Twenty years a fakir

by S. James Weldon

There are more tricks in the picture business than one would imagine. I know of one fakir who works the following scheme: After staying in the town long enough to make a study of the inhabitants and the peculiarities and foibles of the more prominent, he selects his victim.

He calls on some lady leading in social circles, church work or the like, and obtains a private interview.

He tells her that a number of her lady friends and admirers have decided to present her with a fine, enlarged, crayon portrait of herself, and that he has been instructed to call and get her photograph.

Naturally, she is surprised and highly gratified, giving him the picture without the least hesitancy. At the same time she is probably anxious to learn the names of the donors.

The fakir tells her that that is a profound secret, and that he is sworn to reveal no names, though he has no hesitation in giving her the cost of the picture. That is to be twenty-five dollars. Then he starts for the door, but turns around to say, “Oh, by the way, they said nothing about a frame. Don’t you want to buy one? A picture of that kind never produces one-half the effect without a frame, and of course we can give you a better quality at a cheaper rate than you can get from your local dealers.”

Sometimes she would say, “I do not think I will buy until I get the picture.”

Then the fakir proceeds to tell her that his reputation is staked on that picture, and that if it is satisfactory he will obtain a dozen orders for the ten-dollar size; and that he could not think of delivering such a work of art without a properly matched and corresponding frame.

The lady is already in a good state of mind, being elated over the idea of receiving such an elegant present, and is not at all inclined to quibble on the matter of expense; the fakir is argumentative, eloquent and persuasive. She falls his victim. In a few days the portrait is delivered, grandly framed, and the flattered lady hands out her share, never suspecting that the cost of the frame well covered the price of it and the picture.

That is one way to make the business pay, and if the lady is too innocent to find out the deception, her portrait can be made a stepping-stone for a dozen other orders, just as was suggested to her. After all, people are a good deal like sheep—a whole flock will follow where one leads, however unwittingly.

The fact is, I would have been willing to give away the portrait every time if I could have obtained full price for the frame, had it not been contrary to business principles.