New Britain herald., 1915-01-28


 mercantile anu inuuStrial SIJuatlon were pointed out last night by Major |. F. O'heete, presluenl of ,ne EIl- grim Publicity t,ssOtlatlUn of Doston, lnt speaker at the quarterly mem- bersnlp meeting uf the New Britain Chamber of Commerce.
 MaJOr O'keeIe was particularly em- pnarlc in hls crltlcSm or the at U,ude Of the retail merchants toward advertising and ne prophesled a rude ,awakening if the mercnants did not wake up. Your retail stores,' he salu, nave no conception of adver- uslng in the local newspapers Some day Dig department store will be opened ill New Britain and then you Will wonder why you did not wake up.' MT. O'Keefe suggested five per cent. as fair proportion of the total business of d store to be invested in ad cruising.
 The weak spot in the line of the city progress, he said, appears to lie in the fact, that the Yankee genius of her people has been so busily oc- cupied lnventing and manufacturing g everything from suspender buckles to printing presses, and selling goods in every market, that they have forgotten to keep an eye on New Britain. I have heard complaints of the local trade sltuation-that New Britain buys in Hartford instead of at home.
 Just what are your merchants do- ing to remedy that evil? Judged by the amount of advertising carried in your local papers, practically noth- ing. You can never hope to beat the other fellow whether in business or sport, by doing no more than he Hartford merchants are taking as much advertising space in your local papers as your own merchants. A two column advertisement that costs less than five dollars, does not seem to me to represent a very strong bid for customers to the annual sale of one of your leading dry goods houses; yet that is the limit of it's appeal in a local paper last week. Brockton and dozens of other cities might be cited where concerns of the same rel atve size as your local dealers would take a full page at three times your local advertising rate to make sim liar announcement If you adver- tise at all, you must make it say something, say it loud, and make it clear.
 This matter of local trade is, how ever, nothing more than an incident in the growth of New Britain; and, now that it will be taken up by your new Chamber of Commerce. a decided improvement may be looked for in the near future. While the local trade of New Britain may be in creased through Buy in New Brit ain' campaign, her businessmen should not overlook the fact that an increase in the citys manufa curing industries will mean additional wage earners and a corresponding increase of trade.'
 Major O'Keefe's criticisms were mixed with considera ble praise for New Britain and he made many val uable suggestions for the development of the foreign as we'll as domestic trade of the manufa cturers He said:
 City's Name Should Be Known.
 The most striking thing in connec- ton with your city is to my mind, the fact that although New Britain is the leading builders hardware manufacturing center of the world, it is not generally known as such out side of the trade. You can hardly touch a piece of metal Tn your homes, whether it be a lock, a door hinge, clothes hook letter. box, an article of able cutlery, a pocket knife, or any one of the hundred and one things classed as household specialties with out meeting a New Britain product; yet there is absolutely no suggestion of New Britain called up in your mind through that contact. Have you ever stopped to think of the tremendous indirect advertising power that lies back of the national fame of Lynn, Brockton and Haverhll as the cities of shoes?
 New Britain shelters the largest cutlery factory in the world, makes seventy per cent. of the country's product of hinges, 5000 different kinds being turned out in one factory alone. She leads in the manufacture of household specialties, and turns out the finest carpenters tools, peck ct I knives, rcarvers, and table cutlery in the world. She holds more patents in proportion to population than any city in the country. The product of her industries in every line is recOg i niZed as the standards of quality throughout the world. In view of ! her amazing achievement, isn't it re- 1 markable to say the least that the i words hardware and "cutlerE' have
 not become synonymous With New 1 Britain. just as surely as collars and 1 cuffs mean Troy N. Y, or breakfast l food stands for Battle Creek, auto 1 mobiles for Detroit. cameras for 1 Rochester. and shoes for Lynn or 1 Brockton?