The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-09-23
Its Unique Advertising Cam
paign Demonstrates Its
Faith In The Business
Jo,ernment Statistics Show
That It Does a Business in
Shoes Of More Than Eleven
Million Dollars Yearly.

About fifteen a ago Lynchburr
~iUassurated her first general publicity
ampaign of advertising, which was
$50 bold, so unique and aggressive hat
~ both surprised and startled the mer-
chants and manufacturers in other
southern cities. While Lynchburg
dad been doing some jobbing business
Cor several years., h was little known
aS Il distributing point outside Of a
Nunited and restricted territory. but
Her merchants and manufacturers fol-
lowed up this campaign by sending
'heir statesmen into new territories,
and soon Lynchburg was recognized
a. n of the largest distributing
points in the South.
This advertising campaign was the
result OF a getting together movement.
Manufacturers and jobbers in all lines
cot together and contributed TO this
general fund, which was used in adj
Acrtislng ~Lynchburg as a great dis
~tributing point, and the results of this
campaign were immediate and in
some respects phenomenal, and now
The shoe industry of Lynchburg has
commenced a similar but larger and
more effective advertising campaign.
The growth Of the shoe industry Of
iynchburg has been so marvellous
Va IA SVh-
corning this industry makes these ad-
lertisementS extremely interesting to
The merchants Of the South, who, Of
course, knew of Lynchburg as a shoe
market, but who have not kept up
with its wonderful progress and
few people in the South realize that
: Lynchburg, known principally hereto
fore as a tobacco market, distributes
more shoes than Baltimore, Philadel-
srhia, New YOrk and many other cities
If twenty times its population. and the
Southern people especially will be sur
Drised to learn that Lynchburg dis
Ind fifty cities In this country with
more than twice It's population.
To those Of us who imagined thai
lanchburg was dependent upon to.
hacco, the statement in these adver.
t'sements that one out of five persons
men, m and children, in Lynch
burg are dependent upon the shoe in
'!listry Will come as a surprise. W.
could hardly believe hat in the man,
uiacture Of mems fine shoes Lynch
purg has shown an increase Of ove
z 600 per cent from 1899 to 1909 haf
these figures not been quoted in thes'
advertisements as coming from tn,
Government Census Report, and ha
come Lynchburger made the state
mcnt that the wholesale shoe bushes
which was begun in ~Lynchburg il
1878 with n concern n Onl
amounted to half a million dollars il
1888 had in ten years grown to w an
n half million, and I'm twenty-thre
Years to more than eleven million do
lars. you might not believe it, bu
when this statement is quoted as com
ing from the National Shoe Who'll
Saiers' Association Monthly Bulletir
20 leaves no room for doubt.
These advertisements prove tha
facts are stranger and more startlin
than fiction. Twenty-three- years az
%Lynchburg had one wholesale she
house with three statesmen, while til
latter part of las year more than tW
hundred shoe statesmen left Lyncf
hurS with twenty carloads OF She
samples. These statesmen took ava
from Lynchburg a thousand samp
trunks containing more than 10000
samples OF Lynchburg shoes. While,
purse, a great many of the meschan
81 he South know that Lynchburg
quite a large shoe market. who WOu-
nave thought that Its shipments
shoes for a single month were sun
.clent to tax the capacity of a frelgl
some of the facts set forth in the
unique, attractive and striking adve
tlsements, and the merchants al
manufacturers in all OF our SOuthe1
cities should learn a lesson from tn
advertising campaign. If these stat
ments strike you az interesting M
some respects startling, II they op'
your eyes and impress upon y
t%nchburg's wonderful growth In tt
particular industry, doesn't it occur
You that Raleigh and other Southe
cities have some Wnf
should be exploited in the same ma
ner? This. cooperative general pu
'icty shoe campaign should be an Q
lect lesson to merchants n manuIa
turers of every Southern city.