Cyrus McCormick, Ad Man

Cyrus McCormick, once said, "Trying to do business without advertising is like winking at a pretty girl through a pair of green goggles. You may know what you are doing, but no one else does."

Advertising and McCormick's army of salesmen were partly responsible for the incredible success of the McCormick (or Virginia) reaper. The main reason, of course, is that it worked. While there is much to write about Cyrus McCormick and his place in early 19th century Chicago (the connection to the Haymarket Riot, for one), I wanted to note the extensive collection of Images from the McCormick-International Harvester Collection at the Wisconsin Historical Society. There are over 3000 images in the collection including many of McCormick's reaper promotions. More on McCormick in future posts.