Save The Service and You Save All

(Continued from Page 37) lfow to do fhis advertising? I am a mill man-not an advertising man. A comm'ittee of some of the men of this Association who have seen the light even before now, should be appointed, and confer with the most common sense agen-y possible. There are lots of so-called advertising experts who can spend your money like drunken sailors, but with lots of them it does not mean a thing, as w,itness the gigantic appropriations some building materials have made that were {ailures. Then think of Coco Cola, Spearmint Gu'm, and "Eventually, why not now?" or any one of the many other successfully advertised articles.

We would make better and more pleasant places for our m.en to work in, and would put ourown desks where the God-given sunshine would hit them.

Le[ us organize the mill-men from Flor'ida to California and from Maine to Washington into an advertising entity, and advertise, advertise, advertise. Let them all subscribe, preferably, of course, in proportion to their pay-roll. Then advertise nationally. See w'hat the National Walnut Manufacturers have done, and the Birch people, to say nothing of Southern Pine and Cypress. That is the kind of advertising I am talking about.

What made Grand Rapids? Furniture. And every time a kitchen cabinet comes out of Grand Rapids you are losing the profit on a sale of between thirty-five and one hundred dollars. Every time a bookcase comes from Grand Rapids, the story is the same.' All of which is simply because you haven't told the people that there is a mill right in their own home town which could give these things a darn sight better, and which they would mu'ch rather have; which would fit exactly the space they were intended for.

They have been doing us jttst like Kuppenheimer and Kirchbaum have been doing the local tailor. Now, go ahead and advertise, and tell the people all about yourself, and it will help. That is one of the remedies.

Another remedy is io advertise locally, that is, by advertising as individuals. As I said before, a good ,many of you advertise, but you don't do it intensively enough. You say i "C. T. Abeles & Company, Millwork." What does that mean to the average man? You know what it means, but does the average man know what you are talking about? A mill is likely to be a steel mill, a flour mill, a paper mill, a gin mill, or most any other kind of a mill, and it is up to you to let them know what kind of a mill you are talking about. Not thus do they advert,ise shoes, hats, flour, picture shows, or any of the other industries that the chosen people of God control. For the love of Pete, fellows, let's learn something from these folks, for they have done it all by advertising.

You can advertise individually in many ways. The thing we want to do is create and take advantage of the'love of H'O,ME, and help create communities of beautiful homes. It is a well known fact that there are more home owners in America than in any other country on the face of the globe today. This is the bulwark and rampart that has kept the' red-flaggers away from us. A home owner is never a revolutionist, and it is your duty, it is your heritage, to help keep these fires. of love of home continually burning, and you cannot do that by your present lethargy. You must pound, pound, pound always, and pounding means advertising, and advertising must, of necessity, ,mean common sense.

Advertise to the school children. Get 'in touch with the manual training teachers in your ,city. Invite the boys to your plant, let them roam over it at will, and just before they leave, give them a bottle of "pop." Invite them to help themselves to your scrap pile so that they can make something for mother out of those scraps. Do you know that the fellows on the Pacific Coast are in a wild clamor right now for industrial schools? San Francisco already ha1 one. We are organizing one in San Antonio. All of us are going to have to put up indusffial schools for this industry, to keep the right sort of men in our mills. A few of you fellou's never thought of that, did you? You have got old Joe, Pete, and Bill who have been with you a long time; and you are wondering if Joe's, Pete's, and Bill's sons will be,interested in the millwork business. You know they won't. In the first place Joe, Pete, and Bill don't want their sons to be mill men-they want them to be gentlemen. Another condition that lack of advertising has brought the industry to.

My remedy ,for a great many of our past failures and present lethargy is to ad'irertise. Advertise nationally, and locally. Advertise to the women, because it is from them, in the last analysis, that you get your business as yotl know (or I hope you know). It is the women's love of home and their desire to beautify them that we must direct our advertising, with {ur suggestions for built-in features, etc. Fix up a display room where these features may be seen in their actuality, for the average woman does not know what she is looking at when she sees a plan.

Get up on your toes, and tell the world about this millwork industry, rvhat a respectable and honorable profession it is. ancl u'hat it r.nakes. and sells. and does.