Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1923-03-16
DEATH OF F. w. AVER

LtCIlDCl vi luG OdllluGu NOIIu DdDllSL
Church. Rev. 1. H. Fisher, pastor
of the Wildwood Baptist Church, at
tended the funeral in Camden. An
outgrowth of the advertising business
was the Aver Newspaper Directory, a
book containing a wonderful lot of
information. In a New York news
paper B. C. Forbes writes Of Mr.. Aver
as follows:
A man who, untrumpeted, did much
to make American business and par
ticularly American advertising hon
est and honorable has passed or, F.
Wayland Aver. Just as John Wanna
maker vas more responsible than any
other man for bringing about the one-
price principle in retail merchandise
ing; julius Rosenwald more respon-
sible than any other man for bringing
about honesty in conducting mail
order business; Judge Gary more re-
sponsible than any other man for
bringing about fair-for-all methods in
the steel business, and the late ]. P.
Morgan more responsible than any
other man for bringing about honor
able underwriting methods in high
finance, so Mr.. Aver was more respon-
sible than any other man for bringing
about truth and honor and honesty in
the advertising business.
Not long ago l spent a day or two
with Mr.. Aver at his unique dairy
farm and milk and butter factories in
Eastern New York, where he has,
through many years interested effort,
revolutionized farming and brought
prosperity in place of hardship to all
farmers over a wide area. Mr.. Aver
told me the story of his life-the first
time he had ever lone so he declared.
Here is how Mr.. Aver described to
me his very first introduction to adj
vertising by a publisher in Philadel-
phia:
"He beckoned me to come and look
out of a window. AS he pointed down
to a business street he said with great
conviction: All these houses should
advertise. There is 25 per cent COM
mission in it for you. Why don't you
take up this line of work. 1 thought
the matter over carefully and started
on Monday morning. All through the
first week I didn't get anything that
looked like or smelled like an adver-
tisement, although 1 used up a lot of
shoe leather and spent what was for
me a considerable amount of money
on street carfares and lunches.
cit was disheartening, but 1 made
UP my mind not to become discour-
aged. On the following Monday 1
booked my very first order for an adj
vertisement. 1t was a 5000 order. 1t
paid me $50 commission"
Before he was twenty he made such
a record as a business getter that he
was offered $4,000 a year salary. In
stead, he decided to start an advertis-
ing agency, and Oh April 1, 1859, he
founded the firm of N. W. Aver & Son,
graciously naming the firm for his
father. I'VE began" Mr.. Aver re-
lated reminiscently, Gin offices as
humble as our capital, $780,, occupy
ing one-third of one room. We were
very small toads in the advertising
pond; rather, I should call it adver-
Using puddle, for advertising was
pretty muddy in those pioneer days.
l was floor sweeper, Office boy, mes
senger boy, window cleaner and every
thing else that was beneath the dig
nifty of our one employee, the book
keeper.
Advertising in those days was
looked at askance by reputable bust
ness houses and companies. They
would not, with few exceptions, con-
descend to use it. Advertising then
was used mostly for the promotion of
patent medicines. There was also
some tobacco advertising, including
of snuff. In the rural papers seeds
were advertised and also agricultural
implements. Remember, that was be-
fore the monthly magazine, as we
know it today, was born, and when the
standard form of publication was the
weekly. Daily newspapers then were
not very common.
my dissatisfaction, my disgust with
the tenth rate methods Of the adver-
Using agents was not long in reach
ing a climax, and I decided to make
advertising, as far as I was connected
with it at any rate, as clean and hon.
orable a profession as any in the land.
I definitely decided that if 1 had to
choose between the business of a house
and the respect of a house or a man,
I would carry away the respect rather
than the business every time.
Before the advertising agents were
simply order-chasers, o~rder-takers,
canvassers, solicitors. Their compe-
tition was shot through with trickery.
1t was accounted quite fair, a recog-
nized part of the game, to hoodwink
both publishers and advertisers. And
if any publishers neglected to send in
their bills, well, the agent was that
much ahead. One important agency
head later admitted-rather proudly,
rather than blushingly-that he fig
ured his concern made $50, 900 a veal