Dec, 1929J ROADSIDE MARKETING 35 



flowers for the ladies and children. Neither does good salesmanship 

 overlook the decorative effects of flowers on or about the salesroom 

 in the country. Padding the weights and measures for special friends 

 or customers is sometimes resorted to but is seldom justified. The 

 woman who gets 5 pounds of spinach for a peck and 15 ears of corn 

 for a dozen is likely to be almost as much disappointed sometime 

 when she gets the proper amount, and to cast just as many reflections 

 on the market, as would result had she actually received underweight 

 ^or short count. There is no law against overweight, except the one 

 of commonsense, but that should be enforced. 



Some stands, inadequate in size to afford a full-time attendant, at- 

 tempt to serve customers by providing a salesman from the nearby 

 farmhouse on short notice. A push-bell at the stand may summon 

 the attendant, or service may depend largely on the watchfulness of 

 the one in charge. This type at best is a makeshift, and can hardly 

 compete with the place having a salesman always and immediately 

 available. Few transients stop when the attendant is not in sight, 

 but such places may fill a need in some few cases not yet supplied 

 with better facilities. 



Self service stands are hardly to be found in New Hampshire, but 

 have been tried in other states. They have the advantage of requir- 

 ing less attention on the part of the proprietor and less waiting on the 

 part of the customer. Some of the disadvantages are evident in fla- 

 grant dishonesty, in possible difficulties in making change, and in the 

 lack of appeal which goes with good personal salesmanship. 



Finally, in salesmanship is exemplified the summation and unifica- 

 tion of all that makes the roadside market business "go". It is the 

 alpha and omega, the conception and anticipation, as well as the ful- 

 fillment, of service in creating and supplying the demands of an ever 

 widening potential market among automobile owners. In the new- 

 ness of the undertaking, leadership is at a disadvantage, but with pass- 

 ing time and a better conception of the problem there will be evolved 

 from rural raw material personnel of adequate capacity. In fact the 

 process is well under way as evidenced at many good stands of the 

 present day in New Hampshire. 



