The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1895-10-25
A NOVEL INVESTMENT.
STRANGE COMMERCIAL FAITH.


Trade Comes Back After Many Days
-Euormous Investments in Modern
Business Methods = whats In a
Eauas3" - Trade 11arks and Their
Defense.
II our forefathers could look down on
modern business methods they would at
the FIRST glance conclude that modern
merchants were az mad as March hnrcs.
After they had become thoroughly ac-
quaintfd with the magnificent systems
which are used by our great railroad cor
porations and mammoth trusts, they
would conclude that the age was an age
OF magictans. 7nnd not OF fools. The mn
chinery OF business has kept pace with
the improved machinery Of our mills. In
deed. tho merchant Of to-day avails Of no
Hi1Je machinery in the conduct OF his
every day efticeswork. Patented systems
OF copying, of duplicating. wonderful lei
ter files.-and hundreds of neat aids to
office work have multiplied very fast dur
Ing the past few years and within the last
month. The Graphophone has gone into
active use in business Offices, so that the
merchant can dictate oil his correspond
enee TO machine which records 1t on a
wax-coated cylinder, from which. at q
later hour, the typewriter can reproduce
It Tor the mail s. SIS e =
The marvellous Developments of modern
business show more St rongly in the matter
OF advertising than In most other braneh-
es. Vast sums of money are apparently
thrown away In this direction. When
great commercial house spends two hum
dred thousand dollars during a single
year IN newspaper advertising, there is
nothing in the inventory at the close Of
INC year which will represent the outlay.
Ihe papers have been printed, distributed,
read and again reduced to pulp in the
paper mill, while the merchants good
money has been paid to the publishers.
fludent men, even of the present gener-
ation. hardly comprehend it. Thousands
shake their heads, and invest their own
money IN bricks@and mortar, feeling us
sured that they can depend on possessions
which they see rather than invest their
money IN building up something which to
them seems visionary.
a true philosopher Of the olden time
put over his door the legend, Things in
visible deceive not" The bankers and
builders OF his day sneered at him as they
counted their gold and reared their solid
buildings But he had Scripture for his
warrant, and modern advertisers are the
direct followers of his philosophy. He
iabored to show men that gold might be
stolen, buildings might burn, substantial
possessions turn to dust and disappoint-
ment while skill, education and character,
tnough invisible, could not be stolen nor
DESTROYED. The modern advertiser goes
much further, and proves conclusively
tnat mere name may be worth million
II u - we'll known and well respected.
whats in a name r, finds fordble an
sWef In the columns of our daily papers.
lhe Fhrewd school boy, who puzzled his
companions by daring them to spell
nonsecleaning in seven letters, and then
solved 1t by spelling Sapolio, must have
recognized the intimate connection be-
tween these two ideas which has been
built up by vast expenditure of money.
Inc I'VE letters, Pears, though valueless
slngly. are worth hundreds of thousands
of dollars when used in connection with
soap. The printed matter, painted signs,
and countless devices to make the name
popular pass away annually, almost as
fast as they are paid for; but If properly
managed, the trade name accumulates
and carries forward the value as q per-
manent Investment. An article of real
worth, clearly named and widely made
success. Sapolio affords abundant evil
dence of this. Its great usefulness, its
distinct but descriptive name, and Its al
most universal use has resulted in rs great
success to its manufacturers as in assist
ance to the housekeepers of the world.
Such an investment as the trade-name
Sapolio needs no fire insurance, and can
not secretly be conveyed to Canada. If
tempered with or infringed upon. it must
ha done Onen1y and modar., Inn with oh
succeeding year recognizes more forcibly
than before the rights of trade-name own
ers, and Furnishes with greater alacrity
attem at infringement. The manufac-
turers of Sapolio have successfully over
thrown countless limitations, and we IN
derstand that they are now prosecuting
dealers who silently pass another article
plainly asked for Sapolio. This is new
departure in law, but is clearly equitable.
1t promises to add another link to the laws
which assist in the defense of trade marks
and trade names.
An attempt to initiate Is always despica-
bic, except when monkeys or stage mimics
are thereby enabled to amuse an audi
ence. Yet although the history of trade
furnishes no instance of q really success
full imitation. still hundreds ATTEMPT it
every year.
In the Office of the Sapolio manufactur-
ers there is Chamber of Horrors where
the proprietors keep samples of the many
cakes Of imitation stuffs which have been
Yainly put forward only to meet with
prompt failure or to drug out profitless
existence through few years. The pub
Tic is too discriminating to buy an inferior
article on the assertion that it sis just as
good as Sapolio.
The man who attempts to deceive by
initiating the name or appearance Of an
other mans goods is self-proclaimed
liar. and however general the vice of false
hood may be, it is fact that even liars
have no sympathy for one of their kind.
ority than that the goods are pushed for
ward under the cover of n better reputa-
zion. and the Chamber of Horrors in the
Sapolio building tells in plain terms how
the public recognizes and despisrs such
attempts.
speculation that leads these well-kuown
manufacturers to expend hundreds of
thousands of dollars in constantly re-
minding the world of Sapolio Years of
intimate acquaintance have taught them
that the public knows a good article and
is willing to pay for it; that the market
for fine goods. whether it bc butter or
securing soap. is never giuttcd. They
have become intimate With the pconIe.
Sapolio is household word. always spok.
en- with good will, as il it were a familiar
friend. The thousands who pass BY The
Sun building on their way to and from.
the Brooklyn Bridge. look M with n smile
now overhangs the ruins of Frcnch's Ho-
tel, and say: "There it is again." when
they recognize the seven letters arranged
under the seven days of the week. with
the brief statement thats:'.if used every
week day it brings rest on Sunday" The
great white wall looks as though it had
been cleaned with Sapolio. and verse I'M
derneath gives the: comforting assurance
that
This world is all 4 feeting show,
- For mans illusion given;
But woman, with Sapo!io.
Can make that show heaven.
Poets, artists, designers, clever writer's.
many of whom would not coudescend tn