Here’s an interesting marketing idea from 1927. G.I. Morgan, the proprietor of Independent Radio Sales, Inc., 214 South Main Avenue, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was looking for a way to increase radio sales. So he set about clipping photographs from the local newspaper or programs. He then pasted the photo to a sales letter and mailed it to the person depicted.

The newlywed bride at the right, for example, is Mrs. Guy Fairweather of 49 Lincoln Street in Sioux Falls. To her, he writes:

This charming bride should have a radio set. Now-a-days the little nest is not considered properly “feathered” unless this “music box of magic” occupies its rightful place therein.

Now is the time to buy, Mrs. Fairweather. Right at the start of life’s greatest adventure. Give yourself every minute you can get to enjoy this modern blessing. Our phone number is James-258.

The labor-intensive nature of this kind of advertising only allowed Morgan to send out six or seven such letters per week, “but, believe me, it’s time well spent.” Morgan reported that over half of the prospects so contacted called him back, and the proportion of resulting sales was large. These letters and the accompanying article appear in the February 1927 issue of Radio Retailing, which notes that other dealers might find the idea helpful.

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