May 10, 1922 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



31 



Eleven Years' Campaign for Figured Gum 



Louisville Veneer Mills Pioneered in the Field and Won 

 Leadership Through Advertising 



*By H. E. Snyder, The Louisville Veneer Mills, Louisville, Ky. 



Nearly every one has read somewhere and at sundry times the 

 statement accredited to Emerson, "If a man makes a better mouse- 

 trap, though his house be in the woods, the world will make a 

 beaten path to his door." It is our opinion that this theory is all 

 wrong, and that the concern that believes in it will not long con- 

 tinue to make mouse-traps, or any'^other commodity, but w^ill soon 

 be forgotten. Their more enterprising competitors, who believe in 

 telling people what they are doing, through advertising, will be 

 in the limelight and serving the trade. 



This has been the thought constantly behind our advertising of 

 figured red gum. The Louisville Veneer Mills were the pioneers 

 in the exploitation and development of figured red gum, veneers 

 and plywood, and fired the first shot in their campaign in a half- 

 page advertisement in the October, 1911, issue of Veneers. Shortly 

 after, space v^ras increased to full pages and run in every issue of 

 Hardwood Record, Veneers, Furniture Manufacturer, Artisan, and 

 American Furniture Manufacturer, besides "direct to consumer" 

 advertising from time to time. 



We also ran full-page copy in trade papers with retail dealer 

 circulation, such as Grand Rapids Furniture Record. The Furniture 

 Journal (of Canada), The Furniture Worker and Talking Machine 

 World. This was done with the idea in view of acquainting the 

 dealer with figured red gum, its attractiveness and the ready sala- 

 bility of products made from it. 



Then others joined in, and today there is an annual appropria- 

 tion of many thousands of dollars for advertising gum, particularly 

 figured red gum, by one of the lumber associations, and a very 

 large amount of advertising by individual manufacturers. 



There is no question but that the success of the efforts to popu- 

 larize figured red gum was due largely to the inherent qualities of 

 the wood. It had several strong appeals; it is of unusually pleas- 

 ing color and prominent markings of figure; it is easy to obtain 

 most attractive designs through matching; there is a minimum of 

 waste; it takes a fine natural finish, bringing out its full beauty, and 

 it soon proved its thorough adaptability for fine cabinet work. 



Although used abroad for some years, comparatively little was 

 known of figured red gum, or Nyssa (botanical name), prior to 

 about 1911, principally because our people had not become prop- 

 erly acquainted with its great possibilities. American manufac- 

 turers of furniture and allied lines were at first inclined to regard 

 figured gum as a novelty, but certain progressive manufacturers, 

 fully realizing the advantages of broadening the market for their 

 product, adopted this w^ood w^ith very gratifying results. Now^ it 

 is prominently featured in the lines of some of the largest factories 

 making furniture, doors, interior paneling, etc. 



No furniture dealer's stock is now complete w^ithout a line of 

 figured gum furniture. With its pleasing brown tone and beau- 

 tiful figure, it immediately attracts the attention of prospective 

 buyers. The design and appearance of a piece of furniture have 

 practically everything to do tow^ard making the sale. 



The manufacture of figured red gum is a specialty, and requires 

 special organization in the woods and in the factory. Unlike oak, 

 where practically every fair sized log that is sound can be counted 

 upon to produce nicely figured quartered veneers, there is only 

 a small percentage of gum logs that have strong enough mottle 

 to be classed as figured. They must necessarily be subjected to 

 the most scrutinizing inspection; as in many instances, where logs 

 apparently show every indication of being well figured, opening 



*l*iihli.slictl hij courtesy ''Class,'^ Chicago. 



them up for flitches will disclose the fact that they are too plain 

 for figured face veneers, and must therefore be sawn into boards. 



Figured red gum veneers are cut into standard thickness of 

 I 24 in. from quartered flitches on slice cutting veneer machine. 

 The custom is followed of submitting full-sized samples from each 

 fiitch to prospective users, to show exactly the character of wood 

 offered, on account of the wide assortment of figure and color. 



It has been considered very desirable to retain together the 

 entire output of veneers from each log or tree, so that large quan- 

 tities of veneers of uniform figure, color and texture can be ob- 

 tained. This is particularly desirable for interior trim, as often 

 in large office buildings and hotels an entire floor is specified by 

 the architects to be in a certain wood, and the doors^ paneling 

 and trim can be made from identically the same wood, insuring a 

 uniform effect throughout. This feature is also appreciated by the 

 manufacturers of furniture, in matching up their entire suites uni- 

 formly. 



It is generally recognized that a trade mark — -that important 



asset by which many manufacturers are best known should be 



indicative of the nature of one's particular business; so a circular 

 symbol, which is reproduced in the advertisement shown in this 

 article, was evolved. 



Believing in figured red gum and its thorough adaptability for 

 high grade cabinet work, we have kept "everlastingly at it," and 

 today are nationally known as "headquarters for figured red gum 

 products. " We have tried to get the idea across in our advertis- 

 ing that w^hen the trade wants figured red gum veneers and ply- 

 wood, the Louisville Veneer Mills is the place to get it, and steadily 

 increasing sales prove that we have succeeded. 



In the early stages of our advertising campaign, w^e laid a 

 great deal of stress upon the material itself, our illustrations, in 

 color, showing the manufacturer and dealer the splendid effects 

 which it is possible to obtain, and creating a desire on their part to 

 handle this beautiful material. 



Later, as figured red gum became a standardized cabinet making 

 material, we devoted much of our space to demonstrating that 

 our house, as a specialist and pioneer in the manufacture of the 

 wood, could render the best possible service. In other words, the 

 usual development from purely educational to direct selling copy 

 has come about. 



Buyers are impressed with the fact that it pays to deal with those 

 who have had experience in the line of work in which they are 

 interested; and hence we have emphasized in our copy that our 

 company has been active in the promotion and manufacture of 

 figured red gum for eleven years. A typical piece of copy of this 

 character, emphasizing our trade mark, was as follows: 



"Early in 1911, foreseeing the great possibilities of figured red 



gum w^e had been supplying veneers and panels in this wood in 



moderate quantities previously we inaugurated our extensive ad- 

 vertising campaign, endeavoring to enlighten the cabinet trade as 

 to the thorough adaptability of figured red gum, its easy working 

 and finishing qualities, etc. 



"We then began the manufacture of figured red gum veneers 

 on a greatly increased scale, cutting only the very choicest logs 

 into veneers, knowing that we had a reputation to make for 'Louis- 

 ville' figured red gum. 



"It is generally recognized that a trade mark — that important 



asset by which many manufacturers are best known should be 



indicative of the nature of one's particular business, and 'Figured 



