The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-08-07
The Art Of L..
]. Advertising
By DWIGHT NORWOOD

- llIlo W = IL IL sun me Il
stock on credit. and I located in a small
town called Mercerville. in the center
Of my field of operations. l advertised
largely in the country newspapers and
%canvassed in a buggy. carrying my
package of the cleaner on the floor be-
hind the seat. My field Of operations
was unfortunate. inasmuch as It
was already occupied by a cleaner
called the Excelsior dirt remover. /
couldn't discover that there was any
Office for the agency of the article in
my district. Indeed. the advertisement
read that by addressing M. E. Tuttle,
box "a. Halmmerton postofice. the re-
mover would be sent for trial.
l found myself up against the Excel
sior dirt remover continually. Wher-
ever l called to sell Broadrib's cleaning
powder l found that they had just re-
ceived a package of the Excelsior re-
mover for trial. and since the article
was satisfactory there was no chance
in that family for mine. I concluded
to kill competition by means of the
newspapers. not by attacking the re-
mover, but by calling attention to
my W goods by ingenious advertise
ments.
My first ad. l was we'll pleased with.
It stated that a woman had put a
number of soiled clothes to soak on
Saturday night and on Monday morn
ing had found them laundered. She
was at a loss to understand how this
had come about till she noticed that q
tear in the paper inclosing Broadrib's
cleaning powder on a shelf above the
clothes had let out some of the con
tents. which had fallen in the wash.
tub.
Every one who met me after seeing
my ad. laughed heartily, and l noticed
at once an increase of sales. But l
0 o saw that the Excelsior agent had
resolved to fight me on my wi ground
The Union County Clarion appeared
with this ad.:
The contract to remove the dirt for the
foundation of the Q schoolhouse has
been awarded to the Excelsior dirt re-
mover
Being in for 1t, l sat down to think
Of a new way of overlapping the Elk.
celsior folks with the following result:
A farmer. having bought a package Of
Broadrib's cleaning powder at Brewerville.
driving homo got stuck in a mudhole
Throwing some of The powder under the
wheels of his wagon. the soil was re-
moved down to smooth bedrock. and the
wheels shons spick and spar in the
sun.
How long this war Of ads. would
have lasted had not my opponent be-
come personal l don't know. The next
ad. that appeared was as follows:
The agent of Broadrib's cleaning pow
der washe his face yesterday. dropping
q little of the powder in the water. The
basin soon became filled with dirt. 1t was
found that some Of the water charged
with this cleaning powder had passed
through the ears and nostrils and washed
out his brain.
Fearing that the campaign would de
generate into mud singing. l resolved
to find the Excelsior agent and gain
his consent to a division Of the terri.
tory. l addressed 4 note. signed with
a fictitious anne. to M. Il. Tuttle.
box "a. HammertOn postofice, stating
that I would like to buy u couple Of
dozen packages Of the Excelsior rem0v.
or and would call at his Office for the
purpose II IN. address were, given.
This brought the street and number.
and l called.
found q little cottage on q side
street. Upon asking for the agent Of
the remover 4 young woman about
twenty years of age entered the Dom
and asked what she could do for me.
she said she was. l told her that !
was the person who wished to buy q
couple Of dozen packages Of her Ex-
celsiOr remover, but feared when I told
her Why l wanted it she would refuse
to sell. She asked what I wanted 1t
for. and 1 told her that l should use
it to remove from that territory the
agent OF the Excelsior article. a. she
was interfering seriously with the sale
Of Broadrib's cleansing powder. which
was handling.
There vas a slight quirking up Of
the corners Of her pretty mouth az
she. replied that it would require a
thousand packages to remove the
agent, but II l cared to buy 70 many
she would sell them to mi at the
wholesale price and with all the dis
counts she had obtained from the own.
ers. asked. her II the thousand pack
ages were her entire stock and II she
would guarantee not to buy any more:
also II there would be enough to re
move the agent to my Office az clerk
and advertisement writer.
"Not II yon propose to store the
Brondrib cleaning powder and the Ex-
celsiOr remover In the same building
she replied.
"Why n0t?'
Together they would eradicate the
ground under the building and It wouM
collapse"
When we spoke seriously learned
that she was trying to support IN ~
valid mother. BY selling the remover,
and ] took myself OF to smother 1eld.