St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1954-01-08


since World War III have bett,
white and Negro families. Some
61q5 Of all non-white u. 8. citi-
Gems live in the 10 states Of the
traditional South.
Until recently, many white BUSH
nessmen below the Mason-D Dixon
line have been unwilling to make
special efforts 10 attract Negro
customers. Prejudices dating back
TO Reconstruction days are stili
strong, and tradesmen have fear
cd they'd ALLEVIATE their white Gus
toners. That attitude Ia gradually
changing, according to local bank
ers and business leaders.
Potential II Tremendous
Law Epps, national sales mana
ger OF radio station wCos. Col
umbiA. says. THE potential is
tremendous. Until five years ago.
the Negro market In the South
wasn't recognized ms a separate
entity. Radio was the first 10 ex-
plore the possibilities. Several In
dependent stations devote their
programming and advertising
time to Negro listeners, and many
more stations are starting to cash
In the same way"
Mr., Epps speaks from expert
encc. WCOS has attracted a
steady group OF advertisers TO It's
DIR. 1--WE" show, two and one-half
hours daily OF programs aimed at
coiored listeners. Our advertise
ers are selling everything from
jewelry TO furniture" he adds.
J. Bryant Grubbs. manager Of
the Columbia office OF Merrill.
Lynch. Pierce. Fenner and Became.
drew some raised eyebrows at a
luncheon meeting OF some fellow
directors OF the city's Industrial
Service Bureau when no said: IRE
Gently. some Negroes have come
into my office for stock market
information. That was unthink-
able In tho past"
DIR. II. ID. Monteith. for 20 years
a practicing physician and now
head Of the Liberty Savings Bank,
a Negro-owned and operated en-
terprise. says. "rhe Negro market
has vast possibilities. You'd be
surprised at the Negro wealth In
Columbia, I've watched the Inn
provemcnt In Negro homes In
my work M a physician
In Charleston. South Cardinals
second largest city, there are def
mite signs that businessmen are
giving more attention TO the Me-
gro consumer market. Ono firm,
Miserendino Motor Co. a Packard
and WHY'S auto dealer. has hired
a Negro salesman. w. r. Saunders
the office manager. says:
A shift In Sentiment
we hired our first Negro sales
man a few weeks ago. 10 reach the
colorcd trade. Tho first fifteen
days he was ON the job he sold one
new Packard, one new WHY'S and
three used cars. In the same per-
iod a month earlier. our entire
sales staff sold four used cars to
Negroes"
Until lately, newspapers around
the state rarely published stories
about activities In the Negro COM
munity. In spite OF South Caro-
lina's heavy non-white population
--S9ee OF the states total. But
more and more news OF Negroes.
other than crime news. is getting
into the states dailies Just a few
weeks ago, the Charleston News
n Courier ran by-lined story
written by a Negro correspondent.
That may not seem significant
10 people In such cosmopolitan
cities as New York. Chicago or
San Francisco, but In the heart
OF tho South It's indicative OF a
shift In sentiment. John r. Potts.
Negro educator in Charleston.
calls II "a tremendous concession. I"
Says News and Courier editor
Dan waring: We've practically
reached saturation circulation I'm
Charleston. II we're going to ex-
pand our circulation. we're going
to have 20 sell more papers 10
Negroes here" Such expansion
would naturally tend 10 bring In
some more advertising. Mr.. War
ing agrees.
The Negro press In South
Carolina Is beginning to feel the
effects OF competing eoverage
from papers which formerly over
looked a good share OF Negro
news. J. II. MeCray. editor of the
weekly. Lighthouse & Informer.
says: we fellows are getting