Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/08/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]All, After reading all the recent praise for ROR, I decided to buy some. After checking their website, I realized they are located about 5 minutes from my place of business. So, on my way to work this morning, I stopped there. V- Vax Products turns out to be a one man operation run by John Woltjen. He welcomed me in, even though he is clearly not set up for walk-in sales. The first thing he did was clean my glasses. The difference was amazing! My vision was not only brighter, but I swear also sharper. He then cleaned my wedding ring which got much shinier. I'm going to clean all my (Leica-there I'm on topic!)lenses tonight and can't wait to try them tomorrow. If they improve anywhere near as much as my glasses did, I'm in for a real treat! He then told me a long and involved story about how ROR came to be. I don't remember all the details, but it involved one of his tenants-a 91 year old former chemist who used it in the 1920's to clean microscope lenses. The chemist refused to divulge the formula, which of course piqued John's interest. After much experimenting and hints from the chemist, he developed ROR which he now mixes up in his garage. We're definitely not talking corporate America here. During the history lesson, I got to hear some of Mr. Woltjen's life story (he's now 74) He was educated in a Trappist monastary, served on a submarine in WW II, and spent much of his adult life rehabbing apartment buildings. He also spent a lot of time extolling the virtues of eucolyptus oil he imports from Australia that he claims will cure everything from the common cold to AIDS. I had a bit of trouble with that. As I was thinking to myself that this sounded like 19th century patent medicine, he handed me a packet of literature- some of it reprints from the 1800's making the same claims he was. I'll leave this one up to others. If anyone wants more info let me know. All in all it was an interesting visit. John Woltjen seems to be a bit of a character who makes an outstanding product. The world needs more people like him. V-Vax Products 1507 N Elston Ave Chicago, IL 60622 773/276-1747 773/276-0909 fax Richard Wasserman