Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-01-19
Alto SHOW SALE
DRAWS THR0NGS
Prosperity Undaunted by
Rise in Price of 1917
Motorcar Models
PURCHASES INCREASE
Average Cost of Pleasure Vehicle
Lower, Due to Vast Output
by Makers

prosnorltv was never reflected more
.,.,rlv than today in the mirror OF Phila-
,.,nhls.s sixteenth automobile show, at the
commercial Museum. Thirty-fourth street
,,,ow Spruce. Higher prices have not
obsoked the flow OF gold which is greater
nan ever before.
The order books OF salesmen are growing
t.t as the end Of the display looms up.
,,rtil Saturday. when the show closes, 1t
vnt be impossible to get n definite idea Of
,nst how much money has changed hands
.lnce tho exhibition opened week ago,
"a aven then the figures will he as wax,
usble to change by thousands in a moment.
ThIs is due to the fact that many sales
ain are in embryonic state.
BUYERS UNDECIDED
prosncctiye owners still are up in the
.ir" undecided on the cars they want.
Tbcir minds are full OF conflicting ideas
and their hands are fun Of rival catalogues.
,rhe general trend Of prices at the show
"a inward Dealers predict that another
twelve months will see individual cars more
srpensiyc THAT is. IL total were made
~ tbe value OF the models produced by
zach manufacturer, the sum would he in
s,cess of the corresponding figure last year.
In spite of this upward trend, the average
urice Of the car, from standpoint Of the
n,,tput. has been decreased. This is ex-
t,lained by the fact that several of tho
larger manufacturers, whose admlnistra-
itlye genius has been turned in the direction
n producing cheap cars have lowered their
nriceg: and with this cut n large per-
rentage of the entire automobile output of
the country was affected.
COMPARATIVELY CHEAP
Although the prices OF the individual
models have mounted upward. dealers point
out that the advance in automobile prices
has not been commensurate With the OK
orbtant cost OF materials or with the high
prices of other products. Automobiles,
comparatively speaking, are not as eNpcn-
slye as for example eggs or flour or shoes
or coal The upward climb Of automobile
nrices has been held i'm check by develop.
meit of efficiency to a high degree in motor.
oar making and by the application Of econ
omy in all it's branches So perfected has
become the art Of making automobiles that
never before did the public receive its
moneys worth of automobiles In such meas
ure as it does today.
The annual display has revealed two
sypes Of statesmen. The one is the aggreS-
slve. insistcut vender of motorcars, who
Nbuttonhocs the man who appears to be on
the fence i'm tho matter of purchasing and
banners arguments ana iactS INTO MS ear
The other Is the conservative, complaccnt
puryeyor. who acts on the principle of the
old German proverb that "guter Vein ver-
kauft sich selbst," which Is literally trans
lated as good wine sells ITSELF and broad
ly interpreted as meaning that if a man
really wants n car, he'll buy this ono be-
cause it Is hood and tenders above the
other cars leXposcd to view. The latter
salesman Is courteous and he is ever ready
to step forward at the psychological Instant
10 clinCh the deal.