Billboard advertising (Feb 1900)

m Pig Syrup facts. I'r.Aiou* to 1885. tb«re wa« a ycuog man'. , native of Barfetown, Ky.. In the .Jrug store '„f (!eo. A. Ncwroan. »t Fifth and Walnut -itxH ts. Loufevllle. by the name at Richard 1' queen, popularly known aa "Dick Queen." In 1885 Mr. Queen was seteed wlUi tlie Weet- .111 fsver. and. taktaK Ms savings, anraunt- iuK to "M*" °^ *^ Svv., where he oiwncd a drug store. Here, ill onlw to make an extra diofllar or t«o. and l)..,«us.? he Bbought he had found a good iJi'iiiK. he began to put up a fommla of Ilr. I!:ililwin-s of that tcwn, wWeh he called Cali- f.nnia Pig Syrup. lie spent all the money lu> hod m booiDinK symp. but th" •»<""» (lid not lUBtcTlaMze auOlclennly, and la«e In isSf, he wc«t back to XAUlsrtUe to talk with IriM tAi eiDpIajrer. Mr. Newman. Mr. Queen never talked so earnestly in Ms life, but it was not until February of 1S87 that Mr. New- nwn could be convioeed that there was any virtue in California Fig Syrup as a business vmture. whatever U may have been as a therapeutic agent. Then be let Mr. Queen have 15,000 aa a loaa. on condftton that he rcrccKed twenty cents a dozen royalty on all the syrup aoM. Mr. Quera at once went fortli to place bit tyrup on the market, the l.toce of manufacture being In Mr. Newman's itHar, and the force employed consisting of two boys, who turned out three to fo«r dozen . bottles a day. Within sixty days Queen. \aA spent every cent cC the money, chiefly ln.ad- verUeinK. Ms firet conttact being for tl.200 worth in the street cars ot' St. Louis, the balaace into newspapers. Havins arrived at the end of 'his ttring, be returned to Mr. New- man, who declined to put up any more money until lliere were Gome aeresopments from that aiivady erpended. So Mr. Queen waited around, praying for the required develop- ments, and it was not long until the power of the advertisements began to stovre the orders Into the Louisville drug store. Then Mr. Newman put up some more money, and Mr. Queen spent it; and so It went for a year, until Mr. Newihao had 132,000 in the business. ^Matters moved along swimmingly with the California Pig Syrup C<xninny. which had been organized. Mr. Queen looking after the advertising and Mr. Newman acting as gen- eral Eastern agent and financier, and in 1893 high-water mark was reached, when the ad- venlsing for the year amounted to $429,000. and the sales reached Sl.aOO.OOO, or about 6,- 000.000 bottles, that is. 50.000 dozen, on which Mr. Newman received bis twenty cents a dozen royally, not to mention Ms ^lare in the busincfs. In that year, Mr. Queen's prof- its were $117,000. The stock of the company went from ten cents a share, organisation ba- sis, to $3.S0 a share. Mr. Newman owned 200.- 000 shares of the millfcin issued, at %1. Mr, Queen has 600,000 sharea, mod the balance vaa hcM In small lots. Mr. Newman has probably made a iudt-mlUtoD out ot It, and Mr. Queen (>eca«ne a millionaire within ten years. Mr. Queen is one of (he shrewdest of adver- tisers, and. as an example ot it, the organi- zation of the Golden Gate Advertisimr Uu- rrau. is cited. Mr. Queen bad moved his heed- quartres to tbe PaciBe Ooaat. and as his ad- vertising grew to gnat proporUoDS. and 'vmmissions to agents became a big item, lie concluded to reap the beneflta himself, so he organized the Golden Gate Bureau, and went after advertlalng like any other agent. Naturally, be threw the bushwea of the Fig Company tn the ai>lden Oaite Bureau, and the profits in were in tbe neighborhood ot t'lO.oon, on one agent's commiaBloo of ten per •cut. This was practloally so much saved to the company. •Mr. Queen Uvea in San Francisco, where he is completing a residence on Nob Hill, to ")st, |iriO.OOO. an4 the Cvllfomla Fig Syrup litt.s settled down to a regular exbibitlon ot «i>ot good ddvertisilng will do for a good Iblng.—W. J. Lampton, in "Fame." ''5b. be cot it Ottt of bis trade paper. NoUilnK tmould do but I must get tliat pa- per, and now it's George's Bible; he looks Up aill the new Ideas and I let him go ahead." "Well, they are good Ideas; you And they help trade, don't you?" "Ves, that's to; they're all right; George is a good boy." 1 thought as I walked away that George WLMld be a partner there before many years. A clerk who studies his trade paper and avails himself of every hint to gain business will not be a clerk forever. A traveling salesman was telling me of his cx(:erieiiCe with a clerit who reads. He said: "t had just taken Mr. B.'s order for a nice line of my goods, and good quantities of each size, when his clerk came in. Mr. B. said: 'Torn, 1 am getting a line of : see if this is your Idea of quantities.' I opened my book and showed Tom the older as I had written it down. He suggested one change which his employer at once ordered to have made, and then Tom asked what the discount wias. I said 60 per cent. He left Us without a word and went to the desk, turned over some papers for a minute or two, and then brought a trade journal to Mr. B. They looked It over together and Mr. B. said to me: 'See here, these goods are quoted at slxty-and-five per cent, discount; if you can't give me the bottom price I don't want them." I had to come down as gracefully as I could, for 1 wanted the order. That's what we get , from these trade journals that quote bottom prices to Tom, I>ick and Harryl" I fancied that I could also bear Mr. B. saying to his clerk: "That's right; Tom; post yourself up as to prices, and keep a sharp lookout for the extra five per cent." Mich.; Humphreys Hoiueopatbic Hed. Co., New York, N. Y.; Harris Btaery Co., De» Moines, la.; U'Hca Clothing Store, Des Moines, la.; Geo. T. Kelley & Co., Dea Moines, la.; M. J. Olson, Des Moines, la.; J. K. Grak Co.. Des Mtoines, la.; Doekstader & Wllkins, Des Moines, la.; Garfirfd Clothing S^ore, Des Mbines, la. B. B. Williamson, of South Bend, Ind., no- tifies the trade in his town by sending out one cent' private maiUng cards, containing the fcnierwing notice: "Dear Sir—We ate dis*rib- uting in your immediate neighborhood — advertising . You should look over your stock and prepare yourself for the demand for the above whifh our distribution is sure to create.. E. B. WILLIAMSON, Daite, . Manager." "Trade supplied by — . It is a good idea to inform tbe local dealers that you are atiout to make a distribution, and Astrlbutors could do this without practi- cally any expense, for instead of mariling tbe cards they could be dellvcTed at the same time that the samples are bing put out. the wgy ot prices cm special coods. These tu'| could put In space* he tnmld arrange for at, the begiiHring of Ore season, and co<dd ciiangC'' them from week to week, aa the condition ol^ his stock or the seeson itself migift Mctrnte), It would l>e worth the expense to try an ex^i- peiiment of this kind with two or threer, boards. The merchant in a city of from Ov«i|| to tvrenty-five thousand would be able to feel the puke of the people through such bni] board displays. It would "help make the high- ways more attractive, and would enable busi- ness men to get that &ort of publicity wbicb' has come to be regarded as valuable for the^ wide-awake business men. — Advertising woi^a. ' Pasted on the Wiadows. It is astonishing to «4iat a poim enthusi- asm will carry individuals. They biad a street fair at Matlette, Mich., last sununer, acd In- advertising it, the t>lll posters pasted bills all over the fixmt windows of the stores on tbe leading streets. The town was a mass of street fair advertising. As late as the 1st of December, some of the bills were still stick- ing on the store windows. That street fair was well advertised^ to the people of that town at least.--Adwerti^ng Wurld. C. H. BURT, Beloit. Kaos. A Little More System. James J. Ward, ot Newport News, Va., tells U3 of an Idea which he intends to carry out in connection with his office, a plan which would be ot immense value to distributors in general, were they all to fatthfully carry it out. He proposes to keep a register in his office, in wlridi every advertising agent is to sign Ms name and address and for wttat firm be travels. At the end ot each month the list will be copied and forwarded, together with notes concerning the service expected, prices demanded, etc., to "Tbe Billboard," to be pubtisbed for the benedt of his brother dis- tributors. In thisi way tie readers of "The Billboard" could keep in touch with- each other and with the advertisers in a systematic manner. The Letters to the Editor, of course, answer this purpose, but a little more system and regularity on the part of the bill posters and distributors woud not be amiss. His Trade Paper. From the Saturday Rvening Post. I was In a 'hardware »tore tbe other day. and noticed several up-to-dat» Innovations iliut were somewhat out of keeping with my previous knowledge ot propraetor. "How did you 'happen to tliink ot that?" 1 asked, polrttlng lo an attractive showcard. "Oh!" said he; laughing, "I didn't tbink of it at all; that's one c* George's hobbies." "That is an excellent hobby." I said: "whefe m Qmrge lei tbe lde*t" The Orris Distributing Agency sends to ad- vertisers a private mailing card, which, it we are not mistaken is larger than the limit prescribed by law. However, it seems to be going through all right. In suite of thot fact. Thw give t*<f followhig list of names as some of their patrons: Dr. Miles Med. Co., Elkhart. Intl.; O. I. l*oo* * t-owril, Mass.; Dr. Chase Co.. Phiadelpbia. P«.; W. T. Hanson Co. Schenectady. X. Y.; Dr. Kilmer & Co.. BinglMLiiiplon. N. Y.: Dr. B..J- Kay. Saratoga Springs. N. Y.: The G. C. BIttner Co.. To- ledo, O.; G. 0. Green, Woodbury. N. Y.; Hamlin's Wizard Oil Co., Chicago, 111.: W. M. Williams, indlamrpolls, Ind.: Van Camp racking Co., Indianapolis, Ind.; Newton Steel Cut Milling Co., Newton, la.; Fay Lewis A Bro., Rockfoid, IIJ.; Sterling Remedy Co., IndlMia Mineral Springs, ind.: Dr. W. S. Burkhart. Cincinnatlo, O.: The Dodda Med. ....w... K. Y.: Hnve. Coon. Detroit. Chailey Burt, as he Is known in Beloit, Kan., has been connected- with the show busi- ness in one capacity or another, almost all of his life. His father was a show man, and took Charley with him wnerever He went. In this way he learned much about the value of bill board advertising. In tite early seven- tics Mr. Burt was working on a salary in Denver, when -be decided to go into the bill posting business for himself. His start con- sisted- in the erection of six three-sheet boards w-hich he constructed from the sides of boxes. But he built this plant up, untU he sold it for t2.0C0. In 1SV» he went to Be- loit and has ever since owned boards in that town. Mr. Burt owns a small farm just out- side of the city limits of Beloit, where he raises chickens and hogs, and has his cattle and liorses. Mr. Burt la much interested in his farm, but he writes that he Is always ready with the paste brush to give good serv- ice or no pay. Not New, but Good. If all business men understood the advan^ tage of Irill board puUicity, and woulA go after it in a manner that would insure It be- ing profitable, there would- be little need ot discussing points of color or display. It is astotiishiog what good can be accompUshed by a combination of services. Take, for In- stance, tbe syndicate desigoe offered by a number of the poster makers, or can often be obtained by the retail men in buying from the jobber. Also, the stock posters, display- ing a suit of i>lotbes, or special article of fur- DMune. or. in fact., a specialty in any line. Pertups this will cover one sheet, or three sheets, as the retaUer may select them. He can, with the assistance of the local sign painter, make a -very attractive and decora- tive display by covering a large bill board with- white paper, pasting on tire special de- sign which he has purchased from a line of stock posters, and let the local man then put in some decorative lettering in such coin's as may be deemed moet. sttmctive. and per- haps quote some special prices, wtalcb would unquestionably Interest Hie passer-by and: at- tract attention, because of its very Ingenious- ness. A further advantage might be obtained by making a permanent bill board display for the entire season, calling attention to special goods on which the merctiar.it was then malt- ing a run. Tbe dry goods man, Uie clothier, the shoe man, the grocery man. the jeweler, tbe miliiner. tb« druggist, no matter what tbe line, could make a permanent general de- Eignv and eaeb week, or at stated periods, could diange the special attractions by past- ing on new stock pictures, wbMi be could buy of the poeter makers or buj- ^rom tbe manufacturer, and always have a -very at- tractive, and certainly not a very expensive bill board display. He could further make this means valuable by having tbe sign Advertising as an Art. Written expressly for "Thk Billboakd." f h!I1 Advertising bas become an art. Work o^l th'is nature -can no longer be given Into the^^^ hands of an immature^ artisan, since it re-,}' quires the skilled gift of a finished artist, f'j Compare the cartoons made a few yearsili ago with tbe striking pictures of our dayjilj whi(A present to the worid in pleasing aodjli forcible style the articles to be advertised. 4! It was at one time a reflectloni upon tbe tastnj and excellence of the artist to put to practlca^p usages the gift of bis art, and, in consequence,^!^ the cartoons presented were but poor specl-i.l i mens of drawing or color, executed by In-j ferior talent. Now th« artist not only gives,; his best efforts to merchandise cartoons, but be signs bis name to the pictures tlius used^^ |; This has raised the standard of work so tlia^ it has risen beyond mediorcrity, and bos made: it possible for only artists to turn out worl^ of this nature. ^ The advertiser demands an original conceit-^ tion of his idea, a perfect execution in tech- nique, and a striking whole, that arrests the' attention of the public, and explains Its owni meaning. "Know from the picture tbe article, advertised," said 'a well known New York; advertising manager. Uberal sums are paid^ for satistkctnry worit of this nature, and!, mucb competition ensues, bringing into forcei the combined efforts of artists and lltho-i graphers. It has has become a lucrative branch to the artist, with satisfactory results to ttte adver- tiser. Advertising is a paying inv«etinent.; and the more unique the means ot bringing'- the advertised article into public prominence,, the more sure the popularity of the article, i 'Public advertising in conveyances must be. pleasing and original to be appreciated by Qte*^ masses. At one tlii>e high alt was not con-^ sldered necessary, so the "idea" was prom-.' Inent. Now tl>e "idea" must retain its prom-f inence, and also be expressed in reSned- sklliful mediums, only possiUe by the pro- fessional, yiim is fitted by proper training and|| natural gift. Ori^naiity is the greatest^ problem of to-^day, and is 13te Intrdest to find. I The advertisers are loidting for sometfaing; new. Tbe public la ever on the alert to «p-1 predate a novdty. Firms are recognized brf their varied forms of advertisements, or tbeirj "same old thing" appearing year after yearj in magazines, etc. ; A recent prize offered for an original ad-, vertisement resulted In an international com-j petition. The otfer of the prize -was a wide, spread advertisement, a-nd the accepted work! of art eagerly awaited by an interested public. | Tbe firm was well repaid for the generous- sum offered as a prize, since it will reap its! own reward. 1 It is said that an unadvertised article is a, drag on the market—an imposibilKy to dls-. pose of as a gift. Witit capital to start an | crlglnal form of adTerttsinE. the outlay in -time pays for itself, ^ce It brings into de-; mand the article advertised. Foot certoonsj are becoming more rare eocta year, and the results of picture advertising are being felt by the firms more surely in the profits af- forded through its medium. For this reason if nothiitg more the stand- ard is sure to continue to improve and the demands for originality, tbe object sought by the advertiser, in addition to perfection ot endowment in the artist em^oyed. B. A. N. The Anlerican flag has its uses in peace as in war. to teaiA lessons of patriotism on ev- ery hand. It Is a grand and Inspiring thing to see on a battle anniversary, or an admiral's visit, tbe too dull city streets alive and vi- brant with the colors we love so well; to see tfae commerce of he great metropolis bow to the spirit of the occasion, and voice its ai>- preidatiod at protection affc«ded to iU inter- ests by sea as welt as on land, in flags o( all sizes. IMspiar can not profane tiK Oag, but exalts the one who nnkes a use of it, whether it be to brighteo tbe darkest corner of a city alley or is an- adverUsement. Hie flag is excdieot hrigbtening for eartlv's sombre plaices. Tbe lay of snnetaine fatUng upon the head of the murderer la unpolluted Still. >ia- ture'o colors are disvlored even in "waste places," so coated-. Let us tben applaud who- ever in America, whatever bis race or eall- ing, displays the flag. Such use can be no desecration of the splendid colors -wtioae folds are ample enough to shelter all,—From the