(Pasted from the preceding page in which this item also appears):
This is a publicity document from James Archer’s early days in 1872, and has various items of text such as “Furniture van as in trransit on railway” and “Taking all risk - Fire-proof van” and “Stores and Warehouses New Road Oxford” and “Archer & Co” and “Estimates Free - Furniture Warehoused”. This historical item is marked: “See Over” and on the other side is (what I judge to be) THE KEY TO JAMES ARCHER’S SUCCESS IN THE FIRST CENTURY OF THE FIRM: It is shown in the next-following page in the scrapbook, and is a printed/simulated copperplate handwriting, a statement of the principles on which Archer & Co operated: as follows (with slight adjustment by pba of the syntax/punctuation):
"HOUSEHOLD REMOVALS IN CONNECTION WITH ALL RAILWAYS” (bearing in mind that in the 19th century there were many tens if not hundreds of independent railway companies, so this statement assured customers that there was no problem in transferring their valued possessions between two or more railway companies)
Household furniture packed and removed throughout to any part, on the same vans from House to House, by experienced men who go with the goods, taking charge of the whole as it stands in the House, taking down bookstacks, glasses etc, and ensuring safe delivery into the House of destination.
Oxford Offices: Archer & Co
New Road. Furniture Packing and Removals Department .
This publicity message seems to me to focus wonderfully innovatively on James Archer’s contribution to removals ‘logisitics’ (to quote the current vogue terminology for this area of business), namely PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR FAST SAFE TRANSIT FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE VIA THE NEW RAIL NETWORK. And it worked! James Archer succeeded and became a very wealthy businessman. And his firm had a record of hundreds of satisfied customers who, routinely, were asked to provide their views on whether the removal had been carried-out to their satisfaction, and apparently they always said it had. I will provide some representative samples as soon as I can.