The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-12-20
ADVERTISEMENT AS A GUIDE.
The Way Country Customers Prepare for
Shopping Tours to the City.

Shopping Tours to the City.
Pittsburg Chronicle Telegraph.
u heard a discussion which would have in
terested you as a newspaper man, SAID a leading
banker to the writer to-day.
What was it aboutp
"You know l live in a suburban town, and the
children do not come to town very frequently.
Well, last night there were nine little girls in
our parlor, some my own, and others from the
families of neighbors. They were all preparing
for a visit to town to buy Christmas presents.
They began proceedings by monopolizing the cen
ter table,, and on this. to my astonishment, they
proceeded to lay an assortment Of advertise
ments cut out Of city papers. Some were of
clothing stores. some of jewelers., some book
stores, and, in fact, nearly all classes of trades
men. Then they began to prepare lists. They
read over the articles named IN the advertise
ments and made memorandum. For instances:
One girl said I want to get u pair of gloves for
our driver. and then they looked for gloves and
made a note of the place where they were sold
the cheapest. Then another girl wanted a GER
tain book, and another a fur cap, another a pair
of rubber boots, and nearly all named dolls. toys,
articles of jewelry and fancy articles. When
they could not find something they wanted in
the advertisements, they noted the names of the
dealers who would be apt to have such
things. They seemed to be perfect
ly familiar with the leading merchants,
and what they sold, and l had to laugh
at their comments on the kinds of goods such
and such a man sold and how his clerks treated
customers. 4 Hey 6N6u went SO Itf as 10 CFlUl-
else some Of the newspapers, and said they
wouldn't go to a certain store because it adver-
tised in one of the papers which they did not
like. l asked one of them what she intended to
do with her list. She said her papa had given
her some money to buy presents with, and she
intended to buy the things she had on her mem
orandum. My little daughter told me she and
her friends had been doing this for Il month, and
that it was almost as much fun as the buying of
the things later on"
81 suppose the older people do the same
thingl"
That is just what they do. l did not know
it before last night. My wife happened to be
out while the children were talking, and when
she came in | told her about 1t That's nothing
new said she; we do it too. The ladies who
live around here make memoranduus of things
they see in the papers, and then we compare
notes and go up to town and buy the goods"
This practice is more general than people
would suppose. The writer visited several jew
elers. book stores, dealers in fancy goods and
9th ers, and found them all willing to admit that
advertising was a wonderful help to them.
Large numbers of customers came in and asked
for certain things at certain prices, and when
asked how they knew Of the goods, the answer
would be that they saw it in some paper. Ere
quently clippings Of advertisements We're
brought. and after purchase they would be
thrown aside by the customer, and the merchant
could tell just what medium had benefited him.