The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-08-19
LINKS FROM HIS
CHAIN Of MEMORY
4 Veteran in the Jewclry Business
Recalls Stories of Travelling
Statesmen.

Recalls Stories of Travelling
Statesmen.
There is hardly anything that the
average successful veteran OF the war
of commerce would rather do than i've
the old DAYS over in song and story.
And there is hardly anything that
so,ne reporters would rather do than
listen to the songs and the stories. 1t
was of lust such case of reciprocal
5tion" that the following was born
Said the veteran:
"One of the strongest recollections
of nv EARL days in the jeweiry bust
ness is the great admiration l had
for the statesmen who used t2 call at
nay employers store. To me IT seem
ed as il they possessed every desirable
and fascinating quality known 10 man
ITO begin with, they came to our
town from the large cities, where lie
was so much more romantic ana Al
tractive than in the small places IKE
ours. They wore tailor male clothes
and patent leather shoes. Further
more. they always ate in the big no.
tells where, | had heard, a single meal
would sometimes cost as much as a
dollar In addition, they always knew
the latest city slang and bywords,
they could tell about the shows they
had seen in the city theaters, ana
they knew all the streets OF the big
places lust as we'll as | knew those in
my home town.
Usually the statesmen did not pay
much attention to me. for l admired
them silently as I sat at the clock
bench. struggling with the escape
I ments OF alarm clocks or putting IN
plated pinstems. But this only made
me all the more grateful when one OF
them would, occasionally, talk with
me, asking me If had got far enough
along in the trade to be able to put
a handspring in watch, or telifhg
me about some famous youth they
knew who went away TO neurological
school and on his return could 60 all
the stores engraving.
LAS | grew older the knowledge
came to me that 'drummers' We're not
superior beings after all. and that the
draw backs in their profession were as
great, perhaps. as those of any other.
! discovered that jewelry travellers, as
class. must be rather superior to
men who travel with other lines of
merchandise. The nature of the bust
ness requires that jewelry statesmen
must be pretty well educated, in addi-
ton TO being tactful and presenting
an attractive appearance. SO ire
! quently does it happen that the travel
ers are called upon to show articles
! from tHRlT IEUnkS III lIlt Jt"tItl >
customers that they must also be able
to qualify as retail statesmen.
I'm some OF the smaller towns par
! ticularly, where the jeweler does not
! carry large stock, he will have sew
erai customers waiting for a certain
travelling man in order TO make their
+ purchases directly from his trunks.
/ know of a $4,000 sapphire and a
i $1,000 ruby that were sold largely
no of wa, Wall, 40
man. They were indirect sales, to be
sure, for the salesman did not have
the stones with him, but had 1t not
been for his clever work sales or
that size would not have been made in
the town in question
Il have said that the tewelry sales
man must be neat and well dressed.
/ and l know of case where failure
TO be neat gave several people, in
Guiding the salesman an anxious half
hour ! was in the store of a friend
at the time and he was engaged in
buying some loose diamonds from a
salesman. Among the papers gone
over was one containing melee" aver =
Laying about l32d of a carat. When
1t came to weighing UP the contents
OF this paper ii was found to be short.
Thinking that one of the stones
might have dropped out, the jeweler
searched arohnd the top of the show
ease and swept the floor. hut, with 10
results. JuSr at the search was about
to be given UP the traveller himself
diSlodged the missing stone. 1t had
I lodged under one OF his finger nails
which, to give him the benefit OF the
doubt, had apparently been overlooked
by the manicure
Among the things that have i'm
i pressed me in the years | have spent
In the business Is the lack of coop.
Grafton that exists between many oi
the manufacturers and wholesalers
and their statesmen. While both sides
lose out AS a result of it, II is rarely
the fault OF the salesman when any
thing goes wrong Yet 1t is on him
that the retailer picks when any sir
of commission or omission on the part
Of the wholesallng firm results in the
disAp poiptment or loss of n customer
Another thing which has impressed
! me is the carelessness with which
many Wholesale firms treat that i'm
! portant adjunct of modern business
, the mailing list. 1t may seem incred
, ible. but some OF the large concerns
. are actually using lists that are c
dozen or more years old. | know thi.
is so. for in my home city there are
two retail stores whose firm name.
changed about twelve years ago. ye,
;. more than one big wholesale house is
still sending advertising matter tc
them addressed In the old way.
But to get back to my friends
the travelling men, life on the road IL
not all roses, In addition to bad no
tells, poor train accommodations, eve.
there is the grouchy retailer to be me-
with A travelling man told me re
, Gently how he got even with a retailer
of this type,
This man was making some terri.
. tory in which he was not acquainted
, and arriving in a strange town one
afternoon he toted his sample cases
TO the store which stood highest or
his rating sheet. 1t was a deep, mar