The billboard (July-Dec 1898)

8 THE BILLBOARD The Billboard. PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT X27 Hast Eighth Street, Cincinnat, O., U. S. A. Address all communications <: For the editorial or business departments to*' THE BILLBOARD PUBLISHING CO. Subscription, $r.oo Per Year, In Advance. ADVERTISING 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 arecash. Billboard Advertising is sold in London at L.orv*s Exchange, J7 Charing Cross, and at American Advertising Newspaper Agency, Trafalgar Build- ings* Northumberland A7'e., IP'. C. In Paris, at Jiretano's, /7 Avenue del Opera. The trade sup- plied by the American News Co. and its branches. ^Remittanceshouldbe madeby cheque* post-office or express money order, or registered letter addressed and made payable to T/zr'/S/i/boanf Pub. Co. The editor cannot undertake to return unsolicited manuscript: correspondents should keep copy. IVhen it is nec's*a*T t-> wire us the instructions and copy /or advrrtis*7ii*nts, jp-rfai. saving in the matter of tele*rf*ph tolls may b? had by recourse to the Donaldson Cipher Code. Entered as S cond-Class Matter at Post Office at Cincinnati* Ohio. OCTOBER, IS9S. When the crops begin to move, the operation has heretofore not only ne- cessitated the Western hanks •with- drawing their deposits in the East, Imt has always compelled them to borrow additional funds. Ordinarily, the Western hanks not only require all of their outstanding monies, but draw upon New York." Boston and Philadelphia for $30,000,- 000, in order to move the crops. This year, though, the banks of the • West and South are handling the crops almost entirely on their own money. Scarcely ?3,000,000 of East- ern money has been needed; When it is considered that this Is one of the greatest crops in the His- tory of the country, the fact that tne Western and Southern banks are able to handle it almost unaided must be taken as actual evidence of prosperity. * * Newspaper advertising has not been as dull in thirty years as it has been during the last three months. This is a fact. Authorities and experts on every hand are a unit in voicing this one sentiment. It is significant. In fact, highly significant, therefore, ■when it is known that bill posting has been good. All of the poster printing houses have been more than ordinarily busy, and the demand for space among the bill posters has been great- er than in any previons year. What is the natural inference? There is one, and one only. Newspa- per space could not be made to pay, land advertisers cut it off. Bill board space continued to pay, and adver- tisers continued to use it. Right there is the conclusion, and all the "argument and explanation on earth will not al r ter it. )■ * * We probably heaF from re ore dis- tributors'.monthly than any other one concern in the United States. Out correspondence in this way is .enor- mous. As far as we" are able to judge, the houses who advertise through dis- m* tributors have increased their appro- priations, if anything. At any rate, they have not cut them down. Here is another significant fact. Con- trast these conditions with those ex- isting in newspaper circles, and you will get an idea of the relative value of the two mediums. House-to-house .work is certain. It pays every time. Newspaper space pays now and then, and almost as often it does not pay.. Experienced and knowing advertis- ers have cut down their appropria- tions for newspapers, but they are spending a little more than usual on hottsc-t o-houso work. Ad-signs and painted bulletins, to- gether with mural signs, continue to find unabated favor. While the pub- lishers are complaining bitterly, the bulletin men are industriously build- ing additional boards and hunting for more dead walls. Ad-signs have never enjoyed finer favor than they have ex- perienced in the last few months. ■a Ins unexampled prosperity of the sign men has been so obvious that it has excited the cupidity and roused the spleen of the publishers. In sev- eral cities this has led the newspaper men into attempting to inaugurate crusades.against signs. The motive ascribed was usually the unsightliness of the signs. In reality, it was nought but tln- envy of the publishers. * * The final call for this year's con- vention of the American Associa- tion of Fairs and Expositions appears iu this issue. It will take place at the Hotel Millard, Omaha, Oct. 25 and 20. This meeting is an important one. Es- pecially is it important to county and "district fair associations. At this meeting the scope of the or- ganization is to be extended. ITere- after, minor fair associations will be eligible for membership. With this end in view, a sweeping invitation is extended to-all the fair associations of America to send a delegate. It is desired that all societies be rep- resented. Indications point to a very large attendance, partially due, no doubt, to the opportunity of attending the Omaha Exposition, but owiug largely also to a lively interest in the outcome of the meeting. BOYCOTT PALMER COX. His Invention of the Brownfcs D;n : ed. Allen E. Harbaugh makes a mistake when he says that "Palmer Cox, the poet-artist of New York, invented and peopled the world with the irresistible and ubiquitous Drown- ies." Cox assuredly was not their inventor, but he has wonderfully illustrated their char- acter and feats. And in this he has also very finely illustrated the truth of that other fact so well expressed by Mr. Harbaugh. that "It is one thing to discover the X-rays, and quite another to make the X-raise." The Brownies belong to the folk-lore of Scot- Jand. And no "shrewd "Yankee" can "patent tbera3as his own invention/' though he may etniaojr them Jor substantial results. Mil seventy years ago the writer was amused, while listening to.'ibe'wonderful -feats of the' Hrownies. and the illustrations of the day are' in perfect accord therewith. ALEXANDER DICK. THE PARIS EXPOSITION. Americans returning from abroad announce that the slights, affronts and indignities which are offered to Amer- icans in France are simply unbeara- ble. They begin with the proprietor or the hotel and extend clear on down to the porter. Americans are insulted in the cafes and American women have been deliberately crowded off the side- walks by Parisian gentlement?). Under the circumstances, the wild scramble for places on the Paris Ex- position Commission by American pol- iticians and the demand for space by American manufacturers is both un- wise and uncommendablo. Feeling runs so high among the French that advertising by exhibit can not hope to be profitable in the face of such violent prejudice. The anti-American sentiment yf France should be met. in America promptly by an anti-French sentiment. Let us retaliate, and at once. Let us begin on the Paris Exposi- tion. We can make our determination and purpose felt there quicker than anywhere else. We can follow ir up. if necessary, but let us make a be- ginning promptly. Boycott the Paris Exposition. LITTLE ROCK. BUSINESS IS BOOMING IN THE ARKANSAS CAPITAL. The Little Rock Advertising Company, uniler the efficient and pushing manage- ment of R L. Thompson, is" thriving. This concern now controls the billboards of Little Rock absolutely. They have built many new ones all in good locations, and they are constructed largely of matched flooring Their service is ex- cellent.-and it will not be long before they will have one of the very best plants i:i the west. There is no better service in the south even now. BUTTE. KENDRICK SKIPS. The City BillpostinR Co. is without a manager. Keiulrick has skipped. lie has deserted his wife and eone to Honolulu, so it is reported. It is also said that he leaves behind him a bi< string of detts and obligations. The City Rill- no-tinj* Co.. which he organized, -will be con- tin-led by Mr- MvGtiire. Haraois is nrt shedding any teats over Kendricks unceremonious de- parture. Sam W. Hoke says lhat the statement in Profitable Ad* ertisinjr. that he had secured a contract for the Pillsbury Flour posting is in- correct. He has never had any dealings with the Pillsbury people. The New York State Editorial Association is not making much headway in its onslaught on street car advertising. There are some of the exceptions well taken, and others that are not. Their efforts will fail, and perhaps it is well they should. In these days, many publications are dependent for their exist- ence upon advertisements and—second-class postage rates. There is no reason why a man's price list, business card or circular should be carried and delivered at second-class rates simpy be- cause it is in the form of an advertisement in a publication. This question is likely to come up in the post office almost any day, and the ill-advised efforts or the New York State Editorial Asso- ciation, directed .against street car advertis- ing, is likely to prove a boomerang by has- tening matters. "Why is a merchant who docs not adver- tise like a man in a row-boat?" asked the student. "Keeps going backward," guessed his friend. "No: he is trying to get along without sales." said the student.—Spokane Spokcsman-Ueview. Largo posters advertising the Sunday edi- tions of the New York Journal and World serve as daily illustrations of the superior "git up and git" of foreign newspaper push- ers. I don't know but the papers which have agrcrd to advertise only through the columns of the public, press are troubled with a tinge of regret when they see it. Personally, if I were running a paper, I shouldn't cut myself off rrom the use of any good method of get- ting valuable publicity. Anyway, it is true that there is nothing which so Alls the heart with a deadly longing to do a certain thing as to simply agree not to do it.—Fame. From the Ad Field. The Proprietary Association- of America. • which is composed of the proprietary medi- cine manufacturers, wi . hold its sixteenth annual meeting In St. Louis Oct. 17. The meeting is expected to be unusually Interest- ing. Joseph It. Kathrens. advertising manager of the Pabst Brewing Co.. is Chairman of the Committee on Membership; V. Mott Pierce, M. I)., of Buffalo, is Chairman of the Com- mittee on Legislation: Thomas F\ Main, of Tarrant & Co.. New York, is Chairman of the Committee on Trade Marks; It. L. Kramer, . of the Sterling Remedy Co., Is Chairman of the Committee on Infringements, and A. York, is Chairman of the Committee on Ad- vertising. It is said that C. L. Doughty. Cincinnati, who recently left the Parvin & Doughty Agency, as stated in these, columns, will send out the advertising for "Modene" ami the Evans Chemical Company. The Young Plaitcr Company, 242 Main street. Dansville. N. Y.. is reported as the name of a concern which is disposed to do some profitable advertising. A man known as F. V. Vandcrbcrg, who formerly conducted an alleged "business col- lege" at Omaha and was driVf-n from that city by the post office authorities, recently made his appiuraiice under a new name at Sioux City. Iowa. He has been arrc-Etcd by the post office in- spectors on €-harges of new misdeeds at Sioux City, and publishers should be on guard against his future operations. Murine Co., (eye water). Masonic Temple, Chicago. 111., will use posters and booklets. The concern is a new one. It is reported that Payson &. Foster, a brok- erage firm at r»2 Uroauway. New York, are likely to use space. New Western advertisers recently an- nounced include W. K. Cowan. Chicago, and the "Millinery World" store, in that city.-- The Fourth Estate. Funny Advertisements. Curiously worded advertisements, which are funny without intent, are common - in the London papers, it would seem. A contempo- rary recently offered a prize for the best col- lection of such announcements, and the fol- lowing is the result: "Annual sale now on. Don't go elsewhere to be cheated—come in here." "A lady wants to sell her piano, as she is going abroad in a strong iron frame." "For Sale—A pianoforte, the property of a musician with carved legs." "Wanted—A room by two gentlemen about thirty feet long and twenty feet broad." "Lost—A collie dog by a man on Saturday evening answering to Jim with a brass collar around his neck and a muzzle." "Wanted—By a respectable gill, her pass- age to New York; willing to take care of chil- dren and a good sailor." "Mr. Brown, furrier, begs to announce that he will make up gowns, capes, etc.. for ladies out of their own skins." "Bulldog for sele; will eat anything; very fond of children." "Wanted—An organist and a boy to blow the same." "Wanted—A hoy to be partly outside and partly behind the counter." "Wanted—For the summer, a cottage for a small family with good drainage." "Lost—Near Highgate archway, an um- brella belonging to a gentleman with a bent rib and a bone handle." "Widow in comfortable circumstances wishes to marry two sons." "To be disposed of, a mail phaeton, the property of a gentleman with a moveable headpiece as good as new." . The last is a copy of an inscription painted on a board which adorns a fence in Kent: "Notis—Lf any man's or woman's cows gets Into thcEe here otes. his or her tail will be cut off as the case may be."—Manchester Guardian. Wide-awake people are the ones most in- fluenced by advertising—progressive people, who are not afraid of a new thing or a new idea: people who believe in the paper they read because they have learned to rely on it. Depend upon thi». If the editorials carry weight, the ads will pay. Put your trust and your money in that sort of a paper.—Chas. Austin Bates. Teaching: the Dealer Ad Sense. (From Ad Sense.) This story Is told of a little negro gamin who picked up a rather large cigar in front of a store recently. He brUBhcd off the ashes and blew away the sand and dirt from the coveted snipe, and then going into the store, he said to the proprietor: "Boss, gimme a match, please, sah? "Matches are not here to glre away, nut to sell," said the "boss," assun-uiB n look of intense severity. "Hey is, eh?" "That's what they are." "Well, how much is dey er t«!" "On« cent." The gamin tilted tlio stump In one corner of his mouth, held to the band of his panta- loons with one hand, ran the other hand iir his pocket and pulled forth a copper. "Glmtnc a box." And he laid down a cent. He got the box. struck a match, lit the stump so well that it poured forth volumes of smoke, and then handing the box back to the proprietor, assumed a look of Intense sever- ity, arrd said: "Put dat box on dc shctT, an' de nex' time a gemman "comes In hyar an' ox. you fnr a match, you gin him one outen my box." THE BILLBOARD IKE IN IRELAND. A Short Sketch of Our Delegate's Visit to the Annual Meeting of the Bill Poster's Association. Held in Dublin, Ireland, August I6th and J7th, 1898—Illustrated with views of British Billboards and Hoardings. tm .. that the Anchor Line steamship An- choria would leave at 12 o'clock, en- gaged passage on the same, and by a little quick maneuvering, managed t get on the boat in good time. Before leaving, however, Mr. W. D. Lowden arrived at the wharf and bid your rep- resentative good-bye and God-speed and a happy journey and a wish to express his regrets to the members of the British Association that he was unable to attend, but hoping that they would accept me in his stead. We left Xew York with old Father Sun shining brightly. It was indeed a jolly party, not an overly large cabin list, and while the Anchoria is the smallest boat in the Atlantic service, she is a thoroughly well-built vessel, and outside of her reputation as a roller is as sea-worthy as any in the service. "We passed out of the harbor with a smooth sea, and had a faiy pleasant trip, outside of a few icebergs and some fog. A more genial lot of passengers it has never been my lot to meet. All jolly, good-natured fei- lows, and a more genial list of officers no ship can boast of. The Captain, steward and the purser, all old sea dogs, and as jovial and pleasant as it is possible to be. Outside of some heavy sea and no very heavy squalls, we touched Moville, Ireland, in just ten days from leaving New York; after bidding them all good-bye and they all wishing me God-speed, I left the steamer and started for London- derry, arriving there at 12:50 with just barely time to get my trunk through the Custom House and catch the train for Dublin, which is a six hours' ride. Arriving at Dublin, a bit late, I boarded a jaunting car and was driven direct to the Shelbourne Hotel; only"to" find every available room in the house aheady occupied. The good-natured clerk, however, told me not to be dis- heartened, as nearly all the rooms iu the Dublin hotels were already en- gaged and occupied, as next week" oc- curred the Royal Dublin Horse Fair, which, of course, is the really great so- ciety event of the season in Great ISAAC M. MONK. To begin with, on about four hours' notice, your delegate, Mr. Isaac Monk, iu pursuance with your telegram an- nouncing the fact that through urgent business arrangements, Mr. W. D. Lowden, the first choice of American bill posters, would be unable to attend the annual convention of bill posters held at the aforesaid place, and after a hurried get-ready and a few little- hustles such as are characteristic of the Yankee, I left Terre Haute, Ind., at 4:31 on the world-famed Knicker- bocker, Aug. 4, 1S98, arriving in Xew York at the Grand Central Station at 7:43 p. m., Aug. 5. The trip from Terre. Haute to Xew York was made without any particular event happen- ing to mar the monotony of ordinary railroad travel. Arriving at the Wal- dorf-Astoria, Mr. Monk found that the "Billboard" Publishing Co., of Cincin- nati, O., had made all necessary ar- rangements for the voyage across the ocean, over the fapious Cunard Line, steamship Lueania,, but, owing to a slight delay in the arrival of the train at the Grand Central Notation, it was found that connections Vould not be made, as the Lueania had already sailed, so your representative was compelled to consult the timeMable of the outgoing steamships, and \nding A Hoarding in Bedford Street, Belfast, ire/and. A Hoarc'irg on Donegall Quay, Belfast, Ireland. Britain. From there I went to the Hotel Metropol, with no better luck. Finally, after trying six or seven ho- tels, I found one where the clerk po- litely informed me I could stay one night, only. The rooms were all en- gaged from that time on until after the Horse Fair, so here at the Gresh- am Hotel I put in my first night in Dublin. After getting things straight- ened around a bit, the next morning I went over to the ofBce of the Irish Bill Tasting Co., at 40 Gre at Brunswick street. I arrived only to find out that all the delegates had just started for a day's outing by rail and jaunting cars through the beautiful scenery which surrounds Dublin, but, however, by my taking a train I could meet them all at Bray, which is about twenty miles from Dublin, which I, of course, agreed to do at once, as the train would leave in about an hour. I started back to the hotel, and on the way I met Mr. B. McGIade, a bill post- er and advertising contractor of 14 Hawkins, near the Theatre Koyal. He was delighted to meet me, and offered every assistance in his power, and also accompanied me to Bray. Arriving at Bray, I was surprised to find a large delegation at the station, for during the time between my visit to the office of the Irish Bill Posting Association at Dublin, their very genial manager had telegraphed to Mr. David Allen, Jr.. that I had arrived, and would meet them at Bray. Of course I was greatly surprised at the crowd at the station, as I expected that I would slip iu unannounced and surprise them all, but found them all waiting for me. It was indeed an agreeable surprise, after the long ocean voyage, a tedious journey by rail, only to get into Dub- lin about two hours late for the con- vention dinner, which generally closes all business meetings of this or other kinds in Great Britain, and then to be so warmly welcomed by people who hardly knew whether the American ambassador would reach them or not. After a very hearty hand-shaking and exchange of courtesies, I was escorted to the smoking-room of the Interna- tional Hotel, where a rather informal reception was held, at which they de- termined to make my visit as pleasant as possible. It being nearly 5 o'clock, dinner was ordered for 5:30. After a little jaunt around the Beach, which abounds in beautiful scenery, we re- turned to the hotel just In time for din- ner. It was indeed a great pleasure to meet so many new-found friends. Mr. Alderman Sheldon, of Bradford; Mr. J. O, Kogers, of Belfast, and Mr. David Allen, Jr., took it upon them- selves to introduce me to the bill post- ers and their wives already assembled. It was indeed one of the pleasantest events of my life. After toast to the Queen and the Royal family, then the President of the United States, then your representative, and then the American Bill Posters' Association, which were all heartily given and warmly responded to, Mr. J. O. Rogers addressed the members and extended me a formal welcome in a happy little address. Concluding which, he said: "I will ask you to drink with me the health of "the Associated Bill Posters of -America and Canada," coupled with the name of Mr. Monk." (Ap- plause.) The toast was drunk amid a scene of great enthusiasm. Repeated cheers were given for the American fraterni- ty. The members joined heartily in the singing of "He's a Jolly Good Fel- low," which your humble servant re- sponded to as best he could, after ■ A gable on Howard st„ Belfast. which a very delightful repast was served. We afterwards returned to Dublin, via Harcourt Street Station, Arriving in Dublin, we went direct to' the Shelbourne notel, where another and more lengthy banquet awaited me, for the committee had made all necessary arrangements for a splendid banquet at 9 o'clock. After a short ride around on the jaunting car and a peep into two or three of the the- atres, we returned to the Shelbourne on time. I was again introduced to the entire Executive Committee of the United Bill Posters* Association of Great Britain, and several theatrical i I ill it i >.