Early Fp Consumers Gone Wild :)

[antoniosz]

This is what the company's ad said on January 1 of 1896

[antoniosz]

And this is what happened the day after... (scroll down)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b325/azavalia/ChristmasFP-Ads/NewYorkNYSun1896Jan-DecGrayscale-0035.jpg

 

For a good starting point for Caw's pens see Ron Dutcher's page at http://www.kamakurapens.com/Caws/Caws.html

[rhr]

Thanks for posting these two images, Antonios. They depict a stunt similar to the one mentioned at the end of the Francis Cashel Brown autobiography in this post on L&P.

 

George Kovalenko.

 

[antoniosz]

Thanks for the link George. By the way I think what you say there perhaps corresponded to the first time that Brown organized this flashmob was in January of 1888. He was giving a Dashaway and a bottle of ink (normally at $4.75) for $2 for those who come to 189 Broadway between 8am and 1 pm.

 

He probably loved the results because then 3 months later (March 1888) he follows up with something similar. In an infonews-like article he "laments" the complains from readers who saw the offer and sent money expecting pens by return mail... So he sets up a mail-based campaign promising everyone, who sends $2, a pen (no ink through the mail) and at the same time organizes a new actual flashmob the day after at the company store.

 

A few months later in July, he makes another offer to send a pen for $2 to everyone in the United States who send the money and their choice for president in the coming election (Cleveland vs Harrison). The "article" says that the pen costs to manufacture $2.50 and that the company is doing this just to introduce the pen to the masses (to me it seems that he could tally the results and then place a bet in Las Vegas... or whoever was taking bets at that time )

 

Anyway, it maybe that he repeated this kind of novel advertizing tricks several times till 1896 that correspond to the images above.

 

I do have copies of all NY Times ads but I hesitate to post as they clearly prohibit further reproduction (but check your dropbox)

Edited December 6, 2011 by antoniosz

[zuku]

wow Antonio that was a great find! Thank you for posting this interesting story/advertisement.

I have always said, and thought, that no fountain pen is just a fountain pen. A fountain pen is i) a cultural devise, ii) that writes.

It has always been very interesting to me the sociological history, and the politics, as you mention, behind the cultural devises, like the bycicles or indeed the fountain pens.

It is amazing to see the penetration that the fountain pens have got on societies:

 

January the 3rd, 1896.

The largest cowd ever drawn together.

More than 50% were women. Several wearing diamonds.

Among them:

A policeman.

A wall street detective.

Several messenger boys.

A military cadet.

A mail carrier.

A Washington Market butcher.

Orders were placed in envelopes and thrown through the store windows.

Thousands of orders came by mail.

 

What an event! And the amazing fact is that such a drawn of a crowd because of a fountain pen being offered at a reduced prize... seems to be a constant across the centuries -literally! We've seen it rescently, and me in particular, lived it rescently, because of the offer being given by PenCity that Monday a couple of weeks ago: The largest crowd ever drawn together throwing email orders at them through their cibernetic windows. Was there a policeman, a wall street dectective, a militar, a butcher, a mail man among them? Over 50% of us all were women? I don't know, but this time there was an artist too, this guy, from Mexico City.

PenCity has not recovered yet. To this date, they have not been able to update their supplies, according to the notice at their website, which they should change for this one:

 

"Those who sent mail orders and those who threw their money in our windows will be served in due course."

 

Beautiful.

Thanks Antonio.

Edited December 6, 2011 by zuku

[rhr]

It looks like the "flash-mob method" worked, otherwise he wouldn't keep using it. The event described by Brown in his autobiography is not the first time that he organized this type of flash mob. The autobiography probably dates to around 1905, and the newspaper event Brown describes there sounds more recent than all the other events you refer to, perhaps dating to around the late-1890s, or early 1900s.

 

George Kovalenko.

 

[rhr]

Actually, I take that back. Looking more closely at the two ads, the event depicted in these ads is probably the exact same one mentioned at the end of the Francis Cashel Brown autobiography, not just a similar stunt pulled by Brown. Thanks, Antonios. It's highly unlikely that he would have been allowed to pull the same type of flash mob twice, especially after the police presence at the event.

 

George Kovalenko.

 

Edited December 9, 2011 by rhr

[JonSzanto]

Just goes to show: you can draw a crowd for a good Caw's.

[rhr]

It's all part of the "Caw's and Effect". The puns are endless. And they were tirelessly exploited by Brown in his advertisements. Take a look at the title of the 14-page advertising brochure pictured on pp.42-45 in the April 2004 issue of Stylophiles magazine.

 

George Kovalenko.

 

[antoniosz]

The field of early FP history is such a fertile ground for those interested in the history of marketing...