The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1913-02-28
The
Ad. Writer
BY OSCAR o

A young man entered the business
Office of Perkins & Young, book pub
fishers, and asked for the member of
! the firm who attended to the advertis-
ing.
There isn't any such man." was the
reply. "We don't advertise. I'm the
head Of the firm"
Don't advertiser" exclaimed the
caller, with real or feigned astonish-
ment. "IIow do you get business
without advertising?"
I'VE use solicitors"
"And find them valuableT"
Eyes, we do-sometimes."
Suppose I can prove to you that you
could sell several times as many of q
certain book by advertising as through
your solicitors?"
I'm that cast you would make a reg
ular customer of us. But I've paid for
too many experiments in advertising
already. I don't a r to spend any
thing more in that line"
"But suppose the experiment costs
you nothing"
you can experiment all you like on
that basis"
every good. What book will you let
me experiment on?"
1--WE have just issued Perkins &
Young's Handy Cyclopedia. You can
try your experiment on that If you
like"
The young man thanked Mr.. Per
kins for the order with as much i'm
pressment as If he were to be paid a
thousand dollars for it and withdrew.
One morning a week later the pub
Usher on entering his office noticed
that his mail was unusually large. Be-
ginning at the top Of a pile a foot high,
he took down an envelope, opened 1t
and drew out a letter to which was
pinned an advertisement cut from il
newspaper. He began to read the let
ter, which was as follows:
1 have read with establishment the in
closed notice of YOU Handy Cyclopedta.
What must the books be that are advei-
tised with so much ignorance?
This is the adj:
Our Handy Cyclopedia is now ready. In
it's makeup we have employed writer's
with first class regulations In the SUBJECTS
on which they write. Admiral Peary
writes the article on the south pole. Sir
Ernest Shackleton the one OH the north
pole. That the work is up to date is evil
dent from the fact that the article on
war is by Charles Dickens and that on
the worlds navies by Alfred Tennyson.'
The letter continued as follows:
What unblushing impudence in a pub
Usher to get out a cyclopedia containing
such abomnable blunders! Inquiry will
teach you that Admiral Peary is fitted to
write about the north instead OF the south
pole and Sir Ernest Shackleton about the
south instead Of the north pole. To prove
your work up to date you say that Charles
Dickens wrote the article on wal and AL
fred Tennyson thai on navies. Almost
any chronological table will inform you
that both these gentlemen died during the
last century. I am curious to know what
you mean by announcing articles by these
men. who shone in a different field from
that Of the army or navy. Please send
me a copy of the work for inspection. 1t
is something wrong with your ad-
vertisement and l find the work satisfac-
July ! WALL OAuSA . BOY = DS"ho
of the committee or purchasing books for
our university library.
Three-quarters of the letters cOnstt-
tuting the pile before Mr.. Perkins were
from persons calling his attention to
the blundels contained in his adver-
tisement. Some were f%acetious, some
ironical and some abusive. Nearly all
contained an element Of curiosity, es-
pecially those from persons who took
the ground that there had been some
mistake. In one of the letters the
writer said: "Give me the name of that
ignoramus who wrote the ad. for your
cyclopedia. l want him." +.
When Mr.. Perkins had gone through
the letters commenting on his ad. he
divided them into piles, the largest
pile being from professors and school,
teachers, the next largest pile from
librarians, then professional men, With
q very large number scattering. There
were 1852 from persons who either gave
a definite order to send the work or
limited that they would like to see
a cyclopedia with such funny blum
ders" in it. There were twenty-five
orders from persons, conditional on its
being g. humorous work, and a great
many suggestions that It be given
some such title as the Amusing Cyclic
pedia.
When MI. Perkins had turned over
the orders to the proper person he look
ed for the card the solicitor had hand
ed him, finding 1t in a drawer Of his
desk. There being a telephone num-
Der on the card, he called up the young
man, asked him IL 1t would be on
venient for him to call, and in ten
minutes the advertisement writer was
in his Office.
9" suppose" said the publisher.
''that you wrote that ad. Of our cy.
clopedia without looking up any infor-
nation. You certainly couldn't have
written it from the work itself. It's
a pity you hadn't received an educa-
ton. You wouldn't have had to blum
der into q good thing. What kind of
an education did you get anyway
"I'm a graduate of Princeton"
1.-THE dickens you say! What's that
old fashioned key you wear. N your