the supply. Make out a form letter that could be sent
when the money is returned. What is the advantage of a
form letter in this case?
=Exercise 244--Circular and Follow-up Letters=
There is a class of letters that usually originates in the advertising
department of a firm. They are not sent out to answer inquiries, but to
solicit new customers and to keep old ones. Such letters are printed in
large numbers in imitation of typewriting, and the introduction and the
salutation are afterward carefully filled in on the typewriter. The
intention, of course, is to make the recipient feel that he has received
a personal letter. Firms are generally careful to fill in the signature
in pen and ink. These are called _circular_ letters. (See the last
letter in Exercise 223.)
These letters are very important and each year more numerous. Frequently
a series of them is written, each one expanding one argument in a series
of arguments. If all the letters are read, one after the other, you have
a complete list of reasons why you should buy the particular article
which the letters advertise. These letters are sent out regularly, so
that the effect of one may not quite wear off before the next arrives.
It is frequently the case that not until the third or fourth letter is
sent out does any reply come. Such letters should be definitely planned
in order to present arguments that are true and attractive. They must be
simply and clearly written. They are called _follow-up_ letters.
The following series of follow-up letters was intended to be sent to
women who keep no maids. The series was planned to contain five letters.
Write two more, using different appeals from those in the letters here
given.
1
Dear Madam:
Do you remember the fairy tale of Little Two-Eyes?
A fairy, out of pity for the child's hunger, spread a
table before her each day as she was watching the goat
in the field, and when her appetite was satisfied all
the child had to say was, "Table clear yourself," and
the dishes magically disappeared.
"This is a beautiful way to keep house," was Two-Eyes'
verdict, and every woman, thinking of her own distaste
of dirty dishes, will agree.
"How I hate dishwashing!" You have said it hundreds of
times--after every meal, probably.
"I like to cook and bake," you declare. "They are
really interesting. There is fun in trying new
recipes--but the dishes!"
You enjoy giving luncheon and dinner parties. It is a
delightful way of meeting one's friends. Moreover, you
are justly proud of your skill in cooking, and you
like to show your beautiful china. But what a damper
it is on your spirit of good-fellowship, after the
guests are gone, to have to spend an hour or more
washing the dishes. Then you would like to say, with
the child in the story, "Dishes wash yourselves!"
Wouldn't you?
Well, you may. For thirty days--ninety meals--we will
put the Fairy Dishwasher in your home, without
charging you a penny.
The machine is simplicity itself. Wheel the cabinet
into your dining room, alongside your serving table,
and, as a course is finished, without rising from your
place, stack the dishes into the washer. When you have
finished the meal, wheel the cabinet into your
kitchen, make the connection, and turn the switch. In
a few minutes the dishes are washed and dried. Having
friends in to dinner is fun when the Fairy washes the
dishes.
Let the Fairy do yours. Simply return this letter to
us in the enclosed envelope, making sure that your
name and address are correct, and we'll send you the
Fairy. Use it three times a day for thirty days. Then
if you think you can get along as well without the
machine, all that you need to do is to send us a
postal card, telling us so. We'll take back the Fairy
and ask no questions.
But send to-day.
Yours very truly,
2
Dear Madam:
Did you ever envy another woman's smooth, white hands?
You looked at hers, and then you looked at yours; you
sighed and thought, "It's dishwashing."
But what can you do? Haven't you tried everything to
make dishwashing less drudgery? Haven't you tried
patent soaps and tepid water, only to find that the
dishes were not clean? Haven't you tried dish mops,
scrapers, and rubber gloves, only to find that the mop
and the scraper saved but one hand? As for rubber
gloves, as likely as not, the first time you used them
they were caught on the prong of a fork and were
thereafter useless. Yes, you've tried everything;
haven't you?
No, you haven't. You have not tried the only sure help
that there is. Stop your drudgery and let the Fairy
wash your dishes.
For thirty days--ninety trials--we will put the Fairy
Dishwasher in your home, absolutely free of charge,
guaranteed to wash and sterilize your dishes in
boiling water, without a touch of your hand.
Do your manicuring while the Fairy does the dishes.
Pay no money, but send the enclosed postal card
to-day. It will bring the Fairy at once.
Very truly yours,
3
Dear Madam:
An extra hour of leisure every day! What is it worth
to you?
Think what you could do if some one would give you an
extra hour of leisure every day. There's the book you
would like to read, the call you ought to make, the
embroidery you wish you could finish. There are the
thousand and one things that a housekeeper continually
wishes she could do--but where can she get the time?
And yet you waste at least an hour each day washing
dishes when the Fairy Dishwasher will not only save
you the time but rid you of a distasteful task. You
pay 16-2/3 cents a day for five months and the Fairy
does your dishes every day; you buy yourself an extra
hour every day,--you are an hour ahead every day for
the rest of your life.
Is it worth the price?
Remember that we allow you to use the Fairy for thirty
days--ninety meals--before you pay a penny. Then for
five months you send us five dollars a month, and we
guarantee that you will declare it the best
twenty-five dollars that you ever spent.
Send the enclosed postal card to-day. It will bring
the Fairy and a booklet of full directions.
Very truly yours,
=Exercise 245=
You have bought a big tract of land in Alabama. You wish to sell a part
uncleared, to set out a part in pecan trees, and to devote a part to
truck farms. Write three letters to the same man, making each one
stronger than the one before. Keep in mind the five essentials of a good
letter. (See page 230.)