The billboard (Jan-June 1895)

Bff (board ^dVgrtfsTqg. Of?lotrtl Orgrun op Asaoo/atoc/ Bill Posters* Association. PUBLISHED EVERY MONTH BY BILLBOARD ADVERTISING CO. No. 11 W. EIGHTH ST.. CINCINNATI, O. James H. Hennegan, Manager. 25 cents an agate line with the following ■ discounts, viz; I 10 percent ofTon advertisements amount- I lug to over 20 lines and less than 80 lines. I 20 per cent, oft* on advertisement amount- ling to over 80 lines ana less than a quarter I or a page. RnHSIBG ADYKKTISKMBaJTS. (Repeated or continued Insertions.) - Kates on one page, one hall pace, one third ipage and one quarter page advertisement |Tor two or more insertions quoted upon ■application. Smaller advertiseriient25 cents ■a line subject to the regular discount on sin- ■ftle Insertions and the followln additional |ulsconnts, vlzr • . ..'* Per cent, ott for three Insertions. Y- iJ Per cent, offfor four Insertions. 20 per cent off for six insertions. 25 per cent, off for twelve Insertions. BBABtKo Notices With mm- or * a » SO KS.?, , pe E " n t e brev ter measurement, (which IfSVS 13 ab «nt e'sht words to the line) subject ■«£.* £" , U ne d ' sc ?'"»ts that obtain for single ■and continued advertisements.: IS?h Jf' 1 ' 000 a ? ate ltnes aud upwards may loe had on application. Changes In matter -ADVERTISING- RATES.- are made without charge as often as the advertiser or agfint may requiite. (Copy for all such changes must" reach us before the 25th of each mouth.) SPECIAL ADVERTISEMENTS.-See page 2. Smaller advertisements 25 cents an agate SUBSCRIPTION. One Year, in advance, $■ oo Six Months, 50 cts. Single Copies, 10 cts Bllftooril Adverlitmg it told in London at Xoir's Exchange. 37 Charing Croat, and at American Adver- iumg Newtpaper Agency, Trafalgar Building: North- umberland Ave., W.O. In Parit, at Brentano't. 17 Avenue de I Opera. The Trade supplied bv all Newt Companiet -- Bemittancet thould be made by cheque, pott office or exprettmonevorder, or regittered letter. The Editor cannot undertake to return unsolicited manutcrxpt- When It Is necessary to wire ns copy and instructions for advertisements, great sav- ing may be had by recourse to the Donaldson Cipher. We are conversant with the use of the Code. Address all communications, for either the editorial or business departments, to BILLBOARD ADVERTISING CO. No. If West Eighth Street. Cincinnati. Ohio. We have had occasion to refer to the i-called new poster in theses columns Jin previous issues, dismissingit each time ■with but little attention as in our estima- tion being crude, inartistic and wholly Idevoid of real merit, it seemed to be, but la fad of the hour and as such destined to but short life. • Now that this style how- lever has achieved so great a degree of ■popularity and extended toother branch- les of graphic and decorative art, it de- I serves more than passing notice. I It is supposed to have been origin- lated by Aubrey Beardsiey in England, ■who was influenced in part by the pro- Iductions of Jules Cheret, whose wonder- Iful creations in zincography have long ■been greatly admired in France. Donbt- lless both of the artists named werestrong- Jly influenced by Japaneseoriginals,butbe Ithat as it may, the style was hailed as I something new and for a time created a [furore on the other side, especially in I London For the most part it was promptly re- Ijected by "real artists, but a few enthusi- lasts with an o'er-weening fondness for Jthe weird and fantastic took'it up and by J dint of collections and exhibitions suc- Iceeded in forcing it into some considera- ble favor which resulted finally in its be- likg adopted to a very considerableextent I in this country. Its chief exponents in the United J States are Edward Penfield of New York land WilL Bradley of Chicago, who have las is usually the case, accentuated and I heightened its uninviting and incongru- I ous features, until they have succeeded | in producing results far more hideous J and soul disturbing than anything their transatlantique confreres ever dreamed I of. This craze which at first promised some slight good by reason of its return to simple, expedient and primitive treat- ment has been carried to such extremes that unless speedily checked it bids fair to have a vicious and lasting effect upon American progress in artistic design. IT cannot be denied that its effect so far has been decidedly beneficial The collectors it has created, the exhibitions to which it has given rise, and the news- paper and magazine controversy and comment which it has excited, have di- rected public attention to the advertising value of the bill boards so forcibly and effectively, that they have enjoyed a boom such as they have never experienced heretofore. But now the time is at hand when its further encroachment upon the domain of legitimate art should be promptly and effectually terminated It is no longer original, no longer effective, no longer anything but utterly wearisome and mo- notonous. Having served its purpose albeit exceedingly well, we shall be glad to see it speedily relegated to the coun- tries from which it sprung. The advent of March reminds us of the near approach of spring, the season which invariably brings with it a general opening up of business and an era of prosperity. The boards will soon be aflame with the circus bills„which togeth- er with the largely increased commercial patronage, which has recently been di- verted to them, will bring joy to the hearts of bill posters everywhere. Let us hope that the vision of bright promise which is now breaking through «he gloom and darkness of financial disaster, commercial uncertainty and national stagnation will prove to be the long looked for sun which will speedily dissi- pate the fogs of apprehension doubt and distrust. The County Fair. It Is The Great, Universal, Popular Amusement. "Nearly five million people attend the county fairs of Ohio every year." says P T. Turpin of the Hamilton County Ohio Fair. "There are not that many people in Ohio, but thousands come from other States and many go several times which makes up the grand total,. Every coun- ty in Ohio has a fair every year, which makes eighty-eight to start with; then some of the counties have two as for in- stance, Clermont, then there is the State fair, and in addition there are several fair associations, making a total of ninety five regular fairs. The numerous Harvest Home festivals are almost like fairs and there are scores of these. We have two in this eounty tht put up a show almost equal to the county fair—in fact superior to it in many ways. Country foiks fc o to the fair to meet friends and citv folks go to get a refreshing brush with their country cousins and the fresh air. While I admit you might see more wonderful things in a city general store, there is no form of amusement so popular or so really amusing as a county fair. It is a combin- ation of everything. There you see fine horses fat pigs, sleek cattle, glossy sheepi and brilliant fowls; you see racing on horseback.sulkyandcycle; you see big pumpkins and the choicest of fruits and vegetables and grains, and the modern machinery which has made farming an occupation for the aristocrat; you see the delicacies baked by the farmers' wives and the pretty fancy work made by their daughters; you see the blushing girls, with their gawky beaus, and the grangers and grangeresses. The side show with the Circassian beauty and the sea monster and the lemonade and tight- rope walker and ice' cream and sword swallower and educated; pig and shell worker—all are there in their glory, and the man with whips to sell and the card writer and the city band, and, in fact, the whole world is there to see it. The county fair is as immortal as Punch and Judy. ' It is curious to see the management of the fairs pass back and forth from the hands of farmers to city men and back again—a continual fight I have been a director of the Carthage fair for about fifteen years in all. I went in first in 1870. There had been no fair the year before and the society was badly demor- alized. The county owned the grounds and every building was attached by the sheriff. For several years we had to fight to keep the money we took in, The treasurer had to stand by the gate and spirited the money away as fast as taken in in order to save it. I remember one year they pressed us so close the treas- urer would take the cash, hand it to one director, who would secretly transfer it to another, who would pass it along the line till the last man would hide it and the sheriffs got so confused they could not tell where to levy for it One night they nearly captured the money box but it was juggled around and finally came to me and I jumped into my buggy with it and drove on a gallop to the county infirmary and hid it. We had a hard time.but finally accumulated enough cash to buy up all claims against us at fifty cents on a dollar. 'iln those days we thought we were do- ing well if we took in $800 for the four days; but now we take in a'Jiooo''a day*" • and still hope to do better. ;** "As to our threat of withdrawing from the circuit, it is of no great importance, for all the object a circuit has in view is' to prevent a conflict of dates, so that the same exhibitors may attend several fain with their goods. It gives us some ad- vertising to belong to a circu it. There is one unfair thing, though A woman, for instance, will make up a lot of fancy jellies and such stuff and carry it around from fair to fair, taking premiums every- where, because she is an expert, giving the farmers' wives no chance at all. Of course these professional exhibitors are the genuine producers of the stuff but it hardly looks right to let them thus take the prizes. Why, there are actually farmers who raise fancy stock for no other purpose than to exhibit it at fairs. They will not sell a pig or a cow, but keep the same animals from year to year to coin money with at the fairs. They start in early in the season and work a circuit; getting often thousands of dol- lars in a season. Lou Roley who owns the boards at Pa-a Ills , also manages Hay wards Opera House in that city. L. W. Eaton ibe local paste demolish- er at Auburn N. Y. thinks Billboard is a spicey little sheet that has long been needed by bill posters. Rife and Houck of Baltimpre are pros pering The Breslauer Bill Posting Company of Minneapolis subscribed for Billboard last week W. W. Scane one of the Bill Posters at Chathan, Ont., is also a lawyer. He works in connection with Stephenson, manage r of the Pla net Show Print Co. Sanford H. Robinson manager of the American Bill Posting Company of Phila- delphia, writes that Elder, Jenks &TRa- borg are the best paste brush makers in the country. The recommendation is significant coming as it does from a man of Mr. kobinson's standing and experi- ence. Some few newspapers are growing funny over the motto of the A B. P. A Chas. H. Day, than whom there is no brighter or versatile member of the show- man s world is conducting the singularly fine page of circus news in the New York Dramatic News. J. K Gwynn, manager of the St Louis Fair Association, at St Louis, Mo., wants to hear from high class, novel and sensa- tional attractions. He can be addressed in care of 509 Olive Street, St Louis, Mo. E. L Webster, city bill poster, at Sioux City, .Iowa, is a member of A. B. P. A. and manager of Peavy Grand Opera House A J. Turner, of Carlinvtlle, Ills., owns all the boards in that thriving city, and combines bill posting with the vocation of news dealers. The Olean Advertising Company is also the Olean Music Company. J. E. Montrose, who owns the boards at Rock Island, Ills., is one of the more enterprising members of the craft, It,. A. Thomas, city bill posterj at Hot Springs, Arkansas, thinks that Bill- board Advertising is a good thing and proffers this support. ""w-"" BTHboai'd ^dvgrtisrrig. ART IN POSTERS. Perhaps when sufficient time has c!;:psed for these passing days to be viewed in their proper perspective, one of Hie most noticeable features will be the immense importance given to the art of advertising. No century has seen such an amount; and whether or not the scope of this characteristic field will con- tinue to grow as quickly in the future as it has in recent years is a question only answerable by posterity. Were the com- ing advertisements to remain as common place and unindividual as the majority of those familiar to us have been in times past, and often are to-day, one would earnestly hope that posterity would an- swer us with a "No." But fortunately. these old. mediocre, and unoriginal ideas are gradually becoming out of date; and the enterprising business man sees that art, either pictorial or literary, and often both, must be linked with the announce- ments of his wares, if he would attract and please the public. ,tlne of the most quickly noticed of the every day sights of the city of London is the extraordinary amount of enterprise in advertising It would seem as though there were no place secure against the gigantic poster, the night transparency, or the tin and board announcements, of a size convenient for the bus or tram. A ride along the principal thoroughfares gives one a steady panorama of pill and medicine advertisements, announcements of cocoas,'!beef-teas, soaps, books and stationary, theatres, and other kinds of business innumerable. The stranger is naturally confused in finding the right omnibus, when advertising placards on the outside occupy larger and more con- spicuous places than the name and route of the vehicle. With ihe traveler on the underground it is even worse, since the names of the stations are almost sub- merged in an ocean of soap and baking powder signs; and these notices are al- most always of a most ordinary character —a dismal repetion of differing common- place styles of types and colors—and all hideous. The question whether there is not a remedy for this tedious monotony recurs constantly to the observer. Your corres- pondent believes that one is beginning to show itself having taken its inspira- tion from the example of another city, smaller in size, but greater in art—Paris. As conspicuous for its advertising in a way as London, Paris goes about the mat- ter in quite a different method and spirit. Seldom it is that one's aesthetic sense is offended. The Parisian bus is quite free from the shrieking placards of the Eng- lish capital, while street advertising is limited to. the circular or octagonal shaped "kiosques"' (beautiful spots of color at night, with their hidden illumin- ation), or to walls or boards, where it is not forbidden. The conspicuous Defense d'dfficher— the French equivalent for "Post no Bills"—is familiar to every vis itor to Paris, and the frequency of its presence shows with what care this city guards againsVt*i »uawghlly. - The name of Jules Cheret has by this time, owing to his general populurity, become known quite generally in the United States bu, it is in Paris almost solely thai one sees his work in its proper setting. It is he who instituted the de- parture in the art of poster designing, and practically launched the school of new ideas. To-day his followers are many. His ideas, to those who have not ) already studied his productions, may not be amiss. Cheret's aim is always to pro- duce a poster at once striking and har- monious, and in brilliant colors; and he therefore discards black and white, all secondary or tertiary colors, like purples browns and similar tones preferring the pure primaries,—red, blue and yellow. That his success with these is as great as his daring in the use of them is well* known. The lettering of the poster is invariably designed by himself, in order to preserve the balance of the whole scheme. This is the only way. Litho- graphy is the chosen process of repro- duction, Cheret painting the design on the stone with his own hands,—a difficult and delicate process, requiring more skill than the making of the firs\design. Cheret has almost invariably a large, central, dashing figure, usuallySa woman in a striking gown, and in tn^ back- ground a subordinate figure or tVo, to complete the composition The entire thought, however, centres on this main figure, whi ;h explains the advartisemeirt It would be useless to attempt to name\ the most important works of this man who has produced so much. His affiches mount into the hundreds. The laurels, however, in the line of poster work do not rest alone with this perhaps best known man. There is an- other artist, rival of Cheret, who produc- es posters which are most eagerly sought by the lovers and collectors of the origin- al. This is Eugene Grasset, decorator, illustrator, architect Not as widely known, perhaps, as Cheret, his posters have in them that knowledge of design and decorative color which places his work, in the estimation of many, on a higher level than that of his confrere. With the great public, who give ajjfickes but a passing glance, the work of Grasset must remain probably in the back- ground, compared with the most flaming Cheret, so widely popular. His more re- tiring colors, his more classic arrange- ments of figures and accessories, his generally deeper ideas, render his work more for the educated classes. Grasset has been at his best in such posters as that of Sarah Bernhardt in "Joan of Arc;" that of the 'Fetes de Paris,' 1 of the "Li- brairie Romantique," Chocolat Mexi- catne," and others. His designs for va- rious holiday covers for Harper's Bazar and Weekly may recall his style to some, otherwise unfamiliar with it. Other men are more or less known in this field, of whom one might name GuMaume, Steinlin, and Willette What has been the effect of all this on the vulgarity of British advertising? What will it be on America, working through the many students and con- stantly returning business men who see these things ? -In England to-day there may be found a few men whose efforts in the line of artistic advertisements show individual- ity and stand out in shjuing contrast from all the other work which chances to sur- round it It is with a feeling of pleasure that one sees, amid a desert of most ordinary posters, such an original one, for instance a< that of Dudley Hardy announcing the SI. Paul's Magazine, It is a simple al- most archaic, figure of a woman hold'ng a lily, while a decorative line of smoke curls behind her. The words "St Paul's" in red, old English type at the top. form the only letteriugon the sheet, while the immense amount of white paper effect- ively separates this advertisement from all its neighbors. Dudley Hardy, an English illustrator, admittedly drew his chief inspiration in poster work from tbe pioneer, Cheret, but he works out his own ideas in a personal way. "Simplicity," he says, in a.short article in an English magazine, "will be found the secret of success. For exam- ple, single fiigures are more effective than a group. . . . Neither do I believe in the necessity for a background." Red is Hardy's most effective color, and he also considers yellow admirably adapted to such work. His " Yellow Girl" is a proof along this line, and forms one of . the most dashing of wall posters. With Cheret, Dudley Hardy holds to the doctrine of having-the lettering done by the same man as the rest of the design. He is much superior to Cheret in the style and shape of his letters. The post- er designs of the "The Yellow Girl,'' "The Gaiety Girl," in red, 'St Paul's," and ' To-day" are conspicuous examples of his work. The i 1 lust ration given herewith of the ^advertisement work of Aubrey Beardsiey a lair, though by no means extreme, example of the style of this most eccen- trV °f fin-de-siecle artists. His doctrine —That advertising is ai absolute neces- sity of modern life—is indeed a true one, ana his theory—that 'if it can be made beautiful as well as obvious, so much the better for the makers of soap and the pnblic likely to wash"—is likewise good. Aubrey Beardsiey has produced more in the line of book illustration than in post- er work; and this, in fact, may be said of many of the most successful workers in this latter field His productions have been both too much praised and too much decried by the American critics for one to dwell farther upbu it here The ac- compaiing illustration is 20 x 30 inches, the colors being dull red in the dress, dark orange-yellow in the hair, and bright green for the leaves of the tree. Beards- ley can be seen again on the cover of the Yellow Book and in other late English publications. He has a host of imitators. If one asks what is the chief character- istic of this new movement in pictorial advertising, the answer must surelv be, "Simplicity and the use of one or two figures, and a very few pure colors in masses." Some of the best workers in the field hold that the design need not necessarily have any distinct relations to the article of merchandise whose virtues ;t is supposed to publish The main ob- ject is to catch the eye by a beautiful spot of color or an agreeable arrangement of form The legend on the poster furnish- es oftentimes sufficient mercantile in'or- mation. On a sunny afternoon, a short time ago there was seen near the Champs Elysees a bright red figure moving along a street but a short distance away, visible through the trees The eye could not escape the brilliant scarlet color, and followed it until it turned a corner and approached when it was seen to be a poster of Jules Cheret's displayed on one of the street advertising carts, pushed by men. The affiche was an announcement of the Palais de Glace, near by, were skating on arti- ficially frozen ice may be indulged in at any time; and it showed a dashing skat- ing figure in a brilliant red cloak. The background of ice and atmosphere was was rendered in one or two simple tones of blue, which threw out the skating girl with wonderful' effect. The ability of such bills as this and others of its kind to catch the eye at a great distance and hold it to closer ex- amination is the secret of their success. That America has produced some credit- able posters must be admitted, but that there is still a wide field there yet nn> worked, is true The improvements of the future must be along the lines of greater simplicity, fewer and richer col- ors, the use of less black in the pictures, and a wider knowledge of design. That there has been almost no demand for the sort of work such as Paris has been turn- ing out for a number of years in one great reason why no men have risen to lend a deeded charm to one of the features of our'American cities namely, our bill- boards. — 7he Engraver and Printer. A Word to Circus Bill Posters. The coming season will be one that all circus owners will vie with each other in presenting to the public the latest novel- ties -in the most pleasing manner, and .they will need the hearty co-operation of every man in the advance brigade Now how to work with care and judgement - is no idle admonition, for the man who is industrious and steady is bound to obtain a better position next season. To day there is' hardly an agent of any promi- nence who did not commence bs a bill- poster. Besides if you try you have as much right to succeed as any one else. It may be some years but it. will eventu- ally come. To drink, to act fresh and in- dulge in acts of insubordination is to put stumbling blocks in your own pathway. The day for the drunkard and laggard is gone and no owner of a show cares for them. As an occupation the business is improving and the men engaged in it- ought to feel proud of it. The writer of this article is no preacher, but he has been in all stages of life, in amusement circles and he knows whereof he speaks, so boys when the call is sounded in a few weeks, start prepared to do your level best and your reward will surely come. Let's all puU together for a good long season, and to country-routers, to excursioners, to towners, to lithograph- ers and to programmers, let me say there is a future for every one of you, if you but try and keep a trying all season; you wid be the winner if you but persevere Pictorial display lends added value to poster advertising but is by no means indispensable. The value of bright colors both in ink and piper for billboard usage cannot be over-estimated. Retailers sbou'd use posters tirelessly no other medium meets their require- ments so effectually. Never use cuts to illustrate your wares unless the cut reflects credit upon them. In preparngcopy rememberit's the way you say it, that counts' You may say a thing a thousand times without deriving . any great benefit therefrom, unless there is a convincing ring to your statement. Mauberret's Printing House of New Orleans, the largest of the show printers of the South has recently been merged into a Limited Company with Victor Mauberret as president and A. D. Gaveto Treasurer and General Manager J. M. Dishon of Terr Haute, is one of the most enthusiastic members of the craft. II ''I li'' I- Hi jilli i \ 5 'I If? Ufl if pi It 1 ■I ii