My Preference for Delivery by Motorvan.
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By a Practical Housewife.
Like the majority of ordinary housekeepers who live in the suburbs, and who pay frequent visits to London for shopping or amusement and who are therefore the frequent objects of unnecessary pity at the hands of many a supercilious and narrowminded writer -I have little fondness for things mechanical. But it is natural that I have not noticed the extraordinary changes in the methods of distribution adopted by the great stores and by the more progressive ,shopkeepers everywhere, without arriving at certain conclusions as to the undoubted effect of such changes upon even so inconspicuous a calling as that of the mistress of an ordidary well-ordered house.
My Opinions May Interest Tradespeople.
It occurs to me, as the result of personal experience of, may I write, a not altogether unobservant person, that it might interest shopkeepers generally, and perhaps the people who make the vans and wagons, of whose work and methods I am, of course, quite ignorant, if I endeavour to set down in black and white sonic of the reasons why I, and, I believe, many like me, prefer to have my purchases sent to me by motorvan, instead of by the common or garden tradesman's cart or by the even less satisfactory errand boy. The latter employe is more often than not to be found sitting in a secluded corner on your basket of foodstuffs, quietly smoking his "fag,' I think he calls it, the while.
"Swank," or the Attempt to Appear Otherwise.
It would be most inappropriate if I attempted. as a suburban housewife, to dissociate myself from the tendency to "swank," as the younger generation forcibly, if not politely, describes a very modern tendency. I must run the risk of being tarred with the same brush as those of whom I write if I venture to put as first of my reasons, for preference for the motorvan, the satisfaction which is given to a more or less normal housekeeper by affording her neighbours the impression that her requirements are of so extensive a nature that she can only deal with such important people as Staple's of Tottenham Court Road or John Parker's of Kensington. Why Kennington Trades in Kensington.
My neighbour must undoubtedly be impressed when Jarnage's van calls every two or three weeks to leave some parcel, or when my drapery comes home in a smart-looking van from Terry and Doms of Kensington High Street. She, of course, does not know that the parcel from Jarnage's consisted of a few packets of garden seeds, whilst that from Kensington rnayhap contained nothing more expensive than a few yards of cheap window muslin and a length of baby ribbon. The impression which is undeniably created is that I do all my shopping in town. Exactly why this should give me any social kudos I cannot tell, but it is one of those many ridiculous circumstances which count for much with people who prefer a doctor who arrives in a wellturned-out car or in a handsome brougham to the more skilful man who may cycle or even walk.
Considering the Customer's Idiosyncrasies.
After all, the successful man of business is the man, whether he be shopkeeper, doctor or lawyer, who takes close account of the human factor. I have no doubt that many of my readers will openly smile at my ideas in this direction even while at heart they readily admit that all the process known as " keeping up appearances " counts tremendously with both men and women in almost every conceivable rank of life in these days. He is a clever tradesman who panders to and even fosters this undeniable though somewhat despicable trait. He is clever in the same way as the man who puts gilt champagne paper on the necks of ginger-beer bottles.
I think shopkeepers nearer home—the local people, I mean—should' realize more fully the important fact for them that rapid delivery is one of many inducements which are nowadays, as a regular thing, offered by the big and even far-distant stores. This, of course, takes business from local centres to the more important and better-stocked headquarters.
Following the Migratory Householder.
Now as to actual domestic experience of the benefits of motor delivery.
First of all, suburbanites constitute a very migratiwy class and much is due to the fact that new and enticing neighbourhoods are always being developed around the big towns' outskirts. In this connection it. must. be remembered that, many people dislike to change their tradesmen, with whom they may have had years of satisfactory dealings. But the motorvan reduces distance to but little more than a name ; it can follow the customers of a firm into fresh fields and pastures new, and it is important to note it often gathers fresh customers in the doing.
The extent to which new business is secured by ri row who use smartly-painted attractive-looking vans W, from my own experience, most remarkable. Sech machines are,. in the course of their travels, constantly pottering about, shall 1 say, in residential districts and so are continually under the notice of resident womenfolk. The advertisement value of the motorvan is worth thousands of samples and handbills delivered from door to door, to the invariable annoyance of householders and in defiance of the now-common " No circulars, no hawkers " tablets displayed on gateways. This is tile opinion of the majority of housewives, and it is worth the notice of tradesmen who wish for their custom.
All this is very sad for the small local man, but it is none the less true. Small shopkeepers, ninth like the poor old horses, are being forced into the background. This is very largely because those many housekeepers, who have the doubtful advantage of being "on the telephone," can, through the advent of the motorvan, order and receive goods of every description which are required for the commissariat department with the minimum delay and the maximum satisfaction from " ready for service " stores.
An incidental but important advantage is the fact that empties are much more expeditiously handled, and this is, in such a case as that of the Direct Supply Mineral Water Co., for instance, most useful. The housekeeper is considerably troubled by the need for storing empties of various kinds until they are called For, in the absence of such delivery.
Expeditious Household Removal.
In connection with the rise and fall of neighbourhoods, there is yet another development in which the motorvan has borne its share—a development which again closely interests the housewife. Not so long ago the household, for which I am responsible, was moved from Tunbridge Wells to North London by means of a huge motor pantechnicon and a trailer. The load left Tunbridge Wells in the morning, and we had our bedsteads all up and ready for us to sleep in the same night. There was none of the customary delay on the railway. There were no crockery breakages to record, neither was there any damaged furniture. A previous move by horsed van from the north to the west of London, some years ago, involved the loss of two cases, which were never recovered. Moreover, the transit took three hours longer than did the complete journey from Kent, by motorvan.
How My Dressmaker Benefits.
I may, usefully perhaps, instance yet another example to illustrate my title. I was being fitted at my dressmaker's a few days ago, when I noticed a smart motorvan at the door ; it was a sort of combination ear and van, as a matter of fact. There was a man in livery at the wheel. " My traveller or at least one of them," said my dressmaker. " I get anything T require so much more quickly now than I used to when each traveller made his rounds in a growler, with the goods packed so tightly that it took half-an-hour to get at what was wanted. Now these neat vans are all fitted with shelves and drawers, and can be unpacked in half the time, whilst the goods are in much better condition. The saving in time for the traveller as well as for me is remarkable." she concluded.
From the Point of View of Sanitation.
Perhaps I shall be called a crank when I set down my final objection to horse-drawn delivery vans for foodstuffs. From a sanitary point of view such things as butter, meat, cheese, bacon, and, in fact, all foods that do not go into a good bath of water before being consumed, to my mind are much better behind the bonnet of a motorvan than they are behind a horse. In common •with most women. I love horses simply and solely as animals, but I like them to be kept as far as possible away from our food and our dwelling houses.
Finally- I have thus endeavoured to set down my various reasons for preference for motorvan delivery. I am no crank, and J am not prejudiced, but I am indeed convinced that the housekeeper actually does find very considerable advantage from this latest development of tradesmen's delivery. Tradesmen themselves, I feel sure, will not be loath to confirm the fact that their customers appreciate the new methods. This surely must be so, or one would not see new machines constantly being put into service. One word in conclusion. I am inclined to think that the man who drives the motorvan or who comes with it as a help is as a rule a better-class employe. I have, in my own experience, found him to be more civil and occasionally more intelligent than his colleague of the horsed cart. This, I submit, may bedue to the fact that he comes from a more-educated class as often as not. That he frequently has great ability as a salesman, my housekeeping accounts sometimes testify only too well.