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MARKET DEVELOPMENT 
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FRUIT FARMER^ WHO USE BIG-BUSINESS TOOLS 
Some years ago tlie farmers of the Northwest apple-growing 
States of the Union systematized the production, grading and 
packing of their fruit, and are to-day commandeering the services 
of the country’s greatest business-building machine to help them 
sell their finiit at the best prices. 
The business-building tool or system referred to is Advertising. 
Advertising is not often thought of as a machine or system, but 
nevertheless, the advertising mediums of the world, used on a 
large scale, constitute nothing else than a huge ma’chine whose 
wheels may be set turning in the service of any legitimate en¬ 
terprise w'hich will pay the necessary price. 
The first farmers to commandeer the services of advertising 
on a national scale w'ere the orange growers of Southern Cali¬ 
fornia. In the past few years the Sunkist campaign has reached 
the status of an established success, and has led some other or¬ 
ganizations of fruit-growers to follow the lead. It is of the North¬ 
western Fruit Exchange, which a little more than a year ago 
began the first national advertising campaign on trade-named 
apples, that, as the nursery rhyme has it, “I’m a-going for to 
speak.’’ It is believed the story will interest Canadian apple- 
growers, who have been to some extent apple advertisers them¬ 
selves since the P''all of 1914. 
Under the heading, “Skookum. in 1916-17,’’ Manager W. P’’. Gwin, 
of the Northwestern P’ruit Exchange, recently wrote a series of 
letters to the several thousand farmer-members of the Exchange, 
telling the intimate, detailed story of the first year’s experience 
in advertising Shookum Apples to a hundred million Americans. 
These letters are much too long and detailed to be reprinted 
here, but they give a veracious story, being in a sense the official 
report of a public servant to his constituency. Springing from 
such a source, what the writer shall say of Skookum advertising 
may be considered absolutely authentic. 
The national campaign on Skookum was not altogether an ex¬ 
periment. It had been preceded by a two-year campaign in a 
single city. New York. $15,000 had been spent for advertising 
the brand in New York, using mainly cards in the street cars. 
Only the extra-fancy grade of ‘fruit was packed under the Skoo¬ 
kum label, and only the eight varieties of apples considered the 
best were eligible. This first Skookum advertising was highly 
interesting, because it did more than show attractive pictures of 
good apples and claim quality. It told people things about apples 
they had never known before. It told which varieties were best 
in the different seasons, how certain varieties deteriorate in 
storage, which varieties are best for different culinary purposes, 
new ways to serve apples, etc. Long before the two years were 
completed Skookum Apples brought the highest prices obtain¬ 
able on the New York market, were known by name to all New 
York, and were being featured regularly by leading grocery 
stores, big hotels and restaurants, etc., in their advertising and 
on their menus. 
The national campaign, which was begun in September, 1916, 
with attractive advertisements in national magazines, became 
merelv an elaboration of the New York policies, as they had 
proved their merit. Four varieties w'ere added, making twelve 
Skookum varieties, a new and more elaborate recipe booklet was 
prepared, showing each variety in color, new incidental publicity 
items were developed, for instance, Skookum apple balloons, 
made in Japan. The Skookum trade-mark was also adopted at 
this time. “Skookum’’ is a Chinook Indian word meaning “Fine,” 
•“Great,’’ “Bully.” The trade-mark consists of the face of a smil¬ 
ing Indian Imp. It appears on the tissue-paper wrappers of the 
fruit, the box labels, and in all publicity matter. 
Mr. Gwin’s account of the launching of this first national apple 
campaign is full of human interest, and may well be quoted here, 
in part: — 
“As we got down to the actual engineering of the 1916 cam¬ 
paign in the weeks jireceding the actual launching of our plans, 
I found I had never been so busy in my life. The main steps in 
these plans were already marked out before the Skookum Backers 
Association members voted that resolution for a national adver¬ 
tising campaign appropriation for Skookum apples, but the details 
lequired the closest attention, and I made up my miiid that we 
would consider every view-point, investigate every suggestion, 
and finally eliminate until we had left only what was safe and 
good. I realized that this Skookum fund must make and would 
make Northwest apples known in every corner of America, to 
be demanded by millions of consumers, and it must be handled 
with the utmost care and skill. 
I should tell you that during those weeks of planning the best 
experts in advertising in the United States called at the Ex¬ 
change offices, including even special representatives of the great 
Cmtis organization; the discussions with these experts were in¬ 
valuable. Meanwhile, the tentative advertising ideas were be¬ 
ing worked out, and subjected to review and criticism both in 
ideas for advertising text, the medium of its placing, and the 
pictorial matter. Before the final trade mark of Skookum, the 
Indian maiden face of the covetous and merry smile, was ac¬ 
cepted, it is no exaggeration to say that fifty sketches by leading 
artists of Noav York were submitted, and the trade-mark as it 
stands to-day is a composite of a number of these sketches, and 
is acclaimed the equal, if not the superior, of any national or 
world advertising character or figure. 
“Knowing that our advertising would cause a profound demand 
for Skookum, what to do now to reap all possible profit for the 
growers? The f. o. b. sales system to wholesalers exactly dove¬ 
tailed in with an advertising sales campaign. We knew that ad¬ 
vertising would sell Skookums by carloads in 1916 where a 
North-west apple had never been seen in previous years. That 
m.eant some big things to the growers. We argued; Skookum 
will take hold of the progressive wholesaler; he will want it, and 
he will push it; it is a safe quality, an advertised, splendid apple 
that he should have—so Skookum in 1916 will have a wide dis¬ 
tribution that is the cream. In plain words, Skookum would have 
the pick of the 1916 demand. 
‘The Exchange intimated to the growers that everything else 
being normal, there was a prospect, under our plan, of placing a 
good part of the crop while the apples were still on the trees. 
With this in view we prepared a portfolio to show to wholesalers 
showing sketches of full-page and other advertisements of Skoo¬ 
kum which it was proposed to publish in the Saturday Evening 
Post, Ladies’ Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Literary Digest, 
Life, Sunset Magazine, etc., etc. The portfolio also showed 
sketches of Skookum colored cards to appear in street cars, and 
the pictures of the Skookum wrappers, the apple novelty balloon, 
pictures of the Skookum mats to hang in stores, and other helps 
to retailers to sell their stock of Skookums; also a description of 
the Skookum recipe book. In fact, this i)ortfolio was a pros¬ 
pectus of the Skookum campaign. 
“With this portfolio, then, and with the plans and appeal of the 
Skookum campaign well in hand, rei)resentatives of the Ex¬ 
change started out early in June to make a personal canvass of 
a large number of the wholesale and retail dealers. Our repre¬ 
sentatives in some instances were invited to address the re¬ 
tailers’ association as a body. Willingness to co-operate and 
assist in the marketing of the Skookum crop was freely ex¬ 
pressed. In fact it became so that the trade anxiously awaited 
the appearance of the first advertising and the appearance of the 
first car of Skookum. A number of merchants carefully for¬ 
mulated their plan in advance, and before this preliminary can¬ 
vass was completed several hundred cars of Skookum apples had 
been booked at open prices, which prices were to be agreed upon 
before the fruit was ready for harvest. 
“I don’t want to give a too gushing impression of this success. 
There are always squareheads and soreheads and those who 
hang back, and there is always opposition anywhere you go and 
to anything you do. We all know that—at least, those of us who 
have a gray hair or a furrow or two beginning to show. But 
nevertheless we met principally with an unstinted welcome.” 
$60,000 was expended in the first year s national campaign. For 
a national campaign this fund was coinpi. ratively small, and there 
is hardly a question that it secured results beyond what might 
fairly have been expected. It secured the recognition of the new 
