A Play on Human Nature

1895

"It catches them every time," said a Philadelphia printer, the other day, who keeps a copy of "Burke's Peerage" in his office. "Jones, who, we will say, keeps a little hat store up on Columbia avenue, comes in here and wants me to get him up some tasty design, a trademark, that he can place upon his goods. When I show him our regular stock of designs for such a purpose, the chances are that he will turn up his nose at them. Then I take down 'Burke's Peerage' and turn to the proud name of Jones, where all the crests of that illustrious family are duly pictured forth, with their mottoes and all the record of their nobility. Jones is fascinated and immediately imagines that he is in some way connected with some fine old English family. He picks out the crest that most pleases his eye, and some time after it reappears on his hats in Columbia avenue. It is a great scheme, I assure you, and I treasure my 'Burke's Peerage' as a really valuable asset." — New York Tribune.