The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1910)

m jam r r, ■ ,T-5 SIDE LINE NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 15, 1910 THE POST CARD OUTLOOK. Manufacturers Hold Great Expectations for 1910 — Trade Settled After Tariff Upheaval — Advance of the American Made Cards. The various post card manufacturers are confident that the present year will prove a much better one for the post card trade in general than the year 1909, owing to the more settled conditions. For some years a large proportion of the cards sold in this country came from Germany and the domestic manufacturers found it a hard matter to compete in the production of cards of equal quality. Then the tariff question came up and upset the market for a considerable period or until the new schedules were finally decided upon. Conditions were gradually changed, however, until the domestic manufacturers have secured a good hold on the market and as a result they are turning out cards that rival in every way the finest products of the foreign makers. Now the dealer can get his comics that are made in this country and are typically American in their humor and consequently more desirable for the average purchaser. His local view cards, from being plain photographic prints on sensitive paper or half-tone reproductions, have been brought to the point where they include the finest products of the post card manufacturers' art. And the dealer will find this year that to produce successful results he must handle the best cards possible, for the demand has progressed from that of a mere fad to a steady business basis. The public have been educated to the point where they demand the best there is and are willing to pay for it, realizing the value of the post card to the tourist, the busy correspondent, and in fact to those engaged in any walk of life. Various communities have officially approved the post card as a means of advertising their town throughout the country and showing the interesting points as they really appear and not as liable to be distorted by enthusiastic type descriptions. On the whole the dealer who has an up-to-date stock of post cards on hand, or who invests in a representative stock, has a promising future before him. SYSTEM IN BUSINESS. Successful Merchant or Manufacturer of Today Has His Business Systematized Down to the Smallest Detail — Through vWell-Chosen Department Heads He Can Keep in Close Touch. The successful manufacturer of to-day has his business systematized to the smallest detail. Sitting at his desk, miles away from his factory, he can ascertain at a glance how quick an order in work will be delivered, and any irregularity, however minor, is down in black and white with the justification or absence of it. The modern successful business man knows that the more attention he pays to system the smaller will be the chance of errors. He recognizes the fact that it is a valuable business asset to keep his promises, and he must employ system in order to do this. He is constantly watching the horizon for chances to increase and expand his business and takes immediate advantage of every opportunity that comes to his attention to reach the trade he is in. In a matter of advertising he spends what seems to the outsider to be an extravagant amaunt of money. His selection of advertising mediums is reached after a judicial comparison of the many methods of publicity offered him. The men under him are selected only after they have successfully competed with other applicants for the same positions. He gets the best procurable and is willing to pay for it. His salesmen are detailed to cover the country, and perhaps the world. They receive a liberal education on the merits and talking points of the firm's product, and start out to conquer with the best ammunition possible and a thorough knowledge of what they are selling. The sales manager covers the country with his men and handles the hundreds of details incidental to marketing merchandise through salesmen in a manner, which, were it not for system, would be impossible. The very backbone of some businesses is their wonderful systems for handling detail. Those firms who are now doing business in the oldfashioned way should not wonder why their sales are yearly shrinking. Unsystematic business methods is the reason. REFORMING FILM SHOWS. Classic Poems and Bible Stories Now Shown on the Screens. Moving pictures illustrating the poems of Browning and Tennyson, the Odyssey, Biblical history, and the novels of Tolstoy, George Eliot, De Maupassant, Hugo, etc., are now to be seen in most of the ten-cent biograph houses. This has all come about through the moving picture men themselves. They were tired of being arrested . for exhibiting questionable films whicb they had merely rented from the manufacturers. They appealed to the People's Institute with the request that it establish a board of censorship, agreeing that any manufacturer who refused to submit his films to this board would be black-listed by the moving picture houses. This created a practically national board of censorship, since the association of showmen at whose request it came into being includes in its membership the majority of moving picture men throughout the country. During the first month of its work, says the Van Norden Magazine, the board destroyed $12,000 worth of objectionable films. As they censor all the films used in New York and 55 per cent, of those used throughout the country, manufacturers were early convinced that they would have to raise the standard of their subjects. ■ One of the earliest subjects taken up was Browning's "Pippa Passes," and every resource of artistic photography, stage settings, good acting was drawn upon to make the record a refined entertainment. Now the devotee of the biograph can see Longfellow's "Hiawatha," Tennyson's "Launcelot and Elaine," and other famous poems beautifully visualized upon the screen. A number of historical subjects have also been taken up, such as Custer's famous last stand. Even the clergy have recognized the value of the cinematograph in familiarizing audiences with Biblical history. Nativity and Easter plays have already been exhibited in France, and the story of "Jephtha's Daughter" and the "Judgment of Solomon" are already being given in excellent form and have proved popular here. An American firm has in preparation the story of "Joseph and His Brethren" and that of the "Life of Moses," the latter being prepared under the direction of the Rev. Madison C. Peters. The French manufacturers have taken up many of the classic fairy tales. THE CLIMBING MAN. The Man Who Is Not Affected by Prosperity but Who Continues to Put Forth Best Efforts to Advance Still Further. A great many people cannot stand much prosperity. If they make what to them is a hit in anything, there is a general letup in their effort. They stop and contemplate what they have accomplished, and congratulate themselves upon it, and feel satisfied with what they have done. A satisfied or half-satisfied feeling over what one does is a most dangerous thing. Those who have done great things have looked upon every achievement as a stepping-stone to help them climb higher. They have been tonics rather than sedatives. They have -been spurs to ambition. Most of us, like the frog in the well, slide back after we take a step up. We do not hold the advance we have made and keep pushing forward. It is a great thing to hold every bit of advantage one gets; but the majority are like the spurting general, the spasmodic commander who, when the enthusiasm is upon him, makes a dash for the fighting lines as though he would annihilate the opposing army; but, after the spurt, retires, loses confidence, energy and enthusiasm, and suffers the enemy to retake the lost ground. It is not enough to capture a fort in life — we must hold it, not let the enemy take it away from us. We must keep advancing all along the line, taking everything we come to, giving up nothing. One of the greatest helps to achievement is to make it an inexorable rule that every time you make a success, your next effort shall be a little higher up. Resolve that each success, instead of satisfying you, shall only spur you to renewed effort. If you meet with a misfortune, a loss, a seeming failure, determine that that shall be a turning point in your career. Make up your mind that you will burn your bridges behind you; that you will not look back; that you will keep your eyes onward, ever upward, watching for the hand that beckons you on, listening to the voice of aspiration which bids you ascend. A cheerful, optimistic salesman is always more welcome than a pessimistic grouch.