JOSIAH WEDGWOOD.

JOSIAH WEDGWOOD. The historian Judith Flanders has an article on the bankruptcy proceedings for Waterford Wedgwood that celebrates the accomplishments of Josiah Wedgwood, the man who founded the company over 250 years ago. She praises him for his innovations in producing a new kind of pottery and his efforts to improve roads and canals. But primarily she praises him for his innovations in selling: “Most, if not all, of the common techniques in 20th-century sales — direct mail, money-back guarantees, traveling salesmen, self-service, free delivery, buy one get one free, illustrated catalogues — came from Josiah Wedgwood.”