K. A. i.Axc;. 



CHICAGO. ILL.. MEMBER EX- 

 ECrTIVE BOARD 



RANSOM, NASii\ II. 1. 1;. 'IHNN., MEMBER 

 EXECl TlVi; HOARD 



GEO. 



E. W. LUEHRMANN, ST. LOUIS. MO., 

 MEMBER EXECUTIVE BOARD 



tion of hardwood lumber. We cannot increase the consumption of lumber 

 through the ordinary channels. 



Steel and concrete buildings, steel passenger cars and other wood sub- 

 .stitutes are with certainty cutting into the present consumption of hard- 

 wood lumber and each year cutting down the consumption. 



How is this accomplished? By educational advertising to the public or 

 consumer. It is true that the so-called concrete construction is consid- 

 ered flre-proof by the public, but you Icnow, and the tire department 

 knows, that a factory made of yellow pine, or what is termed "slow 

 burning construction," is just as fire-proof as a concrete building and 

 costs much less to build. But the public doesn't know it and never will 

 until it is educated to the fact. A recent fire in a concerte sawmill dem- 

 onstrated this fact, and also that it cost nearly as much as the original 

 cost of the mill to tear it down after the fire. 



'i'ake the Equitable building fire in New York. This building was sup- 

 posed to be fire proof. The night of that fire the advertising managers 

 of the meal door and trim concern worked all night getting up educa- 

 tional advertisements to the public for the next morning issue of the 

 press. The public is therefore influenced through these means into going 

 into buildings where this class of trim and construction is used. This 

 fire again demonstrates that stone, concrete and steel, so-called fire-proof 

 buildings, are not fire-proof, but further emphasize that slow burning 

 wood construction is much the safer type of building construction, espe- 

 cially so when the wood itself is fire proof. But the public does not know 

 that and never will until It. is educated to it. 



Gentlemen, what the hardwood business needs today is publicity adver- 

 tising. A great many of the manufacturers fail to take into account the 

 fact that advertising is education. Education takes time, and few pub- 

 licity <'ampaigns can ever be successful until sufficient time is given to 

 ■obtain the results from education. 



The i>ublic cannot be educated through trade papers, as these papers 

 reacli only those interested in the trade, and no matter how much space 

 is deleted to pidtlicity through them it will never increase the consump- 

 tion of lumber more than it is today. 



The campaign en "red gum" run by several manufacturers recently In 

 trade piiper:. did not increase the total consumption of lumber. I do not 

 know the exact rtsults, but it these manufacturers did four times the 

 pmount of business, some other wood, such as birch or poplar, suffered 

 just that much loss in volume. In other woi'ds, it is merely substitution 

 and not increase of consumption. Yet we need the trade press for co- 

 •operation and another purpose which I will explain later on. 



To promote a national campaign for increased consumption of lumber 

 we will need the co-operation of every hardwood association as well as 

 every manufacturer of hardwood lumber. One association cannot accom- 

 plish marked results, but an organized and co-operative movement sup- 

 ported by everyone will bring back the trade that has now been won 

 over to substitution and gradually increase the consumption in this way. 

 This campaign and appropriation should not be handled by an advertsing 

 man or an agency, but by a lumberman who understands publicity or a 

 publicity man who understands lumber. This is absolutely essential. A 

 committee of lumbermen who understand publicity also should be ap- 

 pointed to oversee his work and pass on it. 



I suggest that this campaign be carried on in the reading columns of 

 the representative press of the country and not by the use of display 

 advertisements in advertising sections. 



The publicity manager must be alive to every opportunity to demon- 

 strate the value of hardwood over its substitution. Do you notice how 

 quick the metal, trim and concrete construction people are to take advan- 

 tage through the reading columns of the press of any demonstration that 

 Tvorks to their advantage. These manufacturers are behind the movement 



and educate the people in this m.inner to their supposed advantages. 



But you never hear of the advantages of lumber. Why? Because there 

 is no national educating movement to tell the public. The publicity man- 

 ager must be one who can demonstrate power of suggestion that is the 

 utilization of hardwoods for a new purpose. 



I believe that after the campaign is under way the trade press should 

 be used to tell the dealer in lumber what is being done to increase the 

 consumption, seek his co-operation through this medium, and I believe 

 that you can get the retail association to put financial support for local 

 work in their respective fields. Our trade press have already, out of their 

 own funds, spent considerable money with this end in view, and this 

 work has been at times brought before the attention of the public by 

 reprinted articles. 



That is the campaign in general. I will not take your time with de- 

 tails. Y^ou must remember, however, that you are getting up against 

 organized business, and unless we can have the co-operation of every 

 hardwood association and its allied interests, as well as the personal 

 support of its members, it will be useless to do it. 



It seems to me that this is the time, the place, and the representative 

 body of men to get together for a campaign to increase wood consump- 

 tion. 



Address of Chairman of the Advertising Committee of the 

 National Association. 



President Townsend then introduced A. T. Gerrans of Houma, 

 La., chairman of the National Lumber Manufacturers ' Association 

 advertising committee, who spoke as follows: 



The committee I represent has already made a report to the National 

 Lumber Manufacturers' Association, which report was sent out, we 

 presume, to every member of the individual affiliated associations. I thinic 

 that pretty nearly everybody has seen this, and it contains most of the 

 arguments that can possibly be brought to bear upon this subject. They 

 are right in these two reports. The only thing that I can add to that 

 is the further argument of practically the same kind, that we take 

 up from day to day and in the journals and literature that are being 

 sent all over the United States, the question that lies before the lum- 

 bermen printed right here — I think every one of you has a copy of that. 

 It reads : 



"Shall We Man the Guns Now, or Shall We Man the Pumps Later?" 

 That is short and concise, and it emphasizes the actual facts of the 

 matter. Your committee is prepared to state individually and collectively 

 that in its honest opinion the lumber trade is simply responsible for the 

 condition of affairs as we find it existing today, through the lack of 

 ordinary business common sense. We have run our own business upon 

 the supreme idea that no one can possibly ever dispute with the lumber 

 trade. We have seen various substitutes used, but they did not affect us 

 apparently. We have seen the substitutes advertised, but that did not 

 affect us. We seem to think that people have got to have lumber the 

 same as they have to have bread ; but we are beginning to find out — 

 and what we do find out is very startling — we are beginning to find out 

 that we have been sadly mistaken, and that we have got an uphill road 

 to even maintain the present standing of the lumber business in the 

 United States. 



We never can hope with a small amount of money — possibly with a 

 much larger amount, but unquestionably not with the small amount of 

 money that we have been asking for — to put the lumber business back 

 in the prominent place that it used to occupy. 



At the last meeting of the board of governors I made a report verbally 

 to the committee for the National manufacturers' association to take 



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