Tate’s Compass Company

There was once a couple, Mr. and Mrs. Tate, and it was their life’s dream to have a compass company. They finally saved enough money and started the Tate’s Compass Company. Luck was with them, for the first contract they acquired was to manufacture 750,000 compasses for the Boy Scouts.

They worked feverishly day and night to meet their deadline, and finished just before the Boy Scout Jamboree was to begin. On the day of the Boy Scout Wilderness hike, each Boy Scout was given a Tate’s Compass to help them find their way. Unfortunately, it was discovered a little too late that every single compass was made with the colored point of the needle facing the wrong way, so when one was facing North, the needle pointed to the South.

Needless to say, all of the Boy Scouts got lost and it was the biggest fiasco known in Boy Scout history. The Tate’s compass company went out of business, but from this experience came the familiar adage, “He who has a Tate’s is lost.”