99 Ways to Get Out of Debt and Build Wealth - Lesson 3

(From my series "99 Ways to Get Out of Debt and Build Wealth")

Lesson #3: Your "Little White String" Could Make ALL the Difference

In 1840, Albert - son of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Germany) - married his English cousin, Queen Victoria, beginning one of the greatest stories of love, romance, power, and political intrigue in history - one that captivated the world and influenced generations across the globe.  This "lesson" begins with an old German tradition that Prince Albert introduced to Windsor Castle in 1841 - the Christmas Tree - with such smashing success that within a few years, most English homes included a decorated Christmas tree in their holiday decors.

In 1843, English writer Charles Dickens, capitalizing on the building enthusiasm for the Christmas season and needing quick cash to pay for his wife's 5^th pregnancy, hurriedly wrote A Christmas Carol and introduced the phrases "Bah, Humbug" and "Merry Christmas" to the English language.  A few years later, he revisited the Christmas theme with a series of some Christmas stories titled, surprisingly, Some Christmas Stories.  

In a story from this series titled, A Christmas Tree, Dickens offered a glimpse of how English Christmas Trees were properly decorated.  He described a tree covered with dolls and dollhouse furniture, miniature musical instruments, watches, costume jewelry, toy guns and swords, fruit, candy, sugar plums, nuts, toys, games, and, as one astonished child in the story exclaimed, "everything, and more".  You've sung it - "presents ON the tree".

Dickens and his books were wildly popular in America.  His stories, along with other influences from England, increased America's interest in Christmas and helped shape our holiday traditions.  In the 1890's, Christmas trees became common place in American homes, albeit we preferred large floor-to-ceiling versions rather than the 4' or less tabletop models the English preferred.

This background brings us back to Nabisco.  In the Spring of 1902, Nabisco rolled out a new offering - Barnum's Animals.  Named after P.T. Barnum's traveling circus (The Greatest Show On Earth), these animal shaped cookies were modeled after animal shaped English Tea Biscuits - all the rage in England at the time.  Selling for 5 cents, each bright red "In-Er Seal" box was made to look like a circus train car with a collection of 18 assorted animal shapes inside.

A quality product, sealed for freshness, fun looking, based on an already successful idea (English Tea Biscuits), named after the most famous showman in the world (P.T. Barnum), it enjoyed moderate success when it was introduced that Spring.  But then Nabisco decided to add something extra to the product offering - with a completely unexpected result.

Inspired by Prince Albert's and Charles Dickens's example, American families would put up their trees on Dec. 24^th, and children would awake Christmas morning to find the tree decorated with lit candles, brightly colored toys, treats, and decorations.  And that year, 1902, somebody at Nabisco came up with the idea (Inspired by Dickens?) that Barnum's Animals would make an excellent "surprise" for children to find on the tree Christmas morning.

For easy hanging a "little white string" was attached to each box of Barnum's Animals and a promotional campaign spread the message - and it was a HUGE success.  Children enjoyed the cookies, but the unexpected result was that the "little white string" turned each cookie box  itself into a play toy.  Girls used them for little purses.  Boys used them to carry their jacks and marbles and tiddlywinks.  When Nabisco removed the string from boxes after the holiday, customers threw tizzy fits and grocers had to "fix" the defective boxes themselves until Nabisco could send new shipments with strings attached.  And over a hundred years later, that "little white string" is still there.

The lesson to learn from this very successful product is that many of the ideas I'll be sharing with you can and do work - but until you put your own "little white string" on them - your own personality, ideas, experiences - they may not produce the results you desire.  So as you read, I hope the lessons will inspire you to find ways to solve your debt problems.  And adding your own "little white string" could make all the difference.

(photo by Lunchbox Photography)