Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1915-12-10
Confessions ST a
Mail Order Man
By Mr.. M. o. K.
Revelations by One Whose Experience in
the Business Covers a Range From
Office Boy to General Manager
HOW WE DIVIDED THE MONEY

The furniture department in our
catalogue was great and immediate
success. The "fake" illustrations
caught the eye Of the people and the
orders poured in with every mail. We
found out that whenever a customer
ordered one article there were always
number of others included with the
first. And the orders were all cash,
of course. | don't remember in those
days that we ever had an inquiry for
credit. They seemed glad to get the
goods by paying the cash and they
seemed to get the money together in
some manner
We were busy. We moved away
from the city where the business was
started and now had a big establish
ment in one Of the biggest of the east
ern cities. Our tiny leaflet of cata-
logue had increased to over fifty pages
| and there seemed to be no limit to our
prosperity.
My work was now almost entirely
connected with the catalogue. I wrote
the descriptions, ordered the illustra-
tiOns made by the wood engravers,
superintended the printing and mail
ing departments and was up to my
collar in work all of the time When
ever anything of Importance arose in
connection with the business l was al
ways called into conference with
and and we settled any question
that arose.
One day l was called in and the
doors were shut and locked There
was something of Importance to be
discussed.
Look here, x, we are going to in
corporate this business" said Y with
peculiar expression in his eyes.
had seen this expression before an6
/ held myself on guard, in readiness
to be very careful of my speech anl
action as l knew l had need of eau
tion. 1t was like the hands up" o.
a highwayman, that look was.
Eyes, we are going to incorporate
and we are going to take you in al
one of the incorporators," supple
mented q.
l held my peace Here was some
thing worth listening to.
Seeing that I asked no question
and was waiting for them to go ahea
they looked at each other until finall
Y said: I'VE are going to incorporat
for one hundred thousand dollars.
He continued to explain, with intel
polations by and an occasional ques
ton by myself until it came abou
that they had decided to make me
present of one thousand dollars of tn
capital stock
Sounds generous, don't it? Well,
didn't to me. We had always dil
cussed the possibility some day {
incorporation and it had always bee
held out to me that l was to have
good slice of the capital stock.
took up the burden of the argumen
explained my viewpoint, recited til
various services l had rendered, I'll
departments l had introduced, the il
provement in the business, ETC., fl
all of which I claimed a good part I
the credit. It was due me, too,
| cause had developed into the hand
/ man about the shop for doing all
4 the hard work
We nearly had row over it.
i was determined that if they did n
] treat me with fairness, that l wou
withdraw and I knew where / cou
interest capital if necessary to sta
another mail order business. In fat
IS I had the capital myself, for by tn
o time was drawing salary of thr
10 thousand year, about $50 per wee
D. and l had saved a good share of D
salary. 1 told them so with all fran
"a ness.
'r 1t resulted in their giving me $3.50
'e of the capital stock and an increa
ID in salary to $4,000 year. Y and
le took each $4,000, which took out Sc
IL 600 of the stock. 1t was decided
N sell out the other $4,000 of stock
par if they had buyer for cash a
Of this sum was to have Is per cel
, The deal was put through and
found myself comparatively ri
man. Later, when the capitalizati
was increased to millions, l got I
share of the increased valuation
a that / have made pretty well out
Is it. Of course in this matter l am G
in ing fictitious fieuras will not o;
any more details now because it wol
ne be too easy for you to guess more, I
st 1t is no part of my plan to tell y
el too much about the interior workin
TO of our organization.
sr- We have figured it all out ma
ELL times just what becomes of your d
er lar that you send in to us with an
an der.
n About one-half of it goes for p
gs ment for the goods ordered. The r
n is divided into dimes and cents
the payment of postage, printi
maintenance of plant, insurance,
flee help, ETC., and last and best of
oa into dividends for the stockholders
re The families of Y and q are n
nd looked upon as merchant prime
ey They have their yachts, their autor
ey biles, their racing stables, their v;
ed. GUS establishments They take th
on annual tours in various parts of
ed world and they live off the best
world can supply. And why?
Because you have sent your doll
to the mail order house, establish
EN- by their fathers many years a
est Each year you send more dollars 6
S. the wealth piles up in the banks.
Ire All because of the clever word
of our catalogue descriptions. All