10 Strange Sales Quotes – From the Early 1900s

The early 1900s were made up of the foundation layers for our great profession. However, there were a few odd ideas out there, too. Here’s a collection of ten of those odd quotes on everything from bowel movements, your thyroid, and your ability to fight that made up these fine individuals’ thoughts around what led to success in sales.

To start, William S. Sadler was an advocate for the role of health as it relates to sales performance. Nothing strange about that. In his 1923 book, What a Salesman Should Know About His Health, a few of his ideas struck me as both odd and pretty funny. So, here are three of those quotes/ideas, as Sadler makes up 30% of this list. 

#1: “I can take many a mediocre salesman, if nature has just endowed him with a moderate amount of gray matter, then if I can train the fellow how to eat sanely and have two good bowel movements a day, then look out – something is going to happen.”

Sadler was all about the “ductless glands” – which appear to be referring to the Endocrine System, responsible for what gets secreted into your bloodstream. 

#2: “One salesman may be a howling success because his ductless glands are working just right – or maybe over-secreting a trifle; another works hard – turns out a dismal failure just because his ductless glands fall down on him.” 

…and specifically, he points all success to what he believed to be the most important gland of all, the Thyroid!

#3: “Some investigators think the thyroid is the governor, regulator and dictator of evolution. One thing we can be sure of, it is the governor, regulator and dictator of all that pertains to successful salesmanship.” 

During the 1910s, the concept of Physiognomy (art of judging character from facial characteristics) was a prominent selling philosophy. Even Ford Motor Company used it as part of their selling methodology in the early 1920s. Here’s a quote on recognizing a “stupid face” from Norris A. Brisco in his 1916 book, Fundamentals of Salesmanship.

#4: “A stupid face has relaxed muscles, a half-open mouth, often one eyebrow higher than the other, and a vague and uncertain look which is directed to no definite point.”

In the 1916 book, Around the World As a Specialty Salesman, A.E. Wright has this cartoon image, along with this quote below. How can this not crack you up? 

#5: “If a man is bald-headed, or bandy-legged, cross-eyed, or crooked-shouldered, he had better not try selling to ladies.”

Nilas Oran Shively wrote a book called Salesmanship in 1916. In one section, he spoke of the challenges of selling in the lumber industry, and that sometimes you may need to be prepared to throw a punch or two!

#6: “The salesman who turns and runs from a bully buyer will not get the business. This does not mean a salesman is to fight, but there are times when physical strength is as necessary as mental acumen.” 

Pabst, the “Malt Beverage Company”, was advertising that you crack open a beer “before breakfast” every day in an advertisement from 1907. I’ll drink to that!

#7: “Every good salesman knows this, but at times even the best business getters feel dull, languid and tired. Don’t lay off for a day, but drink a bottle of Pabst Extract before breakfast.”

Ok, this quote is kinda gross considering how we think of the role of sales leader today. Walter Waterbury, in his 1909 Book on Selling, felt that being an authoritarian was the best policy in sales leadership. Oh, Walter…

#8: “If his opinion differs from mine, he should appreciate that his responsibility ends when someone above him assumes it, and that he is only a working part of a machine.”

When does appearance matter? In this example, Paul Nystrom in his 1919 book, The Economics of Retailing, felt that when you are selling something that impacts personal appearance, you should probably be an example of a success story.

#9: “The size, appearance, and figure of applicants for sales positions must be given careful consideration. A bald man selling a hair restorer would be a joke.” 

And finally, #10. Did people need to be reminded that they should clean themselves? “Almost daily”? I know ice baths are all the rage today, but a cold bath in the morning? – Elmer E. Ferris in his 1924 book, Salesmanship thought so.

#10: “The body needs to be cleaned externally almost daily. In general, take a hot bath at night and a cold bath in the morning.”

So, there you have it. While the era has some of the greatest sales philosophers of all time, there were a few odd things shared along the way…

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I’m a sales keynote speaker (CSP®) who also teaches revenue organizations how to leverage transparency and decision science to maximize their revenue capacity. It’s what I do…teach sellers, their leaders, well…entire revenue organizations how we as human beings make decisions, then how to use that knowledge for good (not evil) in their messaging (informal and formal), negotiations, and revenue leadership. I wrote a book Book Authority listed as the 6th best sales book of all time (𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘦), and a second award-winning book (𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳).

Reach out if you want to discuss The Transparency Sale sales methodology, or really…anything else (sales kickoffs, workshops, keynotes, the economy, history, etc.)! Email info@toddcaponi.com or call 847-999-0420.

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