Sundries and. NoveltiesBusiness Getters

under this head would come those odds and ends of "advertising" with which you are all familiar.

Their name is legion-calendars, carpenter aprons, pencils, desk pads-you know the sort of thing.

The principal drawback to sold and used by several lines eliminate everything that does WITH YOUR BUSINESS.

their use is that they are generally made to be of business: and a-good *rule to follow is to NOt SPECIF'ICALLY

Connect Itself

calendars, for instance, should be cut off in preference to a carpenter's apron; and the latter would, in our opinion, give way to a kitchen remindei for the [ome.

The mere fact that a novelty has your narne on it do€s not warrant the expense of its cost and distribuli_on_-r-t_ryu_s! garly_?.qistlqcJ-qessage, either direct or implied, that you are in the BUILDING MATERIAL BUSINESS.

However, there are a number of "novelties" that have proven mighty good business bringerq; ?nd to these attention is drawn, less perhaps for the article iiself, than for the SENTIMENT that is back of the article-a sentiment that will lead you to devise other novelties for yourself.

And those that are INDIVIDUAL are by {ar the best.

For instance, one article in this line that has proyen its worth is a window flower box.

This box was devised by a retailer, and built in quantities to fit the standard sash. The box was left unpainted, though sized for protection, and would be painted to match the rest of the house.

The only advertising it ^carrie4 *t in -its DESIGN; the ends being carried up above the sides a trifle and finished with a fancy moulding.

This was enough_ to distinguish it from other boxes, and its adverlising value was not diminished by lack of name or other more direct methods.

The only requisite was that anyone who wanted one had to come to the yard office in person, and pick the color desired, filling out a receipt-form, which included some perti+ent questions about present repair or remodeling work or prospects for new buildings.

Another good form of novelty is the kitchen reminder, with its list of "outs" and the printed notice of the merchant.

_ -Mq"l dealers have found a BREAD BOARD of real advertising value, and with the dealer's name stenciled on the EDGE, it is brought to the mind of the housewife many times every week.

Then there are the wall cabinets that many dealers are having made from time to time; at first to fill direct orders in house bills, and now as adverti-sing novelties; sometimes free, but more often sold at a small pricg and finished to orderl

What would you think-you old timers---of a dealer who sold several houses simply because he built a platform and. swing standards and placed it, with his compli- ments, in the yard of a house he had just completed.

T!. underlying. principle on-which the value of any novelty is based ls its person- ality-its individuality-its benefit to the recipient, either artistic or material. ^

And of these, the UTILITY of the article is of greater importance than its other qualities; and that importance grows in proportion to the FREeUnxcy oF ITS usE.

An article that is used several times a day is of much moie value as an advertising medium than one that is used but once a dayand one that is USED of greite? value than one that is merely SEEN.

These are the qualities that must be considered in choosing novelties and advertisinpr sundries of this nature; and on the way in which those qualilies are exhibited bv th! article in qleJtion_{ePends its value or its expense-and every.bit of advertising'musi be either a PROFIT or a LOSS.

,. .,Aqd one more point_of interest; it is better to select a few articles of greater in- dividual value and distribute them wisely than to choose a number of cheaplr and distribute them broadcast.

The NOVELTy is an INDIVIDUAL -advertising appeal, remember, and the stronger- that appeal, the better the results. Care in the selection of the articie and dis- crimination as to its distribution means ths difference between profit and toss i" G ur" of novelties.