The Brush Man

CORPORATIONS

In the cosy living room of Mrs. Rosamond L. Wright's home in Springfield, Mass, one evening last week, ten women gathered for a special kind of party. On a card table was a variety of household articles made and marketed by Stanley Home Products, Inc. The women were there to be sold; there to sell them was matronly Mrs. Mabel Hayden, one of Stanley's crack dealers, who had persuaded Mrs. Wright to turn over her house for the occasion.

Dealer Hayden demonstrated a Stanley bath brush, a man's curved hair brush ("if your husband can use it, it proves he hasn't a flat head") and Stanley combs which "never go to the dentist, because their teeth stay in." In 45 minutes, she showed 50 different items, took in $43 in orders--more than enough to earn a set of table knives for her hostess, and a commission of about $14 for herself.

Hostesses & Hosiery. All over the U.S. last week, parties like Mrs. Wright's were being held under the direction of some 16,000 Stanley dealers. By such direct, folksy methods, big, ruddy-faced F. Stanley Beveridge, 70, has made his Stanley Home Products, Inc. bigger even than famed Fuller Brush Co., where he learned the tricks of the trade. Last year his sales hit a peak of $35 million (v. Fuller's $32,250,000); its net: $2,900,000. Last week, as he stepped up operations in the Canadian market and planned to use national advertising for the first time, President Beveridge expected a 25% increase.

Through this sprawling empire of brushes, mops and cleaners, the spirit of Stanley Beveridge, who believes that "the way to begin is to begin," gleams like a highly polished skillet. Beveridge began by selling stereopticon viewers, joined Fuller Brush as a door-to-door salesman in 1913. He was sales vice president when he quit in 1929 in the hope of working into the ownership of some likely business. He picked the Real Silk Hosiery Mills, but after two years there, took to the brush again. He rented the first floor of an old tobacco shed in Westfield, Mass., founded Stanley Home Products, and with six associates sold $72,000 worth of polishes and brushes the first year.

Prayers & Pep Talks. Beveridge built his original sales staff around former Fuller employees, kept 51% control of the company for himself. Fond of old-fashioned virtues, he rules his roost with a hand of iron, a heart of gold, and an eye on the Scriptures. His Westfield offices and the nearby Easthampton production plant are dotted with such slogans as: "The vision to see, the faith to believe, and the courage to do." Beveridge opens every business meeting with the Stanley prayer: "0 Lord . . . help me to enter into the mind of everyone who talks with me . . ."

The oldtime religion hits a fever pitch in the summer, when thousands of Stanley dealers journey to Westfield for "jamborees." There they are worked into such a state by inspirational company songs and pep talks that women often burst into tears.

To make sure that his 1,400 production employees share the fervor, President Beveridge has a profit-sharing plan, maintains an elective employees' council to keep working conditions up to snuff. So well does the system work that the 800-man Easthampton plant now has 5,000 job applications in its files and a labor turnover of only 2%. Everyone at Stanley belongs to what they call the B.C.H. Club. Full name: Bright, Cheerful & Happy.

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