78 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



March, 1914 



Romances of Modern Business 



THE American romance is in the large office-buildings and the marts of trade; it is the romance of great 

 achievements in commerce, in industrial leadership. And it is a wonderful romance! The child of the world's 

 nations is leading them! — Arnold Bennett. 



CHAPTER m 



The Story of the "57 Varieties" 



The big clock boomed the hour of noon. Where there had been quiet 

 among the diligent workers, there now broke a wave of conversation. 

 The doors were flung open and into the green courtyard passed the 

 hundreds of employees in playful mood. 



They made a gladsome picture — these vigorous men and women, with 

 their buoyancy and apparent content with their lot, seeking to make 

 the most of their midday recreation with laughter and healthful ex- 

 ercise. A visitor to the plant with his host turned to take in the view, 

 and then, above, beheld another sight that compelled interest. 



At a window, on the second floor of one of the main buildings, stood 

 a man looking upon the scene in the courtyard with a benevolent smile. 

 He was an elderly man, with a face subtly merging the qualities of 

 power and tenderness. Intently he watched the employees at play. 

 "Whose is the 'face at the window'?" was asked. 



"That," replied the host, "is Mr. H. J. Heinz, the founder of the 

 company." 



During the forenoon, there had been unfolded to the visitor the his- 

 tory of the "House of Heinz" — for that is the scene and subject of this 

 story — and in it the founder of this significant industry stood out an 

 heroic figure. A truly romantic story it was, blending the elements of 

 sentiment and the dramatic action of big achievements. The deft hand 

 of Arnold Bennett could make of it a romance worthy of the name. 



The man who stood at the window controls an industry that has a 

 main plant at Pittsburgh occupying one hundred and sixty city lots and 

 fourteen branch factories in different parts of the United States, with 

 others in Canada, England, and Spain. He employs over five thousand 

 hands in his factories alone and distributes his products through his own 

 agencies and branch houses in all the principal nations of the world. 



Forty-five years ago this same man began preparing and selling food 

 products, but under very different conditions. A small room in a house 

 at Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, and an adjoining garden of about half an 

 acre were the setting for the first scene of the industrial spectacle of the 

 " House of Heinz." Here Mr. Heinz began his business career by rais- 

 ing horseradish, and in the single room he put it up for the local trade. 



Consider this mighty transition! To the accomplishment of it 

 there must have been brought some force besides the fineness of the 

 products and the integrity of the business management. 



Mr. M. S. Achenbach, advertising manager for the H. J. Heinz Com- 

 pany, named the third of the trinity of supports of the Heinz strong- 

 hold when he said: "The success of the Heinz Company has been 

 in no uncertain degree made possible by the character and extent of the 

 company's advertising." 



It will be remembered that the vital advertising campaign which 

 early established the "57 Varieties" in the public mind was carried on 

 in the periodicals of national circulation. 



The little room and plot of garden at Sharpsburg yielded an inspira- 

 tion; but this small foundation could not long serve the purposes of a 

 man with the will to build a large structure. Mr. Heinz expanded his 

 operations to fruits and vegetables. Soon he had established such 

 a lucrative local trade that he decided the scope of Sharpsburg was too 

 limited for his enterprise. So, in the early seventies, the Heinz plant 

 was moved to Pittsburgh. 



Here again the words of Mr. Achenbach are pertinent: "The local 

 success after the establishment of the plant in Pittsburgh was great," 

 he said; "the Heinz products found a ready market and a continuing 

 demand. But it did not take the young manufacturer long to discover 

 that no matter how superior his product might be, unless he spread the 

 knowledge of that goodness to a wider territory, he should always 

 remain a local manufacturer. So he began to advertise." 



The founder of the " House of Heinz" had an ambition to create a 

 world-wide demand for his products. In those early days, before the 

 efficacy of high-powered advertising had been demonstrated this was re- 

 garded as a dream. But the Heinz dream has reached a dramatic ful- 

 filment. 



All this was accomplished by a broadly gauged advertising appeal. 

 The foundation was laid through the weekly and monthly periodicals of 

 national circulation. Later, the firm used practically every kind of 

 medium that would make for universality of advertising. The response 

 lifted the Heinz Company from a local Pittsburgh concern to an in- 

 dustry of international proportions. 



The Heinz Company believed in the persistency of advertising, and 

 this, with the originality of the company's advertising ideas has had 

 a telling effect. Who is there not familiar with the small green-pickle 

 trade-mark or the sign of the "57 Varieties"? 



The green-pickle trade-mark was adopted soon after Mr. Heinz be- 

 gan advertising in the magazines. Later he saw the psychological ap- 

 peal of a popular catch-phrase. None that came to his attention seemed 

 just what he wanted until he noticed a sign in a New York shoe-dealer's 

 window. It read: "Twenty styles." 



"Why," thought he, "can I not advertise the number of my pro- 

 ducts?" He drew out a memorandum-book and counted the items in 

 the list of foods manufactured by him. There were fifty-seven. "How 

 can I word this?" he mused, "'styles' will not do for a food term; 

 'kinds' does not sound right; fifty-seven, fifty-seven — varieties!" The 

 thought came to him in a flash. And so the term, "57 Varieties," 

 was started on its history-making career in the food world. 



Mr. Achenbach has some interesting things to say about the Heinz 

 advertising ideals. Hear him further: "The business of the H. J. 

 Heinz Company is an example of the possibilities of modern commer- 

 cial evolution. It is simply the logical result of fitting an idea to 

 public demand and sticking conscientiously to its purpose of fulfil- 

 ment. 



"Through the national magazines we have commanded a national 

 business. This afterward was supplemented by the results from other 

 media of advertising. The Heinz Company feels that the magazines 

 have been a force in developing a demand for and a confidence in 

 Heinz products. The ethical standards of the magazines with regard 

 to their advertising are in harmony with our own ideals, and have 

 assisted us materially in creating the public confidence that we now 

 enjoy." 



A great industrial success such as that of the H. J. Heinz Company 

 is another vivid illustration of the power of the magazines in working 

 hand-in-hand with an industry in its development. A product is 

 advertised in a standard magazine; that message from the manufac- 

 turer penetrates every section of the country, carrying with it the 

 accepted suggestion that the product advertised must be "right" or 

 it would not be represented in the magazine. Such is the present-day 

 view of magazine advertising. 



There is another phase of the mission of the periodical advertisement 

 of equal importance with its ethical and commercial values. That is 

 its accomplishments in the field of public service. The one instance of 

 the Heinz Company is eloquent of this. The creating of a demand 

 for Heinz products has set new food standards; has given employ- 

 ment to thousands of people; has made a market for the products of 

 some thirty thousand acres of land; has conserved the food supply, 

 and has relieved the housewives of the world of many cares. Many 

 the woman that has blessed Heinz when an unexpected guest 

 arrived! 



This is the third of a series of articles that is being published to show how magazine advertising is serving the public. 



