How a Commercial Tree Reached Maturity 



THE STORY OF A GREAT SUCCESS BUILT 

 ON A SMALL ARTICLE, WELL MADE 



TPHE growth cf a great business is like the 

 -*- development of a tree, and its final 

 success depends very much upon the same 

 sort of treatment. To begin with, the seed, 

 or the article upon which the business is 

 based, must be good ; then the soil or class of 

 customers must be suitable and in the proper 

 condition to receive it; and, finally, the cul- 

 tivation of the ground and care of the tree 

 itself must be thorough and careful, for like a 



L. E. WATERMAN 

 Inventor of Waterman's Ideal Pen 



tree, a business that does not develop and 

 grow continually loses its vitality, begins to 

 droop, and eventually dies. 



Twenty-one years ago this month there 

 was planted, in a well-prepared and fertile 

 soil, a seed that after careful tending and 

 watchful care has developed into a flourishing 

 healthy business, like a sturdy tree that has 

 reached its maturity and is growing still. 



At the back of a little cigar store on Fulton 

 Street, New York, Mr. L. E. Waterman, on 

 February 12, 18S4, established the Waterman's 

 Ideal Fountain Pen business. A single desk 

 was the office, factory, store, and stock-room, 

 and Mr. Waterman was the entire force, manu- 

 facturing, sales, and accounting. That was 

 in 1884, and the output that year was 200 

 pens, made and sold by the inventor. In 

 February, 1905, a six-story building is re- 

 quired by the sales, business, and accounting 

 offices and store rooms, while a separate 

 factory is in operation for the rubber work 

 and another for the gold pens; the employees 

 run into the hundreds, and the product 

 exceeds three-quarters of a million per year. 

 This, in a nutshell, is the story of the growth of 

 this great enterprise. The following figures 

 illustrate the increase even more graphically-: 

 In 1884 the output was 200; 1885, 500; 1886, 

 2,000; 1887, 5,000; 1888, 9,000; - 1889, 

 12,000; 1890, 18,000; 1891, 22,000; 1892, 

 2S,ooo; 1893, 38,000; 1894, 42,000 — 2,100 



per cent, increase in ten years; 1895, 63,000; 

 1S96, 87,000; 1897, 98,000; 1898, 139,000; 

 1899, 185,000; 1900, 227,000; 1901, 326,000; 

 1902, 400,000; 1903, 500,000; 1904, 750,000. 



The whole structure of this great tree is 

 based on the quality of the seed — the pen 

 itself. When Mr. Waterman made the first 

 Waterman's Ideal, there were fountain pens 

 of the sort on the market, but the} - were a 

 nuisance, not a necessity. The Waterman's 

 Ideal of 1884 was the best of its kind. Many 

 of those made that year are in use to-day, 

 and it could be depended upon to do its work. 

 As the years sped by, improvements were 

 invented, and so this perfect writing instru- 

 ment was kept first by sheer quality. 



The ground was ready for the establishing 

 and growth of this tree. People were tired 

 of fixing quills, of dipping pens, and of point- 

 ing pencils. Busy people were looking for 

 an instrument that would transfer their 

 thoughts to paper with the least effort and 

 the greatest certainty: Waterman's Ideal 

 Fountain Pen fulfilled all these conditions 

 perfectly. The ground, contrary to the 

 usual procedure, increased in proportion. 

 From 200 to more than 750,000 pens per year 

 in twenty-one years of rapid growth. 



No growth, however, can be symmetrical 

 and solid if care is not taken to cultivate the 

 soil and prevent disease. The L. E. Water- 

 man Company is a tree whose increase has 

 been fostered by the rains of kind words 

 spoken by satisfied buyers; the ground in 

 which it grows has been fertilized by the 

 method of fair dealing and help to those who 

 handle its products. The ills that beset all 

 natural growths have been warded off by the 

 sheer strength of the structure itself. No 

 vulnerable points have ever been found in the 



L. E. Waterman Company. Their product 

 has always been above reproach. 



Every feature of the growing thing has some 

 particular use; every one of the few parts of 

 the Waterman's Ideal Fountain Pen has its 

 particular purpose also; nothing is super- 

 fluous, nothing essential is left out, there is 

 nothing to get out of order. All those things 

 (seeming conveniences, perhaps) that might 

 complicate the simple workings of the pen 

 are omitted. Nothing can hurt the Water- 

 man's Ideal but gross abuse. 



It was recognized very early that no two 

 hands were alike and that different people 

 required different nibs. These writing in- 

 struments, therefore, were supplied with a 

 great variety of points, and no buyer is urged 

 to buy what does not suit him. It is the 

 policy of the company to exchange till the 

 customer is suited. In this way, any one, 

 from the person who needs the heavy nib 

 necessary to make carbon copies of his writ- 

 ing, to the artist who draws hair lines, is 

 fitted with a pen of his liking, and there is 

 no dissatisfied talk to mar the reputation cf 

 the pen. 



It is its adaptability to every need that 

 accounts for the universal use of the Water- 

 man's Ideal Fountain Pen. The boy who 

 saved up his money, bought a pen, and used 

 it all the week writing express receipts, and 

 Saturday afternoon to keep baseball scores, 

 was as much entitled to consideration in the 

 Company's eyes as the bank president who 

 used his to sign checks. 



In one respect this thriving commercial 

 growth and the fruits, of it are quite unlike 

 the natural tree; for there are few, if any, 

 fruits that meet the needs and tastes of 

 every one, while the product of the L. E. 



