Salesman's Sample Dose Glasses...

These two dose glasses are promotional samples by two different glassware manufacturers (Whitall, Tatum and Dean, Foster) used to illustrate the notion of a dose glass to prospective buyers. These glasses could be classified as salesman samples as they were a mock-up of what a custom lettered dose glass might look like. They would be shown by the salesman as examples to try to persuade a druggist to order custom glasses that would be embossed with his or her own personalized advertising.

Whitall Tatum & Co., pre 1901, Salesman's sample

Dean, Foster & Co., Boston, Salesman's sample

Click here for a great article on Dean and Foster Companies

I really don't have a clear picture of the workings of the Druggists' glassware supply chain. I have seen mention of wholesalers, jobbers, salesmen, agents, distributers, etc. I don't know if there was some representative of the various glassware manufacturers who would call directly on druggists. Was there an intermediary between the retail druggist and the glassware industry whose job it was to sell items or services (custom lettering of prescription bottles and dose glasses) to the druggist exclusively from the

glass houses? I assume that these representatives of the glassware industry were salesmen, employed by companies such as Whitall Tatum Co., Illinois Glass Company, Dean Foster & Co., etc. I say this with hesitation, only because I have not found any articles which state who these people were or what, exactly, was their role. It seems to me that there would be a lot of travel involved, back in a time when travel was fairly difficult, expensive and very time consuming, especially to more remote areas. Were salesmen employed directly by the glass houses or was there some sort of middleman in the supply process who was closer in proximity to the retail pharmacies? I often came across the term jobber in my research. Wikipedia states that a "Jobber, in merchandising, can be synonymous with "wholesaler", "distributor", or "intermediary". A business which buys goods and bulk products from importers, other wholesalers, or manufacturers, and then sells to retailers, was historically called a jobbing house (or jobbing center). A jobber is a merchant—e.g., (i) a wholesaler or (ii) reseller or (iii) independent distributor operating on consignment—who takes goods in quantity from manufacturers or importers and sells or resells or distributes them to retail chains and syndicates." Were these regional wholesalers the ones that dealt directly with the local druggists, verses the glass manufacturers? Again, I think more understanding of the supply chain from the glassware manufacturer to the retail drug stores needs to be understood.

A statement was found in a Whitall, Tatum advertisement which appeared in a 1915 issue of The Western Druggist magazine. It is evidence that W.T. Co. did have a sales force in the field. In talking about the Whitall Tatum Maroon Special water bottle, the ad states, "drop us a query about it now, or ask our salesman for the whole story." Another interesting tidbit from the ad appears in small print. It says, "Samples of our goods can be seen at our CHICAGO Sample Room, 14 North Franklin Street." Wow, now that would be a cool place to visit!

1915 Whitall Tatum ad

A quote from the Collector's Weekly website regarding Salesman samples in general follows. This is somewhat applicable to dose glasses, however these glasses were not "scaled-down versions," probably because they were small enough to be conveniently carried to the potential buyer or target audience. "Salesman samples are scaled-down versions of real products used to demonstrate features to retailers or potential customers. Also known as salesmen samples or salesman’s samples, these miniature goods were popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as they were easily transportable by traveling salespeople and allowed dealers to display a variety of items in their showrooms that could then be ordered directly from a manufacturer. Unlike toy versions of household items aimed at children, many salesman's samples were highly detailed with working parts so they could be used to demonstrate full functionality. The miniatures were typically labeled with a product name and company logo, and included brochures with marketing copy pointing out important details of the product. Often, the samples were carried in a specially designed briefcase, which sometimes contained several versions of the same item in a range of colors, styles, or finishes. Salesman samples were manufactured by major companies such as Avon, John Deere, General Electric, Sears, and Coca-Cola. Products adapted for miniature salesman samples included kitchenware, stoves, sewing machines, cash registers, tractors, books, dolls, cameras, perfumes, light bulbs, suitcases, shoes, telephones, steam engines, rugs, gates, coffins, swimming pools, neon lights, and much more. Generally, the more a vintage salesman sample remains true to the original product and its working features, the higher its value to collectors."

Not all dose glasses with the name of a glassware manufacturer can be considered salesman samples. One such example, which I do not believe to be a salesman sample, is the Whitall Tatum dose spoon that is embossed GRADUATED / No. (WTCo logo) 40 / MEDICINE SPOON. As evidenced by the large number of these dose spoons available to today's collectors, I believe that these spoons were actually stocked on many druggist's shelves and offered for sale to the general public. Possibly, these dose spoons and others that are not embossed with the druggists' advertising, were sold or given away by the druggists who chose not to have custom lettered glasses.

Whitall Tatum Co, post 1901, dose spoon