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HANGING OUT m 

 M[ ALL THE WASH 



WHlimn Scott, the florist-philosopher, used to say, ''Wash all you've 

 got, and hang out all you wash." The linen on the line is what many of 

 the neighbors judge your family hy. Your particular public sizes you up 

 the same way. Do you take the trouble to show them you've got the goods f 



ERHAPS some Greek phi- 

 losopher or Hindoo moral- 

 izer was the first to spring 

 the remark about ' ' put- 

 ting one's best foot fore- 

 most," or a phrase to that 

 effect. It was more than 

 nineteen centuries ago that 

 one of the world's great- 

 est epigrammatists made 

 the well-known statement that the place 

 for a lighted lamp is not under a bushel, 

 but on a stand, where it may be seen 

 by all. The idea expressed by William 

 Scott's housewifely metaphor is, most 

 assuredly, old. It is familiar to every- 

 one. But how about its application?' 



Another Story. 



That, in the old phrase, is another 

 story. All that is preached is not prac- 

 ticed, not by several miles, and al- 

 though the soundness of this idea is 

 quite generally recognized, its applica- 

 tion is far from general. Of course, 

 there is such a thing as going too far, 

 as a rather joggled-up passenger re- 

 marked when the skyscraper elevator 

 slipped its cable at the tenth floor and 

 hit the concrete at the second base- 

 ment. Some people 

 have such facility in 

 putting forward their 

 best foot that they 

 appear to be one- 

 legged, for you never 

 see the other foot at 

 all. But such as these 

 are happily becoming 

 fewer, for they find 

 that that foot is like- 

 ly to be impeded with 

 a ball and chain. 



But these gentle- 

 men, like the flowers 

 that bloom in the 

 spring, have nothing 

 to do with the case. 

 There is a legitimate 

 distance which one's 

 best foot may be ad- 

 vanced, and the busi- 

 ness man who does 

 not take a step in 

 that direction is as 

 much to be reprehend- 

 ed, though not in the 

 criminal court, as he 

 that goes too far. 



This withholding of 

 the better extremity 

 is prevalent among 

 retailers in this trade 

 mainly because of the 

 nature of the stock 

 that is handled. The 



dry-goods man spreads his wares all 

 over the place. The grocer's goods 

 overflow onto the sidewalk in front of 

 his store; sometimes it is hard to con- 

 fine hipi so that the pedestrian has pas- 

 sage. Their lines are staple and not 

 immediately perishable. The florist must 

 sell his blooms within a limited time, 

 or consign them, at a loss to himself, 

 to the waste heap. 



Where Caution Leads. 



It is only natural, therefore, that 

 there should be the temptation to get 

 along with as little stock as possible. 

 Indeed, some misguided aspirants to 

 the retail trade occasionally appear 

 who think they Can take an order and 

 then chase to the wholesaler for the 

 flowers to fill it. These unfortunates 

 soon learn their mistake, being either 

 speedily converted or obliged to retire 

 till they learn better. 



There is a larger class, however, con- 

 sisting of those who, being naturally 

 cautious and having a limited trade, 

 try to get along with just so much 

 stock, figuring that they are thus 

 avoiding the loss of wasted stock. They 

 never figure what may be their loss 



How Peno, of Boetoo, Showed 6,000 Roees One January Day. 



in wasted trade through this economy. 

 Whether these figure on them or not, 

 there are certainly customers lost by 

 their meager showing. When a passer- 

 by views a window and sees therein a 

 few vases of flowers, or, gazing into 

 the store beyond, sees only a few plants 

 and vases in addition, he mentally clas- 

 sifies that store and its proprietor. 

 When he passes another store, where 

 there seem to him to be flowers of all 

 kinds in abundance, he mentally clas- 

 sifies that store and its proprietor. But 

 the two stores are not even in the 

 same drawer in the filing cabinet of 

 his brain. 



False Economy. 



When this same person, who is every 

 one that passes your store, is going 

 to buy some flowers, whither does he 

 wend his way? To that place, natural- 

 ly, where he, or she, believes he, or 

 she, will have the largest and best 

 choice. There is, too, always the idea 

 lurking somewhere in this person's 

 head, that he will get better for his 

 money at the store of strong showing. 

 Now, as a matter of fact, the store 

 of the bare look may have in its cool 

 cellar, out of sight, 

 more than in the en- 

 tire store that ap- 

 peared so well sup- 

 plied. At any rate, 

 it is quite possible 

 that its prices, qual- 

 ity, service and as- 

 sortment are on a lev- 

 el with the other 

 store's. But it lost 

 that customer. And 

 how many more, for 

 the same reason? 



If a florist saves a 

 few flowers and loses 

 a few customers, 

 where is his saving, 

 compared to the neigh- 

 bor who lost the few 

 flowers and gained 

 the few customers? 

 The latter might, in- 

 deed, not class the 

 item as a loss, but 

 place it in the adver- 

 tising expense ac- 

 count. For if ever 

 advertising pays, it is 

 that which consists of 

 making an effective 

 show of stock, even 

 if the icebox and cel- 

 lar, like the wife'o 

 linen closet, be emp- 

 tied in the process. 



