LAST TEAR’S 
CONTESTANTS 
Haloid, South Dakota. 
January 27, 1937. 
The House of Gurney, 
Yankton, South Dakota 
Dear Sirs: 
I want to tell you about my won¬ 
derful garden I raised last year. It 
was the only one in Hughes County 
that I could find out about unless 
there were some in Pierre. 
I entered your contest last year, 
thinking I would perhaps win a 
prize, but didn’t win one of your 
cash prizes, but think I won one 
that amounted to around $100.00 
anyway from the $2.00 worth of 
garden seed. Of course, I had to 
water it and fight bugs of every de¬ 
scription, but I think the vitality 
of your seeds had a lot to do with 
it, as I planted another kind and 
they got a grand start but that was 
all. It seemed that they couldn’t 
stand the dry and hot weather we 
had. 
I hope to receive your catalog 
soon, as I like to look at it and 
plan my garden early. That is my 
greatest hobby. 
Yours truly, 
Mrs. Ruth Noe. 
Alexis, Illinois. 
January 26, 1937. 
Mr. D. B. Gurney. 
Dear Sir: 
I have been buying nursery stock 
and seeds from you several years 
and have been very pleased with 
results. I have never had a tree or 
shrub die that I have bought from 
you, and your garden seeds have 
been better than those I have 
bought elsewhere. 
I think nursery stock and seed 
from your locality do much better 
here than those raised in the South 
and East. 
Yours truly, 
John M. P. Hymes. 
Hector, Minnesota. 
December 10, 1936. 
The House of Gurney, 
Yankton, So. Dak. 
Gentlemen: 
I feel like writing you about the 
wonderful success that I had with 
your seeds this year. All other gar¬ 
dens in this neighborhood were 
practically a total failure, while 
everyone who saw our garden was 
amazed at the good stand. 
I cannot help praising your to¬ 
matoes, as I sold about 26 bushels, 
canned 101 quarts, made 30 quarts 
of preserves, and filled all my bot¬ 
tles with catsup while we ate all 
that we cared for. 
We are practically the only ones 
around here who have their base¬ 
ment full of vegetables and some 
to spare. 
My highest praise to Gurney’s 
seeds. 
A very much satisfied customer, 
Mrs. John King. 
Luana. Iowa. 
February 1, 1937. 
The House of Gumey, Inc. 
Yankton, South Dakota. 
Gentlemen: 
As I am trying my luck in your 
contest, I thought I would write 
you a few lines also. 
Last spring I bought from you 
five bushels of Minnesota No. 13 
Seed Corn, and although I didn’t 
get it planted until the 23rd or 
25th of May, and considering the 
dry weather we had it made a very 
good crop. If this corn could have 
been planted earlier and it would 
have had what moisture it needed 
at the right time, it would have 
made 90 bushels to the acre. I 
picked enough seed for this year, 
but if I ever need any seed corn, 
The House of Gurney will get my 
order, as I am well satisfied with 
my dealings with you. 
Yours truly. 
Vern Straberichter. 
GURNEY’S MARCH CONTEST 
The One You Will Like Best 
This Contest the Best of AH I 
ENTER NOW 
Read These Easy Rules 
1. Finish this sentence, “Plant Gurney’s seeds and trees because__” 
(In 25 additional words or less). Write your entry on one side of a sheet of paper, 
signing your name and address. 
2. Your composition explaining your reasons 
must be written in the English language. Your 
entry may be made with pencil, pen and ink, or 
a typewriter, but the writing and entire entry 
must be plainly legible, neat, and readable. All 
entries and contents thereof become the property 
of The House of Gurney, Inc. No entries will be 
returned. 
3. The 12 rules here given must be closely fol¬ 
lowed. A copy of the rules set forth herein is 
posted in the office of the Secretary-Treasurer of 
The House of Gurney, Inc., at Yankton, South 
Dakota, a copy of which rules may be obtained 
by contestants upon written request, and con¬ 
testants agree to be bound by such rules so 
posted. 
4. Entries will be judged for clearness, sin¬ 
cerity, and individuality of thought. Your own 
words are most important. Fancy entries will 
not count extra. 
5. This contest begins March 1, 1937, and 
ends March 31, 1937. Only entries delivered to 
The House of Gurney, Inc., during March, 1937, 
or mailed at your postoffice during that month 
and received before noon April 3, 1937, will be 
qualified entries. 
6. No person has authority to alter, modify, 
or change these rules. Contest is limited to 
the United States only and is subject to all Fed¬ 
eral, State and Local Regulations. 
7. Judges shall be appointed by an officer of 
The House of Gurney, Inc., and contestants agree 
with The House of Gurney, Inc., that the judges' 
decisions on all matters (including awarding of 
prizes and method of examining and judging en¬ 
tries) shall be final, but in case of tie, duplicate 
awards will be given, and The House of Gurney, 
Inc., is accepting your entry under that condi¬ 
tion, which is mutually agreed to. 
8. The House of Gurney, Inc., or the judges 
appointed, in their discretion, reserve the right to 
disqualify in this contest any employee of The 
House of Gurney, Inc., professional contestants, 
or winners of any first prize in any of our other 
contests, or to disqualify any person whose entry 
or compliance with the rules of the contest, they 
may decide is not in good faith, or for any rea¬ 
son whatsoever. (The judges may use such meth¬ 
ods to determine these and all questions as they 
may deem proper and their method and determi¬ 
nation shall be final). 
9. One or more members of a family may en¬ 
ter the contest; however, each additional entry 
must be qualified with a separate order to make 
it eligible for the full prize. Any contestant is 
entitled to send as many entries and qualifying 
orders for the full prize as he or she may desire. 
10. An entry with no order or purchase will 
be recognized and winners will receive in cash 
1/20 (one-twentieth) of our valuation of the 
First Prize, if first, or 1/20 (one-twentieth) of 
the other cash awards if the entries are entitled 
to prizes. 
11. The prize winners will be announced over 
Radio Station WNAX between 12:40 and 1:40 
p. m., Central Standard Time, on the 8th day 
of April, 1937. 
12. If your entry is accompanied by an order 
for one or more of the special collections of mer¬ 
chandise listed in this contest circular amounting 
to $2 or more, you will be eligible to compete 
for one of the following prizes: 
FIRST PRIZE—Your choice of a 1937 Chevro¬ 
let Tudor Sedan with 100 gallons of Gurney’s 
100% Pure Pennsylvania Oil; or $700 in cash. 
Second Prize .$250.00 in cash 
Third Prize . 150.00 in cash 
Fourth Prize ... 75.00 in cash 
Fifth Prize . 50.00 in cash 
Sixth Prize . 25.00 in cash 
Seventh Prize . 10.00 in cash 
Eighth Prize . 5.00 in cash 
9th to 50th Prizes (inclusive).$2.00 each 
Cash Total, $649.00 
Questions and Answers Regarding This Contest 
In the spirit of fairness to all contestants and also uniform service to ALL contestants. The 
House of Gurney must decline to engage in correspondence with any contestant. Obviously, it 
would not be fair to correspond with part of the contestants on matters involving the contest if 
all contestants did not have access to the correspondence. Accordingly, The House of Gurney will 
not answer letters regarding the contest. 
The rules are clear and explicit, and as a means of making the rules even more understand¬ 
able, the following questions and answers have been prepared: 
1. Question: Can more than one person in a family en¬ 
ter? Is each entrant in a family eligible to win? In 
other words, is it possible that more than one prize 
may be paid in the same family? 
Answer: Yes! to all three questions. But no one 
INDIVIDUAL can win more than ONE prize. 
2. Question: Does neatness count in this contest? 
Answer: No. Do not bother about decorating your 
answers. But please PRINT your name and address, 
and PRINT it clearly. 
3. Question: Is it possible to secure a personal inter¬ 
view with some official connected with the contest? 
Answer: No. In fairness to all contestants, this is 
permitted NO contestant. Until after the contest has 
been completed, no discussions, either in person or 
over the telephone will be engaged in between any 
person identified with the contest staff and contestants. 
4. Question: Can items other than those listed in this 
contest circular be selected from the 1937 House of 
Gurney catalog in order to qualify for the major 
prizes in the contest? 
Answer: No. Only orders for contest collections 
listed on pages 3 and 4, qualify the entry. 
