CYRUS HALL McCORMICK 



scatter less grain than the grain-cradle, that 

 it was well made, and that the raking off 

 could easily be done from a raker's seat. 

 If the Reaper failed to fulfil these promises, 

 it was to be brought back and the $30 was 

 to be refunded. 



This idea of giving a free trial, and returning 

 the money to any dissatisfied customer, was at 

 that time new and revolutionary. To-day it is 

 the code of the department store, and even the 

 mail-order establishments are in many instances 

 adopting it. It has become one of the higher 

 laws of the business world. It has driven that 

 discreditable maxim, "Let the buyer beware," 

 out of all decent commercialism. To Mc- 

 Cormick, who had never studied the selfish 

 economic theories of his day, there was no 

 reason for any antagonism between buyer and 

 seller. He trusted his Reaper and he trusted 

 the farmers. And he built his business four- 

 square on this confidence. 



Second, he sold his Reapers at a Known 

 Price. He announced the price in newspapers 

 and posters. This, too, has since become an 



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