Shingles and Raisins

By JACK DIONNE

I have been having ronc little correlpondence recently with rome of my Red Cedar Shingle friendr in the Pacific Northwert becaure I recently deplored the lack of effort of thc producerr of that great comnodity to make people DESIRE thcir rhingler.

And one good frierad of mine wrote me, .nd arked: "Wbat can the rhingle men do?tt

I mote back and raid: "They can do what tte rairin rncn have done."

Tbe other day I picked up tte morning paper, and read trhcre the advertiring planr of The Srm Maid Rairin Crrowcrrt .dsociation for the year beginning Septembcr, 1922.

I rcad that "Last yea/r advertiring budget war glr475-, 000, while thir yea/r will be $2,520,0OO."

Lart year the reirin folkr added to their mer,chandiring planr the carnpaign to rell tbc .Ettle nickel packager of raicinr. Today it ir a known fact that that war one of the mort lucceuful mcrchandiriag rtuntr ever pulled. The whole world ir eating the little packager, and crying for more.

Lart year thir rairin arcociation rpent $1'475,OOO for advcrtiring thcir produd, & ar to make people DESIRE RAMINS. That'r what evcry dirne of it war rpent for.

Then what doee it mcan to every thinking burineer man whcn he leamt that they are vartly increaring their budget for TIIIS year.

SIMPLY THAT THEY MUST HAVE SECURED ENORMOUS RETURNS ON TIIEIR LAST YEAR'S IN. VESTMENT, DOESN'T IT?

Surelyt Thore rabin growen aren't going to rpend two and a hdf million dollan of their good money thir year jurt to hclp out the newrpapert and national magazinec.

Thcy ar,e going to rpcnd more THIS year, becaure they got thcir moncy back with big interc* LAST year.

Tbere you arc, Mr. Shingle Man. Thettt the anrwcr to your quertion. Wbencver you do for rhingler what the rairin growent anociation hac done for rairine, you rvitl bc gctting tbe rarnc rerultr-or better. If anything, rhingler would rerpond more directly to the "pqll" of cuch a tsampaiga, than rabin!.

Imtt it rtrange that you cantt make lumber people grarp !bi. biS idea? Yet in all the hirtory of lumber only one produchg epecicr har ever grouped together and made a REAL advertiring and merchandiring efiort.

Tbat war CYPRESS. And cyprees got juet ar magnificent rcdtr from their inverknent-greater ii anything-ar Sun Maid Rairinr have from thein. THEY paid ar high ar a doller a thourand to rnake folfc want t'heir product.

They changed tte entirc courle of tlrcir mat&et, rtrictly by advertiring; made it take entirely new and improved channelr. And today Cypreu occupier by dl oddc the mbrt enviable porition of any roftwood produced. Gete 3 better price, firctuater lear, and ir rnore highly rerpected even ttan ttc farnour old Michigan and Wirconrin pine.

I have gone to the Pacific Northwest several timec and talked there very factr to the ebingle men. And every man layl, "You're rightitt but they neyer get together to ACT. And they will never do anythi-g appreciable for their in' durtry until they do GET TOGETHER. It cannot be done individually.

Good rhingle friendr wrote me: t''We are doitg a grcet deal defending rhingle! wherever they are attacked." Sure. But it'r the fellow who b rtanding rtill who ir alwayr being

Credit

The man of family who erectr a ne'ce$aty buitding har proven hir judgment to hia anociater, hir banker, and hie town.

Brain sewice can be bought. Lip eervice can be hired. Phylical :erwice can be contracted for. But heart rerwice ic the kind you get when you pay in the goin of appreciation, kindners, and conrideration.

The crying necd of the retail lumber burinere ir SALESMEN, not yard manager!.

There IS a difference.

attaclied. You never hear of anyqre attacking any of theee folkr who are traveling eo fart that they are making tbe world rit up and take notice. The fellow who is charging with fixed bayonetr never ir attacked.

The man who ic eternally on the defenrive, ir the man who eternally har to defend Emrelf. lt war eo in the bc. ginning, and it will be thur at the end.

The fate of the Red Cedar Shingle inductry is in tbG handr of the rhingle men; har alwayr bcen, and will ahrayt be. The good thingc of thir world don't 'tust happct." You have to go get them.

There ir only one intelligent way on the face of thic earth for the producer of a commodity to secure a eatirfactory market for hir product-a dependable market-and that ir to make jurt ar rtrcnuour and definite and intelligent an effort to create and rurtein that market ar ttey makc to create and produce the product.

There hep ^bcctt one great curr€ on the whole lumber in- dustry from its inception until now, and while there has been improvement in rome inrtances, rome rpecier, and rome territorier, that curee rtill remains: pitiful lack of proper merchandiring effort.

And tbat lack of merchandiring effort comet from a lalck of three fimdamental thingr : VISION-CO-OPERATIONCOURAGE.

Swgect to any group of lumbermen or rhingle men that ttey adopt and follow the program of there raisin men, and you rcare them abrolutely to death. The fact that it hac tifted the rairin indurtry from the Slough of Derpond to the heishtr of prorperity and that it keepr getting better all the time, won't help at all. They jurt can't apply there experiencer of other men to their own affairs.

"MY BUSINESS lli DIFFERENT," he crier in diemay.

The Road to Hader; the Slippery Slide to Bankruptcy; the pathway of the failure; all are marked with this slogan for guide postr: "MY BUSINESS IS DIFFERENT."

A few yearu ago the rairin busineu was in worlc fix than the rhingle burineer har ever been. And it IS what it is today, becaure the rairin men had the virion and the courage to ree the star of hope, and the co-operation to get together their tattered resourcer and "rhoot it all", ar the craprhooter aays.