From one who personally knew Elbert Hubbard, Felix Shay wrote, "Hubbard dared to make advertising interesting...Whether you bought or not, ultimately, you enjoyed reading his advertisement, and when you enjoy reading advertsiements, ultimately you buy." (from the book Elbert Hubbard of East Aurora, by Felix Shay, a Roycrofter). Given that, would you buy this motorcycle as described by Elbert Hubbard?
"I have been inoculated with the microbe of Locomotorcycleataxia, and the end is not yet - nor soon. The men Higher Up tell us flying is of all sensations the most thrilling. I do not dispute the statement, never having been higher than the Aerator on the top of the Washington Monument. But it just occurs to me that motorcycling is akin to flying. Besides, it's safer. The Bird-Man never realizes what a hard world this is until he lands on it from a height of, say, nine hundred feet. The falling doesn't hurt - it is when you light! Ride a Yale Motorcycle, and the pleasure you'll derive from it is out of all proportion to the cost of the machine. The bloomin' convenience of the thing appeals to me. It waits patiently until you come out. Best of all, it's cheaper than shoe-leather. I don my toppy lugs, Mi-Lud, vault into the saddle, and like Sheridan, am "more as twenty miles away", while Ali Baba is still firing the Chautauqua Salute. A brisk jaunt on the YALE Motorcycle gives you that early-morning push which insures a successful day. If you are a Tired Businessman, strapped to a desk eight hours a day, with practically no chance for healthful, invigorating exercise, put some of your hard-earned into a YALE. Get out every day, and fill your lungs with ozone that is one hundred per cent Simon pure. It doesn't make much difference where you go, so long as you go. It is better to be on the way than to arrive. At least, Robert Louis, the Well-Beloved, said so. And if you want to get back quick - or quickly as they say it in Boston - the fact that you can is a great satisfaction. The YALE makes for Health and Happiness; and without Health there is no Happiness. Only healthy people are happy. I am healthy. Also, I am happy. I do not overeat. Neither do I underbreathe. I mix my work and play in right proportions, and flavor all with Gas-O-Lee. There you have the key to the solution. Also (and this is important!), I ride a YALE. Get there Eli!"
This, written by Elbert Hubbard, is reprinted from the March 1913 Fra advertisement for The Consolidated Manufacturing Co. of Toledo, State of Ohio. Click on the photo to see an enlargement of the ad.
- Sue
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