Billboard advertising (Oct 1896)

BILLBOARD ADVERTISING. Billboard fldverti5iD4 Coxditioks like these are deplored. To a large extent they their origin in hasty ami JAMES H. HENNEQAN, r~Jt I j Advertising is Wd * Ijmdim at ZWj lift to bin stiiL Pot twenty together and-they will be a parcel oF fools and proud of it Add While this is unduly severe, it ( denied that bill p ^'conventions as we tjon d n the past, have been about sadly defni ntinpointof careful reflection and painstaking consideration of tbe mat- ters and issues that have been brought before them. There has bee too much of a tendency lo go with tbe crowd, and far too little thought of the future. Matters that should be < I and exhau For the Good of the Order. A Few Remarks from Jin V. Hoke. 1 was reminded of the advantages of belonging to the Association, or to an As- sociation, no matter which, the other day, bill posters, " what good will the associa- ' want to tell all of you 1 was negotiating with a large adver- propriation from newspapers and put it into posters,when the old objection was offered, the same objection that has been offered by this same man for the past three years:—that be can't tell that he is getting service. called his attention to the list of of Association members, and west the by-laws with him to show that OCTOEER, .89*. heavy rainfall ruins a lot -of the paper right where your customer will see" it a dozen times a day for the rest of the month, yon will wish Ih: t yon had advised him to post only 800 sheets, keeping the other two hundred for renewing. This little oversight on the part of bill posters, has been the cause of killing of many he- 's commissions. This month though, it's the Associate 1 Bill Fosters' Association that is wrestling with the problem. It appears that a Cincinnati placing a twenty sheet stand and dealing dir.-ct with bill posters. They claim the usual twenty per cent commission allowed to middlemen, on tbe ground that they tbemse ves are. working out the detail in- cident to apportioning and distributing 11 only be paid to certain official middlemen who are named. Bill posters, who are members of the. association are also allowed com- mission on business that they work up, hut this has no bearing on the present Despite the stipulations of the constitu- tion, members everywhere are pretty generally accepting the paper and allow- ing the commission, which excites tbe wrath, not only of the official middlemen, but alsoof tho»e members who are making an effort (o be consistent by living up lo is of the order. the middlemen «• :' they are trying to figure out what advantage they derive from their appointments. There efforts have not been crowned with any consid erable degree of success up to this writing, and it is unlikely that they will fare much better in the future. These middlemen 1 posters existed. In return, ~s pledged themstlves (for ft The adoptic practical is futile, nay worse, its puerile— utterly beneath the dignity of any trades Just why grown men in full ' " " ■ faculties, will indulge"^ : all understanding-. but they do and it is owing to this facf more than anything else, that those de- i of the association which are feasible and valuable are rendered inoperative. For this same reason the Associated Bill Fosters' Association will fail of its object so long as it is conducted on "close" association lines. The-close" associatifln affects lo set at naught the law of'Supply and demand, and ignores the fundamental principles of all trade and commerce the earth, with all the wealth of its people to back it, would be powerless in such a contest. When a portion of the members of one particular naft atlemjit it. they only succeed in making themselves and their organization ridiculous in the eyes COtfTJfG back to Ihe Catsup Incident we might say that if Ihe bill pasters had unanimously refused lo allow commis- sions to tbe Suidet people. The John Chapman Co., of Cincinnati (members of the A. B. P. A.) who worked up the order, wouldhavesecnred tlie distribution and at the same time the commissions to which they were justly and fairly entitled. As they did not, the Chapmans lost not only Cincinnati as well This gives rise to several questions. The first is, how did The Chapman Company benefit by mem- bership in Ihe association? The second is, lo what extent did they benefit the other members by taking the stand they did? A third is, if "you stick to me and I stick to you," what is the matter with the glue in tbe present instance? Still another, if the official representatives are going to fare as the Chapmans did, what are they going to do about it? lice to every 1 He had never before hi an] of an associ- ation of bill posters, and was much inter- ested, and promised for tbe first lime, to seriously consider the advisability of post- ing, at least in towns with association For years it has been the custom of some up-to date bill posters to send out a postal card to the retail trade in their is falling off with many of the bill posters, and am sorry to see it. In the first place the card does good in reminding tbe retailer of the goods and where to get them ; and it does the bill poster good in the sight of tbe advertiser, who if a new one, is not aware that the custom is an old one. But good customs are none the less good because they are old. If you have not yet sent out these reminders g-t into the habit right sway. -f- Last month ! prit an ifj fn Biiiboard asking for a letter from "every bill poster in America/ 1 I have not yet beard from all the bill posters, but I think I have had letters from every one that has oppo- sition. It is a singular thing that as long as a man has no opposition he thinks that it U unnecessary for him to make an effort. " They've got to come lo me any- how," he says, when the fact of the mat- ter is lhat in many instances '■ they " don't know be exists; as a result this man's town is frequently overlooked. A good circular letter would be servic=ab!e, -I- the legitimate bill poster. Some years ago. Chicago was overrun wilh snipers ; all tbe theatres had dozens of them, and tbe bill posters had them, and some of the barrels, telegraph poles, curb stones, everything suffered ; a procession of snip- ers started down State SL, and Wabash Ave., every Sunday morning, covering telegraph poles; in an hour the fre>h paper was an inch thick, and the bottom sheet not yet dry. By night the wad would be a foot thick, and the same thing obtains now in New York. The bill post- 1 people against bill posting, and the council was appealed to, with the result that sniping there is a thing of the nasL Bill posters there now furnish the Chief of Police with a list of every board, fence, wall or daub, on which they have a right to post, and tbe man caught posting on anything not so listed, is arrested. The law furthermore says that Ihe fact of a man's poster being found on a prohibited spare, is prima- facie evidence that he posted it there, and no claim that " I didn t do it" goes. In Xew York Hie oilier day the derno - - ishers began tearing down tbe St. James Hotel, on Broadway. Ass-on as the old building was down one story, and before the adjoining wall could be seen from the street Ihe bill posters of the Empire Theatre got into the old building and pasted John Drew all over the wall of the adjoining building. The owner of this building called upon Mr. Frohman lo have the posters removed, but, I under- stand that Frohman claimed he didn't do it, and consequently be shouldn't be asked to remove them. In any casi he didn't remove the posters, and the owners of tbe building calltd upon me to do this for them at an expense of several dollars, which they threaten to collect from the When you write to an advertiser soli cit- ing business, don't enclose stamp. This places the recipient under obligation to reply. If he doesn't need your service he is apt to feel provoked at the time lost in answering; if he does need you lie will gladly supply postage to reply to your letter. >ur town or vicinity. When your customer, who is new to posting, comes to you with a thousand sheets of paper, and wants a display of a month, the temptation to post the entire lot and so charge for a thousand sheets, is strong. But when a few days later a