The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-06-26
The DEVELOPMENT Of Advertising.

1t Is very interesting TO Watcn tne de-
yelopment of advertising as it appears
in the columns of the daily newspapers.
Departments Of trade which formerly
neglected that means of attracting at
tention are more and more learning to
profit by its advantages. Advertisers
are also becoming skillful in the literary
construction Of their announcements, so
that now the advertising columns of
journal really help to enliven its pages,
and they present a mass OF varied IN
formation of great value to the reader.
The representations of the advertise
ments, too, may be taken generally as
honest and truthful, for no wise dealer
seeks to draw customers by false pre-
lenses. He must have on his counters
exactly what he advertises to sell, and
he must sell it at exactly the advertised
prices. Otherwise. his advertisement
does him more harm than good. 1t may
bring him u ephemeral trade, but the
larger the t1lFA toothe worse will it be
for him T7777Rd His dee3;yed
customers cucs7tonet~ Nm maSe f5r an
evil reputation for dishonesty. There
fore ordinary sagacity prompts the
dealer to tell the truth about his
goods when he advertiseS them in the
newspapers. Now and again scoundrel
and sharper may attempt to impose on
the public by publishing swindling an
nouncements, but the number of such IS
few, and it is growing fewer. Moreover,
,rb;ot, cr,nb mon nSn
deccy are spon recognized. The swim
ding advertisers are after fools and gud-
geons. and they are shrewd enough to
advertise in the papers Datronized by
people of that sort.
The cheapening of the processes OF
manufacture during recent years has
lowered prices greatly. The advertiser
accordingly can appeal to the great body
Of purchasers who must be careful of
their money. Here in New York is the
great market for obtaining stocks Of
superior goods at low cost, provided the
merchant has the cash to pay for them.
Therefore the reputable houses which
advertise bargains for their customers
declare no more than the fact. At auc
tions or by paying cash down for large
supply where cash is imperatively re.
ouired and of the first necessity, they
frequently secure great quantities of
goods at less than the current prices
at the factories, perhaps less than
cost; and selling for cash, they can af,
ford to make their own profit proper
tionately small. Hence when a large
house advertises bargains, 1t may be
assumed that bargains they are. The
quicker their sales, the more rapidly
they turn over their money, the more
successful such dealers are, and to get
speedy sales they must tempt purchasers
with as low prices as they can offer.
The larger the trade they can attract by
advertising, the better it is for each
individual purchaser, for the greater
The volume of their business, the smaller
can they fix their average profit.
That is the great advantage of adver-
tisins It makes the business known,
and by multiplying the number Of Gus.
toners the dealer obtains the means of
attracting more. He has more money
to expend on his stock, can improve the
opportunities which come so frequently
to the cash buyer, and can make his
margin of profit smaller. The whole
success of the great retail houses has
been built up in this way. There are
few of them which have not had their
entire development within very recent
years, before which they were little
haberdashery shops, with neighbor-
hood trade only, or they had no no ex-
istence at all. There is not one Of them
which does not owe its success to adver-
tiSing.
In the clothing trade the history is
the same. The houses which are getting
the custom are those that advertise the
most literally and the most judiciously
and as their custom increases they are
enabled to make their prices lower and |
thus to invite wider range of the |
public. The tailors who have followed |,
their example are reaping like reward
and gaining the same advantages. 50
it is also with the shoemakers, and as
time goes on there will be no depart
ment of business which will not profit
by the lesson that experience teaches so /
cmphatically.
So far from having been completed,
the development of advertising is still
IN its early stages oaly.-New York /