El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-09-13

W. ASHINGTON, D. c., Sept 1S.-
! N/ The moving picture has been
/ w recognized for its educational
! value as well as its amusing qualities
for some time, but it Is only recently
! that conservative business men have
been able to recognize in 1t a means
! OF selling articles which heretofore
/ have been almost impossible to have
| properly exhibited. One cannot carry
J acres of land to the homes of prospect
( i've customers nor can the steam shovel
| or large derrick be packed in the
/ salesman's grip to be set up at VIII in
/ the office of a purchaser
| While it has been the custom to in
vite customers to see large machines in
! operation anti to trust largely TO de-
| scriptive literature for selling lands in
| distant locations, the drawbacks of
| these methods have been apparent for
years 1t is not always possible Tor
man to travel u considerable distance
| tc see a large machine in actual opera
! ton and he hesitates to buy from or
I binary photographs and the agents
| highly cOlored descriptions, so the sales
which the manufacturers are SO an1-
ious to make are not always forth-
Exhibit Machinery With Pictures.
The moving picture film is the happy
medium by which all Of these difficult
ties can be overcome and millions OF
dollars worth of machinery viii be sold
through its representations IN the next
year. One OF the 1lrSI corporations 10
. utilize the movies" in this way was
large hoist and derrick company which
had built a line of steam shoVels ana
excaTators which seemed mechanically
perfect in their working The Road
Truck and supply Association OF
America was arranging for big e1-
Inhibition in Chicago and this manuIac-
turing company eagerly seized what
seemed like an ideal opportunity TO
place its machines before prospective
BUYERS Space was rented and ar
rangements completed for setting up
one of the big ditch excavatorS IN the
building and putting 1t through the
motions Of scooping up lmaglnary
earth from an imaginary embankment
and loading il upon an imaginary nat
car. The object was to give the op-
server an idea of the NUMBER OF cuDlc
feet of earth the machine could handle
Bringing the big machine to Chicago
and setting it up in the hall was an
expensive and labOriOuS undertaking,
but it was achieved finally only 10
demonstrate that the effort had Deen
OF comparatively little use The ma
chine was of little use without real olrt
to scoop and really gave no more idea
of its working mechanism than pho-
tOgraph 1t lowered up ike q mon
strous toy, but the salesman mad 10 90
just as much talking to describe 1t as
/ though it were still in the factory.
Then the moving picture idea came to
someone.
A little room was built up IN the
exhibition place, with curtalneo door
to keep out the light ana on 4 screen
was shown the operation of the big
machine by means OF moving pictures
which showed it actually at WOrk upon
an Oklahoma road bed 1t scooped up
the yellow soil. lifted the loads and
placed each neatly upon car beside
it The big shovel then hung mOuon-
less for a few. seconds, as II taking
breath for another exertion. Then
little squirt of white steam shot up, as
if the big monster exhaled deep
breath, and down went its nose INTO
the earth for another load A section
of the track upon which the car STOOD
was picked UP and moved lew teet
further along to keep up with the eN-
Each movement Of the big machine
as thrown upon the screen seemed TO
place the observers in actual contact
with its work. Once snake WrlS5leu
out of a load of dirt and the spectators
I held their breath while the men IN
the picture stopped their work long
enough to kill the reptile and tEen
went on as before This realistic
demonstration of what the steam SNOW
el could do was as effective as II the
entire audience had been Transport .. eu
to Oklahoma where the scenes were re-
ally enacted.
A company which manufactures
farming machinery has found the NOV
ing picture an invaluable salesgetter
This company has several lines OF edu-
cation as to the value of its machinery
each of which is worked out by the PIC
ture film One OF these SHOWS the
process of manufacturing the machlne,
how it is put together and its advan-
tages over others of similar type An
other shows the machinery in actual
operation in broad fields, harvesting
rich grain or preparing land for some
new crop. as the case may be-
Another company manufactures Drlck
setting machinery, sand dryers, SAND
line brick and cement machinery or
special kinds which are beyond the
capacity of the ordinary brick manu-
factory. This firm has for several
years been using moving pictures TO
demonstrate its products 10 Its scat
tered customers. Films are prepared
which can be carried into the private
office of a manufacturer by the sales
man and if necessary they can De
flee, though a screen produces better
Appeal to Purchasers.
There are two distinct classes to be
reached by the moving picture demon
stration. One is composed OF individual
spectators who are interested IN the
purchase of some large machinery
which may represent hundreds OF
thousands of dollars and must there
fore be shown up to the best advan-
tage. For this class it usually is con-
Sidered better to rent local theater
for a couple of hours in the morning,
at the pleasure of the one man or the
board Of directors of the company IN
terested. After a rehearsal, the local
operator and the exhibitor can put the
films upon the screen, leaving the
represents tive interested in the sale or
pective customers and make any
further explanation necessary. The
films have been carefully taken so
that every joint in the big machine IS
brought to eye range and the pictures
may be held or repeated, allowing for
a thorough inspection
If it is to be a general exhibition
designed for educating the public re-
garding the merits of some particular
article the procedure is somewhat diff
ferent Before it is given, local rep
resentative has been at work advertls-
ing il in some way. As free shows are
not appreciated to any extent the tick
cts of admission are distributed IN
some way and wherever possible the
names of those who attend are secured
A general exhibition may be made a
feature of any large gathering If 1t
shows up an article of popular interest.
For instance, a moving picture show or
q large canning house, showing all the
processes in use before the finished
products OF canned goods or pickles are
placed on sale is a popular feature or
a pure food show, especially II a 1eW
samples or tastes are provided.
From Derricks to Stove Polish.
There is nothing, from a travelling
crane to a box of stove polish, which
may not be sold by moving pictures II
properly operated. A certain borax
cOmpany during the past two ye@rS