PLAN No. 260. A NEW WAY TO SELL MEMORIALS
A young man living in a southern city originated a plan by which he was able to sell thousands of memorials all over the country, while not appearing to be selling anything.
Supplying himself with an impressive looking blank book, in which long lists of names could be written, he called at every house in the territory he was canvassing, and informed the lady at each place that he was compiling a list of the deaths in the county for statistical purposes. In those cases where deaths had occurred in the family he would ask for the names, dates of births and death, and having secured these, he would say, as he was leaving:
“These records are going to be very beautiful, and the lady next door has asked me to show her what they will be like. If you wish, I can bring yours at the same time, so that you may see if I have all the facts correctly stated.”
Having bought several hundred memorials at a low figure, those with angels on them predominating, and selecting from books of poetry stanzas appropriate to each of the memorials, he had these, together with the names and dates, printed in gold letters, pasting the printed slips on the memorials, near the bottom, thus making them very attractive.
Returning to the route he had formerly canvassed he would call at each house where he had procured names and dates and say to the lady that, in compliance with her request, he had come to show her the record. It was so beautifully done that in practically every case the lady would ask if it were for sale. He would sell the record for $1.60 or $2.00, and as at least half of this was clear profit, and he sold many thousands of memorials in this way, some idea of his earnings may be gained.