Facts: Harold and Maude were compulsive entrepreneurs. Harold negotiated a deal to sell 50 acres in Texas for $300,000 more than it's worth to a real estate developer in San Antonio. Maude bargained with a toy manufacturer in Cleveland, to buy toy robots for five dollars each.

Maude scrawled a handwritten memo, which said, "Confirming our deal100,000 Psychopath Robotsyou deliver Chicagoend of summer." She didn't mention a price, or an exact delivery date, or when payment would be made. She signed her memo and faxed it to the toy manufacturer. Harold typed a contract, precisely describing the land he was selling, the $2.3 million price, how and when each payment would be made, and the deed conveyed. He signed the contract and faxed it, along with a plot plan showing the surveyed land.

Neither Harold nor Maude ever heard again from the other parties. The toy manufacturer sold the Psychopath Robots to another retailer at a higher price. She sued. And the Texas property buyer changed his mind, deciding to develop a Club Med in Greenland and refusing to pay Harold for his land. He sued.