Evening public ledger. (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, May 03, 1915, Night Extra, Page 13, Image 13
P5M5ipHfip! F EVENING LEBGEB-PHITJA:DM:PHIA MONDAY, MAY 3, 1916; flf " MWWf vicllJ & m FROM 25,000 A YEAR TO 25,000 A DAY There are few stories of business success which should have more interest for Philadelphia than .that of the Northwestern Knitting Company. This is one of the companies which contributed to the 36 increase in the industrial output of Minneapolis shown by the last census. It is the story of a staple product underwear familiar to Philadelphia manufacturers. F It is the story of a campaign of continuous ad vertising since 1897 a long, steady pull. It is a story of the use of large, dominating space in leading periodicals employed in such a way as to impress not only the public, but also the dealer. In 1896, when the present management took charge, the production of this company was 25,000 garments a year. Last year's output was more than 8,000,000 gar ments, and it is expected that 1915 will show 9,000,000. The first Munsingwear advertisement appeared in The Ladies' Home Journal in 1 897. It occupied two inches. In 1906 The Saturday Evening Post was used for the first time. In 1908 the first full page was used in the Journal. Since then the company has never used less than full page space in either the Journal or the Post. The policy has always been to standardize in the public mind the mill brand. "Don't say under wear say Munsingwear." This company was one of the first to appreciate the effectiveness of advertising in securing the co operation of the retail merchants. It did not merely advertise. It saw to it that the trade knew that it was advertising! and in a big, powerful way. It considers the merchant just as much a part of its selling organization as are its own salesmen. It puts particular emphasis on the quality of the service it renders to the trade, and the financial strength of the institution as it affects the merchant. The tremendous growth of the business made necessary continual additions to the plant, culminat ing last year in a building containing 15 acres of floor space housing 2000 employees, who receive in wages more than $1,000,000 annually making 75 different knit fabrics and weights, or a line of more than 7000 different items. This building when fully equipped will make possible the production of 40,000 garments daily. Already it produces as many garments in one day as were produced in an entire year before the advertising began. x. The attitude of the Northwestern Knitting Company toward advertising may be summed up in this statement : "It pays to advertise goods that it pays the public to buy. "Advertising bears the same relationship to the problem of distribution that machinery bears to the problem of production. Under right conditions, it is an economy in selling. It either reduces the cost of merchandise or increases the quality, and conse quently the value. It usually does both." ,;i ' When this one company has employed advertis ing successfully for 18 years, from the time when its production was 25,000 garments a year to the time when it produces 25,000 a day surely no manu facturer in Philadelphia can be too small or too large to consider seriously the possibilities of using the same method. THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, INDEPENDENCE SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA "J ?3 5& ' ; r 4 The Ladies' Home Journal The Saturday Evening Post The Country Gentleman Vjff - 'JM: I , . i i - AiBTA n wi.w-;-1fjmMlrlrm-1i7 l I. mi -1 Vn MK ffitrrrMrV-gSBMBMBiiyjiiUli iliimi'i ii'iiiirr-wnmBtiff I i