The billboard (Jan-June 1898)

8 THE BILLBOARD THE BILLBOARD The Billboard. PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT 127 East Eighth Street, Cincinnat, O., IT. S. A. Addrta* all communications For the editorial or business departments to THE BHXBOABD PUBLX8HIKO CO. Subscription, $1.00 Per Year, In Advance. ADVERTISINC RATES: Advertisements will be published at the uni- form rate of ten cents per agate line; copy for advertisements must reach us on or before the twenty-fifth of the month. Our terms are cash. Billboard Advertising is sold in ILondon at Zxrui's Exchange, 57 Charing Cross, and at American Advertising Newspaper Agency; Trafalgar Build- ings, Northumberland Ave., lv\ C. In Paris, at Bretano's, iy Avenue del Opera, The trade sup- plied by the American Newts Co. and its branches. Remittance should be made by cheque, post-office or express money order, or registered letter addressed and made payable to The Billboard Pub. Co. The editor cannot undertake to return unsolicited manuscript; correspondents should keep copy, IVhen it rs necessary tn toire us the instructions and copy for advertisements, great saving in the matter of tetegrnph tolls may be had by recourse to the Donaldson Cipher Code* Rntered as Second-Class Mailer at Post Office at Cincinnati, Ohio. MAY, 1898. A There Is need for the American As- sociation of Fairs and Expositions to enlarge its scope. While it is true that representatives of district and county fairs are welcomed at its meetings, and freely invited to participate in all its deliberations and proceedings, the fact that they are not eligible to mem- bership will beep them from availing themselves of the privilege to any great extent If the A. A. F. E. would rectify this state of affairs, and admit them to membership, it would be doing a grand, good thing. The fairs of America need to be associated. They need a government. The A. A. F. E. is what they need, and if they are al- lowed to join it they will. They would make the A. A. F. E. a rich, powerful, influential organization, capable of un- Id good. We can not see any insur- mountable difficulties in the way. v The International Association of Dis- tributors must shortly decide to adopt or reject an official schedule of prices. It behooves every member of the or- ganization to follow the discussion of the;qnestion in these columns closely. Eaehjargunient, pro or con, should be : earefully weighed and considered. Every- member who has- a new idea or argument should, in justice to his fellow-members, advance his, views in these pages before the Convention, next July. As we stated in a former issue, we favor a schedule in con- formity with the opinions of Curran and Leonard. We are disposed, however, to give all due consideration to the views of the Opponents of the plan. Among the latter, it should be remembered, are found the ablest men in the business; notably, the president of the organiza- tion, Mr. Reid, and the zealous and highly efficient secretary, Mr. Stein- brennor. * * *.'■.■ For the first time in the history of the .association, we are at variance with Mr. Steinbrenner on an important issue. As will be seen from his letter in another column, lie has most posi- tive and pronounced objections to the proposed measure. He is practical. So is' President Reid. We, on the contrary, are wholly theoretical. Theories, however, are daily found to be practical, and it must also be remembered that Curran, Leonard, et «?., are practical men of long and wide experience. Briefly, we favor an official schedule, for the reason that it ought to be the chief aim of an association to benefit its members by obtaining better prices. Secondly. In our estimation, one of the chief objects of an association should be the establishment of as great a degree of uniformity in prices as is possible. Thirdly. The members of the I. A. of D., having provided a better service with a guarantee behind it, are en- titled to exercise authority in fixing the value of that service. * * * It has occurred to us, with more or less frequency ever since we first be- came closely identified with the bill- posting interests of the country, that much more importance is attached to the outcome of the Annual Convention than it merits. There has been a steady and noticeable improvement in the character and composition of the Conventions. Formerly a mere hand- ful of men monopolized the discus- sions and debate, while the remainder merely looked on and drank booze till they were blue in the face. Now, all of that is changed. A more orderly, business-like Convention than that held at Atlantic City last summer has never been witnessed. Strangely enough, though, the limitations and shortcomings of the Convention are only accentuated and emphasized as the gatherings improve. The fact is, they have been so misused in the past that they are incapable of expressing the -will or wishes of the craft to any considerable extent, 'and in conse- quence are quite generally discredited. * * * The defect is in the system, and not in the delegates who compose the Con- vention. The same vicious practices and methods that obtain in political gatherings are in vogue in the bill- posters' meetings. They are packed, dominated, and controlled. They are handled and manipulated in the inter- est of the few. The needs and wishes of the many are throttled and disre- garded. It is wrong—all wrong. The whole working of the Annual Convention should be changed. The idea should be to draw out a general expression of opinion. The diffident and retiring should be encouraged to voice their sentiments. Bullyragging and brow- beating should be utterly discounte- nanced. Some such radical revolution as here roughly outlined will have to ensue iH-fore the officers and mandates of the A. B. P. will command any very great degree of consideration, atten- tion, and respect. CHICAGO. BIG SURPRISE SPRUNG. The 'Western Ad-Sign Syndicate Springs Into Existence—A Strong, wealthy and -Influential Organization Enters the Lists With a Challenge to Gunning. Like a thunderbolt from a clear sky was the sensational and astonishing advent of the Western Ad-Signs Syn- dicate. The Philistines were fairly stunned, and many have hardly re- covered from their bewilderment yet. At first the news was received with incredulous smiles. Any one who had the temerity to issue a defi to Cunning right on the go-off must be either a visionary or a fool. At this stage it became known in a dim, nebulous sort of a way, that Fred Jones and J. E. "Williams were identified with the new concern. That, of course, altered the complex- ion of matters considerably. Men like Jones or Williams were not likely to become tangled up with an itnpraeti- ■ cal, imaginative schemer. Still, where was the money? Who was behind the throne? Everybody guessed, and no one hit within a mile of the truth, until Colonel Burr Bob- bins, of the American Advertising and Bill Posting Co., and one of the wealthiest men in Chicago, authorized the following statement, viz.: The Western Ad-Sign Syndicate, A corporation under the laws of Illinois, Capital stock, $roo,ooo.oo. OFFICERS: FRED. D. JONES . .President J. E. WILLIAMS .Secretary BURR ROBBINS. TREASURER In Jones_and Williams the new con- cern has two of the ablest and best men in the bulletin business. They are exceptionally bright and widely experienced. Colonel Burr Bobbins also possesses rare good judgment and a ,'barl' of plethoric proportions. He also pos-, sesses a love for a scrap that amounts almost to a passion. As the new concern is avowedly after Gunning's scalp, the situation is interesting to a degree. The eyes of the advertising world will be on Chi- cago for the next few inontbs. LEONARD LEADS IN THE VOTING CONTEST. Much Interest Manifest—Only Two More Chances to Vote—July 15 Sees the Contest Close. April turned in twice as many votes as any previous month, showing that the interest is increasing greatly. Most of the votes were single ones, but many an en- velope contained two and even three votes, which proves that the country bill poster not content with his single coupon, has gone to the newstands and purchased more in order to support his favorite. The surprise this month is furnished by P. P. Schaefer and W. B Lowden. Both have jumped into possibilities at a single bound. The I. B. P. A. is pushing Schaefer, while the I. A D. have taken up Lowden. All of our readers are taking the keenest interest in the contest and the next month will see a larger vote than ever. HOW THEY STAND. The votes received by the various con- testants up to April 25 were as follows : Geo. M. Leonard 330 Isaac M. Monk 204 P. F. Schaefer 201 L. H. Ramsay 155 Geo. H. Siebe 104 W. B. Lowden 101 Jas. A. Curran 29 J. Ballard Carroll 26 H.W.Walker 25 Chas. Vogel 24 E. C. Donnelly 24 Geo. Castner 24 Jas. F. O'Melia 21 R. C. Campbell 20 Frank Fitzgerald 'iS Albert Weber. 18 John G.Reese 16 Geo. J. Sherer 15 P. P. Oliver 13 J. J. Flynn 12 Edw. A. Stahlbrodt 11 Al. Bryan n W. C. Tirrill 3 C. K. Hagar. 2 J.Garlick 2 B. M. Slocomb 2 A. B. Beale 2 Etnmett Littleton 2 Barney lank 1 A. Van Beuren 1 Harry Stoops 1 Mrs. Dundon 1 C. F. Filbrick 1 Fred. W. Jenks 1 F. P. Ketelson 1 J. C. Fockelman 1 W. P. Fav r C. H. Griebel, Jr 1 H. G. Wilshire 1 Geo. H. Bubb 1 Chas. Bryan 1 The Billboard is going to send the most popular bill poster in America to at- tend the convention of British bill posters, which is held at Dublin, Ireland, next August. He will lie an ambassador ap- pointed by the craft at large. HOW TO VOTE. Write the name of your candidits (nothing else) on the coupon below, and mail it to The Billboard Publishing Co., Cincinnati, O. Each coupon will be counted as one vote for the bill poster whose name it bears. All May cou- pons must be voted before May 25. This rule is imperative, It is necessary to prevent hoarding, of coupons and voting them in a lump at the last moment. MAY COUPON SSrS*SS 25, or it will not be counted. The most popular Bill Poster in America and he should be our atnbas ador tt the meeting of the United Bill Pouters' As- sociation in Dublin, Ireland, next Au- gust. Notice— -The final polls close at noon Saturday, July 9. Under our arrangement with the Amer- ican News Company, The Billboard is supposed to be on sale at all newstands. Patrons unable to secure it will please notify us, giving place and date. ADVERTISING AS A BUSI- NESS FORCE. Robert C. Ogden, resident partner of John Wanamaker, talked on "Advertising as a Business Force" at tho convention of the Merchants' Association, held recently 111 "We all' know," be said, "that advertis- ing is a business force, and a very great power that has to be recognized most thor- """Wlt'h the public mind fixed upon bust- n«-B as It now la. with the competition that .•xlsts between traders, it is undoubtedly the fact that without advertising of the proper kind a business can not be successfully prosecuted to any large degree. "Therefore, 1 consider the advertising as tho force that is to vitalize all the other work that may be put Into the business. After the merchandise is purchased, after the service is hired, the Item that Is gen- erated in order to make the machine move is the advertising. COURAGE IS NEEDED. "A great deal of advertising fails of Its results because the advertiser gets discour- aged. The most successful advertising that I have ever known is that which has been exploited on a very large scale. "The man who has bad the courage to advertise to a certain extent and spend S2U.000 should have the courage to spend another {5,000 and vitalize all the rest.'Lack or courage is one of the most common ex- periences of advertisers. I am speaking now of newspaper advertising and the advertis- ing of general merchandise. "The manager of a department, the sales- people who are to sell the goods, should be told the policy of the head of the business, so far as advertising is concerned, and the way the matter is to be presented to the public, so as to arouse the interest in all. Advertising is the channel through which the merchant speaks to the people he desires to address. "His advertising Is the test of his char- acter. It must be true. As he speaks, and as the people have an opportunity to judge of the truth of bis priuted utterances day by day. tbey will form their estimate of bis character. His character is a branch of bis advertising; and therefore it must always be true. mj SIMPLICITY OF LANGUAGE. """*"* "But If a man Is not going to waste his money in advertising, »». must never be stupid. It should be put in simple and forceful language. One of the most distin- guished litterateurs in the country, address- ing a class of students at one of our fore- most colleges in Massachusetts, laid great stress upon simplicity and force in the use of the. English language, reaching all the way from the advertisement to the leading editorials, and selected the advertising of our house as an illustration to be presented to this class of learned young men who were receiving the highest education obtain- able In this country. "The matter of Illustration comes in in a very Important way in modern advertis- ing. The time bas gone by when wood cuts made by carpenters will do for advertising. The time has come when the commercial man must not only have good English in his trade announcements, but good illus- trations as well. Very little importance has been attached to the illustrations for adver- tising. IMPORTANCE OF ILLUSTRATION. "Illustration for advertising purposes is very often like poster work. It is suggestive In Its artistic character, if not in the moral character of tbe subject. But commercial art bas come to occupy a very important place, and It Is entirely useless for a man to expend $200 to $300 In an advertisement in a newspaper, and then save $10 or $15 in an illustration. He had better have his illustration of the highest artiBtic character he can get." In the course of an Intensely interesting discourse on "Art In Advertising," before the Sphinx Club at its meeting last nigbt. In the Waldorf-Astoria'. Mr: Robert C. Og- den surprised his audience by informing them that illustrated papyrus posters were known to the Egyptians a century and a half before Christ. He gave a complete history of art as ap- plied to advertising and narrated the de- velopment of the pictorial poster. In con- clusion he said in part: "It we approach the advertising question or today from the side of business or the sldo of art, or from both sides, we find in advertising Illustrations a subject which the distributer of merchandise! Ignores at his peril. The posters of today, whether they be the extraordinary productions intended to advertise the drama, the weird and strange designs that accompany books, or the gen- eral illustrations which acompany adver- tisements In the high class magazines, af- ford much satisfaction to the artistic taste: many of them touch deeply the sense of humor, and all of them succeed In Impress- ing their messages upon tbe minds of read- «"• But yet the Ignorance that still lingers In Illustrated advertising shocks the artistic mind and disgusts the Intelligent advertis- ing critic." An elderly woman who bad served in a prominent family of this city for many ycars as housekeeper concluded recently that she was entitled to a rest from ardu- ous labor. She bad been Industrious and honest, and was held In high esteem by her employers, but she had saved a few hun- ared dollars and made up her mind to upon up a small candy store. Ono of her hobbles „.*! neatno »»- She was scrupulously neat f SJL e .t ,n ,n ever ' r w »y' ■"* that is prob- part with"*" 011 hW ""P 10 * 8 ™ wero ,oU> t0 She rented a small place and laid in a modest stock of fruits and candies. She had tho storeroom freshly painted inside and out. and covered the floor with a nice pat- tern of linoleum. For a week or two after she opened up she drove quite a brisk trade. But one day it rained and then her troubles began. Every customer who came in "tracked up" the clean floor. No matter how often she mopped it up there were al- ways muddy footprints to hide the beautiful design. She ransacked her brain for some- way to stop people from coming in with dirty feet, and finally bit upon a plan. She bought a doormat, and got a show card painted by a neighboring painter bearing this short but business-like legend: "Clean Your Feet." The days went on and she found her trade perceptibly falling off. The boys who had bought candy and oranges looked askance at the sign and passed on. She waited patiently, but she continued to lose money. One day the son of her former employer happened in. and she told him about her trade falling off ror no reason that she knew of and asked his advice. "Well, Mary," said he; "I know exactly what's the matter, and ir you'll let me I'll - put up a card that will bring back your trade." The young fellow went away, and in half an hour appeared with another card upon which was printed: "All a Mistake Boys, ^ou Don't Need to Wipe Your Feet." The mistress of the store objected a little at first, but finally consented to have the old card replaced by this new one. After a few days her trade began to come back, and she was soon on excellent terms with the boys. She also noticed that since she took tbe sign down the boys were always careful to wipe their feet before coming into the store. Chas. K. Hagar, of the St. Louis Bill Posting Company encloses us seven votes for Geo. M. Leonard, remarking that in his estimation Mr. Leonard is the man Of all men to undertake the mission. Some cuts recently sent us by the Wilshire Posting Company were on too large a scale for our column, and a long list of the paper they were carrying is crowded out of this issue. . The Breslauer Bill Posting Company cov- ers Minneapolis and half of the interurban line to St. Paul. Mr. Scott, of St. Paul, covers the other half and St. Paul. J. E. Williams, of the Gunning Company, of Chicago, sends us fifteen votes for P. F. Schaefer. Geo. M. Shearer, of Minneapolis, gives Mr. Schaefer fifty-one votes, and the members of the International Bill Posting Association are all working like beavers for the genial Chicago gentleman. The bill posting license at Harrisburg, Pa., is but $10 per year. Isaac Monk seems to have his strongest following in Illinois. Scarcely a mail goes by but what brings him votes from that section. The poster girl's face looked pinched and drawn. But it isn't, bless your heart! Who'd pinch a damsel as thin as she? And drawn, of course, she may not be There being no drawing in modern art! —Detroit Journal. James A. Muldoon, tbe well known bill poster, has his several large boards in order again about the city, and will add several newly-painted business adv. to the top dur- ing the week. A New St. Louis Enterprise. The w. F. Williamson Display Advertis- ing Company have secured the bill boards formerly controlled by the American Adver- tising and Bill Posting Company, the Huiest- Stout Advertising Company and the City Bill Posting Company. These bill boards, to- gether with the Williamson Bulletins, have been rebuilt, and two companies organized known as the Merchants' Bill Posting Com- pany and the W. F. Williamson St. Louis Sign Service. Mr. Williamson will, as here- tofore, have entire control over the busi- ness, which will do a general display adver- tising business, including bill posting, dis- tributing and bulletin sign painting. Mr Williamson stated that it was his intention to give the St. Louis advertisers a better service than has existed in the bill posting and bulletin line, and by a company that was strictly a St. Louis Industry. Tue Will- iamson Company have always done the larg- est part of the business in St. Louis in this line, not only on account of being a" St • k 1 ls . t concern " but ha ving a corps of artists that thoroughly understand every branch .of the business.—St. Louis Post Dispatch. JVe clip the following from the Bangor (Me.) News: At Fulton, N. Y„ William Cook has suc- ceeded In purchasing the bill posting plant of Joe Wallace, and now has exclusive right to post and distribute in that locality, also in Phoenix. Minnetto and Hannibal. The Albany Times-Union, speaking of aiuminography, says: Under the title of Aiuminography, a new medium has been introduced In surface printing which promises to be not only far- reaching in its effects, but which is destined in the not distant future to effect a com- plete revolution in the various branches of "the art preservative of all arts." The discovery of the properties of the lith- ographic stone a century ago byAloys Sene- feider marked a decided advance in the art and developed a process of printing which was capable of the finest and most artistic work. The unwieldly character of the ma- terial used and the necessarily slow and tedious nature of the process constituted, however, a serious obstacle to its general application and the field of its operation was, therefore, confined to the narrowest or limits. It is unnecessary to enter Into minute de- tails as to the far-reaching consequences of the radical change already foreshadowed in this important industry; it is enough to say that through the Instrumentality of this dis- covery, aiuminography Is, we repeat, cer- tain finally to embrace the domain now oc- cupied by relief printing and the finest Im- pressions of the lithographic stone will be surpassed not only in the excellence of' the work, but in the multiplicity of the products by the new process of surface printing. As the aggregate yearly value of the out- put of the printing trade of the'United States is. according to the last census of the in- dustrial products of the country, nearly three hundred millions of dollars, and as the new process is adapted to all kinds of printing, an approximate idea of its actual value may be formed in its application to this great industry. In brief, the discovery of the valuable properties of the new metal has rendered absolutely practicable the pro- duction of the highest and most artistic ef- fects of the lithographic art. or surface printing, by the application of the most rapid and economic methods. It is in this the great value and superiority of the alu- minum plate over the lithographic stone consists. In lightness, it is one to one bun dred compared with the stone, which is «)««»*« touts COFFEE , ■ f;i;ir:i..,«'?:V1 ;***-v. *■ 3, ** 31 ■ A SAN FRANCISCO BFAUf Y. One of Siebe and Green's, on Market, Street. JOHN M. EVANS. John M. Evans, manager Eastern Ohio District Bureau, has a record of twenty- six years in the one establishment, and has fifteen years' experience as manager of their distribution once or twice a year. He made quite a record as a solicitor, sell- ing as much as $350 of groceries in one day from house to house. Knows the county like a book, also knows the value of result reaching work, and is building quite a reputation as a hustler. Has the confidence of all the druggists wherever he comes in contact with, and always be- lieves in making friends. Has the best of references from the leading merchants and bankers of his city. He had to quit the store owing to poor health, doctors advising outdoors. Anyone that will send him matter for distribution can rely that it will be done as ordered, even if he has to lose money in doing it. He is a mem- ber of the I. A. D. heavy, rigid, difficult, on account of Its great weight, of manipulation; In the case of the- larger plates, its cost varies from one-fifth to one-eighth that or the stone, according to the area of the printing surface: In the matter of speed, while the product of the stone rarely exceeds six or seven thousand impressions a day, the product of the alu- minum plate ranges from twelve to twenty, and thirty thousand, and even higher will • douotless be attained hereafter by the more rapid operations of Improved printing me- chanisms. All of which and a great deal more that % we do not copy is just pure "tommy rot." There never has been found a substitute for lithographic stone and there never will be. Some fair results have been obtained from aluminum, but whenever they were at all to be compared with prints from the real stone they cost a good deal more to produce Aluminum may prove a shade better than zinc, but we doubt it. The Central City show Printing Company of Jackson, Mich., has unionized: BILL POSTING REASONS REASON No. 1 why you should em- ploy our sen-ice. Because we live in a city of 75,000 population, and can guara- t:e results. REASON No. 2 why our service bring results. Because we employ only sober, honest men, and fulfill our con- tracts to the letter. Wilmington Bill Posting Co. Office. GRAND OPERA BOUSE. WILMINGTON, DEL. 1