July 10, 1921 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



35 



Possibilities in National Advertising 



Man Who Conducted Research Work Preliminary to Advertising Drive by 

 Veneer and Plywood Interests, Explains What Can Be Done 



with Material Discovered 



The national campaign of advertising of the plywood and 

 veneer interests is beginning to assume important proportions. 



As already announced in the Hardwood Record, fifty thousand 

 dollars is to be devoted to the direct purpose of trade extension 

 work for both divisions of the industry, and all of it through the 

 goodly medium of printers' ink. 



Copy for the campaign is in charge of Wm. Clendenin of The 

 Conover-Mooney Advertising Agency, w^ho conducted the re- 

 search work on the merit of which the advertising award was 

 finally made. 



In explanation of the plans now under way, Mr. Clendenin in 

 a special interview for the Hardwood Record said: "It is a far 

 cry from Rameses II of Egypt to Fitzmorris, Chief of Police of 

 Chicago, but both used plywood, both knew the principle of 

 laminated woods reinforced by the alternate crossing of the grain 

 and the good glue binder under pressure, 



"Rameses built his w^ar ships on the plywood principle 3,000 

 years ago. Chicago's Chief of Police has just ordered the city's 

 new patrol wagons built to plywood specifications which the de- 

 partment "was found in every respect superior to steel — not only 

 lighter and less expensive, but bullet proof and bandit proof. 



"First, in order of presentation we hope to disabuse the public 

 mind of the general misapprehension and prejudice against 

 veneered furniture. Our research has proved a veritable revela- 

 tion on this subject. We are in possession of the most ancient 

 and authoritative proof that veneer was held in the highest esteem 

 by the masters of period furniture without exception. These 

 authorities include the brothers Adam, Chippendale, Hepplewhite 

 and Sheraton himself. We know, for instance, that George Wash- 

 ington's writing desk was a veneered Sheraton, that the w^riting 

 cabinet of Dolly Madison was likew^ise, that the wonderful little 

 cabinet which accompanied Napoleon on the most famous battle- 

 field of Europe v/as veneered. We have upwards of two hun- 

 dred photographs of the world's rarest furniture from the days 

 of the earliest Egyptians, Chaldeans, Assyrians, on through the 

 fine arts of Greece and Rome, (Caesar's proudest possession was 

 a veneered table) down through the Renaissance — the w^onderful 

 handicraft of the Venetian and Florentine schools, the French, the 

 English and finally our own American and the last word in perfec- 

 tion of those mechanical processes which are the achievement of 

 the craftsmen of now^, 



"Our photographs alone are, we think, a treasure house of 

 advertising material. We have the chest of Cornwallis, the 

 Bureau de Campaign of Napoleon, the writing desk of Thomas 

 Jefferson, the Coronation Chair of Edward 1, the treasures of 

 Francis I, patron of Celleni and Rosso. We have drawn liberally 

 from the English periods, from Boia's lacquers and veneers, 

 Gesso's "Woods Decorative" — and a host of authorities many of 

 them lost to the common understanding in the back files and cross 

 indexes of our great metropolitan libraries; not forgetting the 

 invaluable sources of the Royal British Institute. 



"Now, what are we going to do with all this? 1 think the 



question answers itself we are going into the best journals of 



America and tell our story, the truth about veneer, the whole 

 truth and nothing but the truth. We propose to picture these 

 stories from actual photographs of the most famous furniture, 

 the classics of the craft. And the big point is that we have the 

 material in hand with which to do it. 



"On the veneer side of our campaign the appeal will be to the 



manufacturer and dealer in furniture and to the great buying 

 public — through the publications best suited to reach the re- 

 spective classifications. We have a follow-up in preparation 

 suited, we think, to each; also the offer of special service data 

 in attractive form calculated to draw direct inquiries. In this 

 way we expect to render practical and tangible help to the trade, 

 and to the public through our advertising. 



We shall follow the same plan in connection with plywood, 

 covering both subjects coincidently in the same copy. 



'For the plyw^ood section the range of treatment is clear. 

 There is practically no limit to the development and variety of 

 plywood uses. For instance, its ever-extending employment wher- 

 ever resistance to variation in temperature and humidity is a 

 prime requirement, as in aviation construction, motor boats, 

 street cars, bodies, shields, screens, panels and, of course, the 

 already familiar uses. Also, the resistance of plywood to shear 

 and impact. 



Our campaign will be so balanced as to feature these new and 

 expanding features of plywood; provide bulletins of information 

 and advice from a central source and otherwise promote the trade 

 extension feature of plywood. 



"It is a heavy task to prepare this joint campaign, keep it in 

 proper balance and yet do justice to both divisions of the subject — 

 but it is working out and w^e expect very definite results from 

 the undertaking. In fact, it is very doubtful if any advertising or 

 trade extension subject or subjects possess more genuine potential 

 possibilities, educationally and practically, than does the tw^in 

 proposition of plywood and veneer. They are at once the most 

 ancient and the most modern of useful and decorative arts; con- 

 structive, beautiful and serviceable and it is a commentary on 



the present business situation that the leaders in these lines have 

 the good sense to see it and the courage to go ahead." 



When to Machine Casein Glue Joints 



Casein glue sets very quickly and produces a joint strong 

 enough to machine in a few^ hours. In tests at the Forest Prod- 

 ucts Laboratory casein glue joints in spruce proved as strong as 

 the wood after four hours and in hard maple after six hours. 

 When maximum speed of production is essential, such woods may 

 be machined at the end of the periods stated, without sacrificing 

 the strength of the joint. In some kinds of work, however, 

 machining so soon after gluing is not advisable, because of the 

 danger of warping or the production of sunken joints as the mois- 

 ture content of the glued w^ood equalizes. 



Another important fact brought out by the tests on joint 

 strength is that joints released from pressure at the end of two 

 hours and then allowed to season for twenty-two hours proved as 

 strong as those that had been pressed for tw^enty-four hours. Joints 

 pressed for only one-half hour and seasoned, although of good 

 strength, on the average, were somewhat erratic in this respect 

 and probably would not be dependable where maximum strength 

 is important. 



A loss estimated at $ 1 ,000 was sustained by the Kentucky 

 Veneer Works recently when sparks from one of the smokestacks 

 set fire to a room in a sawmill located in a building detached 

 from the main plant of the company at Thirteenth Street and 

 Magnolia Avenue. Firemen prevented the flames from spreading 

 to the other buildings of the plant, thus averting serious loss. 



