January 25, 1917 



Oak Gets a Strong Start 



Seldom can an industrial association start under such promising 

 circumstances as has the American Oak Manufacturers' Associ- 

 ation. It might be argued though that it could not fail to be 

 stamped as successful even thus early in its career as the type 

 of men which made its inception possible would make impossible 

 any other than the present results. Germinating in Memphis just 

 a few months ago at a preliminary gathering, the association met 

 formally in that same city on Friday, January 19, at its first 

 regular convention. Already a representative and effective mem- 

 bership is signed up. Already the financial end is securely taken 

 care of. The American Oak Manufacturers' Association, the new- 

 est of the lumber organizations, starts with an astonishing record 

 for speedy accomplishment and a hearty promise of future develop- 

 ment and results. 



The first meeting started with the usual preliminaries such as 

 checking of the attendance, reading the minutes of the previous 

 gatherings, etc. President E. A. Lang had an interesting talk to 

 offer although, as he said, he was not compelled by the by-laws 

 to present anything in the way of a formal report. What he 

 offered was out of the goodness of his heart entirely. Mr. Lang's 

 talk follows in part: 



Report of the President 



Tomporary offices have been arranged for in the Bank of Commerce and 

 Trust building of this city, and arrangements entered into for commodious 

 quarters, properl.v furnished, on the fourteenth floor of the same building. 

 These will probably be ready for occupancy in another thirty days, and we 

 taiie tliis opportunity of extending an invitation to all members of the 

 association to malie this their headquarters while in the city at any time 

 in the future. 



It requires more than just the investment in space advertising to 

 properly conduct a campaign such as is planned. Follow up work must be 

 done by the secretary's office in the nature of exhibits, pamphlets, booklets, 

 and a regular line of correspondence with the intermediate handlers of the 

 wood, such as architects, trim factories, furniture factories, etc. This, 

 in conjunction with the natural expenses of the association office and the 

 conduct of same, is going to be considerable, especially the first year, and 

 we wish to impress upon you the necessity of co-operation in our campaign 

 for membership. You all have neighbors or friends in the producing trade 

 who should be members, and we will very much appreciate any active 

 endeavor on your part to secure their applications for membership. 



It may seem strange to some of you who have not given the matter much 

 thought, that a wood so prominent as oak, ranking third in volume of pro- 

 duction in the country, needs anything of this kind, but the past eighteen 

 months certainly indicate that it does. Other woods have, by association 

 work and advertising campaigns, made heavy inroads on the consumption 

 of oak, and you might properly state that oak is now on the defensive. 

 We must put up a fight for the "monarch of the forest" and so long as we 

 have started to do this, why not make it a good one? The production of 

 this wood spread out, as it is. over a large territory, has contributed to no 

 small extent to the position it now occupies — that is to say, it was more 

 difficult for the producers to keep a line on the stocks on hand and what 

 firms in another section of the country, five hundred miles away, were 

 doing in the way of production, etc. 



We propose to gather statistics as to stocks on hand periodically — say 

 everj' two or three months, or as often as the situation justifies, and dis- 

 seminate this information through our regular bulletin service, to the mem- 

 bers. Any firm who has had experience in other associations with this kind 

 of service will tell you that it is invaluable, and worth all that a member- 

 ship in any association costs. 



We propose to report actual sales made each month, in condensed form, 

 without in any way violating the confidence of any given firm. This will 

 show the trend of the market, and taken in conjunction with the stock 

 report, put each operator in a better position to avoid over-production of 

 an item already long on the market, and get for his product a price that 

 will leave him a profit at the end of the year. By keeping the production 

 more in line with the actual consumption, no one item suffers to any mate- 

 rial extent. This, in my opinion, is very important. 



The success attained by other associations in work similar to that which 

 we purpose to accomplish speaks for itself, and is evidence of what can be 

 done in that direction. What has been done can be done again, and cer- 

 tainly with active support by the producers of oak we can do as much 

 for a wood already more prominently known than most others, and the 

 result will be highly gratifying to all members of this association. 



Government statistics, covered by Bulletin No. 232 of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture and issued June 26, 1915, show that there was 

 produced during the year 1913 a total of 3,211,718,000 feet by 12,927 mills. 

 Of course, the total production exceeds that, but it gives us a fair idea of 



the volume of oak produced annually. If we can get 25 per cent of this 

 production signed up as members we can carry on the work planned to 

 very good advantage. It is the hope of your board of directors that this 

 can be exceeded to an extent that will justify our assessment being less 

 than the maximum permitted by your constitution, i. e., 10c per thousand 

 feet, log scale. 



The newly appointed secretarj', J. T. Kendall, necessarily could 

 not present a very much elongated paper, but gave a dignified and 

 well received statement of his conception of his duties, his reali- 

 zation of his great responsibility, appreciation of the uniqueness 

 of the position of oak and the breadth of ideas possible in exploit- 

 ing it. Mr. Kendall, who has been associated with the red gum 

 association as assistant secretary, solicited the same cordial co- 

 operation from the oak manufacturers that is given in the gum 

 association to its oiEcials. 



The report of Treasurer E. L. Jurden showed that the financial 

 affairs of the association have already progressed to a definite point 

 so that formal reports are necessary, and the progress has been 

 very satisfactory. 



C. L. Harrison, chairman of the assessment committee, stated 

 that returns on cut on which will be based the assessment are com- 

 ing in satisfactorily, 158,849,000 feet having been reported so far. 

 The present membership represents about five per cent of the 

 total manufacture of Of.k, and the association has in prospect the 

 active affiliation of about 1,750,000,000 feet production. 



Mr. Harrison emphasized the need of getting in the small manu- 

 facturer who is nececsarily not in as close touch with markets and 

 trade conditions as is the stronger manufacturing organization. 

 Therefore this class of producers is apt to do more in demoralizing 

 the market than is the larger manufacturer, and hence his member- 

 ship, to the end that he may be properly educated, is especially 

 desirable. He urged all members to bear in inind the need for co- 

 operation in the matter of building up membership among the little 

 manufacturers as well as among the big producers. 



M. B. Cooper, as chairman of the membership committee, stated 

 that in November there were twenty producers signed up for mem- 

 bership, but now the signatures totaled over seventy. He stated 

 that the work is really just begun and that eventually the associa- 

 tion should have about twenty-five per cent of the 3,000,000,000 

 feet production of oak. He cited his reasons why the members 

 should give particular attention to enlisting as new members those 

 of their neighbors in the manufacturing business who are eligible. 



F. E. Gadd, as chairman of the advertising committee, gave one 

 of the most able papers of the day. Mt. Gadd's report was con- 

 structive rather than in the nature of review of work done. His 

 committee, of course, has most of its work before it and the idea 

 of the report was to analyze the accomplishments in other organiza- 

 tions not so well qualified even as is this oak association to get 

 specific results in the broadening of markets for its product. The 

 report follows: 



Report of Advertising Committee 



Advertising as we know it today is a necessity due to modern conditions. 



The advertising of lumber has so steadily increased since our friends the 

 gum producers first blazed the trail of modern merchandising for the wood 

 industry eight years ago that it is not surprising that the consuming public 

 is found to be gradually forgetting about those species which they do not 

 sec advertised. They are justified in gradually coming to the conclusion 

 that a non-advertised wood either is extinct or near to exhaustion of 

 supply, or that it is too inferior to be pushed, and they forthwith forgot 

 about it. 



Your committee has had the advantage of considerable familiarity for. 

 several years with the distinctly different character of different kinds of 

 lumber advertising, and with its source. The advertising of oak will be 

 of necessity different in methods of handling and presentation to the 

 public from any other wood yet advertised. The study of the ways in which 

 it should differ in order to reach its maximum effectiveness is one of the 

 things in which we probably shall do well to take the fullest advantage of 

 the most experienced expert advice available, as the less we have to teach 

 our advertising counsel about lumber, the more time they will have left 

 to give us the best run for our money in advertising. 



The advertising of oak is a job of restoration of public favor, and then 



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