Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1889-08-09
penver fcolo.l RspublIcan. IuIr z.

Denver tColo.} Republican, July z
So many causes have been assigned
for the success of the celebrated ''Tan-
silIs Punch" cigar, that a Republican
reporter, learning of Mr.. Tansill's So
iOurn at the Albany, called on him to
ascertain for the benefit of smokers a
true explanation of these causes. Mr..
TansiI expressed n readiness TO COM
municate on this subject, and the re-
porter piled his questions.
''Have you any objection, Mr.. Tan
sill, to giving the readers of the Repub-
ican an inside view of the success you
have attained in your busiuess?"
''WeIl, no. I can't say that [ have, -
was the reply. ''Since have no patent
on my methods of conducting business
and no secrets to withhold from the
public, am perfectly willing to crafty
you to the extent of my ability. To
commence with: After the great Chicago
fire Of II, I became convinced that
there was large and increasing de-
mand, a tidal wave, as it were, for q
first-class five cent cigar. How to pro-
duce such a cigar and to market 1t profit
ably was the problem to solve.
81 was u young man at the time and
full of ambition. After carefully study
ing the condition of the trade, I settled
upon plan to accomplish my object,
But before L give 1t to y0u, let me eX-
plain the situation Us 1t existed at that
time. The average retail dealer IN
those days never thought it possible to
sell a hve-cent cigar ut less than 100
per cent profit, while the average whole
L Il 49,
profit varying from $40 to $40 per 1, 600
on that class of goods. Such fve-cent
cigars, of course, were made OF very IN
feriOr domestic stock.
''NOw I conceived the idea that by re-
ducing both profits and slightly Increas-
inc the price, and at the same time max
ing Il cigar that should contain the
choicest Havana filler, and then placing
it In the hands of prominent retail deal
ers all over the United States, with an
exclusive control or agency for the same
for their towns or neighbOrhoOds, they,
through the superior quality OF the
cigar, which at once commanded
largely increased trade, could afford to
sell it at q reduced percentage OF profit.
In other words, l first raised the price OF
the goods to the retailer, and at the
same time I reduced my own profits
more than One-half This difference en-
abled me to furnish an Havana filed
! cigar that could be retailed for i've
| cents.
'@Fhen [ personally travelled over the
/ United States and established my Ggen-
| cies, relying chiefly on mail orders,
! thereby dispensing with double drum
ming" and the jObber's profit, Thus ef-
| fecting a great saving. 1 charged moth
/ ing for my services and sold my goods
! ut less than One-half the profit made by
nv competitors In taking this step
] -D1olvv 10 f,faIIfrrnT7uea al FL a
smoker and dealer for my recomDense.
Had I not done so the name of 'IansilI
Punch cigar, like the names of my
thousand imitGtOrs, would have been
obsolete long ago.
HAS vOur faith in the intelligence Of
the smoker and dealer been sustained?"
eyes, far beyond my most sangulne
expectations. And as the business has
grown from year to year, i have apprO-
priated a percentage OF my profits Tor adj
veFtising I might add in this cOnuec<
ton that 1 have just placed contracts
for advertising 'IansIIPs Punch IN
nearly 2, GOO daily and weekly newspa-
pers, with q combined annual circulation
of over 500, 00J, 900 copies. From
this 1t can be seen that my faith In the
merits of my goods and III my methods
of selling them is stronger than ever
before"
ssHas yonr plan of doing business met
''AIy success emphatically answers
your question in the affirmative. Gould
you but read our correspondence, yOu
would then realize how our agency and
goods are appreciated by both dealer
and smoker, AS to the value of our
agency, I viii give you an illustration.
Nine years ago W. NJ. Dale, Chicago
druggist, was trying to establish a
trade on a hve-cent cigar. TO accom-
plish this he was paying S3S per LOGO
for his leading fve-eent brand and re-
failing but 200 of them per week. /
gave Mr.. Dale the agency for "IansilIs
Punch for his neighborhood, and his
trade steadily increased from year TO
year until It reached the enormous
number of %, GOO 'Tansills Punch per
month, while his aggregate sales, all at
retail, mind yOu, Of that single brand
have largely exceeded 2, 600, 900 cigars.
I could cite you similar illustrations In
almost every part of the United States
''Then 1 understand, Mr. Tnnsill, that
your plan is to sell a frst-class cigar at
a small profit and rely upon the large
volume Of your trade for the results?'
''Ihat is it. exactly"