Billboard advertising (Jan-June 1898)

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Vol. X., No. l. CINCINNATI, JANUARY i, 1898. I Be firm. One constant element in luck lis genuine, solid, old Teutonic pluck. I See yon tall shaft? It felt the earthquake's thrill, (Cluug to its base, and greets the sunlight still. [ Stick to your aim: the mongrel's hold will slip, But only crowbars loose the bulldog's grip; : I Small as he looks, the jaw that never yields I Drags down the bellowing monarch of the fields [ Vet, in opinions look not always back, I Vour wake is nothing, mind the coming track; I Leave what you've done for what you have to do; [Don't be "consistent," but be simply true. —Oliver Wendell Ho'.tnes. BILLBOARDSv&NEWSPAPERS It is probable that when Holmes penned [ the above lines nothing was farther from his thoughts' than advertising, yet he I could not have written closer to the sub- Lject if he had tried his level best What la world of wholesome, solid advice is I crowded into those three stanzas. And I the last line, "Don't be consistent, but be I simply true. '* What an eloquent arraign- I ment of the modern newspaper! Think lit over. It is a scourge of scorpions. Read this from a recent issue of News- \paperdom: "To our mind, the reas<.tH;ihe great pa- Ipers generally, and th* great papers of I New York especially, have lost their in- | fluence, is that they lie too much." The lamentable consideration about j such a statement as this, is the conviction that it is true. The great newspapers do J not tell the truth. Not only do they falsify by putting'facts in false perspective and (giving them apparent fictitious value, through illustrations, "featuring" and j undue typographic emphasis, but they j print a vast amount of matter, that is [given all the appearance of news, which has not a particle of fact for foundation or j excuse. The orders to write certain alle- Igations as facts,and to give them certain I tendencies of argument, are frequent and I imperative in the local and editorial rooms ■of great newspapers. This statement is Inot speculative, nor inferential—it is ab- solute, hard, shameful and -humiliating Pact, known personally to the writer of ■his paragraph. All respectable newspaper men hope for |the day when a code of newspaper ethics [that will endure daylight will beacknowl- ledged in the offices of great newspapers. fit is not expected. Faith does not reach I so far. It is only one of those shining •deals for the realization Of which one must project his mind forward to the mil- |leumiun. -' There are two chief, reasons why news- papers do not tell thetruth :^They are.; ■operated as money-making machines, and ■their thirst for power leads them to be ■made in the argumentive spirit rather ■than Uie refiective, or the news. An as- ■•simiptton is adopted, and everything must I K-ml to its justification. To make money |".v publishing a newspaper in a large city Ijt w necessary to rise only just level with "nsses, and,the masses are not con- Cl '«'«l greatly with "ethical questions, or I ''"rf ons of fact They want to be '■■■ -ed; they want vaudeville all the"■time," '"':' , ,e kn °wledge that'-they will pay for " induces publishers to serve it The feverish wish for power, for influ- ence, induces many publishers to consider only such things as seem likely to result in the acclaim of the crowds, who snicker and chuckle as they read, but scoff in their hearts, and despise the sheet that tickles them. Some day, some day, there will arise a clear-eyed publisher, who will discover that a truer and cleaner note, not. less lively, can be made to attract readers as yet he persists in listening to the song of the siren—the circulation siren—the .cir- culation liar. Why? Why does he stand and wring, his hands? Why does he complain of decadence, debauchery and deception, : when the remedy, so simple, is entirely in ; his own hands?.: Turn to the billboards, to distributing, to. bulletins, and you'll knock yellow journalism out with a single blow. A. E. WHITE. surely and in as great numbers, and then the scales will fall from the eyes of all, and the end of the silly and vicious and lying newspaper policy that now prevails will have come. Until then, we shall be surfeited with untruths. And who is responsible for it all ? Who? The advertiser is. He is the god behind the machine. Without his money the cheap, uninfluential, no account paper could not last. Yes; the advertiser is to blame. He can get more, better and cheaper advertising on the billboards, and . he knows it. . He has sense in plenty. He does not have to have a plain, self-evident truth druv into him with a maul. He knows that the'billboards, with, perhaps, their supplementary ally, distributing, will give him more publicity for less money, A. B. WHITE. The subject of this picture, A. B. White, better known as "A. B." to the old tim- ers, was born in Taunton fifty-two years ago, the third day of last March, and has always resided there. He is a graduate of the public schools and Holmes' Commer- cial and Business College at Taunton. For a number of years he occupied the position of bookkeeper and salesman for- the firm of A. White & Co., marketmen. In 1869, A. B. entered into partnership with an elder brother,. under the firm name of White Brothers, and built the theatre known as Music Hall, They con- tinued together for a number ol years. Subsequently he bought out his brother's interest, and ran the business successfully 11111892. In the meantime a new theatre %,~ ...■•'" PRICE 10 CENTS PER YEAR. Si.oo was erected, which so divided the business that his place of amusemant was leased to the city for armory purposes. They have .. but recently vacated the premises, having ' built a new armory." : The coming season * ■■'. will in all probability see Manager White at his old business again, unless he con- cludes to lease to other parties. His bill posting plant was establised at the time of 1 starting the amusement business. For .'. location and service rendered to the ad- vertising public, both posting and distrib- uting, it is considered second to none in New England. He has the reputation of making more paper stay on the boards ' during the inclement weather of the win- - ter months than any other plant on the .,- circuit So say the inspectors, and his • record is A No. i. He has the confidence of the advertis- ers. His references are of the very best both local and transient; in fart, his rep- utation for integrity is established.. Al- ways ready to greet the inspector, at the first of the billing or at the end of thirty days. He has made the componnding of paste that will stick a study, using noth- ing but the very best of materials. He " never buys a thing because it is cheap, for ■■ it will continue to grow cheaper! During "- the winter months he uses three kinds of paste, viz, flour, starch and flourand glue: ' A combination made from flour and glue nothing short of a whirlwind can loosen. He uses the different kinds according, to . the location of the boards, whether, they are sheltered or exposed to the severe . storms of the winter months. The secret of success, he claims; is to employ good men, praise them for good work, avoid censure if possible, keep the boards in good repair, remove at all times the loose' paper, never pass it by; keep them neat and tidy; use good stock and pleutv of ft, - especially if the boards art yen- dry-; havt^M, the paper well rubbed in, put the muscle" 3S to it, and nothing short of a continuing rain accompanied by a very strong wind will loosen it - In conjunction with the advertising business, Mr. White is a wholesale and retail dealer in foreign and domestic fruits at the old stand; the Music Hall Store, where he can be seen daily extending "a cordial greeting to his many friends, old and new. Billboard is hearing numerous com- plaints from many sections of the coun- try of the slow pay of a prominent as- sociation officer who sent out quite a lot of work during the summer and falLj What makes the matter all the more ex- asperating is that letters are not answered, and no reasons are given when drafts go to protest " Valuable information for advertisers, in a new and convenient form, will be found in the two hundred-page pamphlet just issued by The Geo. P. Rowell Advertising Co., New York. It contains a complete list of papers having a circulation of more than a thousand copies each issue. As a book of reference in preparing plans and lists for advertising, it is invaluable, 'irni is well worth the price asked f«i I», o«w dollar. ' ' v- "0. I - - - ' I