This week’s Echoes of the past features a useful book written for budding practitioners in the 1930s. The slim volume was sent from the son of Douglas Still, author and editor of The Optical Economist at the time, and regular contributor to The Optician.
The Optical Practice Builder addresses many issues still relevant to start-ups today, although content on dynamic window displays and advertising are a real blast from a more regulated past.
Human interest headlines are suggested for newspaper advertisements in one of the chapters. Examples used in other industries included ‘Everybody’s Doing It’ for telegrams and ‘Give your Brain a Chance’ for milk. Optical advertisers were advised to give a direct or indirect reference to eyes and vision, together with an attention-grabbing illustration.
A chapter on dynamic window displays, meanwhile, offered some intriguing examples of how a practitioner in 1938 could attract passers-by. A topical window display showing three gas masks and frames suitable for wearing beneath them was credited for its appeal to both men and women.
Another window display containing a model of Mount Everest had also connected with a public fully engaged with news coverage of attempts by climbers to reach the mountain’s summit.
While Everest has since been conquered, there remains a constant marketing challenge for high street practices.