April 25, 1917 



Lumbermen do not often stop to figure out why so little is said 

 about wood in the advertising of the various products into which saw- 

 mill products go. It is, however, a peculiar fact that until recently 

 consumers seemed to think that every other feature of their goods was 

 worthy of exploitation rather than the fact that they were made of 

 wood. 



This is hard to understand, because often the nature of the wood 

 and the way in which the material is treated in the manufacturing 

 process would make the best kind of advertising ' ' copy, ' ' especially 

 when one notices how far-fetched some of the alleged ' ' talking-points ' ' 

 of this character are. Besides, wood is a material which in a general 

 way is understood and appreciated by everybody, and references of 

 this kind would have a homely quality which would suggest a more 

 intimate method of approach than is ordinarily possible. 



Perhaps one of the reasons why it has been comparatively easy for 

 substitutes to make headway in fields where wood was formerly used 

 exclusively is that so little has been said of wood in connection with 

 the advertising of these manufacturers. For a long time the makers 

 of ofSce equipment used wood, and said little about it in going after 

 the business of dealers and consumers. Then steel came along, and 

 the whole talk seemingly was based on the character of the material, 

 though as a matter of fact wood has just as many features which are 

 worth stressing in this connection as steel has. The onty really strong 

 argument here is that it resists fire, and this is a questionable advan- 

 tage, inasmuch as steel is such a good conductor of heat that contents 

 of files might be destroyed without the containers themselves giving 

 way. Wood does not conduct heat, and therefore the contents of wood 

 files will not be burned until the latter are themselves reduced to ashes. 



But this point need not be elaborated upon, as everybody is familiar 

 with the fact that wood has splendid qualities, or would not be used 

 so universally. The question is, why don 't manufacturers who use 

 wood make more of it in their business? Why don't they tell their 

 customers about it : not simply that they use wood, but what kind they 

 use, why they use it, and the special advantages of construction of 

 this character? One reason, perhaps, is that they have never thought 

 of it. Another is that the people who liandle advertising for the big 

 concerns of the country don 't know anything about wood. 



How many writers of automobile advertising copy, for instance, 

 know why ash is used in building frames, hickory for spokes and wal- 

 nut for the rims of the steering-wheels? How many have ever investi- 

 gated the "why" back of the fact tliat boxes for storage batteries are 

 usually made of oak? 



Then there is the field of sanitary woods, including ash, which is 

 used for refrigerators because it does not. stain or taint the foods 

 vfhich come in contact with it. A similar reason has made poplar a 

 favored wood in the manufacture of boxes used for packing butter, 

 dressed poultry, etc., where pine or any other odorous wood would be 

 out of the question. 



Why shouldn't some packer, with a little more imagination than the 

 rest, tell of the care used in the selection of the materials for his boxes 

 and other packages — which is just as important as any other feature 

 of his service to t^ie public? 



Most ordinary materials discourage efforts to develop interest. There 

 isn't much sentiment in a tin can, for instance. But wood has a his- 

 tory as long as that of the human race itself. The cave-man wielded 

 a club, which served its purpose just as well as the modern rifle witli 

 its butt of American walnut does today. The yew-tree of England, 

 which furnished material for the bows and arrows of the White Com- 

 jiany, as every follower of Conan Doyle well knows, was worthy of the 

 tribute of a song. 



Houses, furniture and ships must have wood — and even in this day 

 of firoproofness in building construction it has not been found desir- 

 able to eliminate its use. Wood is in evidence literally from the cradle 

 to the grave, which means that it is bound up with the experience of 

 every human being — certainly a broad enough basis on which to base 

 study of its varying qualities. 



—18— 



Getting back to the matter of automobile copy, which seems to be 

 in the limelight just now, it is generally understood that the Fierce- 

 Arrow people put samples of ash lumber to the laboratory test before 

 deciding to make use of it in their frames. Elasticity, which makes 

 for easy riding, is one of the things the chemist tests for, doubtless, as 

 well as, toughness and tensUe strength. Wouldn't it interest some dis- 

 criminating buyers to be told how this feature is handled, if that is 

 really the way of it? 



The H. H. Franklin Automobile Company has called attention ef- 

 fectively heretofore to the method used in making its wood frames, 

 which are of "laminated" construction, as explained in the advertis- 

 ing. This is one way of describing the method of gluing layers of wood 

 together for the purpose of securing strength, the sections being laid 

 so that the grain of each I'uns at right angles to that of the next. But 

 most of the furniture which is put on the market has tops, panels, 

 drawer-fronts, etc., which are "laminated" in this way, only the trade 

 description is that they are veneered. Really, laminated is the better 

 word, for veneering suggests merely the treatment of the outside face, 

 while glued-up construction involves the other features as well. 



The writer has never seen a furniture ad which attempted to go 

 into details regarding this method of construction, though if it is a 

 good argument for automobiles it should be equally effective applied 

 to furniture. It is true that there is a considerable prejudice on the 

 part of the public in favor of "solid mahogany," etc., but veneered 

 construction has enough good points to make it seem worth while to 

 tell about it. 



Not long ago a music trade paper recorded the fact that one of the 

 leading piano manufacturers had purchased an historic walnut tree in 

 the East. It figured in the Revolutionary war, and was one of the 

 land-marks of that section. It was explained that the company was 

 having this material cut into veneers, which would be used in the 

 manufacture of its cases. 



Here, apparently, was a good chance to make use of the interest in 

 wood of this character, which makes an appeal on the basis of historic 

 associations and sentiment as well as beauty. True, it might be argued 

 that a piano must be sold as a musical instrument, but the fact re- 

 )nains that it is likewise a splendid piece of cabinet-making, and people 

 who buy pianos are often influenced more by the appearance of the 

 case, regarding which they have definite opinions, than by the tone of 

 its strings, regarding which they may be somewhat in doubt. 



Just now the talking machine field is getting a lot of attention with 

 the entrance of numerous new manufacturers of popular-priced instru- 

 ments. Some of them are made with metal eases, but one manufac- 

 turer of a cheap talking machine has advertised the fact that he is 

 using basswood, pointing out that a wood cabinet is much better 

 adapted to the transmission of musical vibrations than metal. Here 

 is a good example of a wood-user making a talking-point of his mate- 

 rial, instead of either putting the soft pedal on it or forgetting to say 

 anything about it. 



The Willard battery is getting strong advertising support, and the 

 construction of the boxes which contain the storage outfits has been 

 featured to some extent, more, certainly, than one would expect, in 

 view of the way advertisers as a whole overlook this feature. A recent 

 poster analyzing the points of the Willard battery had the following: 



Ton may think a battery liox is just a liftx. But when you find that 

 Willard boxes are made of oak so hard that it dulls ordinary tools, you'll 

 appreciate the maker's precaution against splitting and deca.v. 



It can't come apart. No chance of a Willard battery box leaking and 

 ilisflguring a car Avith acid. The corners are put together to stay- — locked 

 and fastened with hard maple dowels. An expansion .ioint in the liottom 

 tal<es care of temperature and moisture changes which might otherwise 

 cause expansion or contraction of the wood itself. 



Speaking of boxes emphasizes the fact that the Shredded Wheat 

 Company has frequently advertised to the trade that its boxes are 

 made of such good material and put together so well that they can be 

 sold for a not inconsiderable amount secondhand. A lock-cornered 

 box is much stronger than one which is nailed, and this typo of con- 

 struction, as well as the use of sufficiently heavy wood of the right 



