Page:The Science of Advertising (1910).djvu/17

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The Science of Advertising
13

and prayed for good fortune to bring them to port.

When chance conditions held back the sales of his goods upon the market, as when adverse winds held back the sails of his ship at sea, the old merchant did little more than sit and whistle for conditions to favor him again.

And when the need of speed and security in the trade market came, it came as it did to the sea commerce. As someone applied steam to drive his ship faster and more securely, someone began putting a dirigible advertising force behind his goods to drive them through the market.

As at first steam was used only as an auxiliary when the sails of the ship failed to catch the wind, so advertising force was first applied only when the usual sales of the goods failed. During favorable conditions and when the trade winds blew his way, the early merchant stopped his advertising engine as he stopped the steam engine on his ship.

But then as others became more ambitious and the possibility of greater speed and security increased its necessity, mariners became bold to use steam at all times; and merchants kept up their propulsion by advertising in good weather as well as in foul.

Now the manufacturer and the merchant seek to put the control of their own progress—their market and sales and consequent production—