HARDWOOD RECORD 



The Handle Trade. 



More Fraternalism Needed. 



Conditions in the handle industry seem to 

 be looking up, in common with other lines of 

 business. However, there is still disposition 

 on the part of many manufacturers to do 

 business, whether they profit by it or not. 

 Of course there are a good many instances 

 when it is necessary for a man to get back 

 the use of a portion of the capital he has 

 tied up in stock to meet obligations and cur- 

 rent expenses; but on general principles, do- 

 ing business merely for its own sake is about 

 as foolish a policy as a man can pursue, and 

 one which is better calculated to demoralize 

 the trade than any other. 



The majority of people are in the handle 



make 



money, and it would be 



only reasonable to suppose that they do not 

 care to sell their goods except at a profit. 

 This being the ease, it would seem not only 

 an unbusiness-like but a precarious proposi- 

 tion to place goods upon the market at cost, 

 or actually below the average cost, as certain 

 manufacturers have been known to do of 

 late: of course there is the bare possibility 

 that manufacturers who do so have system 

 <lonn so fine they find they can m;ike handles 

 cheaper than the majority— but this is hardly 

 likely, in view of the experience of men 

 nuich older in the business. Therefore the 

 price-cutting proposition seems to resolve 

 itself into the simple question, "What shall 

 it profit a man. if he gain the whole trade 

 and lose his handle factory?" 



The association has recently put out three 

 sets of grading rules for the consideration of 

 its members, soliciting opinions and sugges- 

 tions. One of the three sets, or mollifications 

 thereof, will be adopted at the next meeting, 

 and from all indications it will be the three- 

 grade set, as the committee is receiving con- 

 gratulations and support from all directions 

 on its logical arguments in favor of such 

 rules, and the concise and practical set which 

 it has evolved. It is sincerely to be hoped 

 that the next meeting will see a large and 

 enthusiastic group of handle manufacturers 

 come together to thresh out this very impor- 

 tant question, for if there is one thing which 

 the handle association needs and needs badly, 

 it is a standard basis of grading — or rather 

 a basis of grading to which all will adhere. 



There is no use in having such a system 

 unless every member will stay by it loyally 

 and honestly, any more than there is any use 

 in figuring cost of production to a nicety, 

 establishing reasonable values for the prod- 

 uct, and then going out and selling the goods 

 for anything which may be offered. Thus if 

 the grades also are to be "juggled" and one 

 man quote a certain price on a certain grade, 

 while another says to the buyer, "I'll make 

 you the same price, but I'll guarantee a bet- 

 ter article for it," the point is missed again, 

 and nothing is gained by all the meetings, 

 discussion, committee work and grading rules 

 in the world. 



.\proi.os „f selling handles— while of course 

 liuyers have their place in the trade — don't 

 forgot that they are going to drive the best 

 bargain they can for their house; when one 

 of them, tells you he can buy a certain handle 

 from a certain man for a certain price, make 

 him "show you," and don't let him take 

 an old quotation and keep his thumb over the 

 date while he's doing it, either! Because 

 some of the nicest gentlemen in the buying 

 fraternity have been known to do that very 

 thing! 



Don't be suspicious of your fellow handle 

 manufacturer, and al)ove all don't be too 

 credulous when you're talking to the buyer! 

 The New Three-Grade Proposition. 



Th"e secretary of the Handle Manufactur- 

 ers ' Association recently sent out the reports 

 of two committees on grading rules for the 

 consideration of manufacturers, urging them 

 to attend the next meeting — of which they 

 will be duly notified — prepared to offer sug- 

 gestions and vote for the adoption of the one 

 which most nearly meets their views. 



Without disparaging the report of the regu- 

 lar committee in any way, which indicates 

 long and patient study over a very complex 

 problem, the majority of correspondents 

 seem to think the three-grade set perhaps 

 supplies the needs of the present more con- 

 cisely and adequately. While designated as 

 "new," tliis mode of grading has long been 

 in use by Canadian concerns, and the secre- 

 tary is receiving numbers of letters from 

 manufacturers who state that they have used 

 a similar system independently for a long 

 while. 



Frank J. Leland, chairman of the special 

 i-ommitlee which worked out the rules, sets 

 forth his arguments in their favor as fol- 

 lows : 



"The manufacture of hickory handles is a 

 special business with the plant assets of par 

 value to those only who are interested in the 

 business and taking into consideration the 

 danger of fires, trouble with labor, the grow- 

 ing scarcity of timber, the invested capital 

 and the talent connected with the business, 

 it is certainly worthy and entitled to a good 

 profit every year. In the years following 

 187.T the handle business paid large dividends 

 and was highly satisfactory, and there is no 

 reason why, if the handle business is squared 

 with present conditions, it should not be 

 equally as successful now. To realize this 

 there are some reforms needed, but none that 

 cannot be brought about by the handle asso- 

 ciation. 



"One of the reforms needed is in the 

 grading or classification of handles for the 

 domestic trade. For more than twenty j-ears 

 the Five Grade list on ax handles has been 

 in use. This list has been a huge mistake 

 and responsible for many of the ills of the 

 business. Under it the grading has been so 

 elaborate and complex that handle manu- 

 facturers Uiemselvps were unable to agree, 



wliile the jobber who bought the goods knew 

 little or notlung as to the grade outside an 

 extra or a Xo. 3 and as the average handle 

 sold has ranged between these two extremes, 

 it has been an easy proposition for unscrupu- 

 lous makers and those vrithont reputation in 

 the markets to cut prices and grade goods 

 accordingly, the result being ruinous competi- 

 tion and the demoralization of the busine.s.s. 



"Under a Three Grade system there can be 

 no misunderstanding. Manufacturers can 

 make no mistake on classification and jobbers 

 cannot be imposed on. Under it any manu- 

 facturer will be slow to offer goods below 

 standard prices, as any concession will be en- 

 tirely at the expense of profits. 



' ' Under a Three Grade system the special 

 advantage to the manufacturer will be easier 

 methods of grading raw material, sawed han- 

 dles and those that are rough turned; less 

 danger of bad grading from carelessness in 

 packing-room; less trouble in keeping stock; 

 less depreciation of stock; less clerical work 

 in office; better maintenance of price, and 

 larger profits. 



"Under a Three Grade sj-stem the special 

 advantage to the jobber will be easily-ob- 

 tained working knowledge of the grades so 

 that inferior goods will not be accepted. 

 Number of grades will be more in keeping 

 with other lines of woodenware, such as 

 spokes, hubs, rims, and other lines of car 

 riage and wagon wood stock, agricultural tool 

 handles, cant hook and peavey handles and 

 the like. Sales will be made easier and cler- 

 ical work lighter. 



"A number of jobbers have been ap- 

 proached with regard to a Three Grade clas- 

 sification, and without exception they have en- 

 dorsed it and stated that it would, in their 

 opinion, surely be welcomed by the entire 

 jobbing trade. With this endorsement, the 

 sooner same can be accepted and put in force 

 the better, as the light stocks of handles now 

 in hands of the trade furnishes an opportu- 

 nity which may not occur again in years. 



' ' The Three Grade proposition is submitted 

 and recommended to the handle association 

 as a move in the right direction for the im- 

 provement of the business and the producing 

 of satisfactory results. Its adoption is strong- 

 ly urged in connection with price list tlmf 

 will not put an.y handles below cost of maim 

 facture or the price of extras below present 

 quotations. 



"Another reform that is needed in the 

 handle business is the grading of red hick.irv 

 There has never been a time when red tinl 

 has been given the place it deserved anl 

 the purchase of white stock vast quant r 

 of red wood, the equal in every way ot 

 white wood, have been rejected or destr.^ 

 The time has come when the growing scar^ 

 of hickory makes it necessary to consider Hi 

 value of red stock and its introduction on a 

 better basis into handles. The national u ' 

 ernment has made exhaustive compar.r 



