble.

These amazing innovations included the Miracle Brush ("Removes dust, fluff, ash, hair, dandruff"), the Veg-O-Matic ("Saves you time by slicing potatoes in just one stroke") and the Pocket Fisherman ("Can you think of a more exciting gift for Junior or Dad at just $19.95?").

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