The Carvel Corporation is an American success story. Through hard work and luck, its founder and president Tom Carvel turned a dream into a million-dollar success. Thomas Andreas Carvelas was born on July 14, 1906 in Athanassos, Greece, in 1910, his family immigrated to Danbury, Connecticut and finally settled in New York City in 1920. Since he was a child he always dreamed of owning his own shop frozen custard. His first break came on Memorial Day 1934, when he borrowed $15 from his future wife Agnes Stewart and bought a trailer load of custard to sell to vacationers in Westchester County, New York. He suffered a setback when his trailer got a flat tire in Hartsdale, New York, but luck was on his side. Pop Quinlan, owner of a pottery shop across the street, allowed him to use electricity to keep the custard from melting, Mr. Carvel continued to sell from his broken-down trailer for many years, he so that it became the nation's first retail ice cream company. Tom Carvel kept his trailer on the pottery lot. The first year he grossed $3,500.00. In 1937 he converted the trailer into a frozen custard stand and by 1939 his annual gross income was $6,000 a year and he became known as the "Ice Cream King of the East." Tom Carvel developed his own model of freezer, known as the batch freezer. (this was just one of his 500 other patents, trademarks and copyright registrations). In 1947, under the trade name "Custard King" he sold approximately 71 freezers for $2,900 each. Not long after selling the freezers, many buyers began defaulting on their freezers. Tom Carvel found that the cause of non-payment was the poor location and cleanliness of the stores. He was determined to make his business a success and decided to directly supervise the freezer operations. Prospective franchise owners of the Carvel Corporation purchased equipment and supplies from Mr. Carvel and used the Carvel name. In return the company helped them choose a location and taught them how to run an ice cream business, all of which was taught at Carvel College in an eighteen-day course for prospective franchise owners. As a result of this strategy he claimed to have developed the concept of franchising in 1949. Carvel Corp. is known for many of its unique elements in the industry. Tom Carvel introduced the "Pay One Get One Free" marketing concept in 1936 and gift cards 1954.