The billboard (July-Dec 1896)

I *^ BILLBOARD ADVERTISING. DILLPoSYElis DEPARTMENT -* For the Good of the Order. A Few Remarks frcm $am W. Hoke. I was nunaging through the kitchen the other night (and I'm not going to tell" you what time o' night it was, either), when I spied an article of canned goods with such, a nice label on it that I thought it ought to be advertised on the billboards. I took the can and placed it in water, intending to soak off the label and make up a sketch for a pester, to submit to the canners' pasting the label on a portion of the sketch, and thus save the trouble of drawing that portion. The next morning I tried to get that label off the can, but it wouldn't come; I put it into warm water, and left it, and didn't see it again till evening, but it continued to stick closer than a poor relation. I have not yet got that label off, and I am now trying to L - duce those canners to part with the recipe for making that paste. If I can get it, I may torn - benefactor, and give it to every bill poster that wants it. The use of this paste would put an end forever to shabby looking billboards -$ — Why do poster printers never put bor- ders around posters ? My paint education makes a sign, whether a printed sign or a painted sign, look incomplete vrithont a border of some kind. But it is a difiScult matter to get the printers to put torders onto posters; and when I get through remonstrating with the printers they say, "what's the use? The bill poster will paste the next stand right over the border clear up next to the lettering." Do you? -$- O, For a New Word. If he is a bill poster why does he not post bills instead of posting posters ? And if he posts posters why isn't he a poster poster? The nomenclature of this busi- ness is driving me to Hire's Root Beer. I get to talking to a prospective (or per- spective) customer about a beautiful post- er, and first thing 1 know he thinks I am talking of Harry Mnnson. And if I speak of a beautiful bill, he thinks at once of that new dollar that is just being placed ppon the market the one where Youth telling History that he's getting a big oy now, and begging History to wait for him. I suppose that "bill poitirs"is too old a word to ever be got rid of, but all the same a "'bill" ain't a poiter any more than a dde-show is a circus, Webster to the contrary nutwithstaading. To THE Members of the Internation.ii, BiLt. Posting Association: Your special attention i.s called to the firm of I. Pieser & Co., 132 W. Washington St.. Chicago, HI. We peisuaded this firm to try the members of the International in the interest of their " Dncle Jerrv" Pan Cake Flour. They now claim that our members with three exceptions (Fon Du Lac. Sheboygan and Lincoln, 111.) are overcharging them on the one-sheet work, all the way from 4 cents to 9 cents per sheet (for one-sheet work). This method of doing bu.'-iness will hurt us all and the practice should be stopped at once. The scale of prices for one-sheet work is 3 cents for IS days' showine. and when some of our members attempt to charge as high as 3 cents per sheet, it is no wonder that advt rtisers com- . plain. Remember the advertiser has no high pr.ces to pay. especially so. during these strin- gent times and it Ls hoped that all members will try and conform to our present scale of prices. D. R Talbert, Lock Box 248. Chicago, III., de- sires you to write him about all the little towns around you, as he wishes to contract for the smaller towns this fall and youshould write him at once for full particulars. We would like to have eac* member write the secretary at least every 30 days, how he is getting along, what paper is being posted in his vicinity and such other items as might be of interest in compiling a monthly report for our members. " Some of the members have not as yet paid their dues; to those who have have not it is earnestly hoped they will. President Schaefer has secured the contract for 1000 stands '• Wool Soap •■ paper. Next month we will send you a list of names of those who are doing advertising at Uie present time. Let us push things for the next 60 days and see what can be accomplished. A great deal can l?e done if you will put your shoulder to the wheel and help push the load over the hill. Hoping to hear from each and every one of you, we are. Yours fraternally, Cl-AREKCE E. RDNEY. P. F. SCHAEFER - Secretary. iTesident Personal Mention. Ellis D Sparrow, of Vincennes. Ind. is a prac- Ucal stage carpenter as well as a fiist-class hill poster Ura. Koley of Pana, Ills, takes his own medicine, in other words, he advertises his own business on his own boards.- c. Harry Graham, manager of tbe Washington Bill Post- ing and A'dvertising Co.. at Tacoraa, Wash., is highly spoken of by traveling salesmen and advertising agents. ^A. B. Schanz, advertis- ioB manager of the Sterling Remedy Company, XNo-to-bac and Cascarets.) writes that that welll known house is contemplating an extensive bill posting campaign. Mr. Schans's office is at Inkana Mineral Springs, Ind Mize & Johnson now control the boards at Americus, Ga. Their office is at 412 Lamar Street, that city. Phil. Oliver, of Findlay, O., writes that business is rather quiet Dillons Cross Roads Bill Posting Co., of Normal. IIU., makes a speci- alty of country routes.- .Jos. E. Girard of Krie. Pa , writes that on October 6th he took out a gang of men, and stripped, repaired and generally overhauled his boards. After he had put them all in'^first-class condition, he learned that his opposiiion has been followiug in his wake, photORraphing the hoirdings in th«ir bare and unsightly condition. He .surmises that it is for the purpose of inSuencing advertisers again.st him. Crittenden & Co , of Centralia, 111*., write us that they own and control all bill- boards in that city. H. E Root, of Laramie. Wyo., has joined the International Bill Posting A-ssociation. The Tampa Advertising Co. is a new coactrn wl.ocjntrol the boards at Tampa. HIa- In addition to bill iiostingand di.stributing they will al.so devote considerable time to street car arid hotel adverti.sing. They liavea fine line of |>.'>i:ited bulletins, anil are now doing a splen- did I>iisine>s. H. I.. Rclhrl is m inagerand W. A. Hanii.toi!, .secfetary and tr a.surcr." Their offict s arc lut-alej at 502 Twij-K Street -Tlie Capital city Bin I'o^ting Co., of .Alliany. N Y., ha-e reniovrd tlifiro.TBccs to S' Siate Street, that city. The firm of Hite & Dudley, of Paris Ky., his been succeeded by W W. Dudley & Co. VVhilmier & Kelbrick are making a thorouch canvas of" Btiftaltrs Inisiuess houses in the iutcrot of linlid ly and commercial posting. L. L Mcllvaine. of Hou.ston; Tex., has bought o>it John McDaniel, and will henceforth devote all of his time and attemion to bill past- ing. He has added jxo feet of boards to his plant, all of matched luraber.and all on !-treet car lines. Mr. Mcllvaine has'joined the Inter- national Bill Posting A-ssoriation. The American Bill Posting Co., of Brooklyn, New York, has purchased a half interest in the Hammond Bill Posttrg Co., of Piitsburg. The "Daily News," Pittsburg, is the latest p.iper to utilize the boards. Tte • Donaldson Lithographing Co. of Cincin- nati, secured the order. All cities adjacent to Pittsburg will be billed: T,ie Bill Poster (the Canadian publica- tion) has changed hands and vrill here- after be published by Acton Burroughs of the Acton- Burroughs Co. The offices have been removed to.29 Milindo St., Toronto. A few years ago a couple of young men, as unscrupuloiis as they were enterpris- ing, went to a thriving Western town and while everybody in the town was asleep plastered the billboards and fences all over with the cabalistic placards: "THEY ARE COMING." The people in the town puzzled tbeni- selves for several days as to what was the ineaning of the announcement They wondered who were coming, where they were coming from, when they were com- ing and what they were coming for. It was a seven daj-s' wonder, the topic of conversation for breakfast, dinner and supper, the last thing thought of at night and the first thing discussed before pray- ers in the morning. While curiosity was still keen as to what could be the mean- ing of the placards, the town was again paid a noctu-iial visit and in place of " They Are Coming " was "THEY ARE HERE," and in small letters under the big caps was the statement, " They will be in the opera house at 8 o'clock this'evening. Admis- sion 25 cents." There were very few people left in their homes on the evening in question in that Western town as a re- sult of this mysterious announcesiient. They flocked to the opera house. One of the young men referred to at the begin- ning of this article acted as ticket seller, the other as ticket taker. Interest was on tiptoe. Everybody was on the qui vive to see the curtain go up. Prciiely : t 8 o'clock the ticket seller and the ticket taker left the opera house building as the curtain went up in accordance with the announcement, when lo! on the back part of the stage, strung in full view of every one in the audience, were the words in larger letters than used on the bill- boards, "THEY ARE GONE." SOME POSTER POETRY. NlXON WATER.MAN, Oh, tlve weird, wank, wail of the hilly-go-bing, And Ihe shriek of a whimpering loon ; And the simmering sigh of a dragon-fly. From the thitherwaid side of the innnn. "Just tell them you-saw me;" they'll know all the re.st, . You "ve sung it-so often before. And the next day it snowed and the utxt day it blowed, . . Not any, none, never, no more. Oh. the drip, drip, drip of a leaky ship. And the boy, oh, where was he? I don't care a cent which way he went, For I get my wrages,—see? And tHere ain't no shipand there ain't no shore. And there ain't no earth nor air; And there ain't no nothing any more. Nor never was, anywhere. Oh the wheels go round or they cut across, And the curfew shall not ring. For the purple cow is dreaming now In a bright red grape-vine swing. "I am not mad !" Nay, not a bit! But I 'm onto my job, you bet! For I'm trying to write some lines to fit The posters that I get. —/, A. ir. Bulttlin. M. F. SPRENGER. The firm of Sprenger & Sweet, bill posters and distributors, of Pokeepsie. N Y . has been dissolved. Mr. E. B. Sweet disposing of his inter- est and withdrawing entirely from the business. M. F. Sprenger, " The Honest King" Bill Pos- ter and DisI ributor, will continue in the business giving an honest and reliable showing to all who may favor him with their patronage. Mr. Sprenger for the past five years has made bill posting and display advertising a study, having his paper displayed to the best advantage and always making it a point to keep his bill boards in an attractive manner, so that it is a pleasure for the publ'c to look upon them. Mr. Sprenger has introduced modern methods and conducts his bu.siness on a business basis, space on his ' boards are for sale the .same as spaces in the columns of the newspapers. He has no coiitifctiou with the opera house, but devotes his entire attention to commercial bill po.sting making it a specialty adverttsing all classes of merchandise. In connection hecarries a full line of ct mniercial posters both in plain type and lithographic work suitable for any line of trade and es'.imates on printing and po.<-ting in large and small contracts. Mr. Sprenger is one of the new school bill posters progressive and conscientious. He never has a dissatisned customer. MARRIED, H. H. TvNER, OF Sprin<-.fiei.d, Ohio. air. H. H. Tyner. familiarly and affectionately known as Henry to a large number of the craft throughout the country, was (]uiet1y married at nine o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, Octolier 21st. to .Mi.ss Maggie Rei.<ing. The bride, who is a most charming and estimable young lady, is a sister of I'rof. John Reising, the musi- cian Her father lives in Minster, and another brother, Mr. Ben. Reising, also a musician of cou»iderabIe note, is a resident of Detroit. Im- mediately after the wedding breakfast the happy couple left on the wedding trip, which embraced visits to Cincinnati, O. and Detroit, Mich. Mr. Tyner's legions of friends will unite in wishing him and his bonny bride, long life and happiness. DIED. Lloyd Mcxley, the veteran bill poster of Wash- ington, D. C, died October 2md. A great deal of well deserved praise is being besttwed upon the various styles of Date Books an I Route Books published by The Correspond- ent Show Printing House, Piqua, Ohio. Wc have samples of these publications liefore us. They are elegant. The window and wall work turned out by this enterprising and progressive Show Printing House, lakes rank wiih the finest productions in its lines, while its work in the neater lines of street and house work, is unsurpassed by any house in the business. i BILLBOARD ADVERTISING. Alpha rills, Detroit, Mich., are asking bids from ilistributors. All members of the I. A. of D., are re- quested to write to Dr. Sanche, 61 Fifth St., Detroit, Mich. .All members of the I. A. of D., who de- sire an electro pi te of the uniformed distributor which the association is using on their stationery, are advised herewith that they can procure one by .sending fifty cents to W. H. Steinbreaner, Sii Vine St., Cincinnati, O. The following firnis are dealing with distributors direct, viz:— F.-ost Ho neopathic Remedy Co., Springfield, Mass.; Pasteurine Gum Co., St. Louis, Mo.; Indianapolis Brewing Co., Indianapolis, Ind.; Slagic Yeast Co., S97 .\shland Ave., Chicago, Ills.; E. L. Dobbs & Co., Patterson, N. J. We are indebted to W. H. Case, of Fort Wayne for the list. Personal Mention. W. ,\. Hooks, 614 Third Street, Macon. Ga . is a disli ibutor who has recently added bill posting lo hishuKiness. Geo. W. Vansyckle succeeds Vansyckle & Hole, of Indianapolis Will. A. Stevens, of Coldwater, Mich , has joined the I. A. of D. John H. Owen & Co. are hustlers. If there were more like them, the business would advance rapidly. H. Jos. Harth, of Paduc-lh, has the local trade ^A his city well under control. It amounts to 10,000 pieces inonlhly and is growing. Mr. Harth thinks that other distributors could supplement their iiictmies handsomely by looking after work of this class. W. H. Case'secured the bill po.st- ing and distributing for Fort Wayne of the lUinilin Wizard Oil Co. Diseased Grey Matter. Things of beauty are not all joys for- ever, nor do they all bring business. A pretty ad is all very well, but—what then ? Will it bring business? If not, it might as well be as ugly as a mud pie. That's the trouble with our poster friends. They get up beautiful designs, but what is there aliout them to sell goods? If there is nothing back of the beautiful design, they won't sell goofls. . No reason why they should. And the sooner our •' thing of beauty " Iriends realize this fact, the better. We clip the foregoing paragraph from /{rains. Whoever evolved it ought to send Ills brains to the bug-house for repairs. The statement is a self-evident truth, in- deed we might say an advertising axiom when the author infe.s that this venerable chestnut is more applicable to posters than any other class of advertisements, lie 'lemonstrates that he is unduly biased and consequently unworthy of being seriously considered. The following from a recent issue of rrinters fnk is equally profound or brill- iant as you choose ; Posters are often washed off walls and f juces by rain. If anything, newspapers are read more in wet than dry weather. The point is obvious. The fact is, the poster is the most direct, powerful and economical advertising of the age. Mercantile houses who have used them intelligently testify to the truth of this observation by continuing to use them and by diverting more and more of their appropriations into this avenue every year. The New York Journal and the Chicago Record, ihe two newspapers of the country who can show substantial progress of late, are building up their cir- culations entirely by posters. The poster is here. It has come to stay and no amount of drivel like that quoted above is going to effect its popularity. NEW YORK NOTES. Harry Munson is placing Wool Soap again, not only in New York but through- out the eastern cities. Two of the theatres are unable to post anywhere in the city because of unpaid bills with one or more members of the city association. •H- fam W. Hoke has secured the Hyomei business, and is getting out a twelve-sheet and a one sheet, both in four printings. The first contracts will be for four months posting. ++ Koch & Co.. a department store of Harlem, has a seasonable cloak poster on the uptown boards, and Macy it is expec- ted will follow soon throughout the met- ropolitan district +-t- The numerous designs and sketches th it have been o k'd, to be produced and posted " af er the election " will swamp the f.atemity if ten per cent, of them adhere to their determination. ++ What effect can an election result have on the sale of consumption of whiskey ? " Cream Pure Rye " whiskey has a very handsome sixteen-sheet concealed some- where in the city, and it may or may not make its appearance after the election. -M- The Columbia Soups and Catsups, made by the Mullen-Blackledge Co., of Indian- apolis, have sprung a twenty-sheet on us, showing what the Youth's Companion would term "a yard of smilers," all tickled almost to death because the old gentleman has brought home some of these good things. Everybod}' knows that the Journal is posting; eveiybody knows because they have a new poster at least once a week, and each new one seems to be just a little l)etter than its predecessor. In spite of the fact that ii\c Journal's politics is ob noxious to New Yorkers, its circulation continues to grow—if not on account of bill posting, then why ? About the bigge.<:t scheme ever launched in the poster printing business is now on the tapis. The movement looks to the amalgamation of the Courier Litho. Co., of Buffalo, N. Y., The Erie Litho. Co.. of Erie, Pa., and three large Cincinnati firms. The Russell & Morgan Co., The The Enquirer Job Printing Co. and The Donaldson Litho. Co. These five firms practically control the circus poster trade and their consolidation into one concern would vastly reduce operating expenses and losses arising by reason of bad ac- ciunts. It is argued too, that many evi's arising from price cutting could thereby be abated. The father of this gigantic undertaking is Mr. John F. Robinson the famous showman, who is a large stock- holder in the Russell Morgan Co. It is needless perhaps to say that de- velopements will be eagerly awaited by other show printers. Show Print of Chicago are turning out some fine work. T. R.DawIey, of the Great-American . Printing and Bngraving Co,-recently: figured on a calendar job, that involved an immense amount of careful figuring and manipulating, in Older to correctly estimate its cost. He was anxious to know just how many printers conld sit down and figure it out to the best advantage. ^The Detroit Free Press Job Room were visited by fire on October 4th, and sustained quite a loss; but thanks to their hu>tliug pro- clivities, they are better equipped for turning out their work than ever before. p. B. Halier, of Fon-du-Lac. Wis., is both bill poster and show printer. He has quite a large plant. Personal Mention. T. R. Dawley talks interestingly on "Poster Advertising" in the September issue alProfitab'e Advertising. Mr. Dawley is the president of the Great American Engraving and Printing Co., of New York. Thos. S. Dando had an able article on the New Foster Art, in a recent issue of a Chicago publication. The Enquirer Job Printing Company is doing a big business. Hennegan & Co., of Cincinnati, are printing S,ooo sixteen-sheet stands, and 25,000 one-sheets, fw Dr. Raibert's Pine Tar Gum. Tbey are going to bill the entire country. ^The Libl ie Show Print of Boston are running their large plant to its utmost capacity. The Central IS READY FOR BUSINESS. The Ddrait Free Press Printing Co. Did Some Hustling. Manager Thomas WiUiamson, of the Free Press Printing Co., has given an exhibition of hustling in these dull times that is really inspir- ing. A week ago to-day fire destroyed or water made useless as complete a show printing and -job office as there was in the country, and to-dav It is again open and ready for business. Fapn- lor dozens of theatrical companies was mined but the blocks from which it was primed were foitnnately preserved in the vault specially built for their preservation. Most men would have Iwen dismayed when they viewed the wreck of machinery and stock, and the practical destruc- tion of type and cases and cabinets. But Mr Williamson was equal to the discouiaging con- ditions, and before the firemen were out of the building he had the wires warm with orders to type founders, paper mills, printing machinerv makers and dealers in prinleis' supplies with orders for new material. Securing a remarkblv quick adjustment of Uie losses, Mr. W^illianuon threw a larfre force of workmen into the dis- mantled building and as a result of their well- directed efforts the p'are was quickly put in order. Machinists soon had the presses in good working CIS d tion,the jo* men were bn»y]aylrK new fonts of type, and the artists were a<-tive in cutting fn. licates of m:n :d des^gnr f rtheslH w printing department. It was hu^tIe from ear y mom till dewy eve, everybody making every move count, and the erjtified sigh that went up from the overworked force Saturday night told that the job was finished. Mr. Williamson says he will ran the establish- ment night and day in catch up on the orders destroyed and that -new orders in all depan- mentswitl receive prompt attention and quick disf atrh. with promise of the use of all the 1 test designs in type faces.—Zfelroit J^rre /»r», Sun- day, Oct It. Poster, designeJ especially for BILLBOARD ADVERTISING. Idra bv Askjor Hannerty. Designed bv Hesse. Engraved by Sanders, m