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Show TRUTH atal ADiERTISIflG ! I By CHARLES B. ROTH j KEEP YOUR SALT CELLARS CLEAn" Tnz, otner clay 1 read of an eccentric ec-centric old woman, rich and socially so-cially prominent, who went from house to house judging the occupants occu-pants by the condition of the salt cellars on their tables. If these were clean and well kept she put her stamp of approval on the household, but if they were not, regardless re-gardless of the gra-ciousness gra-ciousness and charm of her hostess, she put them down as dowdy folks. Not all of us, fortunately, fortu-nately, are quite so critical, but in one sense we are. And it is good that we are. Wa ore friHr.1 rt the merchandise we n, , .. , , . Charles Roth buy and of the merchants mer-chants from whom we buy it. It is our criticism which keeps the standards stand-ards of goods and stores high. One of the many advantages of advertising is that it invites us to be critical of the goods being advertised. ad-vertised. The advertiser assures uS that his goods are good. He invites us to compare them with others. We do. If he relaxes for a minute and lets his standards drop, we discern it. We tell others. We cease buying his product. He knows that even the finest of commercial reputations will suffer i a mere handful of people get wind slander the g00ds are standard. They will tell their fnends. Soon a whispering campaign cam-paign is under way. He suffers. It is only by being careful at every minute of the day that his goods and service are up to high standard that the man who advertises can succeed. suc-ceed. You expect more of him than you do of the man who does not advertise. adver-tise. The non-advertising manufacturer manufac-turer or merchant can faU down in delivering quality and service. You may expect him to. But the man who advertises has to live up to his high obligation. So you see that advertising is a great vigilance committee, established estab-lished and maintained in your interest, in-terest, to see that the men who aspire to sell you will always be worthy of your trade. The merchant who advertises must treat you better than the merchant mer-chant who does not. He must treat you as though you were the most influential in-fluential person in town. As a matter of cold fact you are. You hold the destiny of his business in your hands. He knows it. He shows it. And you benefit by good service, by courteous treatment, by good value and by lower prices. Be critical of advertised goods and stores which advertise. They want you to be critical. Advertising Advertis-ing invites you to compare before you buy. It stands or falls on value alone. Charles B. Roth. |