That is the kind of experience which makes one "sit up," and think hard, before he recovers from the jolt it gives him.

And when he "comes to" he then sees a Great White Light.

Under this new light some of the things he thought he knew before fade out into vapory "Will-o'-the-Wisps," and he longs for things tangibly proven.

When he observes now a hoary old Mail-Order Advertisement, that seems at first sight stupidly simple and countrified, he looks twice into it, to see if it isn't carefully loaded with hidden Selling Effect and subtle Conviction, under its guise of rural simplicity.

If he notes it running for years, without change, he no longer jumps to the conclusion that the Man who pays for it is merely a Chump, serving his costly apprenticeship to our own Guild of advanced Advertisers.

No,-he looks closely at it now for the hall-marks of Salesmanship, and where he finds it running for months, without change of copy, he concludes there is some potent reason for it.

Because, he then feels that, had he as sure a means of keeping "tab" on results as this Mail-Order Advertiser, he, too, might be using some "stale" copy in "General Advertising," instead of changing it often (without evidence) from bad to probably worse.

If he had tried over fifty different changes of copy that had pleased him better than the Stale One, and had found (as others have done) that Inquiries from them cost $1.20 to $2.90 each, he would be mighty glad to go back to the good old "Chestnut" which produced Inquiries regularly at 40 cents average.

He would look upon that Ancient Adlet in the light of a tried and trusted Friend. If he were asked to sell out his business he might well appraise that bit of muchused Ancient History at a price that would make many Ad-smiths gasp.

And, why shouldn't he appraise it high up in the thousands?

If we spend $100,000 per year for Space and fill that Space with copy that costs $1.20 per inquiry (by mail, or over the counter), we get only 83,334 chances of Sale out of our appropriation.

With the Antique Adlet, or its skillful equivalent, our $100,000 would have produced 250,000 Inquiries at an average of 40 cents each.

These 250,000 Inquiries would have cost us $300,000 to secure at $1.20 each. Why isn't the proven "40-cent" Advertisement worth all it saves, viz., $200,000 per year, so long as it continues to produce Inquiries averaging 40 cents each, instead of at $1.20 each?

Well,-why isn't such an Advertisement worth more than the space it occupies each time it is published?

What is the "something" in a successful Mail-Order Advertisement that makes it pull equally good Inquiries at a fraction of previous cost?

It is the same "something" that would make Advertising sell goods over the Retailer's counter, through General Advertising, at correspondingly low cost.