The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1918-03-09
PICTURES ARE NOT
ALWAYS TRUTHFUL
Some Mail Order Houses Fine
Them Very Useful in Their
Business.
CAN DOCTOR PHOTOGRAPH
Concerns Can Give Wrong Imprcs
sions With Illustrations While
Sticking to Truth in
Descriptions.


| Copyright 1917. Western Newspaper Union
Figures never lic," If has been
| claimed. but this Is far from the
truth. The defaultcr who has doc.
| tored' his books in such u WAY Tint hc
| has escaped detection for years. Knows
| that figures can be made to lie The
| shrewd politician. who knows how TO
| juggle statistics. knows that they Gun
| be made to tell story that is far from
| the truth
But there is another medium Of cx-
preston which is also supposed Ia bc
sticlSer for truth, but which is u
greater prevaricator than figures.
That Is picture. A picture of uny
person or thing, supposedly, is an cN-
act reproduction of the original. but
this is frequently only wild suppo.
sition. The photographer who did not
make his picture tell little fiji now
and then would soon so out of bust
ness from lack of patronage.
Pictures Better Than Words.
Pictures have come to occupy n very
important place in the life of the world
In recent years. 1t has been said that
for newspaper purposes u picture
which tells its story strkingly is worth
more than columns of written words
on the same subject. Newspapers and
magazines have realized the truth Of
this fact and as result pictures are
used profusely in illustrating the news
and fiction OF the day
No one has been quicker to realize
the possibilities of the picture when
properly-or ii might be said improp-
crly-used. than the mail order man
He has realized that picture will
do more to sell his kind Of merchan-
disc than column of words and fir
ures. One reason for this is that It
Is harder to catch picture in lie
than 1t is printed words and figures.
For instance, If you sell q man n table
on the strength of printed statement
that II is 4S inches wide and If when
the table reaches the customer it Is
only SO inches wide. the customer not
only has a moral right to kick. but
he has legal right to accuse the sell
err of obtaining money under false pre-
lenses. However. If the customer
buys a table which looks in q picture
to be AZ inches wide, but which proves
upon It's arrival to be only &c inches
wide, he has no legal grounds upon
which to base a complaint if the sell
er has not told him in so many words
that the table was 4S Inches wide.
Stick to Truth in Figures.
Some INSCRIPTIONS mail order
houses have taken advantage of this
selling power of pictures in q very in
genious way. They adhere strictly to
the truth In the actual measurements
given In their catalogues of the arti-
cles which they have to sell. They
may employ descriptions which exag-
gerate the qualities and appearances
of the articles offered, but when II
comes down to actual measurements
the descriptions given are technically
correct. Then these concerns rely upon
their pictures to sell the merchandise,
realizing that a picture. will make
far deeper impression upon the mind
of the prospective buyer than the act
ual figures given. A picture Of wide.
roomy bed will attract the eye and
the reader probably will not stop to
measure off the width of the bed as it
Is described in the catalogue to see
whether it Is us wide rs desired Fig
ures, in the abstract, mean little to the
average reader and do not conveys the
impression that Is given in the pic
ture.
A former manager of mail order
house tells how his concern manipu-
lated pictures ip this way to suit It's
purposes. 1t had pictures of it's
chairs retouched so that the legs
seemed to be an inch and half In iii
ameter, when they were really less
than an inch. 1t made narrow beds
appear In the picture to be wide and
comfortable. Posts of iron beds that
were really an inch in diameter were
made to appear as If they were three
inches In thickness. These things are
easy for any competent artist to do.
Patrons Had NO Recourse.
This concern, however, adhered rig
idly to the truth In the measurements
included in the descriptions. Custom
ers who found, when they received
their goods, that they were not what
they expected. could kick, but It would
do them no good. The mail order
house could show that It had set forth
the measurements truthfulty in cata-
logues, and there was no recourse for
the customer.
There Is no question but. that pic /
lures will lie, sometimes without any /
and the person who buys
an article of merchandise from pie I
ture Is taking big chances, even though
the picture is not Intentionally altered
to give wrong impression. Any anna [
teur photographer knows from expert /
ence how the camera often will give (
a wrong idea of proportions.
The only safe method Is to buy from |
the local merchant where one sees the
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