little conjecture as to his attitude toward the sporting goods end of the business. So far as anyone could learn, he had never had any active connection with this rather adventitious phase of the packing business-would he keep it and develop it, or would he throw it to the winds?

During the early weeks of his administration, while knees were still a-tremble throughout the organization, the manager of this department approached his new chief with considerable trepidation:

"What are you going to do with the Sporting Goods Department, Mr. Wilson?" he asked.

"I'm going to make it the biggest thing of its kind in the world!" answered Wilson, quick as a flash; "Go to it."

apparent that Wilson & Company-or Thos. E. Wilson & Co., if you please-would have two very marked advantages over its competitors: First, it could secure the best grades of catgut at a lower cost; and second, by reason of this added leeway on manufacturing cost, it could produce a better racquet cheaper.

Racquets suggested tennis balls, baseballs, mits, gloyes, footballs, basketballs, and the like. Rubber, by some marvelous chance, is not a byproduct of the packing industry, so that tennis. balls had to be purchased. For the rest of the outfit, however, Wilson & Company had thousands of perfect hides, without scar or score. Perhaps it would sell them to Thos. E. Wilson & Co. at cost? Such control over its raw material, in the

That was a little over a year ago. To-day the Sporting Goods branch of Wilson & Company, known as "Thos. E. Wilson & Co.," with a million and a half of invested capital, is the second largest institution of its kind in America! And to those fortunate people who insist on the Wilson label, this phenomenal development of an activity closely allied to that branch of the business which supplies their daily needs, gives cause for congratulation not only in the fact that it furnishes them a new market-place for dependable goods, but also in the fact that this new enterprise stands, for all of the Wilson products, as a bulwark against the increasingly high cost of living. Its origins were as follows:

First the idea had come to make tennis racquets. In undertaking such a venture, it was

case of leather goods, would work even greater advantage to that company than in the case of the racquets, for Wilson & Co., producing its own hides, could sell them to Thos. E. Wilson & Co., and put it in a position to make better merchandise, better baseballs, mits, gloves, basketballs and the like, at less expense.

Then there was curled hair. Direct from its own curled hair plant, the largest in the world, by the way, Thos. E. Wilson & Co. was able to secure exactly the quality of material most suitable for baseball mits and gloves, for boxing gloves and such accessories. Incidentally, half of motordom, comfortably unconscious of the privilege, rides on cushions stuffed with Wilson curled hair.

Similarly, there was wool. Through its abil

ity to secure from Wilson & Company the particular grades of wool that would make a superior sweater, or a jersey, or a bathing suit, or a hundred and one things demanding this staple, Thos. E. Wilson & Co. was able to provide the choicest quality of material without paying a premium to the producer.

Thus the enterprise grew, until to-day nine separate factories are kept busy supplying "everything that helps your game," and a thousand salesmen, represent

ing Wilson & Company, are boosting for Thos. E. Wilson & Co. At the same time, those thousand salesmen are cutting the high cost of distribution; and by reason of this and that, the house of Thos. E. Wilson & Co. has come to occupy a leading place in the Sporting Goods industry. It is young.

tution in the world; and still striving to distribute its selling expense and to win its profits through economy, it has sent its representatives to Alaska and Puget Sound, and has lately purchased plants for the canning of "Sockeye" salmon and "Alaska Reds." To-day there is probably no line of food products offering so diversified a choice as the line that bears the Wilson label.

Now these digressions into two very interesting: fields of activity, neither of which, at first glance, seems related to the packing industry, are by no means without significance to the humble American citizen, already staggering under the title of "ultimate

With a year or two more in which to grow there is no earthly reason why it may not, indeed, come up to Mr. Wilson's boundless expectations.

II

CUTTING THE HIGH COST OF DISTRIBUTION

instance, Wilson & Company has got the better of that ancient bugaboo, "robbing Peter to pay Paul," by borrowing from the sportsman to enable the housewife to pay the butcher, at the same time lightening the burden for all concerned. In the other, it has given a new and heartening ring to that old-time adage, "Many hands make light work," by parceling out the high cost of selling among so many of its products that the ultimate cost to the housewife has been cut to the minimum.

It is now over a year since the name of Wilson & Company, surcharged upon a big red W and blazoned against an orange background, first appeared in the commercial firmament. To-day, from thousands of billboards, from brilliantly painted refrigerator cars, from motor trucks and delivery wagons, from the pages of magazines and periodicals and newspapers, "Wilson & Co."

The second great drive at the high cost of living to which I have already referred, has been made through the establishing of plants for the canning of fruits and vegetables; and in this undertaking Wilson & Company has already reached a commanding position. Convinced that the economical solution of the food problem lies in a large measure in the reduction of selling expense, both wholesale and retail, it has taken advantage of its machinery of distribution, internationally established its branch houses in 130 of the leading cities, its 2,000 cars available for the transportation of its products, its foreign houses both in Europe and South America and has gone boldly into the market either to purchase outright such strictly modern plants as were available in the regions producing the choicest fruits or vegetables, or to build its own plants in accordance with its own strict requirements. Already it is canning more vegetables than any other insti

&

salutes the eye with a cheery confidence. A year ago, in the homes of the American people, this trade-mark was only a name. To-day, in those same homes, it is more than a name, it is a guarantee. For in that one year in which Wilson & Company has in a measure been on trial, Wilson & Company has demonstrated the power of a high and united purpose. Today, in very truth, the Wilson label stands for purity and cleanliness and quality. An honored guest at the table of The American family, Wilson & Company has made good.