File:The American annual of photography (1917) (14597460217).jpg

Identifier: americanannualof1917newy (find matches)
Title: The American annual of photography
Year: 1917 (1910s)
Authors:
Subjects: Photography
Publisher: New York : Tennant and Ward
Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University

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e rights ofany photographer to imbibe the coupon idea, but it is prettylikely to be fatal both to reputation and finances sooner orlater. You will find very few coupon photographers listed inDuns or Bradstreets. Many of them are not gilt-edge risksin a financial way; ask their dealers. The coupon man places strong emphasis upon the crowdscoupons bring into the studio. Coupons do attract a crowd,indeed, but every department store in the land knows it is fareasier to draw a crowd than it is to make a profit upon it.The business that coupons bring a studio is abnormal; abnor-mally crowded as to sittings, usually abnormally poor as toworkmanship, abnormally ridiculous as to price. And abnor-mal things and times of any kind are of doubtful benefit. The believers in coupons make full use of the argument thatall stores have cut-rate sales. Stores do have sales, and witha good reason, for a merchant must deal with rapidly changingstyles, with seasonable materials and with perishable goods. 74
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CHILD PORTRAIT. 0. C. CONKLING. 75 The photographer has not one good excuse for making photo-graphs more cheaply in one month than in another. Thoughit is a fact that in his strange way of reasoning, many aphotographer puts on a hoHday offer or discount for the monthof December when every reputable studio should be morethan busy with regular work at regular prices. And eventhough most stores do have special sales, no store ever sold acan of corn at 13c one day and at ic the next. Every womanin the town would be fearing ptomaine poisoning if it did.And yet this is parallel with the average coupon offer andwith about as much logic. Would a theater manager put on the best play of the winterat half-rate ? Would he open the doors to the people and say,*Come and sit without money and without price? No, in-deed. But a photographer will give his largest and best workaway for a song and will insult and degrade it by tying acoupon to it. The theater manager now-a-days makes hishouse pay a fair

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