Year: 1862




port Gazette The article contains so many
home truths applicable to the business men
Of our city, that we hope they will peruse
it with care, and then govern themselves
accordingly:


"A WORD TO BUSINESS MEN, THE plain
est Of all rules Of business is that he who
has goods for sale should make that fact as
widely known as possible. Acting on this
obvious teaching Of common sense, men Of
business seek locations easy Of access to the
public and most likely to attract the atten-
ton of the paSser by. Signs are conspicu-
onsly displayed on the store front or avn.
ing and store windows attractively deco
rated with tempting wares, on the same
principle. Circulars are forwarded through
the mail, travelling agents employed, or
business cards printed on wrapping paper
or bags for the same reason. Every man
who desires to dispose of his products or
wares, wishes as many others as possible
to know what he has for sale and at what
rate he will sell. The men who has the
least appetite for business acts on this
principle and does in fact to a greater or
less extent advertise The man who never
advertiscs, has no care whether his store is
in the front or block in its rear; has no
sign on his store; does not display his
goods; employs no one to solicit custom,
and never says word to induce customers
to visit his place of business He simply
sits behind his loaded counter, and from
his well filled shelves measures out the
goods to such as choose to seek him out
Such man might be found in the bazars
Of Constantinople, or the labyrinths of
London. but he would be an anomaly in
this region of wide awake world.


And yet there are some who affect to
despiSe adcertixing, and even declaila
rertising. Their store fronts, their win
doSs, and their nervous efforts to win the
good will OF customers daily, prove that
they really exert all their skill to do that
which would be more effectually done in
;hc method they oppose or ignore. These
same persons, too, will censure their news
papers because they say SO little about the
business advantages OF the city or village.
The editor must witc and the printer
print continuous columns telling to all the
world around how they can sell their pro-
ducc, and how cheap they can buy their
goods in Our town, while the advertising
portion of the same issue fatty con'radicts
all that the editorial asserts. Bring the
case home. What think you, would be
the estimate a stranger would make of the
amount Of business done in Davenport il
| he were to take the advertisements Of the
three dailies published in this city for his
basis of computation? Suppose he resides
at Brooklyn, the present terminus Of the
NJ. & NJ. II. r., aud is undecided whether
to make purchase in Davenport or Chicago.
He knows what goods he can buy in the
la ter place, but s in doubt as to what can
he obtained at the former. If any of our
readers have any curiosity to know the
kind Of satisfaction he would obtain from,
the Davenport papers just now, let him
carefully collate the three papers issue,
here this morning. and note the product
| What is the nuber of business houses that
would appear on the list? We believe that
the investigation would demonstrate that in
no city of equal importance is there SO
small an array of home advertisements
With the exception of a few wide awake
men WHO are continually drawing new Gus
toners by their enterprise, the merchants
of Davenport do not act as though under.
standing the true philosophy of advertis
ing. They advertise, or try to, in the va
riOus methods we have mentioned, bu,
ignore the only real advertiser that daily
and weekly reminds hundreds of house
holds where they can buy cheapest and
best.


There are merchants in Davenport to
day who have large stocks of desirable
goods and who are vainly Siahing for the
customers who know nothing of the in
ducemcnts the Offer a judicious and lib
eral system of adve, tsing would soon turr
their quiet store into marts of active trade