Using Minstrels to Sell Automobiles 



This is where the oldtime patent medi- 

 cine quack is completely outquacked 



Top picture shows 

 the stage all set for 

 the show to com- 

 mence to draw crowd 



YOUR grandfather 

 probably remem- 

 bers the travel- 

 ing patent-medicine "doctor" and his con- 

 cert wagon. The "doctor" and his artists 

 would locate themselves at some strategic 

 point and after a few songs and perhaps a 

 buck-and-wing dance, would draw a crowd 

 of several hundred people to view the free 

 show. A vivid burst of oratory, a glow- 

 ing picture of what Ox-heart Pills 

 would accomplish, a scramble to buy the 

 precious medicine and the doctor would 

 move on. He combined some of the 

 delights of Coney Island with those of 

 the modern corner drug store. 



Although the traveling patent-medicine 

 doctor has almost passed away, his 

 principles have recently been applied 

 by an enterprising automobile dealer in 

 the Middle West to sell a particular 

 high-priced car with a silent type of 

 engine to small dealers in rural towns. 

 He fitted one of the cars he sold with a 

 body in which he stowed a piano as shown 



The lower picture 

 shows the automo- 

 bile with stage folded 

 up ready for road 



in one of the accom- 

 panying illustrations. 

 The entire side swings 

 down as a platform on which the singer 

 shrieks "Over ihe-e-re, Over the-e-re!" And 

 now a demonstrator takes the place 

 of the singer. He is not so seductive 

 as he is forceful and convincing. Listen 

 to him: 



"Ladies and Gentlemen! You have 

 heard the singer and you have heard the 

 piano. Not a word escaped you. And 

 yet all the while the engine of this car 

 was running. There was no rattling of 

 valve-tappets. There was no roaring ex- 

 haust. There was no jingling of loose parts. 

 That's the chief merit of this car — silence. 

 It has an engine which is as noiseless as a 

 cat and as powerful as fifty horses. Step 

 up and get a catalogue." 



One hundred and twenty-five cars were 

 sold on one concert tour alone, and others 

 were disposed of later through small- 

 town dealers whose custom was secured 

 as a result of the trip. 



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