Advertising & Selling, Volume 9, Numbers 1 to 5 (May 4 to June 29, 1927)
A bound library volume of Advertising & Selling, the New York fortnightly, holding five issues from May 4 to June 29, 1927, about 486 scanned pages of articles and trade ads. It is on this shelf for the first printing of Claude C. Hopkins' autobiography, "My Life in Advertising", whose first three installments run here: his creed of thrift and caution and a boyhood of work and canvassing (June 1); his start at the Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company, where he beat a John E. Powers pamphlet, pitched sweepers as Christmas presents and sold 250,000 by letter in "twelve woods to the dozen" (June 15); and his hard entry at Swift & Company, selling Cotosuet against Cottolene (June 29). Around him: Earnest Elmo Calkins attacks the paid testimonial, C. F. Kettering argues for plain language, Edgar H. Felix plans radio programs and John Allen Murphy lists new distribution channels.
What it is
A bound library volume of Advertising & Selling, the New York fortnightly, holding five issues from May 4 to June 29, 1927, about 486 scanned pages of articles and trade ads. It is on this shelf for the first printing of Claude C. Hopkins' autobiography, "My Life in Advertising", whose first three installments run here: his creed of thrift and caution and a boyhood of work and canvassing (June 1); his start at the Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company, where he beat a John E. Powers pamphlet, pitched sweepers as Christmas presents and sold 250,000 by letter in "twelve woods to the dozen" (June 15); and his hard entry at Swift & Company, selling Cotosuet against Cottolene (June 29). Around him: Earnest Elmo Calkins attacks the paid testimonial, C. F. Kettering argues for plain language, Edgar H. Felix plans radio programs and John Allen Murphy lists new distribution channels.
Why read it now
Read it for Hopkins in his first draft, before the book edition, and for the arguments printed beside him. What holds: his rule to test small and treat every launch as "feeling the public pulse" before spending big, which is how paid social is bought today; writing to ordinary buyers in short sentences; and winning dealers with a conditional privilege (display racks, cards, a set window) instead of a discount. Calkins' case against bought endorsements has aged well: disclosure rules for paid influencers, in the US and in Saudi Arabia's media regulator rules, now enforce the doubt he raised. Kettering's point that trade lingo loses readers matches later readability research. What has dated: Hopkins' contempt for college men and for the rich, his claim that common people are 95 per cent of customers, and the memoir's self-praise; his sales figures are his own and unaudited. Kettering's "four years to sell a new idea" is an anecdote, not a finding. Use: at your next retail launch, offer stockists a limited package with conditions (placement, material, a deadline) in place of a price cut, and measure sell-through per store.
Passages worth keeping
My words will be simple, my sentences short. Scholars may ridicule my style.
يكتب هوبكنز لعامة الناس لا للنخبة، ويقبل سخرية المثقفين من أسلوبه ما دام القارئ العادي يفهم ويشتري.
We have 1200 rotten mackintoshes. They are almost worthless, but still worth the price we ask.
إعلان كتبه جون إي باورز يعترف بعيب البضاعة صراحة، والصدق النادر في ذلك الزمن هو ما جعل الناس يشترونها كلها.
I offered a privilege, not an inducement.
عرض هوبكنز على التجار امتيازًا له شروط بدل أن يغريهم بخصم، فصار التاجر هو من يطلب البضاعة.
I consider it a dishonest device, of doubtful value as advertising, and unquestionably detrimental to that confidence on the part of the public which advertising strives to maintain.
يرى كالكنز أن الشهادة التي يُدفع ثمنها خداع قليل النفع، وأنها تهدم ثقة الجمهور بالإعلان كله.
It always takes four years to sell a new idea to the public.
يرى كيترينغ أن الجمهور يخاف الجديد، فيحتاج وقتًا طويلًا قبل أن يتقبل الفكرة الجديدة ويرى فوائدها.
The scanned text has OCR errors. The passages are quoted from it, with only obvious slips fixed.
What it teaches best
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