January 1940 – Advancing Understanding in the Used Equipment Industry

PASSING another milestone is what a New Year signifies to most of us, but advancing the calendar by another digit, if for nothing else than to make us reflect a bit, is not a bad invention. 

During 1939 we inaugurated a new department in the pages of SURPLUS RECORD. It was started with the idea of bringing about a better understanding of this important American industry—the used equipment field. Probably it did take us fifteen years to make up our minds to incorporate an editorial policy in the publication—a policy which would accentuate the service we have been rendering—that of establishing a marketplace for the surplus machinery and equipment which finds its way back into the channels of trade. 

Gathering material and information is not an easy task for any organization short of a high-powered news agency, and we have found it no bed of roses. Wheedling or prying information out of a group which is probably less publicity conscious than the people in the medical profession, or any other similar group which has the erroneous idea that good human interest stories are promotional stunts or gags, is indeed a difficult and often time-consuming job. 

However, our endeavor in this respect has been most sincere. We have set ourselves up as the unofficial mouthpiece of an industry which has received little, if any, recognition short of its being a “horse-trading game.” 

The material we have submitted has, we trust, been interesting and informative. After all, most of us are interested in people and the way they live, whether in the business world or at home, so we have tried to present our stories from the human interest angle and at the same time portray a general picture and bring about a clearer understanding of the people who make this industry what it is today.