Elmer Winter, whose very bad day at the office -- he and his law partner madly scrambled to find emergency secretarial help -- spurred them to start Manpower, the worldwide temp agency, died Oct. 22 in Mequon, Wis. He was 97 and lived in Fox Point, Wis.

Manpower announced the death.

In April 1948, Winter and his brother-in-law and law partner, Aaron Scheinfeld, had to file a brief on a tight deadline with the Wisconsin Supreme Court. They could find no one to type it.

They finally hunted down their former secretary and persuaded her to toil until dawn.

Their problem was solved, but they thought about the experience. They recalled a client who supplied short-term laborers for unloading freight cars. Maybe they could do the same thing for a broader range of employers.

So they scraped together $7,000, rented a small store in Milwaukee and went into the business of arranging for temporary employees. A friend suggested the obvious and almost perfect name Manpower; most of the original employees were women.

FROM LOSS TO PROFIT

The first year did not go so well. They lost $9,000, despite long lines of typists, stenographers and bookkeepers eager for the temporary work they spoke of in a newspaper ad. But the two decided to stay with their new sideline because what few paying customers they had were happy. By the end of 1949, they had covered their losses and made a small profit.

Six decades later, Manpower has grown to be the world's third-largest company in the business of providing temporary and other staffing services. It has 4,100 offices and 400,000 clients, ranging from small businesses to huge corporations.

Manpower has twice been acquired by other companies and emerged as an independent company both times. Today it offers many employment services beyond temporary labor, including the placements of permanent employees. Workers accrue benefits based on how long they work, even if they work for many employers.

Scheinfeld, the dreamer, died in 1970, but Winter, the nuts-and-bolts guy, stayed until 1976, when he retired. Manpower then had offices in 20 countries.

But Winter kept an office in the building, and a title, chairman of the advisory council. He also kept busy: he formed an organization to promote business ties between the United States and Israel; served as president of the American Jewish Committee; led efforts to aid Milwaukee youth; and was beloved by generations of Manpower employees who relished his stories and lavender sports coats.

Elmer Louis Winter was born in Milwaukee on March 6, 1912. His father, Sigmund, was an immigrant who owned a store. Elmer's first job in 1922 was delivering fruits and vegetables by horse-drawn cart to brewery workers. He went to Milwaukee public schools, and earned economics and law degrees from the University of Wisconsin.

In 1936, he was offered a job in the Chicago law firm owned by Scheinfeld for $30 a month, according to Entrepreneur Magazine's ``Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs.'' When the firm expanded to Milwaukee, Winter managed the new office.

After Manpower's success seemed certain, both men retired from practicing law.

BEYOND CLERICAL

Private employment agencies had existed in the United States since 1863, but the modern temporary staffing industry began after World War II with the founding of Kelly Girls in 1946. Later called Kelly Services, it was the first multiregional temp agency.

Manpower was the first to expand beyond clerical help into industrial positions.

Winter's wife of 54 years, the former Nannette Rosenberg, died in 1990. He is survived by his wife, the former Hope Melamed; his daughters, Sue Freeman, Lynn Winter Gross and Martha Gross Tracy; eight grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.