New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-29
Advertising Forum
Makes Shopping Safe
In Minneapolis
and was referred to the Truth-in-Ad-

and was reIerIeu W 1HS
vertising Bureau.
"Can you do anything for us' nc
inquired of Attorney Neumeier.
"If we can't" returned Mr.. Neu-
meier, this bureau might as well go
out of business
He called at THE Leader" stated the
case and asked the manager what ne
proposed to do. The manager aidh
propose to do anything. lie WASH IN
terested. He knew nothing OF the
Town Criers and cared less. He was
running his own business-and so on
With great particularly MI Neumeier
explained the objects OF the bureau
and closed with the reading Oh the
Minnesota statute on false adVerisinS,
which is practically the Prlnters inh
model statute. At the close OF the
reading the manager hastened 70 nts
money drawer and made the retuno.
Some time later the farmer called a'
the bureau.
five miles Of US" said he, that aoesh
known now that St. Paul Is saIe pace
to shop and that your club maze IL 3D.
NV wife has seen to that. i,
Great is the advertising power OF
woman's tongue!
On nv visit to st. Paul, on the site
Of the old Leader, now extinct, shop
calling itself "The New Leader" chal-
lenped my attention by the ex-
travagance Of its value claims. Among
them noted an offer of GENUINE
Panama Sample Hats, values to S5;oV,
at sl.95." With Mr.. Neumeier | called
at the shop and examined the Panama
exhibition. What those hats could
have been samples Of, unless of the ell,
fects of high explosives on straw l
don't know. They were the saddest
looking lot OF wreckage | have ever
seen offered as headgear. On one !
counted four damages" any one OF
which was sufficient to put the hat IN
the class of Seconds" or worse. Yet
there was no information either by
placard or from the salesman that the
goods were not in sound condition. The
"sample" selected and purchased had
hole punched in the crown ard clumslly
patched up. A reputable hat dealer to
whom it was shown declined to put
value on it, merely remarking that no
store which respected its trade would
sell such an article even for second"
as the patched place would become
frazzled when the hat was cleaned. ouo-
seauently THE New Leader" on COM
plant being made to the management
refunded the money and inserted IN It's
advertising the words seconds, slight
imperfections, hardly noticeable from
which I infer that they have an extern
sive trade among the blind. 1t is
fair guess that the Truth-in-Advertis-
ing Bureau will have further expert
ences with "The New Leader"
;nf "a racOrd the TRUTH
in-Advertising Bureau has already en-
countered one of the largest concerns
in the country and has shown clearly
in its report that il is not to be blufed
by size and commercial Importance. AT
tie outset the matter Sc lme1 to be one
merely of deceptive advertising on the
part of a department store, the En-
porium. 1.-TWO hundred trimmed hats
Values SIS and S6-Leghorns, White
Milans. Hemps and Tuscans. Your
choice tomorrow, s1.75," was the offer
which was complained of by a custom
err who had been unable to get Leg
horn at the specified price. A Bureau
investigator, sent to purchase Leg
horn, failed to get one. She returned,
and this time Java was sold her for
Leghorn. In the hat was a tag marked
sl.9s, which seemed curious marking
for a "value SIS" Cor So hat. To get
further evidence another purchaser was
sent, who reported that no Leghorns
were 70 be had at the advertised price
and that other hats on the 50 and 50
"yalue" counter bore the Sl.98 tag.
The Emporium advertising manager
was asked to explain. He emphaticslly
repudiated responsibility for the ad-
vertising, stating that he had no au-
thority over it, as the millinery depart
ment was leased to and operated by
Stronge G. Warner, one Of the largest
wholesale millinery concerns in the
country. Messrs. Mcleod, owners OF
the Emporium, frankly backed up the
Bureaus opinion that nothing under a
IS value should have been sold under
the advertisement and that the $l.98
tagged hat did not come within this
category.
So an official of the Bureau called on
Mr.. Joseph Stronge, Of Stronge E. War
ner. Mr.. Stronge's original attitude
on the matter appeared to be that he
was pioneer Of the truth in adver-
Using campaign in this country, that
his firms reputation was beyond cavil
and that this ought to be enough--all
of which filled the ear, but not the bill.
The vigilance man stuck TO the point
Of Leghorn hats for Leghorn ads.
Changing his ground, Mr.. Stronge said
that Tho trnuhla uaq marplv ignorance