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CHAPTER VI

Demonstrating Offers Opportunities

Demonstrating stopped us. Why would not that be a good field to canvass? Like everybody else we were accustomed to trailing in and out of the de­partment stores, and pausing for an interested mo­ment at the various brisk demonstrations. We had seen the vacuum cleaner man sprinkle his artificial dust and whisk it up, and the electric ironer woman show how quickly a shirt could be ironed. In gro­cery stores, too, we had often been invited to drink thimblefuls of coffee, to sample sandwich spreads, or cheese or jellies or soups.

But now, eyes and minds sharpened by our new zeal in job hunting, we suddenly became aware of this vast industry that specialized in presenting new products to the public. Here was something to make any job hunter prick up his ears and take no­tice. And certainly here age appeared to be no detriment. Many of the demonstrators, we recalled,

must have been between thirty-five and fifty.

But how did persons find these jobs? Where did I hey apply? And what were the necessary qualifi­cations? What kind of salary did they get? Instinctively we turned to the newspaper Want Ad columns to see if we could get any facts there. But that particular morning there were no calls for demonstrators. So did we wait calmly until such an advisement appeared? We did not! We hied ourselves to the one well-known spot where demonstrators abound: the house furnishings section of the de­partment stores.

The plan then became:

1.  Go from store to store and watch demonstrations until you have some real notion of what it takes to be a demonstrator.

2.     Decide on the sort of demonstrations you think you might be able to put over.

3.     Take your courage in hand and ask demonstrators what you do to get a job. And where.

So our grand tour began. And for one whole day in four leading department stores we watched the marvels of demonstration.

We haunted the house furnishings sections and absorbed information like a sponge. We watched the lima bean and pea sheller flick mounds of peas and beans into a small container below. We were…

all eyes when a kitchen stool got a smooth coat of enamel, guaranteed to last for a lifetime. We saw dark looking silver flatware transformed into a lovely shining row, and helped convert a scratched, discolored table top into a smooth sheet of walnut with a soft, dull sheen.

We practically won diplomas in the electric ap­pliances sections. With our own hands we worked the fascinating trays that released the ice cubes at a flip of the handle. We were among those who said "Ah!" when a delicious coffee parfait was drawn in bland creaminess from the cool depths of an electric refrigerator. We hung over the electric range and whiffed a sumptuous oven dinner. We saw in action waffle irons and toasters; waterless cookers and new Dutch ovens; vegetable shredders and vegetable juicers; cream whippers, mops, waxers and cleaners. It was as if every manufacturer chose this way to spread the benefits of his product before a waiting world.

After we had watched the exhibits we began to speculate on what made each little show go over. When we had finished we decided that, to the un­initiated mind, there were at least six qualifications required in a good demonstrator. We wrote down:…

1.      Sure knowledge of the product and what it can do.

2.      Nice appearance, backed by scrupulous neatness.

3.      Pleasant personality—topped by a smooth temper.

4.      Agreeable voice, and quick, natural smile.

5.      Enough self-confidence to talk to a small group.

6.      Persuasive ability to get people to listen.

Point five had to be qualified. Evidently, talking in public was not as difficult as it would seem at first glance. Having something to do with your hands as did the demonstrators, made public speaking much easier.

Not for one moment did we have the impression that demonstrating was going to prove a cinch. Nor did we believe that the job was to be had for the asking. On the contrary, we imagined that this, like every other field, was crowded. And it was just as reasonable to suppose that here, as in every other line of work, a person would have to wrack his brains and use every bit of ingenuity and imagination he had, to stand head and shoulders above the crowd.

And just how that might be done, we could not say. That discovery would have to come later. In the meantime—to our program. Which were the lines of demonstrating which we felt we could put over?

Our attention turned to small appliances such as waffle irons, sandwich grills, vegetable shred­ders, and the like. The operation of these was easy, and their quick appeal to the ever-sampling public had not been lost on us. Also, in the free-snack class were food products, such as tricky new crackers, quick setting desserts, mayonnaise—all to be found in their beguiling displays in the grocery depart­ment. As housekeepers, too, of long standing, we felt pretty sure that we could make a stab at the polishes and waxes.

Now for the questioning of the demonstrators! We knew we might have a task ahead of us here. Naturally demonstrators like to answer questions when they think they are likely to make a sale. But it might be a different story when the questions are about the demonstrator's job, and how to get one like it. After the first natural twinge of hesitancy we did not let that stop us. We had a job at stake, and whatever it took, we were willing to do.

And here, for the benefit of other faint hearts, is exactly the way we did it:

It was the floor wax lady that we accosted first. We waited until she had finished with her one customer. Then we made a pleasant comment about her product, and got the usual courteous…

smile. But the smile faded when our real purpose <emerged.

"To be perfectly frank with you," we said, "we have a special reason for our interest. We're awfully anxious to get into demonstrating. Would you mind telling us how to get a start?"

"Oh, different ways," she said flatly. "They gen­erally wait until there is an opening and then they take you." She turned away and became very busy with her wax tin.

But we did not squelch that easily. Since we seemed to have started on the wrong note, we had in find a more sympathetic one. Our question had taken her by surprise, changing us from possible customers into someone looking for a job—and through her, of all people. So we changed our tactics entirely.

"This is a terrible time to be out of work," we said soberly. "Do you think there is any chance of your firm needing more people any time soon?"

She now stopped her polishing and looked at us closely. "It is hell to be up against it," she said. "Gracious, what some of my friends have been through." And then, like the good scout that she really was, she gave us all the help she could.

We learned that she had no connection at all…

with the store. Her salary was paid by her com­pany, the headquarters of which were at Cleveland. She got something extra for the floor wax she sold above a certain total. There was no branch office of her firm in this city, so there was no place at which we could apply for jobs.

"I'll tell you what," she said in a burst of kindli­ness. "You see our representative next time he comes in. You tell him what you can do, and ask him all about it." She looked around and lowered her voice. "He is always here just before noon on Wednesdays. You'll see him talking to me, and he'll be going over the table, rearranging the cans and the display cards. You won't have any trouble picking him out. But don't you say I sent you!"

Our next broadside of information came from the demonstrator at the sandwich grill. Evidently she was an old hand at the business, and not at all worried about anyone getting her job. She even seemed to take a certain pride in showing us the ropes.

"So you need a job right away?" She took a while to think before she gave us her answer. "I was try­ing to see if there was anyone I could send you to. I can't think of anybody right now. But if I were you, I'd try everywhere for some of those short-

time demonstrations. They're always coming and going, but you have a chance at several weeks' work, maybe even a month. Of course, full time jobs like mine are a lot harder to get. And the real high salary ones where you walk out on a platform and cook a meal, or do something special before a crowd—why, you can't land those at all. You have to have a degree, or something, in home eco­nomics."

Then she told us how some of the women on that floor had got their jobs. "They were as green at it as you are," she explained reassuringly. "But they put up a good show, and just talked right out about how well they could do the demonstrating. You got to have some nerve. And you've got to be a likable sort, too. That's awfully important in demonstrating—being likable."

Before we left her she gave us some very practi­cal suggestions. "Watch the newspapers," she said. "They often advertise for demonstrators there. Then there are the manufacturers and their branch offices—you go to them and find out the persons to talk to. You never can tell when you'll run smack into the planning of a demonstrating campaign."

Before we were through, we did both. We got demonstrating jobs through the Help Wanted col-…

...umns, and we got others through going to offices or branch offices of companies that were sponsoring demonstrations. Some of the jobs were in our home city, but over half came to us on our travels. Nor were these positions limited to department stores. One was in a paint store, one was in a large hard­ware store, another in a drugstore, and three were in groceries. The more we knew about this field, the more wide-spread its opportunities became. There was almost no type of retail store that could not at some time boast of housing demonstrations.

One of the jobs we got was with a cracker and cookie manufacturer. We had always known and used his products, and had often been aware of demonstrations that he was putting on. Now we saw several things that might give us talking points.

Often his demonstrators were young and pretty girls. And we noticed that many of the older women walked right past them, while the men, es­pecially the younger ones, became very much in­terested in crackers.

We did not put it quite that way, however, when we talked to the man at the cracker office. We said that we would like to try a demonstration at one of the stores where they did not think they sold enough of their crackers and cookies.

We would concentrate on the housekeeping type of customer, we said. Samples would be given to the men and children, of course. But when the real buyer of the family came in, instead of just push­ing a plate at her and smiling and saying: "Won't you have one?" we would try to do a little special selling job. We might say: "These make dandy little cheese and nut sandwiches. Lots of the women are serving them." or "Have you tried these with ice cream? They're delicious!"

With more thought better points than these could be made, we explained, but that was the gen­eral idea. The man was willing to let us have a month's try-out.

Another person to whom we took a simple idea was the manufacturer of a new kind of mending glue. We ran across his product in a New Jersey manufacturing city badly hit by the depression. Demonstrating was a welcome out, and the glue was a boon. It was of the type that could mend clothes and linens. We saw it mend a torn table napkin, and a cigarette burn in a dress and a big hole in the heel of a sock. We purchased a tube at once and tried it on a dress snag into which we had caught our heel.

It was from that experience that our idea came.

For it did not mend for us the first time or the second or the third. If we had been casual purchasers, the chances are that we should have chucked out the tube and remembered it as being no good. But we persisted in our experiments, and finally we got the knack. Then we found it was excellent.

When we saw the man who was in charge of the local demonstrators, we told him our experience. "You have a marvelous product," we said. "But you might build up some bad will for yourself if other people are as dumb as I am. Watching the demonstrator, I thought the process was as easy as pie. Then when I tried it, it did not work."

The man did not seem too pleased at the remark. "What's wrong with it?" he asked shortly.

"Nothing! The trouble was with me!" was the quick response. "But you have a product that women will go wild about. It can save them hours of mending and darning. To me that seems the big story. I thought if you said something like this: 'This glue takes a little skill to use. But not nearly as much as you put in a week's mending. So watch and get the knack of it. Any smart woman can learn from a single demonstration—and once she knows how, she will never go back to old fashioned mending!' Then let the demonstrator show how the material has to be held taut on a flat surface,…

and how you have to wait a minute before you put on the second coat—you know, all the things that I was too dumb to get from your demonstration."

Our sincere effort to be helpful, not critical, changed his attitude. He was now interested in what we had to say. "You've got an awfully good slant there," he said. "That certainly is the wom­an's viewpoint. Wait a second!"

He went out of the office, and returned in a cou­ple of minutes with two other men. He had a tube of the glue in his hand and a piece of cloth. He said to the men: "You know, we've been doing this thing too fast. I want you to hear what this lady's got to say."

Then he put on a demonstration, and had us do the talking. When the performance was over, the men all agreed that the product might be played up from this angle. Shortly afterward, we got the offer to put our idea into practice.

A small Pennsylvania city where jobs were few and far between provided an out in demonstrating. The advertisement read:

DEMONSTRATOR for floor shellac. Part time work. Must be experienced. Call mornings at 123 Main Street.

We called that morning at the address listed above. A little idea that might or might not be practical…

had come to us, and we felt that it would do no harm to mention it.

The man to whom we were sent had us sit down, and rapidly asked us a number of questions. There was no opportunity, certainly at the beginning of that interview, for any interruption. After he had finished, he stood up and said: "Thank you for coming. I have talked to a number of applicants, and I will notify you if we want you." And that was the end of that.

Or rather, it was about to be the. end. So far, we were just one more person to him—no more reason to take us than any of the other dozen or hundred he had talked to. Then we said: "Could you take a minute to listen to an idea about a shellac demon­stration?"

He looked at his watch. "What is it?" he asked perfunctorily. 

It was now or never. "Maybe it would not be anything for you," we said. "But it would certainly make a lot of people stop and watch the demon­stration. It would make them laugh, too, and listen to what the woman was saying."

"We never find our products funny," he replied stiffly. "What were you thinking of?"

"It would not be the product," we hastened to…

explain. "But what the woman was doing-—or rather, how she was doing it. Once I painted a floor and ended by being caught in the corner with all the wet floor between me and safety. Well, if you could get a little section of a display window, and have the woman shellacking the floor and doing it so that she was getting penned in a corner, people would stop and say: 'Look at her! She is doing it wrong! Isn't that just like a woman? Someone ought to tell her.' And then when there was a little crowd, she could hold up a card on which were the words: NOBODY EVER GETS CORNERED BY BLANK SHELLAC. IT DRIES FAST AND FOOTPRINTS DO NOT HURT IT. Or what­ever sort of message you wanted to give the public, but tied in a little with her painting herself into a corner."

The man did not say whether or not he was going to use the idea. But he was not in anything like the hurry he had been. And when we left, we had a demonstrating job.

Then there was another ad in a much larger city, this time in Ohio, that brought us a nice po­sition. It read:

DEMONSTRATORS-openings for women to sell food products. Permanent position. Call Wednesday, 10 a.m.

Because the ad did not mention the product, we could not do any preparation in the way of prim­ing ourselves either with facts or ideas. All the get­ting ready we could do was tune up our appearance and personality to the best of our mature ability. And when we arrived on the scene we were glad we decided to take plenty of sparkle along.

The point is mentioned particularly because of what we found at that Wednesday morning meet­ing. We reached the location at five minutes of ten, and started to enter a large office. But we were halted and directed to a smaller room, quite bare except for two long hard benches the length of the walls. Here we found a crowd of women seated and standing, all waiting to be talked to. They were nice looking women, and their clothes were all right, too. But sparkling could have been used to describe very few of them. And we could hear dif­ferent ones say such things as: "I don't think there's much chance." "I heard that they hired the people who came before ten." "What is the prod­uct? Did you find out? I bet it's something I won't know about." "Someone said it was tea."

Maybe the depressing reception might have had something to do with the defeated attitude of the applicants. Be that as it may, all the more reason…

for bringing your own sparkle and pep along.

Three or four men were doing the interviewing. Every little while another batch of applicants would be conducted away, and presently the crowd began to thin. Our turn came after we had been I here over an hour. And much of that time we were busy turning over in our minds what we would say if it were tea. We were taken to a little room, and, sure enough, the man asked briskly: "What do you know about demonstrating tea?"

"I know what will make women serve more of it," we said.

And our answer would have been the same if he had said coffee, or pretzels, or canned milk, or sardines, or baked beans or peanut butter.

Anyway, the reply broke his routine of questions and made him stop and say: "You do, do you? Well, let's have it! What do you think would make women drink more tea?"

"Play up what it does for the health," we said. "There's a big talking point. Why, in hospitals they often make patients drink quantities of tea because it's so good for them. It's easy to digest. It relaxes them, and it's a grand way to get your right amount of liquids. I could get lots of facts about this if you wanted me to. I have a friend who is a very success-…