The Value of Trade Marks.

Progress, Volume XV, Issue 2, 1 October 1919, Page 625

The Value of Trade Marks.

The Long-Bell Lumber Co., of Kansas City, has inaugurated the plan of trade-marking its lumber, in a series of advertisements the company states its reasons for adopting a trade-mark for the lumber, as follows:

For a quarter of a century we have manufactured lumber that has maintained,,a reputation for uniform' high qulity. For an equal period a constantly increasing number of consumers have purchased our products and in many cases did not know them. Now all our lumber and timbers bear this mark— Long-Bell. Because of our capacity and ability for service, our modern equipment, our care in grading and efficient supervision of each process of manufacture, we believe it should be possible for consumers to take advantage of the quality of our products. Ask your dealer for Long-Bell brand lumber. There is no reason > why the trade-marking idea should not grow in the lumber industry. A trademark is a recognition that the manufacturer is proud of his product and stands back of it, The

public trusts trade-marked products for this reason. No manufacturer can afford to be “sloppy” when his name is branded on the article he offers. Trade-marking from this standpoint is a protection to the purchaser and a very strong incentive to the manufacturer to maintain his standards. As an adjunct to an advertising campaign, trade-marking, either by individual concerns or collectively by an association representing some particular district or product, is a most helpful and practical prerequisite. European exporters of lumber stencil their lumber. In British Columbia some exporters have always branded their lumber. The same is true of some of the export firms in Oregon, Washington and California. The late John Vance, of Eureka, Cal., a pioneer manufacturer of redwood, stencilled his material. The late .John Hendry, of the British Columbia Mills, Timber and Trading Co., Vancouver, early adopted the plan of attaching the company’s name to its product, which practice is consistently maintained. In any country of the world where the product of these companies found a market their lumber had a recognised standard. Where any dispute arises between a customer and a manufacturer regarding the grade it is a very easy matter to identify a trade-marked product. It is a protection to the manufacturer against some unscrupulous dealers who make a practice of claiming deductions on account of grade, insures the dealer an easy means of identifying the particular mill which fails to maintain its standard of manufnature and protects the consumer. The Southern Pine Association has undertaken a most forward and active campaign in favour of trade-marking the product of its membership, with corresponding benefit to all concerned.