West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1908-09-03
MAIL ORDER ORIGIN,
System Grew Out Of Failure of
Oranges Business End.
MlDDLEMaN is ELIMINATED.
When the Grange Stores Quit a Sup
ply Agent Continued This Idea on
tho Catalogue Plan-immense Growth
From Small Beginnings.

ply Agent Continued This Idea on
tho Catalogue Plan-immense Growth
From Small Beginnings.
The story OF the rise OF the so called
mail order business Is an interesting
chapter In our commercial history.
The spread OF the craze-for Il must
be classcd as such~resembles that OF
an ordinary epidemic against which no
precautlon is taken. The disease has
until very recently been allowed to
spread without even quarantine regu-
lati0ns. But frcm present indications
its decline VIII be as rapid as was its
rise.
The idea OF selecting goods from n
catalogue containing pictures OF the ar
ticles and then ordering the articles
thus selected by mail was the direct
result of the failure of the business
end of the grange movement, the
grange store, writes Richard A. Haste
In Maxwell's Talisman.
Not so many years ago, but before
the telephone, the rural routes and the
interurban electric lines had brought
the town, and the farm into the present
close relations. there existed I'm the
rural communities an active prejudice
against townsfolk generally and the re-
tall merchant In particular. He was
"middleman" aud wholly unneces-
sary. lie was looked upon as hui
man drone. nonproducer, and as such
not entitled TO any fixed place in the
economic scheme OF civilization.
AS the working bees every fall when
the first frosts come TO blight the flow
ers cast the drones from the hive, so
the middleman was TO be cut out OF the
equation of trade, eliminated from the
problem, and through the grange store
the farmer would deal directly with
the manufacturer. Millions OF dollars
would be thus saved to the workers"
by this short cut across the commercial
field. The grange store would buy the
produce of the farm and in turn sell to
the farmer the essentials of life with
out profit either going or coming
In carrying out this simple scheme
the grange, not being acquainted with
the mercantile business, employed
agents to buy goods for the grange
store. and the store was then run by a
hired mana man OF more or less ex-
perience In handling retail trade, but
who had no interest In the business
He was simply n hired man.
One of these supply agents was a
firm the name OF which now stands
Second II not first among the catalogue
houses of today. This firm, If / am
not mistaken. was then located in MIL
waukee, and It's business was to supply
the grange stores of the middle west
with goods-to go into the market and
buy as cheaply rs possible for its prln-
clpals.
For few years the grange store
1ourished. There was much interest
manifested in this new trade toy. 1t
was boldly asserted that the day of the
middleman. the retail merchant, had
passed. But, like all complicated ma
chimes run by hired men, 1t got out
of order and then stopped. The band
ed farmers found that instead OF saw
Ing money by means of the grange
store they had actually lost money.
The grange stores were accordingly
closed, and the stockholders charged
up ethe little loss to experience and
turned to the ever interesting discus
sion of the tariff on wheat.
With the passing of the grange store
the firm above referred to was left
without n business. But out of the
wreck 1t saved two things that proved
to be most valuable-a list of names
OF the farmers of the middle west
and an idea. With this capital stock
the first catalogue house was started
1t was n commercial inspiration born
of the then conditions. But the discov.
erer was not left long in exclusive pos.
session of this find. The pickings were
so rich and the possibilities of ex.
ploitation so exceptional and safe that
Others entered the field until now the
competition has become about as sharp
as 1t Is in the retail trade. Indeed, the
original catalogue house-none genuine
without our stamp concern-has been
outfooted by n young rival which
struts before the commercial world
with capital stock OF $4,000, 600.