The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1915-04-16

ort ICY for q department that
wound suit the v...ccntele OF the store,
that h., would have TO buy and ii:sstail
fixtures. coach the salespeopie, buy the
toys and have them in position by the
opening day.
In this predicameet Mr. FEEDER found
what every business n,.en nnds some
times in his life-and usial,' at crit
zeal time, too-that friends ase the
best asset business man can have.
He knew and had friends among the
trade" They knew that II he said
q thing he meant IL and they were
anxious to see him make good in. his
new responsibility. At first when he
asked the wholesale men to let him
have certain toys before the end of
October they declined. 1t was, as they
believed. an utter impossibility. Then
by skillful management they let him
have a few of the toys ordered by
other buyers who had not stipulated
for immediate delivery. BY stretching
a point here and there, they were then
able to fill the orders later and still
accommodate Mr.. FEEDER without put.
ting other buyers to inconvenience
All during October Mr.. FEEDER worked
night and day, and when the new
store opened no one of the many pa
irons who came to inspect the new
department dreamed that the finishing
touches had been put on just a mo-
ment before the curtain rose.
Mr.. FEEDER began his career as an
errand boy. He was a New Yorker
by birth, and when he had finished the
public schools his family wanted him
to go to college; but the youngster
knew somehow better than his elders
that there was great deal more for
him to learn in the business of the
great city than there was within the
| walls of college. So he took one
of the first positions that offered itself
in wholesale toy store as an
errand boy, at S. week.
Gets Hints From His Daughter.
While the department store buyer
has one eye on the figures-and thinks
| half his time Of the way to buy the
best possible toys in the cheapest
| pOoolDiO mai hCI bO db " hiahC IhO ny
department as lucrative for his en-
ployer as possible-he has to keep
another eye on childhood.
Several years ago the different toy
departments in the big cities made
point of selling dollar dolls" and it
was up to every toy buyer to produce
the most effective doll that it was
possible to produce for dollar.
| Mr.. FEEDER has a daughter of his
own whose childish lispings have on
more than one occasion given him val
liable hints on the subject of toys. The
l,tt,c daughter is named Henrietta
Evelyn. One day. Mr.. FEEDER was put
ting some of his expert thought on
the subject of the dollar doll-a propo-
sition which would mean many thou
sands of dollars to his firm. 1t sud
denly occurred to him that 1t would
be a good idea to give his dollar doll
special name; and in honor of his
little daughter he called it the Henri
eta" doll. Later, when he wanted to
launch another sort of dollar doll, he
called it the Baby Evelyn" 1t
seemed like simple enough idea, but
1
it was a good one, and the sales on
the dolls were increased enormously
as soon as they had name. Within
few months other department stores
took up the idea until the market was
flooded with Baby Mauds and Baby
Helens and Baby Margarets. But the
few weeks Mr.. FEEDER gained on his
competitors meant just SO much more
in the pockets of his employers.
Next time you go into a big toy de-
partment, as you pass from counter
to counter, examining the little per-
fectly shaped toy animals, pigs few
inches long covered with real bristles,
tiny chickens with real feathers, dolls
that walk and talk and wink, automo-
biles that really go and Noah's arks
that would have made you as a child
dance with joy-stop and think that
it Is because of the thought of some
such man as Mr.. FEEDER that all these
things are brought to your door. 1t
is because some man with brains
enough to be a college president and
shrewdness enough to be high finan-
cier and with all the imagination of
childhood is devoting his time and en-
ergies to buying toys and organizing
toy departments. that your children
have toys brought from the four quar-
ters of the earth to choose from.