Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-08-11
LED PENCIL
TOLD OF BY Mr.. HASKIN
Daily Letter by Frederic j. Haskin

NEW YORK CITY, Aug III A
slap on the back and a cheap cigar
used to be the formula for establish
ing good fellowship in politics and
business. Now it's more apt to be
done with a smile and a lead pen
Gil. The cheap cigar is certainly a
defunct means of cementing friend
ship. As to the rise of the lead PEN
Gil, listen to the story of c. H. Dun
ming, n of those business men with
an idea.
More than eighteen years ago, this
young man spent some time consid-
ering the place OF the lead pencil in
a busy world. He was a hustling
young advertising man with a num-
Der of irons IN the fire, and n of
the propositions that interested him
was the pencil business.
There's only one objection to
selling pencils" he said to himself
with a smile. Its so reminiscent
of beggars on the street corners
and they don't really sell their
wares. They sell sympathy"
The casual thought that the pen
ellis were not sold led to the reflec-
ton that there are three things that
every one is careless about asking
for and still more careless about re-
turning. The three things are a
match, lead pencil, and a cigarette.
A person who would be punctilious
about returning a penny borrowed to
put in a slot machine will walk off
with a borrowed pencil and never
think anything about 1t. Thus PEN
ellis travel about from one owner to
another. They are lost and picked
up, but they are never thrown away
until they are worn down to stubs.
This train of thought naturally led
the advertising man to the conclu-
sion that a pencil should be great
advertising material. wouldn't a
salesman who handed out a usefp
article with the firms name or 1t
make a better impression than If he
merely dispensed stale jokes and
barney? The thinker decided that
he would and that was the begin
ming of the advertising pencil.
Now, Mr.. Dunning sells more than
a million pencils a week, and every
one of them sooner or later goes out
into the world with some kind Of a
goodwill advertisement on It.. Other
men add to the worlds supply of
advertising pencils. but he stands
out as an intensive specialist. He
has probably spent more time de-
vislng unusual careers for a common
article than any other human be-
ing in our advertising age.
Started With An Invention
Mr.. Dunning started his business
with the idea of providing other peo-
pie with Independent work. First, he
/ f,1ya.NAA n waanhtTa xyh4aI mould
print on the round surface of a pen
Gil, and then he began to sell these
machines and supplies for printing
The big pencil manufacturers sold
their wares only in large quantities
He knew that the men he would deal
with would be able to handle only
small orders and could not wait for
them. He borrowed $500 and bought
enough stock from one company sc
that he could fill small orders, and
I'LL them or the day they were re
ceived.
Then he began to work out car.
GERS for his pencils. He did nj
printing himself. The men who
went INTO business with the supplie'
did that. But he gave suggestions
and soon pencils were doing unheart
of things.
A pencil advertising man WOulC
go to a tailor and suggest to hin
that It would be a good stunt to pu'
a blue pencil in the vest pocket o.
every suit cleaned. Lumber yards
were interested in giving flat car
penter's pencils, suitably emblaZonef
with an advertisement of their firm
to their carpenter customers. A
schedule of local baseball games fol
the season printed on the side of
pencil was another device which
proved popular.
The possibilities of making thu
pencil serve two purposes are end
less, Mr.. Dunning has found. Brok
en- or partly defective goods suggest
ed the idea of cutting these pencil
in half and having them sold for us
by golfers.
Thus an ~enterprising advertising
pencil mar goes to see an official o
a firm and finds that the prosperity,
customer doesn't want to pay 70
| that kind of publicity.
Play golf?" inquiries the salesman
casually.
, Eyes" the business man very like
ly responds.
How about having some shor
pencils printed with you club
name and donating them to tn