River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-11-02
PHOTOGRAPHS IN BUSINESS.
rhs Expense OF Samples Done Away witt
tn Many flnas ne I.nnda


Ia Many Lines of Goods.
What looked like sample card OF
knives lay upon wholesale cutters
table. An observer easily noted upon
a nearer approach that the card really
bore only n photograph OF dozen
knives arranged as knives commonly
are upon the sample cards OF whole
salers. All the qualities of the knives
that can be detected by the eye seemed
present in the photograph Such a
card OF samples IL made up of the OBJ
jects themselves would cost somewhere
between FIVE and eight dollars. The
Photographic samples may be produced
for a fifth as much.
The application of photography to
the matter of mercantile samples has
wrought a marvellous economy in
scores of wholesale trades. The loss
upon samples is millions Of dolla s an
nually. Hundreds of thousands OF sam
pie hats are sold at absurd prices in
this city. A successful retail trade in
shoes has been built up by a concern
that began by buying samples brought
in by commercial travellers at the end
of each season. What is true of hats
and shoes is equally true of one hun
dred other articles of merchandise.
The loss upon solid silverware
sent out as samples has been
very great 50 great. indeed, that
many houses now sell solely by photo
graphic samples. When the actual
pieces are sent out the salesman must
hire showroom in each CITY he visits,
and must pay fcrexpressage, while the
item ~ Insurance is worth considering
Photography has made it possible to
sell to advantage by sample bulky
articles that can not be carried all over
the country by travelling statesmen.
Furniture. iron and brass work,
massive clocks, and hundred and one
Other such articles, are thus sold. Cut
class and china are among the samples
most successfully photographed.
IL the dream of photogra phing In
colors shall ever pe realized the pub
LEGATION of photography to the matter
of mercantile samples win be wider
than ever. Fairly good work in coll
ored Photographic samples Is already
done, Young women, many OF them
technically educated at Cooper insti-
tute. are usually the colorists EN-
ployed in this work. Wages for such
work have sometimes been as high as
twenty-five dollars a week, but IL was
only women of much skill ana industry
who could earn so much. Most OF the
work is done at home, the photo
graphic samples being intrrsted 10 the
colorists in large patches. Analine
colors are used, so that the work usu-
ally lacks scftness of tone.
The actual work of photographing
samples is done at the photographers,
the shop, or factory. The art If com
mercial photography is one requiring
/ considerable technical skill and in a
certain way knowledge of posing.
The essential thing in the pose OF n
sample is that il shall result in pro-
ducing a faithful picture Of the origI-
nal, and the chief advantage that
photography has over many cheaper
pictorial processes IS its truth
I fulness. Photo-engraving is a
vastly cheaper process. since
the first cost of the plate having been
met the after expense is simply mat
ter of printing and paper The costly
NhNhAhSHAo hc0o
ing make it expensive.
An interesting outcome 81 what was
essentially commercial photography is
the career of New York photogra pher
with a unique place in the artistic
world. lie was much employed by
architects TO make photographs of
buildings and of architectural details.
Then few men, noticing his nice. artis-
tic taste and feeling, employed him In
portraiture. From these patrons his
fame spread to others engaged in kim
bred arts, aud iu time he came 70 ~
the one photographer to whom literary
and artistic celebrities were recon-
mended. A few persons outside the
world of art have gone TO him for pot.
traits, but the architects and their
artistic brethren have always been
jealous and anxious TO keep him for
then, selves " Y Suu