SALES PEOPLE of the past

   

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"I want to talk automobiles to you"   a 1904 magazine ad:  many of the basics of advertising were developed over 100 years ago,  and they're all still used today.

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"Calamitous fire! ... sold off for the sixteenth time"   an 1851 cartoon about an old sales trick

   

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  the all-new 1895 Frontenac Road Spindle  "... hangs very low.  Is very tasty"

see full size

   

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Moe Howard of the Three Stooges selling comedy vitamins
   

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"Would you care to step in here and see how it looks in the dark?"

a Charles Addams cartoon

   

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a toy seller,  1600s?

   

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"Hot Chestnuts!"   an 1871 street vendor

   

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a Roy Doty illustration ... the sales influence of Columbia Broadcasting

System advertising television personality Arthur Godfrey     see full size

   

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"How much for just the ring?"    a Gahan Wilson cartoon

   

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a J. Bernard Partridge illustration of a joking merchant

   

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"The Wrong Approach ... The Right Approach"

a vulgar National Lampoon cartoon

   

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wasted space in this 1890s retail store       see full size

   

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shoplifting was common in 1895

   

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 a 1904 clothing store with display security       see full size

    

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a windowless 1904 clothing store       see full size

    

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"A cut from a friend or a knife will hurt, but our cut glass will please you ... Kneedeep in Attractiveness"   a 1906 book on in-store advertising suggests placing hand-painted signs, like these slogans above

   

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a 1911 shopping mall       see full size

   

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a 1913 store window display, "Le torrent de Chemises"

   

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a Horace Taylor poster, 1926

   

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a 1938 store demonstration island

   

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"For Sale"  - an estate in old Toronto       see full size

  

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do traveling or door-to-door sales people still exist?  This helicar is from 1947

   

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a 1917 sales industry article about "Returned Goods Evil" 

see full size

   

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signage plus display equals product movement in 1950

   

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wooden in-store display tables, 1953

   

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1941 department store decorations       see full size

   

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a 1968 carpet salesman knows that mature adults are wise to old sales tricks ...

that's why the 18 to 30 year old customer is so important

   

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"Well-known American types ... Service representative,  Co-Host,  Marketing Specialist,  Special Guest Star"