OCR Text |
Show jThe Tendency of Every I Man Is to Live up to j His Name j By J. R. HAMILTON j Former Advertising Manager of Wanamaker'e, Philadelphia Wherever you find a good name you will find some man trying to live up to it. Character follows reputation far more I quickly than reputation follows character. No one ever lost his j good name except through folly. What the world thinks of a man is the very best moral tonic that is sold under the label of philosophy. And it is the same with merchandise as it is with men. The nameless thing is dreaded everywhere, while the thing with a j good name is usually good because you expect it to be. Men grow proud of their products. You will find a manu-i manu-i facturer saying, "This shoe has got to be good because it' bears ! my name." You will find a canner saying, "I cannot use lye any i more than I can tell a lie." You will find a clothing manufacturer manufac-turer saying, "If I am 'all wool,' my clothing must also be all wool." ! And so it goes with every single product that carries a brand or a name. Whenever a man sets a standard, he strives to live up to it ; and whenever the world sets that standard, he doubles the 'effort. i Which simply means, if you want the best, you must ask for the best. And every time you ask, you make it better. There is hardly one of you readers who does not know the name of every good product on the market From clothing to sugnr and from hosiery to baking powder some good name is indelibly fixed in your mind, yet, when you ask for an article, most of the time you do not use that name. And every time you fail to do so, you discourage the maker, you lower the standard for yourself and you allow some inferior thing to gain in strength and capacity. Let this go home in your mind : You set the standard of merchandise. mer-chandise. The maker follows your ideals. Adulterations creep in through your laxity. Whenever you ask for any old thing, you get it. While you are reading the advertising news in this paper today, make up your mind to ask only for what you know to be good ; to learn what is best and demand it and to have no parley .with the nameless things of trade. i (Copyright.) - |