Billboard advertising (Jan-June 1900)

•fll i THE BILLBOARD. «ji .. n i«, '; Si: if & i 3* 11 ;ilf-Posters' A V D< W „ K .,. I TheBillboard Artist. ;M I ■ I jre are many sons of genius In this city . 1 t>f the West ',frsed in music, in the sciences and art; , i are proud of their attainments, think they are the very best. -pd there isrit one with which we'd care to part. , the great array et talent housed within our city walls .one the almost universal joy affords .'•the truly!gifted artist in the daubed-up ; overalls, - ie man who paints the signs upon the » hoards. 'the trolley cars are rushing through the ',-■ ever-busy .street hat an eager crowd of rubbernecks they ■ bear! ; .'the unassuming fellow who is holding down a seat i the swinging platform they in wonder ; stare. f the eyes of all. the ladies most approv- .- ingly expand. t well as those of their bewhiskered i lords, le gazing at the wonders from the deft, i artistic hand . i the man who paints the signs upon the I boards. I night never take a prize in the Parisian ! salon, - . >ver flgure tn the high artistic swim, ' !in Oiling his vocation as a brush phe- i; nomenon , ! takes the cake, and that's enough for ! .- him. • content to be the idol of the many : passers-by, i: attract the notice of the staring hordes. je swings the hairy brush and makes the : gaudy colors fly, ;e man who paints the signs upon the : boards. this ! i, -e are many rare attractions peerless town of ours, l Sgnetizers of the eye that can't be beat, j'iin catching our attention none possess j;.-^ I such drawing power* J-I I the vari colored pictures on the street. .;„. (nay point with admiration to attractions (f«UA-i| simply grand, •fi- SJ. t may revel in the' pleasure each affords, w ' |we bow to the creations of the free and lUII: I easy band' Mjthe man who paints the signs upon the J' At (boards. —Denver Post. t;*u.! __ u : M: tmn : Levyne's Letter. u'S'. ni , ffi' Fl . ;i'MIi ie Editor of "TheBillboard:" iti 0 f ar Sir—The bill posters seem to be the l'( aI , est folks in the world to get worked up. .J C j' st-don't-care kind of a people. I think '«e TT *Id be a good thing if we coold get some i ,v * n in - aie business. Then we surely ; rj d have some one to talk about us, or »Ji ~~ one who would answer back when we t'.iMIL "sassy.". 'p, at on't wish your readers to suppose that r .:' M der my letters of such importance as to 'I MIL :t a reply, or even to be so conceited as . Mi >r one moment think they are even ' '.- Ja ty." ' ';■< ae :ot a letter; some days ago from a bill ', :.f ir MIL r wixo wanted to know why I don't Oi " them up, even if I'd have'to tell an nl) ith. Now, that was a cold-blooded prop- M jT 'u—the idea of' Levyne telling an un- o{ ! I surely must have dropped from" my de caste, when one of my friends could . suggest a thing-'> But. surely, as he is i » nd, he must know me. • Know me Tor my „, * or tu- Therefore," I must be "worth" a Mil lood - x doni't think, as my friend thinks, Pr '* ls ne «essary to tell a falsehood to get .' ill posters .worked up. Why. Mr. Mur- ini "J 1 ** 4 tncm "P-a did not say a, word MIL fslsehocd.: so don't jump on me'allto- „ r .W.'worked;them up like a hive of bees v Br ^•"Pase, and to this hour they are hum- > MIN : around .his ears and in all probability r an ,-3ting him to death, on the shores of the " 28. ?. ea " at Atlantic City. What a glorious Cj, ' "hat. a "work-up t" r i MOr -* or some nappy inspiration that could ." to L up the s ' u Sgish bill posters, though I fc st. * De stung to death- for my pains. I 'am £ MOK» e onlyone who would court such a h cis i~- Loojc at;George Leonard. For years Jr Pu J tried to gpt the hive, but has only suc- i MOr^ «' in getting one poor little bee. And q U , me?—well, ihe just stuck that one in his .* r„t! -,'=•..:.-.:.-'""'.'■■■' iNAS -and it's there yet. and so it will stay, •ii Pli »r George -receives a great deal of con- 's Po bn-fromthie little buzzing insect. S Te i.-npir r am "switching." I wanted to i NAS V all the bill posters, not simply one. $j Lo ifter all, Leonard Is only one, regardless if- Uo at he may say,-think-or do. .■■- — ■ .1 XAS rlie Hager once said: "Levyne, there is • An iine thing you need to make you a rich K Lit', "Well, what is it?" "Money!" I \. NAS i train for Minneapolis. Mike Breslauer , Ho "Levyne, if you bad full control of one ; «s; you would be the smartest man in the world." "What is that, Mike?" "Your ^ brains." - At Oshkosb, Johnny Williams said: '"Le- vyne, you are all right, but—" Well, I grabbed up my samples and hustled out for a customer. Everyone in those days gave it to. me right in the neck, and, like a little fool, 1 took it. But to-day I hit back, and shall continue to do so, until I get the whole "bunch" worked up. Now. then. I want to get some letters from my bill poster friends. I want to know of the outlook for the Tall trade. You see, I am somewhat rusty, as I have been "in"' since May 1, and won't'start out for almost thirty" days to come. 1 want particularly to hear from Buffalo, Evansvillc, Ind.; Altoona. Pa.; Pittsburg. Detroit: Danville, 111.; Peoria, Davenport; Williamsport, Pa.; Minneapolis. St. Louis. Oshkosh; St. Louis, Mo.; Pittsburg. Kansas, Louisville, and—oh, yes! Chicago, which is in Illinois. Yours truly, M. L. LEVYNE. Oliver's Loss. Findlay, O., June 12.—(Special.)—Early this morning a fire alarm called the north and south side departments to the residence of Pmiip Oliver, the city bill poster, at 31ii Cherry street. The firemen found the large barn in the rear of Mr. Oliver's residence in flames. They did good work, and prevented : the fire from spreading to adjacent buildings, but were unable to save the barn, which was totally destroyed, together with most of the contents. The barn was not insured, and the loss will amount to about $2,000. A couple of buggies and a few other articles were saved from the barn. Three tons of timothy hay. about fifty bushels of oats, about twenty bushels of corn, three sets of harness, and .a new sleigh were burned. During the fire Mr. Oliver attempted to enter the burning build- ing in order to save some articles, but be- coming blinded by the smoke, he was not able to find his way out. The prompt action of spectators doubtless saved him from se- rious if not fatal injuries. As it was, he sus- tained painful burns about the face, arms and hands. Dr. N. L. McLachlan dressed the in- juries. The fire department did excellent work, and the fact that the building was to- tally destroyed does not reflect discredit on it. The fire started from a burning pile of trash near the barn. Mr. Oliver had cleaned out his chicken house and poured gasoline over the refuse in order to burn it more read- ily. Sparks from this fire fell in the haymow of the barn, and thus caused the fire, which had gained considerable headway before dis- covered. Mr. Oliver expects to rebuild at once. The new building will be about 50 by 20 feet in dimensions, which was the size of the old one. Danville, Ind., Doings. To the Editor of "The Billboard:" Dear Sir—Since I have been unable to sell out my plant here, and 1 my health- having become better, I concluded to write you a line and tell you that I have fixed up my boards and will attempt to boom my business again. I shall commence advertising with you again in July, and hope to get good re- sults In- the fall. In the meantime. I have recently done posting for the American To- bacco Co., Friends Oats. McLaughlin's Cof- fee, Lion' Coffee, Gloria Cigars and some local work. Have distributed for Dr. Miles, C. I. Hood. Lydia Pinkham. Kondon Co.. Cascara Brorao Quinine, Dr. Klick, Celery King and local work." I have been much interested in the outcome of your weekly venture, and trust it is a pro- nounced success. It ougbt to be, at any rate. The paper is bright, readable and thoroughly up r to-date. and should be supported by the craft-at-large. It deserves it. Our annual horse show and race meet will take place here Aug. 7, 8 and' 9% and prom- ises to eclipse all former meets. Wishing you continued success, I am vours trulv. JAMES V. COOK. Goshen, Ind., Gossip. To the Editor of "The Billboard:" Dear Sir—Hall's 10 and 20-cent sbows show- ed here for three days. May 11 to 13. and went front here to Elkhart for fair week. I posted 500 Sheets of. paper. Ed. F. Davis' circus was here May 30, and played to good business, especially at night. The street na- rade was good, and the sbow was splend : d. I posted 350 sheets for them. Pawnee Bill's Wild West comes here June 5. They put 1.200 sheets of paoer on my boards. They go from Go.°hen to Elkhart. - Sanders, on Car No. l. and Ben Cook, on Car No. 4. are all riKbt. and hustlers. I have posted also for Duke's Mixture, N. W. Ayers & Sons of Philadel- phia, and for John Robinson's Circus. I have distributed 2,000 books for Drs. Kennedv & Kerean, and for Dr. Chase, of Philadelphia. 2.500 books. "Secret of Strength." Posted for Marion (Ind.) Elks Carnival, June 11 to JS. 30 cards.. 5 Ftands 5x8. 1 16. 15 3-sheets. 22 half-sheets, 100 1-sheets, 30 banners, 16 card3. 38 1-sheets. lithograph; total. 250 sheets. T put out 2.500 Marrame's samples. Springfield. O.. and for Williams* Pink Pill Co.. cf Sche- nectady. N. Y..1 2,500 Home magaz'nes. This is a smairreport, but I will try and keep vou nested in the future. I hnve two large "bill boards :n good location, and I am not asleep, but wide-awake. I was at the State conven- tion at Indianapolis, and was elected as a delegate to the national convention at At- lantic City. CHAS. KRUTZ. Susquehanna, Pa., Squibs. The distributing business is rather quiet at the present time, which is the rule at this season of the year. The Dr. Chase Co., Phil- adelphia, sampled during the past week, and w expect matter from Lydia E. Pinkham soon. The llinghamton Street Fair and Car- nival is on the boards here. While in Binghamtou the past week, I vis- ited the Elm Garden, conducted by Harry Levey. This popular resort has been remod- eled, and-now-has a seating capacity of 500. Among the artists engaged for last week were Miss Daisy Linden; Krank Donavan, char- acter comedian; Mr. and Mrs. Shaw, dancing experts: W. H. Bruno, specialties; Miss Edith Randall, fancy buck dancer: Miss Lillian Morris, specialties; Chris. Clinton and Miss Hyberta Pryne. I also called upon the City Bill Posting Company, -who are Abbott & Castner. The resident, Mrs. Abbott, is a very pleasant woman, and understands the business thoroughly. Their foreman, Wilson Thebo, a most genial gentleman to meet, dis- cussed matters pertaining to the business frankly, and gave nie a good idea as to the matter upon the boards. The present showing consists of 1,200 sheets Wallace Shows, 810 sheets Binghamtou Street Fair, 750 sheets Virginia Cheroots, and 20 sheets Old Crow Whisky. They have recently distributed 10.- 000 Lydia E. Pinkham booklets, and are at present putting out matter for Estay Health Food people. The Great Wallace Shows come to Bing- hamton June 22. and if the advertising put out is a safe criterion, will give a good per- formance. Binghamton.will hold a street fair and car- nival June 25 to 30. under the auspices of Watrous Post. G. A. R.. the amusement portion being by the Canton Carnival Com- pany, owned by Frank W. Gaskill. Among the attractions will be Archille Philion, who performs on a spiral tower 50 feet high; the Streets of India: Rosco, the Australian snake eater; International Congress of dancing girls;■ Lornette. the flying lady: trained wild animal show. Japanese Theater. German Vil- lage, the electric fountain and theater. Mr. William Dennison, the well-known theatrical man, is the general manager. CHAS. E. WHITNEY. Harter Again. To the Editor of "The Billboard:" Dear Sir—I believe I forgot to mention in my letter to you that I am carrying 300 sheets ef paper, advertising the Elks* Carnival and Street Fair.at Marion. Ind.. June 11 to IS. In addition to this paper, I have put up a lot of Lithos Muslin banners, window cards, etc. Through E. L. Kenneman, bill poster of Ma- rion, Ind., they were induced to try the bill boards in lieu of newspapers. He appealed to the bill poster^ to help him out, and I gave bim so good a showing that both news- papers have complimented me. I predict the fair will be both a success and victory for bill posting. Through the advice of Henry A. Hersey, advertising agent of the American Tobacco Company, the Indiana Bill Posters' Association is listing all small towns and country routes and submitting them to the committee appointed for the purpose at the State meeting, for assignment and division, to avoid duplicating, and most of them will soon be posting this territory. I want to quote to you one remark made by Mr. Her- sey in his speech to the convention: "A one- sheet looks- bigger posted on a barn or fence in the country, and attracts more attention than a three-sheet in town." Yours, etc., EDWIN HARTER. Pittston, Pa., Paragraph. To the Editor of "The Billboard:" Dear Sir—I have noticed at different times that you speak of H. L. Kramer, treasurer and general manager of the Sterling Remedy Company, in a favorable way. Now, my ex- perience with the gentleman is that he should be placed in the N. G. list, for he certainly is no good. He not only fails to pay his bills for work done, but even refuses to answer correspondence. My first two ex- periences with them was in bill posting, for which in both instances they paid in part with non-assessable stock, which payB no dividends, and the balance due both times was refused, either stock or cash. My third experience was for posting and distributing, which was to be cash (I had stock enough). I have never received a cent, for the work, nor can I get a reply from them, although I have written them at least a dozen times. I am sure you would confer a favor on the fra- ternity by putting them on their guard pgalnnt my .friend Kramer- Let them sec that they get the cash before the work is done, and not be done up. as T have been for three vears bv the concern that man manages. Respectfully yo'*rs. R. E. HANKEE, Mgr. Pittston B. P. Co. Fostoria, 0., Facts. To the Derr Editor of "The Billboard:" Sir—My wife *»nd I drove to spend Surdav with P. B. OPver and fwm'lv. and found Mr. Oliver in; bad shape with his hands, which he burned badlv last Thursdav trying to get his goods out of his barn while it was burning. He Ik getting along nicely now, but will never use gaHoIine near his barn again, trying to kill chicken Ilcc, as he did last Thursday. The. wind was-high; and away went his barn, harness and feed sleigh, ind the sad part of it was; his insurance had run out two months ago, and he kept puttibg it off from time to time, so it was a total loss to him. - ' Enclose you photo ofone of our new boards here in Fostoria at U. & O. and Nickel Plate Railroads, located on South Main street. Ev- eryone that sees it speaks well of it, and the people of the city have never seen as fine a billboard as it is. We are still putting up new ones, so that any advertiser will receive the worth of his money if he will bill this '"•ity. W. C. TIItRILL. Mason City, 111., Mixings. To the Editor of 'The Billboard:" Dear Sir—Since writing you business has been good, but there is lots of room for more. Wc celebrated the Fourth two years ago and drew 10,000 people to this city, and it is our intention to try and draw a still larger crowd this year. Now is a good- chance for the advertiser. I gave Root Beer a good showing, for I posted the paper the 30th, and I guess all in town saw it. Wish- ing you success, yours respectfully, EDW. S. CORSON. Letter from Spitler. To the Editor of "The Billboard:" Dear Sir—It has been some time since I have had the pleasure of addressing such a worthy and up-to-date paper as "The Bill- board." I received some paper from the American Advertising Co. of Chicago adver- tisin- the Daniel Cigar, some export paper from A. Kipp Drug Co., some of Becknel- Hunter Smoking Tobacco, and have room for lots more. But the advertiser ls afraid of the circus. Can you tell me when or about the time one will reach us here? Rensselaer has not bad a circus since Sep- tember, 1898, and the people here are hungry for a circus. They always make money when they come this way. If you can give me any idea I will be much obliged to you. The license is not very high, $20 per day, and we want a first-class show. I have lots of bill boards, too, If you can find out any- thing in regard to any circus coming this way please Inform me. I see a letter in "The i>Ulboard" from John T. Robinson. He speaks of seven good towns and that they are doing a good business, which I am glad to bear, for tbeir show gave me my first lesson in bill posting, with Geo. Akron advance, O. P. Scott on car No. 1 in 1887. Yours truly, G. W. SPITLER. Rensselaer, Ind., June 3, 1900. Jamaica, N. Y., Jottings. To the Editor of "The Billboard: - ' Dear Sir:—Our city people were quite taken by surprise to-day by the handsome appear- ance of an automobile, tastefully painted and handsomely lettered in gold and silver, with a perfect picture of Dr. Pierce, of the Buffalo Medical Company. Besides the liandsomo horseless business wagon in question, a thor- ough business-like agent had an eager eye upon the distribution being done in oar our city and its suburbs by two well- dressed. . gentlemanly-looking young men, also regular employees of the Dr. Pierce Medical Company. Of course, the agent could not well leave town before paying the bill-posters a social call and leaving sam- ple ss: also stating that posters would follow in about a fortnight's time. In making the rounds he had ever opportunity to see my stands and billboards cast. west, north and south, and he had no'hestitation in stating that Dr. Pierce should be properly informc-t by him as to the equipment of my plant and .what he should consider a fair number of sheets to do it justice. He stated bill posters throughout the country were just being woke up to what was to their own in- terest; but he said that there was lots of room yet for improvements even In large cities. The handsome ailtomob'lc is going to make a tour of the whole Long Island never before reached. It has a spe"d. he stated, of twenty-five miles an hour. Yomtr, CHAS. WOOD. Canandaigua, N.Y., Cullings. To the Editor of "The Billboard:" Dear Sir—I would be very glad to let my brother members know, through your paper, what I have been doing the last few weeks. Since the first of March I have made two distributions for Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Co.. of 9,228 books each: two distributions for C. I. Hood & Co.. of 2,068 paners each; 3.740 cards for Dr. David Kennedy Corporation. Rondout. N. Y.: 1.000 books for St. Jacob In- stitute. Chicago, III.: Sterling Remedv Co.. 2.000 envelopes; Dr. Chase Co., of Philadel- phia, Pa., 1,500 books. One of my opposition has called on me, and would like me to do his work for him. He said he never did the work himself, but always hired two boys to do his work, and sends them out alone. This man is reentered In the Fclster Printing Co.'s list. I did Sterling Remedy Co. and Dr. Chaso Co. for him. 1 haven't seen any ndvpr- tising lately outside of what r have put out. except a few boys, throwing some circulars around the street and over the lawns for some home merchants. I have worked hard to build up a business, and am putting forth every honest effort to do good work. My motto: "Do work for others as you "would have others do work for you." Yours for a - good, prompt and reliable service. WM. F. MOSHER. D istributors' g ^-Doings, g Rydall's Views of the I. A. of D. Replying to the instructive letter of F. M. Groves upon "Distributing as a Medium of Advertising" in your issue of April 1, I beg tn confirm many of his statements regarding the value of good work to the advertiser. The pr.ee of ink and paper has, cf course, its hearing upon the pockets of the advertiser, but the importance of good distribution must he the great aim and consideration of the ttrms who spend the money. t The fact is, however, that one-fourth the cost is paid for the distribution as for the printing of th,e booklets or advertising mat- ter. Ten thousand booklets will probably cost some JB5; the distribution is $15. Now, the I. A. of D.. to which the writer looks as the panacea of alt* (ruud, and about which he says "there seems to be uo abso- lute protection for the advertiser who wishes to make a thorough- distribution, except the safeguard which is thrown aruund him by the full indemnity bond cf "the International As- sociation of Distributors, is not infallible, by any means. There is a panacea, quite as ef- fective and much more fair to all parties concerned, and that is, to pay a decent price for hard labor and not jew the impecunious distributor down to trilling rates and still insist upon '"necessity" making terms. I have just received an offer from : a well- known drug firm, insisting upon books being placed in door cracks for $1.50 per thousand; this heartless corporation must know, it it knows anything, that this can not be done. This is accompanied by another liberal prop- osition—to dress up'drug store windows at fifteen cents each. Suffering saints! This discounts Chinese labor and Hindoo slavery. There may be .districts populated by mill hands, or the densest part cf the great cities where men can make a living at the $1.50 rate, but not In California, where around each domicile grows the fig, the vine and the palm, well, surrounded by well-kept lawns and rows of calla lilies. There is another feature about the work of members cf the association that will pre- sent itself to the practical observer. Many cf the members are bill posters, and have that line of duty to attend to; they can not leave their interests to perigrinate around with a lot of cheap men. and therefore hire other cheap help to watch cheaper help, and out of the margin must themselves make something: how it all ccmes out cf $1.50 a. thousand is a mystery I must leave the ad- vertiser to find out, for certainly the members cf the I. A. cf D. are not working for noth- ing. The advertiser insists upon "personal supervision," but he never gets it. for the large man, member of the I. A. of D., can not afford to personally accompany the labor- ers at the price he receives. His time is too valuable if he does any business at all in posting. Lastly, the I. A. of D. is unfair to the workers. Because some individual is select- ed and elected in a city, ail others are ex- cluded;, giving this man. who. according to my statements, has too many important in- terests to attend to. an outrageous monopoly, when other men. just as honest and willing to accompany the workers and take part himself in the toil of distribution, arc barred from membership. This is a trust, a mo- nopoly, and essentially unfair to the grand body of unemployed who are willing and able to work and who need the meagre revenue de- rived from the employment. Therefore, out- side the I. A. of I)., unable to get in. hon- est and competent. I can not get work be- cause another firm which never personally superintends contracts, for the reason that time is. too valuable—because a member of a disguised trust—the I. A. cr P.—gets all the business. K. H. RYDALL. Los Angeles, Cal. Soliciting. With gocd stationery and a wcll-wcriltd cir- cular, soliciting is not eo difficult as .wnen undertaken without due preparation. A soliciting letter should, in most cases, be sliort and to the poiut. calling attention to tlic enclosed printed matter, which" should g:ve particulars regarding your city, viz.. population, principal industries, also agri- cultural products of the surrounding country and number of wholesale and retail houses m the line in which the partv is interested whose- business you arc soliciting. It is notable that a number of distributors endeavor to tell tbclr troubles to the udvrr- t fer, and have recourse to "knocking" their eempef'tors. . (The definition of "knocking." :-s nprd lure, Is to sny certain things to the . d'scred'tcf a competitor without being able l"> prove them.) Resorting to such methods can be of no possible benefit, mid only causes n<!vert!srrn to suspect the writer. >ou need not expect u reply to vour letters l« advertisers unless the party addressed is Interested in your locality at the t'mc. or will hi) In. the near future. One letter is not SKfllc-tent, but should be followed by a number of otherB, about thirty days apart. Perse- verance and stick-to-ltlveness nre required to get, the contracts, ns many advertiser:-, hesitate about making n change, and you will have to convince tlicin that you arc in earn- THE BILLBOARD. est and mean to stick to the business. You may be able to get sonie work in the begin- ning, and it may be a year before you suc- ceed in making your first contract. Do not think for an instant that the adver- tisers are paying no attention to your work. They have Inspectors in every city and town in the L'nion, who watch the wo.-k very closely and make reports as to how aiHcrt.s- ilig matter is being distributed, no matter whether it belonss to the house that employs them or not. Therefore, it is to your interest to always give an A. No. 1 service, wluc-i will he the means of securing many contracts and better prices than those who are doing inferior wcrk. If the writer were to start in the distribut- ing business again, he would select the gen- eral advertisers, or those firms who arc known to advertise certain sections periodic- ally, lie would keep aftrr these people con- t.nually. and would also keep bis name before all thi* other advertisers, writing the latter at least one letter every ninety days, thus making himself and business known, and eventually, it would be but natural for busi- ness to come his way. On other pages arc given several soliciting letters, v.nicli were contributed by different distributing agencies. All these letters have been tested; and are known to have brought satisfactory results. Of course, it will not do to copy them, and they arc onlv offered to give you au idea bow to proceed'. Copies of several circulars and business cards are also g.ven. Two cards are generally used, a busi- ness card and a personal card, the latter be- ing used when meeting traveling men or making, calls, the card serving as means of introduction. Never enclose stamp for reply, unless the subject be of a very important nature and re- quiring an answer. Circulars under cne- ccnt postage arc scarcely noticed, and it is better to use a postal card instead. Now for the local end of it: Get acquainted w.th the jobbers and retail merchants of your city, especially the drug trade, also hotel clerks, the local printers and managers of theaters. The advertising matter used by theatrical companies, such as heralds, pro- grammes, etc., is of considerable value, and managers are becoming more convinced each year of the importance of having same dis- tributed in a thorough manner. The local merchants can be called upon personally. This is where your small card is convenient. As a general thing, the local merchant is not willing to pay a fair price for distributing, being under the iriipression than any boy or any one will do the work properly. It is. therefore, necessary for you to convince him to the contrary, and a good way to do this is to call his attention to the numerous patent medicine concerns who have made fortunes principally through the methods -of h3Use-to-house distributing. Another good argument to make is to state that by having a circular, booklet or folder placed from house-lo-house, he secures ex- clusive attention: whereas, in a newspaper advertisement, he must take his chances with the many other advertisers, and that news- paper advertising is to be compared to a number of persons trying to argue on differ- ent subjects, all speaking at once: while tha distributed matter couid be likened to a per- son having a confidential talk with a party. Sometimes it is advisable to make a trial distribution at reduced .rates in order to prove its effectiveness. Of course, there should b? an understanding as to the-priee to be paid for all future work in case results are satisfactory.—W. II. Stelnbremier's • "Successful Distributor." < Kewanee, 111. Item. To the Kditor of "The Billboard:" Dear Sir—Business in the distributing line lias been a trine slow here for spring work the past few weeks, but I have several nice contracts on hand, among which are: Lvdia E. Pinkham Co.. Dr. Chase Co., the Chatta- nooga Medicine Co., and several others, be- sides considerable local wcrk. Kewanee will celebrate the Fourth in great shape this year, and I hope to liavu consider- able to do here on that day. R. J. WILSON. Lane's Letter. To the Editor cf "The Billboard:" Dear Sir:—We are very glad that the time and place of holding convention is changed, as we believe. Detioit- the better place for conventions and more convenient for the ma-, jority of the members. Now that the matter is sGttlod, let everybody make an effort to at- tend and work for the-interest of 'the asso- c.ation. ■• Noticing the rub Vansycle gave Redington, wc concluded to give our experience. He bad promised us work time and again, on the Spanish principle of "manana." We even bought his collar button land it is a good one. too), but as we are not in the agency business, we refused the agency: then we got word he would have no work for us this summer. It has been at ieast two years.since be has done distributing in Bcllcfontainc.' ' probably much longer. Noticing in "The Billboard" a short time . ago that Seliefoiitaine needed a'biif.'poster, we wish to correct the statement- The town has one of the best plants of any town its size in the country, and the manager, Frank' Whitrhill, although an opponent of ours, is' an excellent bill poster, a subscriber to "The ' Hlllboard" and a member of the• Ohio'Asso-; ciation of Bill Posters." "Houor to whom . honor is due." Wp have distributed 7.:|00 Pinkbam books, " lii.f.un books tor Dr. Chase (third distributiou since March 1), 50 physician's samples, Wheeler Chera. Co., Chicago; 58 physician's samples, Katharmon Chem. Co., St. Louis.: 4.::>.'0 New York Racket Store (local), S.nno Boston Med. Institute, 2,000 Dr. Miles. Elk- hait. Ind.: 2,!KH) Vetter & Co.. Cleveland., work coming from Nat. Biscuit Co.: Chat-. . tauooga ed. Co.. M. M. Fenner, New York; lir. David Kennedy, Rondont, N. Y. We would say in conclusion, that we great- ly admire you for- the way you are going after the "gangsters." Respectfully, UNION ADV. CO.. C. L. Lane, Manager. Bellcfontaine. O., June W, 1900. the small 'boy wherever they have appeared. The Donaldson Lithographing,. Company, of. Cincinnati, is responsible for thisTeaturiv .""A ! Rabbit."s Foot," a three-act, farce lom- edy, Introducing a minstrel first part written especially for Mr. Pat CoappBlie by Ftank Dumoiit, will- be presented to theater-goers the-coming season,,and;-ii6.doubt.will prove one of the bfggest surprises of recent years. She. show, is now being booked by Hurtig <fc Scamon in leading theaters of the Upited States, and-the outlook tori snc'cessfu'l sea-' son is.assured... The company f wall number sixty people, male'and female. Mr. - Chap- pelle writes: "Money will be a secondary consideration in my endeavor to surpass all other negro plays, and to bavo everything perfect in every detail." The company will open its-Season at Lakcview,-N. J., Aug. 15. Poster printers,; ,.'■■■ Indianapolis, Ind., Items. An attempt has been made to suppress dis- tributing in this-city; there was an ordinance drafted by tbe Public Safety and Comfort Committee of the City Council to entirely pro- hibit the distribution of any kind of matter in this city, unless the distributor obtained the permission of the occupant of each dwell- ' ing" to leave, the matter he was putting ^out- Such an ordinance, of course, was very un- reasonable and unjust, and when placed be- forethe councilmen and other city authorities in its true light, and the situation thoroughly explained to them, they simply turned the ordinance down indefinitely, and if another is gotten} up it will no doubt be on a different "order from the first one. In fact. I believe that the distributing and bill posting privi- leges in- this city will be. licensed in the very near future, and those paying.tho license will have to carefully live up to very strict regu- lations in order to distribute advertising mat- ter in this city. - GEORGE "W. SANSYCKLE. General Notes. The Dayton Coffee and. Spice Mills have ordered one thousand of a 24-sheet poster to advertise their famous ''Dutch Java ;Blend" coffee. Ohio bill posters get them alll 'None will go outside the State. Bryan and Com- pany will send them out. Burton L. Smith, manager of the Tisdale- Bill Posting Company, of Montgomery, Ala., was a "Billboard" caller on June 13. - Mr. , Smith was formerly an Ohio bill poster, but says he much-prefers to live in the Southern States. He will be one of the representatives of the Southeastern Bill Posters* Association to tbe Atlantic City Convention. Several newspapers in different parts of the country have been congratulating the Wal- lace Show on its fine spread cf' attractive pesters which have beenf the admiration of The 'Donaldson Llttio' Company is^equipoine »? magnificent, plant at Newport"wlf£it»m- pietc ascetyline gas system.' "'',■": .' : . ... Wm..M- Danoldson.. president of-the Don- aldson Litho. Company,* sailed; for • Burope June 9. lie-is accompanied-by. bis daughter £,!izabeth. ; . ... - .---..;- Frank L. Jones arid John H.'Renlger have purchased the Boston Job Prlut, and : will continue the business at tlie old'adaresV. No J Alden street." '■■:* *-*.■-■•. - • The New, York" contingent of'the Poster Printers Association met at the Marlborough Hotel, June 13. ..and transacted important business. AH the representative firms are now in the organization„which,-ls.working nicely. All the members are .enthusiastic. • tr Weekly List of Distributors. ARKANSAS. Conway—J. F. Clark, Box 82. Ft. Smith—J. F. Clark- tifcOKGIA^ Atlanta and Suburbs—Edw; B. Bridger's Ad- vertising Agency. 604 Temple Court Bldgw Columbus, Ga., Girard « Phoenix City, Alt— . ??"' B - Br idger's ' Advertising Agency. Address Atlanta. ■ iLLINOIS. Chicago—John.A., dough, 42 River St. Gainesville—H. Hulen B. P. & DIst. Co Pekin—Standard Bill Posting Co. ..''■'. Rockport—Tookie Lyceum.' S. Cook, mgr. INOIANA. Marion—John L. Wood, 920 S. Branson st. '..„■ IOWA. . . . Burlington—A. E. Dreier, 1211 Summer street. Sioux City—A. B.. BealL - -, . ... • Massachusetts'. ' '.'"■"■ ; . Brockton—John V. Carter,. 288 Belmont st; MISSOURI. East St. Louis—H. H. Deemar. „ - N KBRASKA. Fremont—M. M. Irwin. IlKW YORK. Canandaigua—Wm. F. Mosher. .98 Chapin st." Mechanic Falls—Jordan Adv. Co., Box 4L Ogdensburg—E. M. Bra'cy. , . OHIO. Fostoria—W. C. Tirrill * Co., 36 W. Market. Plymouth—Opera House B. P. & Dist. Co. -PENNSYLVANIA. . Carlisle—Wm. M. Meloy, Box 49. A.. F. ■ Morris, manager, Hastings st.. Van- couver, B. C. CANADA ' A. F. Morris, manager. 10 Lefeuvre Block, .Vancouver, Bi? C. ,.■ •• Montreal—C. J. T. Thomas. Box 1129. ti'xW. l%\ ' wM Weekly List of Bill Posters. ' ' --••■.•■• ,.^1 ARKANSAS. "33 ' Conway and Ft. Smith 1 —J. F. Clark, Box 92. jjs3- ILUNOIS. '.-'.- ... i:| Rockport—Tookie Lyceum. S. Cook. mgr. }i|f Pckln—Standard Bill Posting Co. j i KANSAS. f:-? Atchison—City BUI Posting Co. >' i^. MRHRASKA. S-i! Fremont—M. M. Irwin. . Sf- " V-5N :-*i One ol THE Pjstinj-Sign Co 's effective bulletins, Cor. Chestnut and 37th Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. 1 f"i>.r-: ?