The billboard (Apr 1897)

THE BILLBOARD I noticed recently quite an innovation in Toledo, O.. in the way of a" a hypnotised man lying in To Fasten Lettkrs to Glass.— The Canadian Druggist says that a cement can be made that will not be effected by moisture, even if the glass to which the letters are attached ihould be aubr in water for several days, as follows : India rubber, i pert. Mastic, 3 parts. Chloroform, jo parts. Let it stand in a well-corked bottle foi several days, until completely dissolved. As it been posed to the air, it t And, witboat found be catchy, von ui E ht u well write " v ■ ' MobaIp.— It is an easy thing to write an advertisement. The trouble is, to get people to read it. without good brushes ought to be obliged to wear a placard on his back bearing the words, "emotional insanity," minustbe e. a sale has been made through the in- fluence of children. They see the ad and call attention to it, consequently it is read by their elders. This would not be the case if the ad was not illustrated. Hence it would be a wise plan for the ad- vertising sign painter to fllnstrate bis work so is to please childreiL They will There is not as; in sign painting ai in illustrated work. The lettereare usually made plain, or with very little shading, the moat attention being given to the ingly bad," when they will gloat over the esse, or glory in the downfall of some poor woman. They, generally speaking, are the ones who serve God on Sundays by going to church in th e forenoon and reeling off prayers by the furlong, then pot in the rest of the day- talking about The more the ground is scrolled the greater should be the contrast between it and the letters, and the plainer they should be. Scrolled letters on a scrolled ground are always hard to read. High con trust is strenuously objected to by the old school of sign writers. They are not supported in their views by the modern theory of good advertising. "To read as yon run," is tbe modem adver- tiser's motto. Necessarily, there must be striking effect, which is imparted to its '.he letter and the shading it may be neu- tralized by drawing h line of some neu- tralizing color between litem. i Hit sing business are of detail. ■ ' those who i able to put thcii knowledge into practical effect Our dig business men are not ex- perts in details (exceptions, of course). When depressing .times come they in- variably go to the wall. Note thenumer- « within tbe last year. The , not fear s of the No matter what the shape of the letters are, the lines should be regular and uni- form. Hence the sign painter should take care of his hands. Do not wash them with turps. According to physicians, tur- pentine has a tendency to make the fin- gers stiff if used often. Good soap and warm, soft water is the besL lodging from the black and white re- production oF the prize-taking sign at the of the Master House of works on sign painting, but, if I mistake not, the most, of them are the work of artists, and not of practical sign painters. The simpler parts are too slid and formal, giving the semblance of print on work, while tbe more at too complicated to meet the w every day sign p the rest i The letters are put on a figure ground, the lower part of which resembles tbe government shield. The letters are of the most primitive type, mainly of Gothic 'and Roman. No doubt the work was finely executed, and probably the original looks much better than the reproduction; but . as an advertisement it falls far short of being up to date. One of the chief advantages in ad sign work is the paint. The ad sign painter has all kinds of surfaces to contend with. For tbia reason tbe paint should he thin, yet possess great covering qualities. Pure linseed oil always works hard on a rough surface. Linseed and paraffin oil mixed ball and balf makes an easy flowing oil, and will last quite as long as pure linseed. If not thin enough, thin with benzine. It is claimed by some that benzine de- stroys the binding qualities of linseed oil. This is an error. There is not a ready mixed paint made but what contains ben- zine, and we know that many of them will last longer than white lead and oil. For cheap work, or for work that is not on the perpendiculai plane, is well worthy the attention of painters, says tbe Western Painter. Tints that appear clear when placed on a table will often present a muddy or crude ap- pearance on the wall. The difference is ned for by the, tor. In selecting a tint for a sign, it is always hest to tint it by a slight dab on tbe surface it is to occupy, allowing for the effect of contiguous colors. In first class sign painting t-io much care cannot be exercised in selecting the primer. On I hi* rests tbe durability of the subsequent coats. We observe daily- signs where tbe ground coal is broken while tbe black portion of tbe letters are Painters should not follow conventional rules loo closely. The day lias come when it is necessary to cultivate artistic tastes in order to gain a reputation as a work- man, and no trade has a more diversified field for the development of such talent than that of the sign painter. Gold leaf is burnished by rubbing with refined raw cotton. This is a good ma terial for burnishing any kind of bronze. it-has been: " Biot Your Own Hork.'"— In these days of dull times' and bold competition, a m«n, to be successful, need, to own bis own born, and keep tooting it continually. If he intends to increase bis business by advertising, he must make a rush for the frontseat, crowding past bis slower neigh- bors: and, when helgels there, take a first mortgage o., ell Ihe other se s il intimate (hat he could close in and needed in all kinds of advertising. I[ your product is good, don't be afraid to say so. If tbe man who claims himself n scientist or a philosopher can substantiate his claim by showing the goods, the pub- lic is not going to conduct a civil service examination to ascertain whether he is or not. Hut if he says he is a " slow, grov- in the dust," people will take be: "Get out of here, we have no use The advertising painter who doesn't put energy and thought in his work is like a mosquito without a bill—lots of buzzin', but no bite. I once heard a story about P. T. Barn urn. One of his men died very suddenly. After Ihe post mortem r said to Mr. Barn urn : '• Why, a for the show." A good advertiser is m<<*t generally good pay. He has the money to pay with. He may not give as much as others prom- ise, bul yon won't have to ask him twice for your money : usually, not at all. meet a long fell want," says an exchange. That may be so, but in the case of Mr Budgeitdidn-tquitework. His wife bad one put up on New Year's day, during his absence, thinking to help the old gen-' home. When be arrived, the door plate was making forty revolutions a second. He slopped and gazed at it a second, and remarked: " Hie, uh; whash been purlin' up one of them durucd Fourth of July i. which are intended (o b; read from passing train*, would pre- sent a weird aspect on a dark night. In the next issue of Billboard we will give the correct process of making all kinds of luminous paints in alt colors. Faria and Home, that excellent little farm paper wiU. such an immense circu- lation, is using the colored poster as an advertising medium. insect- It is vary sensitive to light and Purely Personal. r who also l.nl . hi. I .1 rear view of a laldhended man for an eiiveloye: legend: "Sifiis^rilea anywhere mi earth.''--;—- hm l^uns : h!^ vale life known as Mr. C S. lloUjhlalinit, hi. ordered Sli entra copy nf ruHBILLBOAansent to hwho^adom^n^ew^York. we^wlll mgt in paliiterrr and paper hangers' jiupplle*. Hale ..mi blown bums, loam Buuldlnn, eic The furr.iu Co.. i" IlJe niilil l>nrly ill IJrjivrr, i;.>3. llinuich a new one. lm- n fins lot of hoard*, lie -ill j..lii Ih.-n.-otinHoii shortly. Chas.K"i"