Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1916-08-17


Houses Excel the World-Where 10
the Doubling Thomas Who Does Not
Remember the Sight Unseen
Trades Of Boyhood Dsysf
tCopyrighted. 1914 by Thomas j. Sullivan.l
or all the evil spirits abroad In the
land deception Is the most dangerous.
II Is the first and worst OF all frauds.
Exaggeration is blood relative TO
falsehood and nearly as blamable.
Some men and some business concerns
can never state an ordinary fact In
ordinary terms. All their geese are
swans till you see them.
There is no strength in exaggeration.
Even the truth is weakened by being
expressed too strongly.
A Gaping Monster.
Mankind in the gross is gaping
monster that loves to be deceived and
has seldom been disappointed. They
say that idiots only may be cozened
twice, but how about the mail order
buyers? How often are they deceived
by the large catalogue houses?
In the art Of deception the great
mail order houses excel the world. In
their greed for gain and rush TO vic
timize the poor and unsuspectng they
paint their pictures OF alleged bargains
too alluringly They instill confidence
In the mind of the buyer. only later
to al his heart with doubt and dis
gust.
Who does not remember the sight
unseen trades or swaps" OF boyhood
days? One OF the parties in the trans
action usually got the worst of It,.
didn't he? And as rule 1t wasn't
the one who proposed the deal, was itf
There is a lot OF the same sort OF
sight unseen" trading going on to-
day, only nowadays IL is called mer-
chandlsing by mail.
Catalogues Look Inviting.
The illustra tons In the catalogues OF
the retail mail order houses look invit-
ing. The reading matter sounds nice.
and sometimes the deal turns out all
right
But. even supposing IL does. where
in is the buyer any better on than II
he bought from the home merchant!
Take any article you choose from the
long list OF things sold by mail and
you will find upon investigation that
you can buy it just as cheaply and
lust as well at home. The expense OF
selling it by mall is just as great as
the expense OF selling II over the coun-
ter.
Your local merchants have rent. tax
es, clerk hire. etc. 10 pay, and the
mail order houses have the same ex-
penses, only rent and taxes are higher
IN the large cities than in the country
town. And. In addition. they have to
maintain a small army OF bookkeepers
stenographers. shipping clerks and 9th
er employees. besides the immense cost
OF advertising.
How many OF the rural consumers
know that advertising appearing In
what are known as mail order advertis
ing mediums costs from $40 to $50 ar
inch In single columnsi Ii Is true new
ertheless. Where does the enOrmou:
profit come from out OF which these
enormous bills are paid? Out OF tho
pockets OF the consumers.
Would Welcome Such Bargains.
The city people would go wild will
JOY IL these mail order houses actual
| ly had values with style and quality
! They would not need 10 leave thei
own large cities to sell at the price
! they quote as The city people woui'
swoop down upon their bargains lik
hungry hen hawks on green goslings
But with style and value lacking the.
DO not dare show their goods In To
| city where the prospective customer
would have the opportunity OF com
parison. but by cleverly worded an
exaggerated description they make tn
country people believe they are Offer
ing more desirable wares than th
country merchant carries and at les
price. and having 10 opportunity 10
comparison before buying. many pee
pie naturally are duped
Everybody knows the picture Of
FIVE dollar suit Of clothes looks as goo
ms the picture OF twenty dollar suit
The description reads well. The sui
seems 10 be what YOU want.
DID, tko paoorI a,1 Trada az Ham,