Author

Topic: Toothpicks, my dear friends. Toothpicks.... (Read 386 times)

legendary
Activity: 2926
Merit: 1386
August 16, 2015, 08:27:30 PM
#3
Because those of us who seek to introduce Bitcoin to restaurants, clearly are ignorant savages compared to the finesse, cleverness, and diplomacy of those of scoundrels of the past.  lol...

And hell yes, the Union Oyster House in Boston is worth a stop.

Ha ha... This was a good one.
All of you - make sure you ask whether shops accept Bitcoin (even when you know they don't).

And THEN, let's have the Best Theatrical Performance of Outrage, Indignation, and Scoffery.
legendary
Activity: 1232
Merit: 1000
Because those of us who seek to introduce Bitcoin to restaurants, clearly are ignorant savages compared to the finesse, cleverness, and diplomacy of those of scoundrels of the past.  lol...

And hell yes, the Union Oyster House in Boston is worth a stop.

Ha ha... This was a good one.
All of you - make sure you ask whether shops accept Bitcoin (even when you know they don't).
legendary
Activity: 2926
Merit: 1386
Now you may wonder why, exactly, is this of interest....

.....Forster came up with ingenious marketing schemes.

He first targeted stationers, who dealt in small items. When he could not place his product in their stores, he hired personable young people to go to those same retailers and ask for wooden toothpicks. Naturally, the retailers had to turn away the potential customers. Shortly afterward, Forster would make return visits to the stores, where he easily sold his wares. To reinforce the wisdom of the shopkeeper's decision, Forster's shills soon came back to ask again for toothpicks, and this time the sales were made. The boxes of toothpicks were then returned to Forster, who could resell them to the retailer, who now was prepared to talk them up to real customers.

To get toothpicks into restaurants, Forster hired Harvard men. After they had finished dining on Forster's dime at a local establishment, such as the Union Oyster House, they demanded wooden toothpicks. When they were told none were available, the students raised a ruckus and vowed never to eat there again. Naturally, when Forster came around some days hence, the restaurant manager purchased boxes of toothpicks to distribute to his customers.

Once wooden toothpicks became readily available in restaurants, diners picked them up on their way out and used them for their intended purpose. After they were used to clean the teeth, the toothpicks had a further use. Chewing toothpicks in public soon became fashionable among well-to-do men, and after a while young women began taking up the practice. One Bostonian observed that at lunchtime "nearly every third woman met in the vicinity of Winter and West streets has a toothpick between her lips." This ostentatious primary and secondary toothpick usage in the 1870s served to further the general desire for toothpicks.

http://www.slate.com/articles/business_and_tech/design/2007/10/stick_figure.html

Because those of us who seek to introduce Bitcoin to restaurants, clearly are ignorant savages compared to the finesse, cleverness, and diplomacy of those of scoundrels of the past.  lol...

And hell yes, the Union Oyster House in Boston is worth a stop.
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