"Mr. Siddall, YOU are the clam."
A Fun Friday Story
While researching the Hardy Brush Company, founded in Andover in 1891, I came across this advertisement in the September 11, 1891 Andover Townsman. And while this isn’t a Shawsheen Village or Frye Village story, it was too interesting to pass by.
Andover Townsman, August and September 1891
Not just once, but three times, “Don’t be a Clam!” Then the cryptic “But send for Catalog and Circulars which will explain the clam business.” We don’t have a Shawsheen Cycle catalog in the History Center collection, so I went looking for an explanation for “the clam business.”
It was a thing in the late 1880s and 1890s.
Aegis, December 1894
The Americus Daily Reporter, Georgia, November 4, 1891
The explanation was found in the first issue of Profitable Advertising in 1891.
An opinion piece written by H.P. Hubbard, “the well-known advertising genius,” revealed the origin of the phrase. In the late 1880s, Philadelphia pharmacist Frank Siddall coined the phrase “Don’t be a clam” to sell fancy soap to the ladies of Philadelphia.
“Mr. Sidall, YOU are the clam.”
Hubbard polled a dozen women prior to his meeting with Siddall to find out if they had ever purchased Siddall’s soap.
Ten of the ladies said no, and emphatically said they never would. I pressed them for a reason and they said that they did not propose to be called a clam because they did not use his soap, although it might be the best in the world.
Another advertising colleague, Mr. Wells of Weston & Wells, joined the debate. Mr. Siddall was accused of not testing his advertising:
…he believed it sold him more soap than any other kind of advertising he could do. Perhaps it did, but I notice he has not used ‘Don’t be a clam’ since then.
Hubbard went on to advise his advertising colleagues not to be offensive in any way, “An advertisement may be bold, striking, odd, singular, but it has got to have some meat in it, or it will not be a winner.”
The phrase was the inspiration for songs and poems.
The Inland Printer: A Technical Journal Dedicated to the Art of Printing, October 1889-September 1890
Throughout the 1890s, “don’t be a clam” came to mean be an individual, think for yourself, speak up, don’t be afraid, and put yourself out there.
There were those who defended the noble clam, feeling that as a whole, clams didn’t deserve to be seen in such a bad light. From Current Literature magazine, July 1888, Current Opinion section
‘Don’t be a clam’ is a warning that meets one frequently nowadays. Well, why not? What’s the matter with a clam? He’s all right. If he fulfills his mission and makes the most of himself, what more could be expected and what more does any person do? The clam is as well bred and as respectable as the oyster, yet nobody thinks of speaking disrespectfully of the oyster. What has the clam done that it should be made a term of derision?
It would appear that it was not the best advertising pitch for the Shawsheen Cycle Co. The ad appeared in August and September 1891 only, and a small notice about the company ran in 1893.
It could be that Shawsheen Cycle faced stiff competition from H.F. Chase who ran a busy bicycle shop in downtown Andover.
H.F. Chase Bicycle Shop, ACHC #1987.598.177
Taken at 88 Lowell Street, Andover, ACHC #2017.07.819