HONEY-PEDDLING. 



274 



HONEY-PEDDLING. 



HOrrx: V - FEDDIiIBTG. Under Ex- 

 tracted Honey, which see, we have aheady 

 told souiethiiig about selling direct to con- 

 sumers. But there are many who say they 

 '^ haven't the gall or cheek to go around and 

 ask folks to buy," and prefer to be excused 

 from any such disagreeable experience. Eut 

 there are ways in which one does not need 

 to lose either his dignity or self-respect. A 

 peddler may, it is true, call at imseasonable 

 liours, or steal valuable time from a pros- 

 pective customer in trying to force a sale. 

 In such ways one may make himself very 

 obnoxious, and render a second visit utterly 

 useless. Dan White, of New London, Ohio, 

 a progressive and practical bee-keeper, has 

 hit upon a novel plan that entirely elim- 

 inates all objectionable features. As he has 

 succeeded so well we will let him tell his 

 plan in his own way : 



PEDDLING MADE EASY. 



I packed my grip and took two 13-pounrt oans of 

 honey and started out. About all I had in my grip 

 was a good supply of those leaflets published by 

 The A. I. Koot Co.; also 60 postals addressed to 

 myself. 



I got into the town just before dinner time ; and 

 after eating- a good meal at a boarding-house 1 tilled 

 my pockets with leaflets and took one honey-can 

 and commenced business. I started down a street 

 and did not miss calling at every house. After 

 ringing the bell, or rapping-, a lady would open the 

 dooi- and look at mo with more or less suspicion. I 

 would say, " I made the call to ask you if your fam- 

 ily were fond of honey." 



They geneially answered yes, but believed they 

 would not buy any. 



"Well," I would answer, "but I am not selling 

 honey to-day. 1 am giving- it away, and should be 

 glad to give you some in a sauce-dish." 



Some would look astonished, others would smile, 

 and say, " That's funny," but in every instance I was 

 invited in. I would pour out the honey, then hand 

 out a leaflet, telling them to read every word of it. 

 " You will find it very interesting ; it will tell you 

 all about honey— how and why we extract it, etc. 

 Then here is a postal addressed to me ; and should 

 you decide to want a 12-pound can, put your namei 

 street, and number, on the card ; drop it in the ofllce ; 

 and when I deliver in about ten days you will get a 

 can of honey." 



Well, there were enough cards put In the mail 

 within five days to take thirty cans of honey. 1 

 promptly made the delivery on time, taking- along 

 twenty extra cans that sold about as fast as I could 

 hand them out ; and since then 1 have received 

 orders for 50 more cans from the same town. I tell 

 you, it has got all over town that a honey-man had 

 been there selling ixal honey, 13 pounds for one 

 dollar. I am certain that this one place will take 

 over 3000 pounds, all in one-gallon cans. Now, then, 

 is pounds of honey given away from house to house, 

 50 postal cards, 300 leaflets left at houses and handed 

 to people on the street, and one day walking- over a 

 very small portion of the town, has found a place 

 for at least 3000 pounds of honey. Then think what 

 I can do next season should 1 secure a good crop. 



All I shall have to do is to take a big load and go up 

 there and hand it out. By the way, tlie honey sold 

 there was thi-own out of clean white combs, over 

 every inch of whose surface the uncapping-knife 

 had to go. It weighed strong- 13 pounds to (he gal- 

 lon — ju.st as good as the best comb honey, o/ify it was 

 out of the combs. Of course, I can go back just as 

 often as I choose ; yes, and the people will be glad 

 to see me. Dan White. 



New London, Ohio. 



It would appear that one of the prime req- 

 uisites is a first-class article of well-ripened 

 extracted honey. Very many make a mis- 

 take right here, and, of course, if the honey 

 is poor, one is not likely to make a second 

 sale. Mr. White's scheme is to have the 

 honey taste so good that, when it is gone, the 

 good people will drop that postal for more, 

 and not haggle over the price, even if the 

 ''store stuff " does cost less. 



In a similar way Mr. Herman F. Moore, 

 then of Cleveland, O., now of Chicago, re- 

 tailed large amounts of honey. His plan, 

 like that of Mr. White, was to go around 

 and solicit orders. In the cities of Cleve- 

 land and Toledo, or even those of smaller 

 size, he would start out on foot, exhibiting 

 a sample of his honey in a quart Mason 

 fruit-jar. His reason for using this pack- 

 age was that almost any family would be 

 willing to take a household article of this 

 kind, for the simple reason that it would 

 not have to be thrown away when it had 

 served the purpose of holding the honey. 



With this jar of honey Mr. Moore would 

 call at private houses, one after another, 

 and ask for a dish and spoon, saying that he 

 had some very nice honey, and that he 

 would like to give the women-folks a sam- 

 ple to taste. He then held up the beautiful 

 transparent goods to the light, told them he 

 was a bee-keeper, and dealt only in pure 

 honey : explained how it was produced, and 

 tinally named the price. If the lady of the 

 house cared to take any he would take her 

 order and deliver the next day. As a rule 

 he took an order. 



In this way he would make the rounds of 

 a certain section of the city. When he first 

 began he would take the orders one day and 

 deliver the next ; but liis business grew so 

 rapidly that he was finally obliged to take 

 on a helper, his brother, and, a little later 

 on, two more men and a man and his wife. 

 The two last named would wash the jars 

 and fill them. Two of the men would deliv- 

 er while he and his brother took orders. In 

 this way they sold enormous quantities of 

 honey; and as it was always of the finest 

 quality, and guaranteed to be pure, they 

 built up a large trade. Mr. Moore has since 



