The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1921-09-09
Prices in
Plain Figures

mated appears to be not clearly known.
n reason why it was adopted is also
something of a puzzle, although plaus-
lDle solutions are offered About the
only thing regarding It that is at all
definite is that it came into being
Years ago, when it was the custom of
the manufacturers and wholesalers to
build a kind of Chinese wall around
their business and station Il regiment
of soldiers at every gate. In those
days, according to trade veterans,
commercial spying was a high art.
n more than one man had his palm
crossed with silver for posing as a
buyer and thus obtaining price data
OF the competitors of the merchant
who hired him. In those days any
thing approaching the open-price ;,s-
Sociations that had their being here
during the war would have been
looked upon as madness. for then, to
all intents and purposes, every mer-
chant regarded his competitors as per
sonal enemies.
One of the ~favorite codes used in
the early days. it is said, was the ene
based on the old motto, "ln God We
Trust" This had the advantage Of
containing but twelve letters. with no
Implications in the first ten. Thus.
by dropping the final st something
like this was arrived at:
INGOD WE TRU
12345 1890
With this arrangement worked out.
the rest was Easy. If a MAJ were sell
ing %broadcloth at $3.50 a yard. on his
price ticket would appear the more
or less crytic sign @ d u. Were he
selling an ovcrcoat at $37.25, the mark
on the ticket would be G f n d. Some
times the code would be varied by
placing the figure | under the L and
numbering in sequence to the left in
stead of to the right. Thousands of
codes and variations of original ones
have since been devised.
Frequently Abused.
While there seems to be little douht
that the code system was adopted orig
inally as a protective measure. it WAS
not long before it began to be used for
more Interior purposes. What was
there. somebody evidently argued. to
prevent the use of the code to fool
buyers as to the real price: In its
early days. at least. wholesale bust
ness was no more conducted on a
strictly one-price basis than was re-
tail selling. Therefore. not only id
a code price frequently mean differ
ent quotations to different buyers.
but it often meant the minimum fig
ure at which a yard of goods ar a
garment could be sold. The sales
men were permitted to get anything
they could above the figure Indicated
by the code, n rs they were paid
in comparison with what they sold.
they tried to get all the traffic would
bear. That way of doing business pre-
vailed in n Of the biggest wholesale
houses in the country for years, it is
said, and the gentle art of buying
there was rendered more difficult by
the fact that practically every kind
of merchandise sold by the concern
had a different code.
Instances like those noted above
have been paralleled many times. ac-
cording to the buyers heretofore men.
toned. In late years, however, sales
men have had less leeway. If any at
al. In connection with fixing prices.
Because OF this the double-price sys-
tenn to different buyers is worked"
more in the s%alesrooms than on the
road. Also. It is asserted, the prac-
tice referred to IS now very largely
confined to the garment trades In
the hands OF a smooth worker, usual
" q member Of the firm or the So
called general representative, the
cryptic code letters can mean $37. 80
to one buyer and $37.25 to another.
To q really favored buyer It might
mean ever less.