832 THE PRINCIPLES OF PERSONAL INTEGRITY
war supplies. By actual test, in a plant employing three thousand
men and women, the production was increased 45 percent in less than
thirty days after we had organized the workers into singing groups and
installed orchestras and bands that played at ten-minute intervals such
stirring songs as "OverThere" and "Dixie" and "There'll Be a Hot
Time in the Old Town Tonight:' The workers caught the rhythm of
the music and speeded up their work accordingly.
Properly selected music would stimulate any group of workers
to greater action, a fact which does not seem to be understood by all
who direct the efforts of large numbers of people.
In all of my travels I have found only one business firm whose
managers made use of music as a stimulant for their workers. This
was the Filene Department Store in Boston, Massachu~etts. During
the summer months this store provides an orchestra that plays the
latest dance music for half an hour in the morning before opening
time. The salespeople use the aisles of the store for dancing and by
the time the store opens they are in an active state of mind and body
that carries them through the entire day.
Incidentally, I have also never seen more courteous or efficient
salespeople than those employed by the Filene store. One of the
department managers told me that every person in his department
performed more service, and with less real effort, as a result of the
mormng. mUSIC. program.
There is a book entitled Singing Through Life with God by George
Wharton James, which I recommend to all who are interested in the
psychology of song.
COMMENTARY
It is interesting that the majority of books Napoleon Hill recommended
in 1921 are still available today, although this one is among the harder
to come by. It is out of print but available through used-book dealers.