Clear skies. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable..

Clear skies. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable.

SHIPSHEWANA — Compared to his neighbors, Bob Long’s booth at the Shipshewana Flea Market is a little on the plain side.

It doesn’t sport a giant flag flying in the wind. He doesn’t have stacks and stacks of colorful merchandise piled up head tall. But Long doesn’t mind.

Instead, he stands inside a white 10-foot by 20-foot pop-up tent, out of the sun, just behind a table covered in a red plastic table cloth and lined with his creation, the Liddit. Long calls to people to stop. He just wants to talk about this device Long invented to help people take a little of the pain out of using a slow cooker.

Bob Long, aka Butcher Bob, the former owner of butcher Bob’s, the LaGrange meat processing business, is now a pitchman selling the Liddit, a simple device he and his brother created to help people find a safe and clean place to store a slow cooker lid when the device is being used.

“This is a product that once people see it, they understand it and want it,” he said, as he waits for a new group of people to walk by his booth.

This time of year, the market is busy, and a steady stream of people walk by Long’s booth. He calls out to them.

Look,” he says, holding up one of his devices, “I’ve solved the problem.”

The Liddit is simple. A piece of stamped stainless steel, the metal is crimped in such a way that its base easily slides into the space between a Crock Pot’s ceramic bowl and its metal case. The weight of the bowl holds Long’s Liddit in place. Once it’s secure, the device will hold a slow cooker’s lid open and just above the ceramic bowl.

Long said the idea for the Liddit came to him while he was working.

“I used to do a lot of catering jobs, like graduation parties, open houses, weddings, all kinds of different events,” Long explained.

He recalled that he’d arrive with his food in Crock Pots waiting to start serving. Long said it was always frustrating trying to find a safe place to keep six or eight slow cooker lids safe and accounted for.

“It’s struck me, that nobody knew where to put those lids. Next to the Crock Pot? Under the table? Nothing made sense. So, one day, when I got home, I started talking to my brother, who works in a metal shop. He joined me and together we came up with an idea for the Liddit,” he said.

Long tells that story again and again and again, each time someone stops in front of his booth.

“I’ve solved the problem,” he says again. “No more dipping on the table, no more setting the lid down on the Hawaiian rolls.”

Long said it’s important he stays positive and keep pitching, even when people walking past his booth barely glance his way. He explains that if he gets one person to stop, others always follow.

Some people take a few minutes pondering the Liddit before they seem to understand just what it is that Long is selling. Others almost seem to instantly understand.

“I get it, I get it,” a woman says seconds after she stops, cutting Long off mid-pitch. “I’ll take one.”

Over the course of about 30 minutes, Long sells about a dozen of the devices. Each one sells for $19.99.

Long traveled to Los Vegas two years ago and tried out for the television show, The Shark Tank, which gives entrepreneurs a chance to pitch their products to a panel of high-profile business professionals. Long made it through two rounds and was asked by the producers to create a product promotional tape.

An Ohio couple, camping nearby, stop by Long’s booth. They’re in the area and said they’ve always wanted to visit Shipshewana. As Long makes his pitch, they start nodding in agreement. They end up buying two Liddits.

Noah, the husband, said he and his wife use slow cookers when they camp, and it’s always a problem to find someplace safe, clean and dry to put the lids of the two Crock Pots they use when eating.

I’ve never seen something like that before, and it works,” Noah said as he rolls the Liddit around in his hand. “Last night at the campground, we had all our lids just sitting on the table. This is perfect, a perfect idea. Thank you.”

Long tells people to store their Liddits in their slow cooker when they’re finished so they always know where to find it when they need it.

In addition to setting up a booth at the flea market, Long launched a webpage for his Liddit, and said he’ll sell a couple of dozen more devices after he wraps up his day at the flea market. Some people stop and do nothing more than pick up a business card. That page can be found at theliddit.com.

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