The Road to Success

The Road to Success

“The Road to Success” is a motivational poster published in 1913 by the National Cash Register Co. to point out the road to business success.

It shows the many pitfalls that will keep one from achieving success as one works their way towards it. For instance, not only an individual can fall victim to the deep, dark “well of Illiteracy”, or the spinning, disorienting “wheel of Conceit”, they can succumb to the ugly “hand of Vices”, the spinning fan of “Bad Habits”, or the pitfall of “Bad Reputation” as well. Others fall prey to “Charlatanism”, or get tangled up in the “webs of Jealousy” and “Do It Tomorrow”. These dangers still exist in the present-day, except for the pitfall of “Bad Reputation”. Back then, the society shunned anyone who had a bad reputation, but nowadays it does not have any great importance. A way to avoid these dangers is to board the “Right System” train at the “Railroad Station”. An individual can buy a ticket to go on the train to success. The train uses as many shortcuts as it can and the road seems to be a lot easier. Individuals who have strong connections or a rich family are usually the ones aboard, which to this day is still very true. After a long journey, the individual is awarded with a harp on top of the mountain symbolizing success, which is not the case now. A symbol that could portray success in the existing day is the money sign ($). Since the significant thing that changed throughout the years is the morals and values, where people nowadays care about being wealthy more than anything else. In conclusion, the role to success has changed but the path is still the same.