Evening star., 1928-10-07
SECRET OF AMERICAN
PROSPERITY REVEALED
Creation of New Demands by People
Increases Mass Production, and
This Cycle Plays Big Part.
BY J. GEORGE FREDERICK,

great principle involved in tn
technique of modern industrial
ism which is necessary to round ait out
Mass production is but one leg-th
c+her is mass consumption. To keel
eur remarkable quantity producing au
tomato mills going and their employe
st work at high wages their produc
r1rso BE- bought and consumed to tn
full.
So simple an equation hes, of course
heen realized in general, but not in par
tk-lIar The technique of production
far more perfected than the technique
Of consumption. We are only in tn
process of learning about consumption
and progressive obSolescance is the nov
principle which Is pointing the way Il
the solution of a riddle which has Ion,
plagued business-the riddle of how
more people may be enabled to bu,
more goods and thus utilize our vas
production capacity, which at present il
20 to 100 per cent above consumption.
There are now many thousands o
business men in America who arr
thinking in terms of consumption a;
well as production. They are intelli
gently searching for the social end psy
Geological key to greater purchasing
power by the masses.
Progressive Obso!cScence.
Progressive obsolescence is no sud
denly conceived panacea evolving out
of some brilliant" mind 1t is-like
many another vital ciple-distilled
cut of what has already demonstrated
itself in practice without its full signif-
canoe being noted, as it is now sud-
denly being noted.
What is progressive obSolescence?
The most graphic answer is simply to
point to it in gorgeous operation-in
the automobile and radio fields. When
you see man automatically each year
'trading in" his automobile or radio set
and buying new model you see a per-
feet example of progressive obsolcscence
We are so used to 1t in these fields that
We do not realize that 1t Is positively
revolutionary general purchasing prin-
Gip!e-eXcept in the style clothing field,
where, of course, it is also the rule
The idea of buying something On the
principle not of getting the last ounce
OF wear but of satisfying a desire to
Gwn the most up-to-date and efficient
goods or to satisfy desire for change
in color, design or form has not been
applied to the whole field of merchan-
disc. Il was familiar in clothes among
the well-to-do, bat the automobile in
6ustry. with its genius and verve, ap-
propTiated the principle and as a result
has shot past one so-called "Saturation
point" after another to the marvel-and
prof1t--of everybody.
Net Worth of an AUTO.
Finally, this principle brought even
Ford to his knees in obeiSance So fast
Is it working that, according to Statis-
tics recently compiled. the average net
worth of an automobile the day after
purchase is now only 36 per cent of its
purchase price new This figure was As
per cent in 1925 and 81 per cent In
1923. Our automobile wizards have
brilliantly built up their industry with
progressive obsolescence until it pays
tl1e highest wage rate per hour OF all
major industries and is one of the key
stones of general business prosperity
throughout the world as well as in
America. And this in the face of the
fact that good roads and technical
progress have recently increased the
average life of an automobile to eight
years instead of seven. fkk
The men who buy new cars every
year or so are, of course. not counted
II the millions-only in the thousands.
The truly significant thing is that the
secondhand cars are passed down from
one social level to another (until even
the hobo travels in a car in its last
stages of asthma). Each man on each
successfully low level of income who
tuys one has stepped up his standard of
Irving, the purchasing power of his
dollar.
That is why farm hands and day Ia
horers own cars today. They buy FAM
ily transportation at an astoundingly
low cost mile-solely because a sue
eession Of owners practice progressive
ob6olescence.
Radio an Illustration
The radio instance is even more of a
classic illustration of progressive obso-
lescence. Nine or ten years ago the
crystal set was the rule in radio, but SO
rapid was the technical development
end 50 innately fascinating the subject
that most of us aggressively insisted
on using the principle of progressive
cbsolescence in our purchasing. We
scrapped crystal sets for one-tube sets
then in quick. succession scrapped one
tube. two-tube, three-tube up to nine
tube sets as fast as radio science and
manufacture made them available.
Then we stopped this first phase OF
tie operation of progressive ohso,es-
cence on the ground of technical i'm
provement and began the second phase
on the ground of combination utility
Ecrapplng huge, unwieldly nine-tube
sets for combination -phonograpll
or oes& cabinets. Then we entered on q
Snro phaSe, esthetic obsolescence, and
tought period cabinets and other pleas
tng forms. Now, with television in thu
offli1g, We may start all over again or
the first cycle of technical obsolescence
and probably repeat the whole series
In nine years millions of families have
each purchased no less than 10 to Q:
radio outf1ts-and are quite uncon.
sc1cus OF the revolutionary nature o.
such a purchasing record. Most O.
their possessions are far behind thi,
standard of up-to-datene3s.
The heart and essence of this new
principle is to buy new goods that ar,
attractive entirely irrespective of hov
much usefulness the old goods still pos
sess. A crystal radio set produces fa
better results today than it did MIN
years ago. but who cares for it now
The change has been in our standard
81 desire, coincident with scientific an;
manufacturing advanced
Have Kept in Step.
There is the nub of the whole mat
ter-radio and automobile consumption
has been kept perfectly in step witt
scientific advance and manufacturer
ability. But there are hundreds o
other industries of which this is not sc
This public has not of its own accor,
adopted the progressive obsolescence at
titude toward them. Slowly the poin
OF view is increasing. widening out.
California department store recentl
opened "trade-in exchange" for furni
ture. vacuum cleaners, radio, refriger
ators monographs, rugs. etc, becaus
greater and greater numbers are buy
ing new goods to replace others who's
life of usefulness is by no means We
ended
Clinging to old goods is a positiy
brake upon an industrial Civilization
Those homes filed with antiques. heir
looms and other old goods are doin
less than nothing to promote American
industrial prosperity. Those home