La Junta tribune., 1902-03-01

Hons Mailed TOR poissseAi PSrttee-
Occasionally do you get circular
letter. brazenly open. with only q one
cent stamp ON II. or scaled In n neat.
plain envelope, bearing two-cent
stamp?
II you don't. there are Zoo. 900 farm
ers In the United States who do. and
perhaps as many men in score OF
line OF business who do. For one Of
the great developments OF the last
twenty years Is the circular mailing
business. through which one house
send out 2.OOo.OO0 circular letters in
week for one wholesale Arm, reaching
dealers in n certain line Of business in
every city and town in forty-fye states.
Each Of these letters will lie addressed
TO the dealer in person. signed In ink
by the letter writer for the wholesale
firm, and sealed In an envelope with
two-cent stamp on IL. Yet only the
signature will have come from the
house sending 1t out. and this fact will
make the cost of such wholesale letts
writing seventy-five per cent less than
any method possible to such a firm.
Such wholesale letter writing and
such percentage OF saving on the
cost OF 1t Indicate the status of the
circular letter addressing concern In
the business world, and that the bust
ness is increasing steadily every year
Is an indication OF its future.
Twenty years ago IL began In Chi
cago. The typewriter just then was
displacing pen and ink, and blotting
pads and penmanship were coming to
he classed with labor. Somebody dis
covered that a circular letter could he
printed in imitation OF typewriter
print, that the date and name OF ad-
dressee could be written into II from
a typewriter. and signature append
III in a most conyincingly personal way
That was the beginning. To-day there
IL a circular addressing firm in Clark
street. near Randolph, which can send
out 2OOoOO0 such letters In ten days.
putting 200 employees TO work OH the
Job II necessary. and assuring the
merchant for whom the work Is done
that every letter sent out will reach
man who has a creditable rating In
Dun's or Bradstreet's. II some mail
order house wishes to reach farmers.
the firm has list OF Go0.OOO in the
United States, OF which 10000 are in
the state of Iowa. II some wholesale
firm In almost any line of goods wishes
to reach responsible dealers in cities
and towns under 100000 population.
the wholesale denler in touch with tens
of thousands OF them In week.
The general store I'm the small city
or town II by all odds the most writ
ten-at business in the country. Its mail
box in the country postof!ice always Is
stuffed full OF mail from the circular
writing agencies. But even political
campaigns are aided by these agencies.
Last spring In Chicago both parties to
the municipal contest were served by |
this Clark street agency and 2,OOO.OO
circular letters were rushed out for |.
them in ten days. |
In this circular writing business Chi i
cago has 4 disposition to leave OF the !
personal address to the letter and to i
use the one-cent postage stamp. New !
York, on the other hand. finds busi- !
ness methods IN using plain white en- !
vclopes, sealing them, and putting on |
two-cent stamp.
There Is certnin letter that l can |
always spot IS coming from u New |
York agency" said well known ply
sician the other day. Here's one of |
them,- and tearing open the plain, neat |
envelope he disclosed only printed mat |
ter dealing with the national question |
OF the sugar tax.
Many an envelope carried by a one !
cent stamp is tossed away without be-
ing opened" said a circular writing
agent '.Still there Is such a sharp diff
ference In the cost Of the two kinds
Of mail matter that one-cent stamps
are most generally used. The neces-
sity OF the addressed letter and the
two-ccnt stamp. of course, depends
largely on the thing advertised and the
class OF persons to whom It Is au
dressed"