Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1889-08-01
REVOLUTION In CIGARS.
Important Facts Mad. Known to tina
Smoking Public.
An IntervIew with MIR. Tansiii, or II
". Tan-IiI a. Go. - Iie Explains tho
OrIgin aud DeveIopmsut OF lal- I'm
mense Husiness-ts eiatcs the Cause
ofnIs Phenomenal Success.
Denver tcolo3 Republican. July 7.

Denver (Colo.) Republican, July 7.
So many causes have been nsstgseA
for the success Of the celebrated Tau
sill's Punch" cigar, that q Republican
reporter learning of Mr. TansilPs So
journ Mt the Albany, called on him to
ascertain for the benefit Of smokersL
true explanation OF these causes Mr.
Tansill expressed readiness to com
municate on this subject, and tho ro-
porter Piled his questions.
"Have You any objection, Mr.. Tan
sill, to giving the readers of tho Repub-
lican an inside view of the success You
have attained in your lsisness?"
"Well, no. / can't say that 1 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, became convinced that
there was large md increasing de-
mand, n tidal wave, rs it were, for a
first class five cent cigar. How to pro-
duce such cigar and to market it profit
ably was the problem to solve.
81 was young man ut the time md
full of ambition. After carefully study
ing the condition OF tile trade, settled
upon plan to accomplish my object.
But before | give it Ia you, let me- ex-
plain the situation us it existed Mt that
time. The average retail dealer in
those days never Thought it possible to
sell five cent cigar ut less than 100
per cent profit, while the average whole
sale dealer or manufactures made n
profit varying from $40 to SIS per l,00)
on that class of goods. Such tive-cen5
cigars, Of course, were made of very in
feriOr domestic stock.
"Now | conceived the idea that by re-
ducing both profits and slightly increas-
ing the nrice, and ut the same time max
ing cigar that should contain the
choicest Havana filler. and then placing
it in the hands of PROMINENT retail deal
ers nil over the United States, with nh
exclusive control or agency for the same
for their towns or neighbOrhOods, they,
through the superior quality OF tire
cigar. which Mt once commanded q
largely increased trade, could afford to
sell il at Il reduced percentages OF profit.
In other words, / first raised the price Of
the goods to the retailer, and at the
same time l reduced my own profits
more than One-haIf. This difference en-
abled me to furnish m Havana filled
cigar that could be retailed for five
cents
"rhen personally travelled over tho
United States and established my agen-
cies, relying chiefly on mail orders,
thereby dispensing with double drum
ming" aud the johber's profit, thus eff
fecting n great saving. L charged moth
ing for my servic - and sold my goods
mt less than one-halt the profit made by
my competitors In taking this step
trusted solely to the Intelligence OF the.
smoker aud dealer for my recompenSe.
Had not done 40 the name of 'Tansill
Punch cigar, like the names of my
thousand imitators, would have been
obsolete long ago"
"Has your faith in the intelligence OF
the smoker aud dealer been sustlinedY'
eyes, far beyond my most sanguins
expectations. And ms the business has
grown from year tO year, L have appro-
priated percentage of my profits for adj
vertising. L might add in this connec-
tion that have Just placed contracts
for advertising "Innsills Punch III
nearly 1000 daily aud weekly newspa-
pers, with combined annual circulation
Of over 500, 000, 900 copies. From
this it can he seen TINT my faith in the
merits of my goods and in my methods
of selling them is stronger than ever
before"
HAS your plan Of doing business met
with the approval of the mcrchant2"
"My success emphatically answers
your question in the Affirmative. Could
you but read our correspondence, You
would then realize how our agency and
goods are Appreciated Ivy both dealer
and smoker As to tho value OF our
agency, l will give you mn illustration.
Nine years ago w. NJ. Dale, a Chicago
druggist, WIS trying to establish q
trade on five-ccnt cigar. To accom-
plish this lie was paying 1873 per 1000
for his leading five cent brand and re-
failing but 200 of them per week.
gave Mr. Dale the agency for 'TanSills
Punch for his neighborhOod, aud his
trade steadily increased from year to
year until 1t reached the enormous
number of $1,000 'Tnusill's Punch per
month, while his aggregate sales, all mt
retail, mind You, of TINT single brand
have LARGELY exceelel 1000, 900 cigars.
/ could cite yOu similar illustrations in
almost every part of the United States"
"Then understand, Mr.. Tansill, that
your plan is To sell first-class cigar mt
small profit aud rely upon the large
volume OF Your trad" for the results?'
That il it, exactly"