MAKING THINGS TO SELL

 chapter three MAKING THINGS TO SELL 

    OVER in Oberammergau, Germany, there is a colony of people who, for generations, have been wood carvers. They specialize in religious carvings. Years ago, when the only outlet for works of art was the church, the founders of this little colony began carving religious statues and selling them to churches. They became so much interested in the history of the men whose likenesses they portrayed in wood, that they conceived the idea of re-enacting their lives. Thus out of one art developed a greater art and soon the Oberammergau Passion Players became famous the world over. But the Passion Play was the result and not the cause of their success as wood carvers. Today, in ritualistic churches all over the world, the religious carvings of Anton Lang and his associates have become very valuable. Proud indeed is the church, whether it be of the Roman or the Anglican faith, which boasts a wood screen or a crucifix carved in Oberammergau. Now if the Oberammergau wood carvers were only one or two people it would be easy to dismiss their great success on the grounds that they had a natural gift for carving. But nearly every person in Oberammergau carves, and carves unusually well. Which simply goes to prove that being able to make anything well is not so much a matter of being gifted, as it is being interested enough in what you make to be willing to acquire through patient practice the skill that success requires. There is a world of wisdom in the old saying that genius is one-tenth inspiration and ninetenths perspiration. You frequently hear people say: “How I envy So-and-So; if I only had his gift of being able to write.” It is true some people have more natural ability than others when it comes to expressing themselves on paper. But you will usually find that the permanently successful novelists and shortstory writers got where they are because they liked to write in the first place, and then wrote, and wrote, and wrote until they perfected a style or specialty which made their work stand out above the crowd and catch the imagination of the public. It has been said, with a good deal of truth, that if you have aspirations to be a successful short story writer, the way to begin is to write a hundred stories, and throw them all into the waste paper basket. Then send your one hundred and first story to a publisher. The point is that no matter what you elect to make or do, skill requires practice. It is better to practice on yourself than on those whom you hope will some day buy the things you make. But don’t let the need of practice discourage you from trying. Rather let it steel you against the discouragements which always go with selling things you make. Remember that even Anton Lang, the Oberammergau wood carver, was once a beginner. At one time in his life he was just as inept as you are so far as wood carving is concerned. True, he had the help and inspiration of the more experienced men in the village, but just the same he was a beginner. So was every great artist. Remember then that you can never arrive until you begin. And having begun, never for a single moment allow yourself to become discouraged or to depart from the straight course you have elected to follow. For that is the all-important thing in success—staying on the main track all the time. Naturally, you are going to be most skillful at the things you really like to do best, so it is easier to be successful when you work with materials you like to handle. If you like the feel and the smell of wood, you will be happier—and probably more successful—making things of wood than working with metal. If your mind is precise, exact, and mathematical, cabinet making may be your forte. What kind of tools do you like to use? Do you feel at home with a scroll saw, lathe or forge? Or tools such as a knife or chisel may interest you more. If you have the “watchmaker’s mind,” you are likely to be more successful making intricate little models of ships, designing engines or building model houses. It may be possible that you are not now successful selling what you make because it is not the sort of thing you like to do. A man may work for years in a certain field and find that long after his prime, he could have made a better living working at the thing he really enjoyed doing. If necessity has made it impossible for you to make a choice in your vocation, keep up your hobby that you really enjoy, and sooner or later you may find an opportunity to turn it into money. 

Free Training in Handicrafts 

   If you have tried to make things and have given up, feeling that you could never acquire the necessary skill to turn out a good product, perhaps you just lack a few pointers in handling your tools properly or selecting the right designs. In most of the larger cities, the public schools give free courses in handicrafts. The Young Men’s Christian Association also holds classes in the applied and fine arts. Students of either sex, of any age, may enroll in these classes for a small fee. There are several magazines on the newsstands which cater to the craftsman, and the U. S. government publishes bulletins which will give you exact plans and instructions in making many things for use on the farm or in the home. The public library in your city has dozens and dozens of books that tell how to make things. Manufacturers will send you instructions for the use of their products. There is plenty of help for the man or woman who is eager to acquire skill in his work. With a few good books or other material to guide you and plenty of practice, you can develop skill in practically any type of work you really like. When you have reached the point where your work begins to look professional, then you must start thinking of ways and means of marketing your product. For no matter how well you make a thing, you will not make a profit from your labor until you find a market for it. Even before you begin making things, it is a good idea to find out what your community needs and likes. A walk through the department stores, the gift shops, the woman’s exchange, and other sales outlets will give you some idea of what the public is buying. The trend today leans toward the “streamline” effect in practically everything —from automobiles to kitchen knives. 

Keep away from the outmoded designs. 

   Look through the women’s magazines and the periodicals on interior decoration and furnishings to find out what is in good taste today. The present trend toward the “classic modern” in furniture suggests that you omit excessive ornament from any cabinet work, but it means that your work must be superior in design and execution in order to achieve that clean streamlined effect. Linens, rugs, glassware, china, jewelry, lamps, picture frames, ash trays, kitchen implements and equipment, as well as furniture, all have more or less of a tendency toward the modern in design. This does not mean the hideous art moderne which cluttered up the country a few years back. Beware of any designs that border on that short-lived “epidemic” in house furnishings. In a number of magazines you will note a tendency toward the “Victorian” in furnishings. However, this style of ornate furniture and decoration will undoubtedly prove to be more or less of a fad. We live in a modern, machine age and a modern style of design seems to be more fitting. The old colonial type of furniture and decoration is in demand today, but even the colonial is being produced by manufacturers in keeping with the modern lack of ornamentation and simplified lines. Suiting Your Product to Your Market What is your community like? Is it a suburban section where people are interested in garden furniture, rose trellises, fireplace equipment, bird houses, dog kennels, door knockers, sun dials, hooked rugs, handmade quilts, handmade furniture, pottery and other beautiful things for their homes and gardens? Perhaps your community is an apartment district, where people have little time to make good things to eat. Try selling your bread, or cake, or doughnuts, or baked beans to these householders. Or your painted tin ash trays, parchment lamp shades, cocktail tables may suit their fancy. If a great number of children live in your community, whose parents have medium to good incomes, then toys, nursery furniture, colored cutouts of animals, and similar projects may be money-makers. When your product is ready for the market, it can be sold through the gift shops, the woman’s exchange, through advertisements in your neighborhood newspaper, by word-of-mouth advertising, by opening a small shop in your home or in an inexpensive location, or by taking space in a successful shop selling something unlike your product. You may also be successful selling it house to house. If it is possible at all, have your product on display in some spot where people shop. Let people know what you are making—tell your merchant, your neighbors, people you talk to on the street car or at a ball game, the service station attendant, your doctor, the milkman—in fact, tell the world. You can’t expect people to search you out—you must go to them with your product.