Thomas Edison – Candy Butcher

We are all familiar with the amazing Thomas Alva Edison.

We know about the light bulb and other patents (1093 of 'em). He's lauded as a great inventor, but he was also an incredibly shrewd promoter with a keen, opportunistic eye.

 

Let me tell you a story about Edison that you might not know.

 

As a teenager, Edison had a job as a “candy butcher” selling candy, fruit, sandwiches, newspapers and magazines to passengers on the Grand Trunk Railroad.

 

In April 1862, when Edison was at the Detroit Free Press picking up newspapers, he took special notice of that day's front page. The lead story was about the battle of Shiloh. The battle was still going on and 25,000 were wounded or killed.

 

This was at the beginning of the US Civil War and people were eager for news; so instead of his typical 100 newspaper purchase, Edison bought 1,000 and paid a telegraph operator in Detroit to send news of the battle to all the stops on the train line. 

When the train arrived at the station, there were so many people crowed for papers that he raised the price to 10-cents a copy and by the time he got back to Port Huron, the price was 25-cents.

 

Here are 15 of my favorite quotes attributed to “the Wizard of Menlo Park” who was described in The Heroes of The Age: Electricity and Man as being “... more responsible than anyone else for creating the modern world .... No one did more to shape the physical/cultural makeup of present day civilization.... Accordingly, he was the most influential figure of the millennium...." 

“Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success.” 

“Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.”

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

“I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun.”

“I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.”

“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” 

“The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense.” 

“The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” 

“Unfortunately, there seems to be far more opportunity out there than ability…. We should remember that good fortune often happens when opportunity meets with preparation.” 

“Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.” 

“Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have.” 

“What you are will show in what you do.” 

“I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it.” 

“If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves….”

Hmmmm. 

This blog is about copy and content writing and so far, nothing about writing. 

What's up?

OK ... maybe it's not focused on writing, however, if you use it as an example, there are some lessons to be learned:

1. Name dropping, such as Thomas Edison, can get attention and interest
2. An unusual word combination, such as "candy butcher" can get attention and interest
3. Storytelling, such as Edison's newspaper marketing, can hold interest and sell a concept, such as Edison was a promoter as well as an inventor
4. Along with getting attention and interest, quotes can build credibility
5. Reading material other than material about writing is good for writers

There are also some messages in the quotes for writers. For example, when Edison says, “I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it,” it parallels the copywriting advice of targeting a specific audience with a benefit they want.

My point? 

Read and you will be a better writer.