Camden Merchants Plan Gala Event as Span Line Opens

Stores Will Join in Program Featuring Benefits of Purchasing Here

Camden merchants are preparing for their greatest Prosperity Parade.

Sponsored by the retail merchants division of Camden County Chamber of Commerce,this blue-ribbon business event opens here March 13 and continues until April 11.

The event, in which more than 100 merchants operating 200 retail stores have been enlisted, will mark the opening of the Camden High Speed Line and increased purchasing power of the South Jersey public.

Also,for the first time in Camden, "auction bucks" will be introduced. They are a special form of currency printed for the four-weeks event and will be issued with every 25-cent purchase or multiple thereof, four "auction bucks" to every dollar of merchandise bought.

The "auction bucks," it was explained by Leonard M. Wolper, chairman of the Prosperity Parade committee, will be used as money at two mammoth auction sales to be held in Camden theatres during the parade period. Hundreds of seasonable articles of merchandise donated by local merchants will be up for auction at both sales and may only be obtained with the "auction bucks."

"The parade will be a gala occasion," Wolper said. "Merchants,manufacturers, municipal officials, labor organizations, professional men, and the general public will join hands in demonstrating the value of spending Camden-earned dollars with Camden business men."

Various entertainment and music features are being arranged by the Prosperity Parade committee. Stage, radio, and film stars are expected to appear personally at various Camden theatres during the.four-weeks event.

A widespread advertising campaign through newspapers, theatres. billboards and the radio is also scheduled to attract customers from the suburbs and throughout South Jersey during Camden's biggest business revival.

Besides Wolper, the committee includes S. Lester, Harry A. Moran, Leon Naden, Frank J. Kinsella and Minot J. Savage. John Price Myen is chairman of the retail merchants division of the Camden County Chamber of Commerce.