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INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS LIBRARY 
 
 ADVERTISING 
 
 METHODS AND MEDIUMS 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS HERBERT RUSSELL, A. M., LL. D. 
 
 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 
 
 Author of ''Business Principles and Methods," "Salesmanship, 
 Theory and Practice," etc., etc.; former Editor-in- 
 Chief Webster's Universal Dictionary 
 
 ASSISTED BY 
 
 A CORPS OF BUSINESS EXPERTS 
 
 Washi«&*>^^'»''titut 
 
 Chicago 
 
COPYRIGHT 1910 BY 
 INTERNATIONAL LAW & BUSINESS INSTITUTE 
 
 WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO. 
 RACINE - CHICAGO 
 
i?^a- 
 
 ** There is no department of business which is handled 
 more poorly than advertising. It is the only department 
 of business which no man understands perfectly, and 
 which few men understand well. It is the department of 
 business which needs the keenest insight, the most care- 
 ful care, and the most continuous study." 
 
 — Nathaniel C. Fowler, Jr. 
 
 **The man who first took advantage of the general 
 curiosity <hat was excited by a siege or a battle to be- 
 tray the readers of news into the knowledge of the shop 
 where tL oest puffs and powders were to be sold, was un- 
 doubtedly a man of great sagacity, and profound skill in 
 the nature of man.'* 
 
 — ^Dr. Johnson. 
 
 M7i'^^a.4:3 
 
ASSOCIATE EDITORS. 
 
 Richard Canning, President Northwestern Finance Company, 
 Minneapolis, Minn. 
 
 H. M. Coombs, special lecturer on Credits and Collections, In- 
 ternational Law and Business Institute. 
 
 James J. Cbaig, special lecturer on Insurance, International Law 
 and Business Institute. 
 
 C. A. EcKLUND, special lecturer on Accounting and Auditing and 
 Financial Management, International Law and Business Institute. 
 
 G. A. Obth, adjuster Travelers' Insurance Co. 
 
 C. N. Smith, special lecturer on Business Systems, International 
 Law and Business Institute. 
 
 J. T. Thompson, formerly of the Ontario bar. 
 
 A. C. Wilkinson, special lecturer on Salesmanship and Advertis- 
 ing, International Law and Business Institute. 
 
 George E. Young, of the Minnesota bar, special lecturer on Commer- 
 cial Law and Corporations, International Law and Business Institute. 
 
 C. E. Zimmerman, expert on Publicity and Sales Promotion, 
 Chicago. 
 
 AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. 
 
 Cyrus C. Adams, author of "A Text-Book of Commercial Geogra- 
 phy." 
 
 Joseph A. Arnold, Editor and Chief of Division of Publications, 
 U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
 
 W. J. Ashley, M. A., professor of Economic History in Harvard 
 University; author of "An Introduction to English Economic History 
 and Theory." 
 
 Harry C. Bentley, C. P. A., author of "Corporate Finance and Ac- 
 counting." 
 
 Right Honorable James Bryce, British Ambassador to tha United 
 States; author of "The American Commonwealth." 
 
 Andrew Carnegie, author of "The Empire of Business," "The 
 Gospel of Wealth," "Triumphant Democracy," etc., etc. 
 
 Charles U. Carpenter, author of "Profit-Making in Shop and Fac- 
 tory Management." 
 
 4 
 
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. 
 
 A. Hamilton Church, author of "The Proper Distribution of Ex- 
 pense Burden." 
 
 Thomas Conyngton, of the New York bar; author of "Corporate 
 Organization," "Corporate Management" "The Modern Corporation, Its 
 Mechanism, Methods, Formation and Management," etc. 
 
 William Amelius Corbion, author of "The Principles of Salesman- 
 ship, Deportment and System." 
 
 Db. Stuart Daggett, University of California, author of "Railroad 
 Reorganization." 
 
 Lawrence R. Dicksee, F. C. A., professor of Accounting at the 
 University of Birmingham; author of "Office Organization and Man- 
 agement." 
 
 Hon. John F. Dryden, former United States Senator; president of 
 The Prudential Insurance Company of America; author of "Life In- 
 surance as a Career," "Uniform Law and Legislation on Life Insur- 
 ance," etc., etc. 
 
 E. Dana Durand, Director of the Census Bureau, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Seymour Eaton, Director of the Department of Industry and Fi- 
 nance, Drexel Institute, Philadelphia; author of "How To Do Business." 
 
 James H. Eckels, former Comptroller of the Currency; author of 
 "The Methods of Banking," etc. 
 
 Harrington Emerson, author of "Efficiency as a Basis for Opera- 
 tion and Wages." 
 
 A. Norton Fitch, of the Tacoma (Wash.) bar, formerly of the 
 Rochester (New York) bar; author of "New Commercial Law." 
 
 E. K. FoLTz, author of "The Federal Civil Service as a Career." 
 
 David R. Forgan, president of the National City Bank of Chi- 
 cago. 
 
 H. L. Gantt, member of the American Society of Mechanical En- 
 gineers; author of "Training Workmen in Habits of Industry and Co- 
 operation," etc., etc. 
 
 James C. Gipe, Secretary Joint Committee on Conservation, Wash- 
 ington, D. C. 
 
 John H. Gray, Ph. D., professor of Economics and Political Sci- 
 ence, University of Minnesota. 
 
 W. C. Holman, former editor of Salesmanship Magazine. 
 
 Ernest W. Huffcut, former Dean of the Cornell University Col- 
 lege of Law; author of "The Elements of Business Law." 
 
 Jenkin Lloyd Jones, Abraham Lincoln Center, Chicago. 
 
 Hon. W. L. Mackenzie King, C. M. G., M. P., Minister of Labor, 
 Dominion of Canada. 
 
 M. G. LaRochelle, Joint Commissioner, Civil Service Commission 
 of Canada, Ottawa, Canada. 
 
6 AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. 
 
 Prof. J. Laurence Laughlin, head of the Department of Political 
 Economy, University of Chicago. 
 
 Paul Morton, president of The Equitable Life Assurance Company. 
 
 Alexander Dana Noyes, financial editor "New York Evening Post" 
 
 George W. Perkins, 23 Wall Street, New York. 
 
 Carl Horton Pierce, lecturer on "Salesman-Making," New York 
 Y. M. C. A.; author of "Scientific Salesmanship." 
 
 Chas. F. Roland, Secretary of the Winnipeg Development and In- 
 dustrial Bureau, Winnipeg, Manitoba. 
 
 William A. Schonfeld, attorney and counselor-at-law; author of 
 "A Compendium of Laws." 
 
 Wm. a. Scott, director of Course in Commerce, University of Wis- 
 consin; author of "Money and Banking," etc., etc. 
 
 Edwin R. A. Seligman. LL. D., author of "Essays in Taxation," 
 "The Economic Interpretation of History," "Principles of Econom- 
 ics," etc., etc. 
 
 Arthur B. Shelton, Secretary of the National Monetary Commis- 
 sion, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Adam Smith, LL. D., author of "The Wealth of Nations." 
 
 Goldwin Smith, D. C. L., LL. D., author of "The Relations Be- 
 tween America and England," "Canada and the Canadian Question," 
 "History of the United States," Escays on Questions of the Day," etc. 
 
 Samuel E. Sparling, Ph. D., author of "Business Organization." 
 
 Edward W. Spencer, of the Milwaukee bar, author of "Manual of 
 Commercial Law," and "The Elements of Commercial Law." 
 
 F. W. Taussig, professor of Political Economy in Harvard Uni- 
 versity; author of "Wages and Capital." 
 
 Frederick Winslow Taylor, expert in Industrial Organization, 
 Philadelphia, Pa.; author of "A Piece-Rate System," "Shop Manage- 
 ment," etc., etc. 
 
 R. Whately Cooke Taylor, author of "Introduction to a History 
 of the Factory System." 
 
 Henry W. Thurston, head of the Department of Social and Eco- 
 nomic Science in the Chicago Normal School; author of "Economics 
 and Industrial History." 
 
 Hon. John Wanamaker, Philadelphia. 
 
 Algernon Warren, author of "Commercial Traveling: Its Features, 
 Past and Present." 
 
Advertising 
 
 Methods and Mediums 
 
Acknowledgments. 
 
 Special acknowledgments for kind assistance in the preparation of 
 this volume are due, and are hereby tendered by the editors, to the fol- 
 lowing gentlemen, well-known in the advertising world: 
 
 Hugh Chalmers, President of the Chalmers Motor Company, De- 
 troit, Michigan. 
 
 Joe Mitchell Chapple, Editor of "The National Magazine," Boston. 
 
 P. V. Collins, President of the P. V. Collins Publishing Company, 
 Editor "The Northwestern Agriculturist," Minneapolis. 
 
 Truman A. DeWeese, Director of Publicity for The Shredded Wheat 
 Company, Niagara Falls, N. Y.; in charge of Special Publicity for the 
 Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St. Louis, 1904); Author of "Principles 
 of Practical Publicity," etc., etc. 
 
 Nathaniel C. Fowleb, Jr., Boston; Author of "Fowler's Publicity," 
 "Building Business," etc. 
 
 John Lee Mahin, President Mahin Advertising Company, Chicago; 
 author of "The Commercial Value of Advertising," "How to Judge an 
 Advertisement," etc., etc. 
 
 WnxiAM D. McJuNKiN, of the McJunkin Advertising Agency, Chi- 
 cago. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Associate Editors and Authorities 4 
 
 Introduction 15 
 
 Chapter I. Early Forms op Advertising 23 
 
 ''Small Voices of the Press"— The Days 
 of Caxton — The First English Newspaper 
 — The Civil War Period — Booksellers' 
 Early Ads — ^Advertisement of a Poem — 
 Medicine Men Early in the Field — The 
 First Trade Ads — ^Royal Advertisements 
 — Early Struggle for Recognition — Dr. 
 Johnson on Advertising — A Newspaper 
 With Ads Only — Beginning of a New 
 Era — Rapid Growth of the Press — Taxes 
 on Advertising — ^Abolition of the Stamp 
 Tax. 
 
 Chapter II. Modern Progress in Advertising 39 
 
 Changes Wrought by Advertising — Re- 
 cent Progress in America — Fortunes in 
 Advertised Remedies — A Historical Ad- 
 vertisement — Early Advertising Agents 
 — Incidents of the Early Days — The Mag- 
 azine as a Medium — The Foundation of 
 Great Concerns — Effects of ''SapoUo" 
 Advertising — Collateral Advertising 
 Ideas — Introduction of Character Fig- 
 ures — Power of Persistent Advertising — 
 Transatlantic Developments — British Pa- 
 pers in 1855 — Circulation of the News- 
 paper—The London Dailies — What an 
 Advertiser Obtains — Money Spent on Ad- 
 vertising. 
 
 Chapter III. Commercial Value of Advertising 59 
 
 An Age of Advertising — Commerce 
 Makes Markets — The Basis of Advertis- 
 ing — Object of Advertising — Develop- 
 ment of Modern Methods — ^Wide Choice 
 of Mediums — Value of Advertising 
 Space — Growth of the Printing Busi- 
 ness — The Function of Advertising — ^Mil- 
 lions Spent Annually — Advertising in 
 Modern Business — The Power to Produce 
 
 9 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 Trade — The Saving of Expenses — Get- 
 ting the Public Confidence — Some Amer- 
 ican Mediums — ^Vast Extent of the Busi- 
 ness — Advertising Agencies — Ads In- 
 fluence Circulation — Influence of Mag- 
 azines — Street-car Advertising — ^Work of 
 An Agency — Functions of the Agent 
 The Follow-up System — ^Proof of Com- 
 mercial Value. 
 
 Chapter IV. Essentials of Successful Adveetisinq. . 87 
 Goods Must Have Value — Knowledge of 
 the Conditions — Selection of a Medium — 
 Two Great Essentials — Catching the 
 Public Eye. 
 
 Chapter V. The Science of Advertising 93 
 
 The Open and Closed Circular — ^Basic 
 Principles for Analysis — Value of At- 
 tention — An Old-fashioned Ad — Bank 
 Ads That Appeal — Advertising Must 
 Create Demand — Publicity — The Failure 
 of *' Sunny Jim"— Must Mold Public 
 Opinion — A General Publicity Campaign. 
 
 Chapter VI. Advertising a Regular Line Ill 
 
 Analysis of Advertising — Getting the 
 Reader's Attention — ^Use of Type — Use 
 of Strong Statements — Use of Bargains 
 — ^Use of Stock Cuts — Proper Illustra- 
 tions — Continuity of Advertising — Peo- 
 ple Soon Forget — Advertising Experi- 
 ments — Advertising Must Be Followed 
 Up — ^Advertising is a Science. 
 
 Chapter VII. Advertising a Specialty 125 
 
 Educating the Customer — Low-priced 
 Specialties — Two Methods of Advertising 
 — ^Value of Follow-up Letters — Send Fol- 
 low-ups Regularly. 
 
 Chapter VIII. Tests of Advertising 131 
 
 How to Judge an Advertisement — Test 
 No. 1, Is It Natural?— Test No. 2, Is It 
 Specific?— Test No. 3, Is It Timely? 
 —Test No. 4, Is It Pertinent ?— Test No. 
 5, Is It Consistent ?— Test No. 6, Is It 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 Persistent? — Test No. 7, Is It Author- 
 itative ?— Test No. 8, Is It Institutional? 
 —Test No. 9, Is It Plausible ?— Test No. 
 10, Is It Sincere? 
 Chapter IX. The Advertising Agent 145 
 
 1. Defining the ' ' Expert ' '—Sphere of the 
 Advertising Agent — Concerns the Busi- 
 ness Man — ^Must Be a Live Business 
 Man. 
 
 2. 'Twixt Advertiser and Publisher — The 
 Advertiser's Problem — 'When the Plot 
 Thickens— Is the Pilot Aboard?— Who 
 Gets the Lion 's Share ? 
 
 3. The Advertising Agent vs. The Broker 
 in Space — Identical Interests of Ad- 
 vertiser and Agent — Clipping the Agent 's 
 Wings — *'More Light" the Advertiser's 
 Need— ** More Light" The Agent's 
 Duty. 
 
 4. Is the Advertising Agent a Necessity? 
 — ^Advertising Blunders Costly — Adver- 
 tising Agency An Economy — The Ideal 
 Advertising Agent. 
 
 Chapter X. What is Good Copy.^ 161 
 
 Copy Must Fit the Case — Individuality 
 but not Idiosyncrasy — Ad-Writer vs. 
 Litterateur — Straining for Effect — ^Write 
 for Your Reader — Conviction is Strength 
 — Get at Essentials — Life in the Head- 
 line. 
 
 Chapter XI. Relation op Salesmanship to Advertis- 
 ing 167 
 
 The Foundation of Salesmanship — Ad- 
 vertising is Teaching — Have an Object in 
 Mind — Easier to Make than to Sell — 
 Teaching the Use of New Things — A Pro- 
 cess of Salesmanship — Saying the Right 
 Thing — Making the Buyer IJnderstand 
 — Form of the Advertisement — Omit 
 Self-evident Things — A Lesson for Ad- 
 vertisers — Ten Qualities for Salesmanship 
 — Three Kinds of Men — ^Knowledge of 
 the Business — Sincerity Makes and Holds 
 Friends — ^Be Willing to Take Suggestions 
 —Enthusiasm a Crowning Quality — Con- 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 centrate on Important Things — Greatest 
 Business in the World. 
 
 Chapter XII Advertisement Writing 187 
 
 Dependent on Conditions — ^Various Kinds 
 of Originality — Announcement of Some- 
 thing to Sell — ^Relation of Matter to 
 Space — Changing the Ad — Changing the 
 Style — ^Business Calls for Changes — 
 Avoid Radical Changes — Advertise 
 Goods, Not Men — Use of Simple Names 
 — A Silent Drummer — ^Learning to 
 Write Ads — Don't Crowd Your Space — 
 Long Descriptions of Goods — Use of Dis- 
 play Type — Strive After Uniqueness — 
 The Use of Humor in Ads — Public Tired 
 of ''Bargain" Talk— Falsehood is a 
 Boomerang — Preserve Your Identity — 
 The Business-Bringing Quality — Adver- 
 tise One Thing at a Time — Changing 
 Newspaper Ads. 
 
 Chapter XIII. Pictures in Advertising 209 
 
 What Pictures Aim At — ^Winning At- 
 tention — Pictures Should Sell Goods — 
 What Makes Pictures Talk?— Poor Pic- 
 tures Don't Pay — ^Fruitful and Foolish 
 Fancies — ^A Back Seat for Funny Pic- 
 tures. 
 
 Chapter XIV. A Decade of Publicity 215 
 
 Filling the Trade Field— Stock Cuts in 
 Ads. — Mere Eye-Catchers — Essence of 
 Salesmanship — Anti-Salesmanship — Il- 
 lustrations Good But Not Essential — 
 Look Pleasant — Strong Arguments in 
 Ads — Advertising Not Magic — ^Value of 
 Personality — If You Lack Enthusiasm, 
 Buy It — Above All, Be Sincere — Pub- 
 lishers Guarantee Advertisers' Honesty 
 — Barring Objectionable Advertising — 
 Study Your Customer — Studying North- 
 western Farmers — Trend of Farm Trade 
 — Growth of the Press — Corroborative 
 Letters — Advertising Does Work Won- 
 ders — The Northwest's Opportunity. 
 
CONTEXTS. 
 
 18 
 
 Chapter XV. The Psychology op Advertising 239 
 
 What is Suggestion? — Universality of 
 Suggestion — Reasoning Not Universal — 
 Influenced by Advertising — Treatment of 
 Competing Goods — Completing the Pro- 
 cess — Laws of Progressive Thinking — 
 The Method Further Illustrated — Uncon- 
 scious Influences Which Affect Our Judg- 
 ment — ^We Learn Nothing Perfectly 
 Until We Have Forgotten Where We 
 Received Instructions. 
 
 Chapter XVI. Mail Order Advertising 253 
 
 Two Kinds of Mail-order Houses — Econ- 
 omy of Mail-order Advertising — Almost 
 Any Commodity May Be Sold By Mail — 
 Essential Features of Mail-order Adver- 
 tising — The Mail-order Advertisement — 
 Must be a *' Puller" of Inquiries — Must 
 Have Individuality of Style. 
 
 Chapter XVII. Advertising by Mail 259 
 
 Successful Circular Advertising — ^Unique 
 Envelopes — Use of Post Cards — Care Re- 
 quired in Mailing — Advertising on En- 
 velopes. 
 
 Chapter XVIII. Advertising as a Creative Force 263 
 
 A Veritable Revolution — All Professions 
 Advertise — Public Utility Advertising — 
 The Trend of Advertising — A Distinc- 
 tive Form of Literature — It Defies Analy- 
 sis — Results May Be Quick or Slow — 
 Tribute to a Pioneer — Mr. Thompson as 
 a Leader — New Demands Created — A 
 Wise Counselor. 
 
 Chapter XIX. What Advertising Has Done 275 
 
 Does it Help the Manufacturer? — It 
 Creates New Wants — Effect on the Pub- 
 lic Health— Has Filled the World With 
 Music — Safety Razors and Fountain Pens 
 — Passing of the Cracker Barrel — For- 
 tunes in Toilet Articles — Created the Dol- 
 lar Watch — Three Dangers to Adver- 
 tisers — Automobile Advertising — A 
 Million Dollar Appropriation — Four 
 
 — Classes of Ad Men. 
 
14 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter XX. Waste in Advertising 291 
 
 Advertiser the Waster — Most Serious 
 Drawback — ^Was Too Original — Pet Page 
 of the Boss's — Harrying the Ad-Man 
 ■ — But Yet Some Excuse — There Are No 
 Standards — The Usual View — He is Not 
 Universal — The Advertiser's Kit — The 
 First Thing— For Their Own Sakes— 
 The Cure for Most Evils. 
 
 Chapter XXI. Hov7 Type Tells in Advertising 303 
 
 What is a *' Good-looking " Ad?— Make 
 Things Easy for the Reader — Good Type- 
 display Sells Goods — Hitting Attention 
 *'on the Wing"— An Advertiser is 
 Judged by His Type-display. 
 
 Chapter XXII. Municipal Advertising 309 
 
 Chapter XXIII. Advertising Rates 317 
 
 A Merchandise Price — Price Based on 
 Intrinsic Value — ^What Gives Advertising 
 Value — High-Priced Space Worth ]Most 
 — Some Low Advertising Rates — Rates 
 Should Be Fixed — ^An Absurd Popular 
 Idea — ^Points to Be Considered. 
 
 Chapter XXIV. Follow-up Systems 325 
 
 Follow-up Letters for Every Inquiry — 
 Inquiries from General Publicity — Forms 
 of Direct Publicity — The Follow-up Sys- 
 tem Should Get All There Is— Should 
 Read Like Personal Letters — Details Are 
 Important in Follow-up Systems — ^Best 
 Form of Letters — Faulty Follow-up Let- 
 ters — An Example of Folly — Some Model 
 Follow-up Letters — Follow-ups Generally 
 Desirable — ^Keeping Track of Inquiries. 
 
 Chapter XXV. Present and Future Results 337 
 
 Chapter XXVI. ** Keying" Mail Order Advertisements. 341 
 
 Chapter XXVII. Good Diction in Advertising 345 
 
 Chapter XXVIII. Price Advertising 355 
 
 Chapter XXIX. Testing Advertising 365 
 
 Chapter XXX. Selection of Mediums 369 
 
 Chapter XXXI. Color in Advertising 381 
 
 Questions for Review 387 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The relation of advertising to modern business enter- 
 prise is so close and important that some study of the sub- 
 ject is imperatively necessary nowadays as part of a bus- 
 iness education. 
 
 The immense importance of advertising was recog- 
 nized long ago by business men of enlightenment, but 
 nevertheless there were many indviduals in the industrial 
 and business world who failed to realize its importance 
 until within the past decade. 
 
 It may be stated without possibility of question that 
 the man who advertises without a comprehension of the 
 laws of advertising is simply wasting good money. In 
 exceptional cases chance may seem to favor the hap- 
 hazard advertiser for a while; "luck," so-called, may tem- 
 porarily attend his efforts; but successful advertising 
 worthy the name can only be accomplished by and 
 through an understanding of well-defined principles of 
 cause and effect. 
 
 Modern advertising is a science, like salesmanship, 
 and just as wise and accurate knowledge is necessary in 
 the acquirement of salesmanship, so is the same quality of 
 knowledge necessary in advertising. 
 
 We shall deal, in the course of this work, not so much 
 with the letter of scientific advertising as with its spirit. 
 We shall show the laws which govern the action of ad- 
 vertising, and examine the methods by which the scien- 
 tific advertisers of the present day construct the adver- 
 
 15 
 
16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tisements that appeal to the buying public, and we shall 
 analyze these methods so as to discover the principles on 
 which they are based. 
 
 Recent Growth of Advertising, — ^Within the last few 
 years, advertising in the United States and Canada has 
 grown to immense proportions. More and more atten- 
 tion yearly is being paid to the subject by business men. 
 Advertising was always a feature of business activity, 
 but compared with modern methods those of former 
 years were unquestionably crude. The average adver- 
 tisement of even so recent a period as twenty-five years 
 ago would present a decidedly antiquated appearance if 
 published in the pages of a modern magazine. 
 
 Few people realize. in how many different directions 
 human progress has been evinced in a remarkable degree 
 in the last quarter of a century. The closing years of the 
 nineteenth century and the opening decade of the twen- 
 tieth have been crowded with a bewildering sequence of 
 important discoveries in the arts and sciences. These 
 have been accompanied by many changes in the methods 
 of doing business, among which the decided progress 
 made in advertising has passed comparatively unnoticed 
 except by those engaged in the advertising profession 
 and business men of the wideawake sort. 
 
 Advertising of Old. — Ancient methods of advertising, 
 which will be described later on, included the use of the 
 town crier and of crude displays of produce and manu- 
 factured goods. These early attempts were the out- 
 growth of the merchant's natural desire for an extension 
 of his trade. 
 
 Nowadays the manufacturer is widely separated from 
 'he consumer. It becomes necessary for him, therefore, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17j 
 
 to create new markets, to cultivate new territory, to in- 
 terest new customers — and in the furtherance of these 
 objects, advertising is successfully employed. 
 
 The former displays in the market-place, crude as they 
 were, have their modern counterpart in the elaborately 
 trimmed show windows, or the expensive exhibits at a 
 state fair or national exposition. 
 
 Before the days of the printing press, the display in 
 the market place was perhaps the only form of advertis- 
 ing within the reach of the merchant, and so he did what 
 he could to extend his trade by the means at hand. He 
 had the spirit of the modern advertiser, but lacked facili- 
 ties for its expression. 
 
 Printed Advertising. — ^With the advent of movable 
 types and the development of the art of printing, the 
 character of commercial advertising began to undergo a 
 change. 
 
 Soon after the coming of Caxton, we note the dawn of 
 a new era in advertising, the genesis of the printed ad ; 
 but the first advertising of any consequence in periodical 
 literature was not recorded until the end of the seven- 
 teenth century. It is said that the first newspaper adver- 
 tisement in America appeared in the Boston News Letter 
 in 1704.. 
 
 For nearly a century after that, the growth of adver- 
 tising was slow and inconspicuous. Even the first half 
 of the nineteenth century added little to the sum of hu- 
 man knowledge regarding the possibilities of the printed 
 ad. But the slowness of its evolution was more than 
 counterbalanced by the enormous developments of the 
 last half of the century. 
 
 The first commercial ad in Harper's Weekly appeared 
 
 I.B.Iv. Vol. 3—2 
 
18 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 in 1864. This marked the real beginning of periodical 
 advertising in the United States. The rapidity of its sub- 
 sequent progress will be brought home to the student of 
 business when he realizes the fact that there are today 
 more than 24,000 periodical publications in the United 
 States that carry advertising. 
 
 Advertising Helps Circulation, — It will be found, 
 after very little study of the subject, that advertising is 
 a decided help to the circulation of newspapers and mag- 
 azines of all kinds. Many people subscribe to and read 
 various publications largely for the sake of the adver- 
 tisements that appear therein. 
 
 An advertising expert cites the case of a Pliiladelphia 
 newspaper that sustained an immediate loss of thousands 
 of readers daily, when a great retail store ceased to ad- 
 vertise in its columns. 
 
 Within a recent decade, the circulation of newspa- 
 pers and magazines in the United States was doubled — 
 very largely due to the development of advertising as a 
 distinct branch of business. 
 
 Advertising Centers, — There are many recognized ad- 
 vertising centers in the United States and Canada, from 
 which the advertising business of the continent is han- 
 dled. National advertisers, so-called, are found in all 
 parts of the country. These place their advertising 
 through agencies situated in the advertising centers. 
 Thus, agencies In Chicago place advertising in New 
 York publications, and vice versa. 
 
 The vast amount of money spent in American adver- 
 tising is hard to realize. When we include the money 
 spent in circulars, pamphlets, catalogues, posters, etc., it 
 is estimated that the total annually is over $600,000,000 
 
INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 in the United States alone. Fortunes have been and are 
 being spent by individuals in advertising. 
 
 Value of Publicity. — ^Among the first important ad- 
 vertisers were the patent medicine men. The material 
 success of many of these demonstrates the value of the 
 right kind of publicity. Nineteenth century fortunes 
 were made in patent medicines by the aid of mediums 
 that do not begin to compare in circulation and adver- 
 tising value with those that are at the service of the ad- 
 vertiser today. But they served their purpose in the 
 early days of the modern era of advertising history. 
 
 The twentieth-century advertiser can avail himself of a 
 choice of pubhcations each having over a million circu- 
 lation. He can and does pay $4,000 or $5,000 for a 
 "last cover page." Such advertising nowadays is re- 
 garded as "high-priced but cheap." 
 
 The price of advertising space is determined by the 
 circulation and class of readers of each publication. 
 
 Advertising Agencies, — The modern advertising 
 agency is the direct outcome of the increased attention 
 paid to advertising by business men generally. Adver- 
 tising being now regarded as a business necessity, and a 
 knowledge of fundamental principles being recognized 
 as essential to successful expenditure of money in this 
 direction, the advertiser has come to realize that a pro- 
 fessional advertising man or a properly conducted ad- 
 vertising agency can give his advertising more business- 
 like treatment and make it more effective than if he were 
 to devote his personal attention to it in the limited time 
 at his command for the purpose. 
 
20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A Creative Business Force, — There may still remain 
 a few who regard advertising expenditure as a waste of 
 money, but the scientific advertising man replies to this 
 objection that advertising is worth what it costs because 
 it conveys information and creates business. It is in fact 
 a great scientific business force, besides being, as we shall 
 see later, the modern manufacturer's principal weapon 
 of independence. 
 
 Various Kinds of Advertising, — There are almost as 
 many kinds of advertising as there are articles to be ad- 
 vertised. The student who pursues the subject intelli- 
 gently and conscientiously will learn the value of adver- 
 tising trademarks, manufacturers' names, etc. He will 
 ascertain the methods commonly employed for advertis- 
 ing machinery and specialties, as well as commodities for 
 general use. 
 
 The advertising of cereals, such as breakfast foods, 
 has been much in the public eye of recent years, and there 
 is a good deal of value to be learned regarding the suc- 
 cess or failure of various campaigns that have from time 
 to time forced themselves upon the public notice. We 
 may learn whether sensational advertising pays or does 
 not pay in the long run, and can in various ways profit 
 by the experiences of advertisers in many fields, who 
 have reaped failure or success according to their methods. 
 
 Among the various forms of advertising which may be 
 noted by the student are the following: 
 
 General Publicity Advertising, or the creating of a 
 general demand for a product without seeking direct 
 sales from the manufacturer or wholesaler to the con- 
 sumer. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 Mail Order Advertisings which has grown to mam- 
 moth proportions in the twentieth century. 
 
 Traveling Salesmanship, not usually classed as ad- 
 vertising, but a definite method of securing publicity for 
 many lines of goods. 
 
 What Advertising Does, — If the question be asked, 
 What is the function of advertising in business? it may 
 be said that it is an essential feature of distributing com- 
 moditieSj especially manufactured products. 
 
 Advertising creates and fixes new staples and it im- 
 proves the standard of living in every civilized commu- 
 nity. Where advertising prevails in its highest develop- 
 ment, the consumer can buy better and cheaper than in 
 other markets less favored by modern progress. 
 
 Advertising Mediums. — No study of advertising is 
 complete without a knowledge of the comparative value 
 for advertising purposes of daily papers, magazines, 
 trade journals, and class papers. These comparative 
 values depend, of course, to a great extent, upon the 
 character of the goods advertised, but also upon other im- 
 portant considerations which will be duly set forth. 
 
 The methods by which a selection of a medium for any 
 given advertising purpose may be made, should also be 
 the subject of study. 
 
 Follow-Up Systems, — From the advertiser's stand- 
 point, it is necessary to learn something about practical 
 and approved follow-up systems, whereby the results of 
 advertising may be checked and the "prospects" secured 
 through advertising may be followed up and sold. Un- 
 der this head the student may profitably study the meth- 
 ods commonly employed for "keying" an ad, and thus 
 keeping track of results. The use of circulars and cata- 
 
22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 logues as part of a follow-up system should also be un- 
 derstood. 
 
 Advertising Campaigns, — Not every student of ad- 
 vertising will be called upon to conduct important ad- 
 vertising campaigns, but a knowledge of the methods 
 employed by successful advertisers, expert advertising 
 men and professional agencies in so doing, will have a 
 positive value as part of a business training. Hence the 
 student may learn from these pages a good deal about 
 successful advertising campaigns of the past and will re- 
 ceive many valuable hints and suggestions for the con- 
 duct of such campaigns. 
 
 The Advertising Business, — The enormous extent of 
 the advertising field, as opened up by the developments 
 of the last two or three decades, has brought into exist- 
 ence, not merely one new profession, but practically 
 three. Under the general head of advertising men — a 
 title now proudly borne by thousands of excellent busi- 
 ness men, scientifically trained for their vocation — we 
 find three distinct and specialized types; namely, the 
 advertising expert, the advertising manager, and the ad- 
 vertising solicitor. We shall presently examine into the 
 functions of all three of them. 
 
 There are high honors and lucrative rewards to be 
 gained in each of these three branches of the advertising 
 profession, and the conscientious reader and student of 
 the following pages will be well equipped to enter the 
 battle for success in this useful and desirable vocation. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY FORMS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 As a recognized form of business enterprise Advertis- 
 ing is of comparatively recent development, but in a gen- 
 eral sense it is as old as business itself. 
 
 Some sort of advertising is and ever has been a neces- 
 sary feature of every kind of business. Men who sud- 
 denly awake to the importance of advertising are wont 
 to mark their awakening by the assertion that it is "the 
 lifeblood of modern business." This is true, but exceed- 
 ingly trite, for advertising has been the lifeblood of bus- 
 iness in all its stages since business first began. 
 
 There was advertising of many kinds long before the 
 invention of movable types gave an impetus to printing 
 and opened a new era of advertising by means of print- 
 ers' ink. The pioneer advertiser is unknown, but must 
 have been contemporary with the pioneer business man. 
 "The infant of business must have been the originator of 
 advertising" at a date "centuries before printing was 
 known and when language had hardly risen above ani- 
 mal dialect." 
 
 Whenever in the world's history one individual an- 
 nounced in any way that he possessed something which 
 another might possibly need or be induced to buy, he ad- 
 vertised. But the history of what we of the twentieth 
 century call advertising runs coevally with the history 
 of the art of printing — and more especially with the his- 
 tory of the periodical press. 
 
 23 
 
24 EARLY FORMS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 "Small Voices of the Press.'* 
 The Quarterly Review said in 1855: "In no manner 
 can we so well obtain at a rapid glance a view of the sa- 
 lient points of generations that have passed as by con- 
 sulting those small voices that have cried from age to 
 age from the pages of the press, declaring the wants, 
 the losses, the amusements, the money-making eager- 
 ness of the people. As we read in the old musfty files of 
 papers those naive announcements, the verj^ hum of by- 
 gone generations seems to rise to the ear. The chapman 
 exhibits his quaint wares, the mountebank capers again 
 upon his stage, we have the living portrait of the high- 
 wayman flying from justice, we see the old china auc- 
 tions thronged with ladies of quality with their attend- 
 ant negro boys, or, later still, we have Hogarthian stud- 
 ies of the young bloods who swelled of old along Pall 
 Mall, We trace the moving panorama of men and man- 
 ners up to our own less demonstrative, but more earnest 
 times; and all these cabinet pictures are the daguerreo- 
 types cast by the age which they exhibit, not done for 
 effect, but faithful reflections of those insignificant items 
 of life and things, too small it would seem for the gener- 
 alizing eye of the historian, however necessary to clothe 
 and fill in the dry bones of his history." 
 
 In the present day, says a British authority,* these 
 "small voices of the press" have swelled to a mighty roar, 
 a perfect Niagara of sound. By tracing the growth of 
 printed advertising to its well spring, we not only glean 
 invaluable information as to the life and cusftoms of past 
 ages, but we follow the gradual development of a method 
 
 *Mr. William Stead, Jr., in ''The Art of Advertising"; London, 
 T. B. Browne, Ltd. 
 
EARLY FORMS OF ADVERTISING. 25 
 
 of obtaining publicity, which has surpassed all other 
 means of advertisement devised by human ingenuity. 
 In this way it is possible to obtain some idea of the mag- 
 nitude and potency of the instrument which today en- 
 ables the individual advertiser to proclaim with a million 
 tongues his wares to his fellows. 
 
 The Days of Caxton. 
 The history of advertising carries us back to the days 
 when William Caxton first set up his printing-press in 
 the Almonry at Westminster. The printing-press and 
 the advertiser's announcement have been, and are, so in- 
 timately connected, that it seems only fitting that the 
 firs^ English printer should have also been the first Eng- 
 lish advertiser. 
 
 If it please mi^ man gpirituel or tewporel to fjge tiux pges 
 (ft tt)Qf0 ot t^te C0memflracio*0 of Salisburi use, emprgntetJ after 
 tlje fonn of tfjis present lette, tol^idj^ ien luel mti trulp correct, 
 late fjsm come to TOestmonester, into tfie almonestrsie at tfie 
 teeti pole BxCt Je sljal fjaue tfjem poll anti cfjepe : 
 
 Sttppltco Qtti cetiula 
 
 Facsimile of the Earliest Newspaper Ad. 
 
 Caxton was not only a worthy scholar, he was also a 
 keen man of business. He quickly realized the value of 
 his new invention for the dissemination of information 
 with regard to his wares. No sooner had he set up his 
 "red pole," and put his presses in motion, than he printed 
 and issued the first prin'ted advertisement which ap- 
 peared upon English soil. This historic announcement 
 is the parent of a progeny which has multiplied until it 
 rivals the sands of the seashore in number. It ran as 
 follows: 
 
26 EAKLY FORMS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 "If it please any man, spiritual or temporal, to buy 
 our pyes of two or three commemorations of Salisbury 
 use, emprinted after the form of this present* letter, 
 which been well and truly correct, let him come to West- 
 minster into the Almonry at the red pole and he shall 
 have them good and cheap." 
 
 The First English Newspaper. 
 
 "My art of printing had many enemies at the outset, 
 and few friends," Caxton complained. The same might 
 be said with equal truth of the art of advertising. It had 
 but few friends and many enemies. Despite the scoffs 
 of the learned, the jibes of the witty, foreign wars and 
 domestic disorders, the poverty of the State and the com- 
 mercial community, and many other drawbacks, press 
 advertising has grown and prospered. 
 
 At first its development was of the slowest. A hun- 
 dred and forty-six years passed before the first authentic 
 English periodical newspaper was pubhshed. It was not 
 till the latter end of the reign of James I. that a paper 
 was issued from the press at regular intervals in the City 
 of London. On May 23, 1622, Nicholas Bourne and 
 one or two friends published The Weekly Newes from 
 Italy, Germanie, Etc. No advertisements appeared in 
 its pages, nor in those of any of its numerous imitators. 
 Pubhshers' announcements there were, but these cannot 
 be strictly considered as advertisements in the sense in 
 which that term is generally understood. For instance, 
 in the pages of a paper entitled The Certain Newes of 
 the Present Week for August 23, 1622, the following 
 announcement is met with: 
 
 "If any gentleman or other accustomed to buy the 
 weekly relations of newes be desirous to continue the 
 
EARLY FORMS OF ADVERTISING. 27 
 
 same, let them know that the writer or transcriber rather 
 of this newes hath published two former newes; one is 
 dated the second and the other the thirteenth of August, 
 all which do carry a like title and have dependance one 
 
 The 2j. of May. 
 
 WEEKELY 
 
 Ncvvcs from Italy^ 
 
 GERMANIE> HVNGARI A, 
 
 BOHEMIA, the PALATINATE, 
 Fiance^ and the Low CoanCtiei. 
 
 LONDOl^ 
 
 Mind by Z 2). fbr ^ScMir Sonm? ind thoma 
 
 ifrdkr»aodare fo be fold at their Oiopsatche 
 
 ficdkt^ and in ft^et-hotdfi^m, 
 
 i6aib 
 
 Reduced Facsimile of Title Pa^e of *'Tlie Weekely Newes." 
 
 upon another; which manner of writing and printing he 
 doeth propose to continue weekly by God's assistance 
 from the best and most certain intelUgence." 
 
 The Civil War Period. 
 The domestic strife of the English Civil War (1642- 
 1649) was fruitful ground for the rapid growth of the 
 
28 EAELY FOEMS OF ADVEKTISESTG. 
 
 periodical press. But the country was too disturbed to 
 turn its attention to advertising. It was not until the 
 Commonwealth was established and comparative peace 
 was restored that people discovered the value of the press 
 as a means of making their wants known and announ- 
 cing their wares. Newspaper advertising therefore may 
 be said to properly date from the Commonwealth and 
 the Protectorate, a period which was highly productive 
 of new ideas and aspirations. 
 
 Booksellers' Early Ads. 
 
 Booksellers were the first to avail themselves of the 
 printing-press, and they also were the first to recognize 
 the value of the newspaper as a means of advertisement. 
 All the earliest advertisements we find in the pages of 
 the newspapers of the sixteenth century are of books 
 and pamphlets. The earhest advertisement appearing 
 in a periodical paper was printed four months before the 
 execution of Charles the First at Whitehall, London, in 
 a paper called Mercurius Eleuticus (No. 45) , October 4, 
 1648, and was as follows : 
 
 "The Reader is desired to peruse A Sermon Entituled 
 A Looking-Glass for Levellers, preached at St. Peters, 
 Paules Warf , on Sunday, Sept. 24, 1648, by Paul Knell, 
 Mr. of Arts. Another Tract called A Reflex upon our 
 ReformerSj with a Prayer for the Parliament/* 
 
 Andther advertisement appeared a few weeks later in 
 No. 47 of the same paper, October 18, 1648. It ran as 
 follows: 
 
 "The Reader is desired to take notice of two Books 
 newly Printed and Published. One is Anti-Merlinus or 
 a Confutation of Mr. William Lillies Predictions for 
 
EABX.Y FORMS OF ADVERTISING. 29 
 
 this yeare, 1648. The other, A Breefe discourse of the 
 present Miseries of the Kingdom and so forth/' 
 
 Both these advertisements were printed at the bottom 
 of the last page of the paper. 
 
 Advertisement of a Poem. 
 
 These seem to have been solitary instances, for the 
 next advertisement met with bears a date several years 
 later. This, curiously enough, was the announcement of 
 a poem in honor of Cromwell on his return from the 
 Irish war. It appeared in the Mercurius Politicus for 
 January, 1652, as follows: 
 
 "Irenodia Gratulataria, an Heroick Poem; being a 
 congratulatory panegyrick for my Lord General's late 
 rebirn, summing up his successes in an exquisite man- 
 ner. To be sold by John Holden, in the New Exchange, 
 London. Printed by Tho. Newcourt, 1652." 
 
 Apparently in these early days of book advertising, 
 says the author of "The Art of Advertising," the ab- 
 sence of laudatory reviews was made good by the appre- 
 ciative criticisms of the bookseller or the author, as the 
 case may be. 
 
 Medicine Men Early in the Field. 
 The vender of "quack" medicines soon followed in the 
 footsteps of the bookseller. Specifics of all kinds began 
 to be advertised more and more frequently as the papers 
 obtained a surer footing in public favor. The following 
 is a fair specimen of announcements of this class in those 
 early days of newspaper advertising: 
 
 "Most excellent and Approved Dentifrices to scour 
 and dense the Teeth, making them white as Ivory, pre- 
 serves from the Toothache. It fastens the Teeth, 
 
80 EABLY FORMS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 sweetens the Breath, and preserves the Gums and Mouth 
 from Cankers and Imposthumes. Made by Robert Tur- 
 ner j Gentleman; and the right are only to be had at 
 Thomas Rookes, Stationer, at the Holy Lamb at the 
 east end of St. Paul's Church, near the school, in sealed 
 papers, at 12d the paper. 
 
 "The reader is desired to beware of counterfeits/' 
 — {Mercurius Politicus, Dec. 20, 1660.) 
 
 It is interesting to note that even at that date the 
 reader was warned against false imitations. 
 The First Trade Ads. 
 
 The tradesman and manufacturer were not so prompt 
 in utilizing the new method of obtaining publicity. The 
 first trade advertisement, strictly speaking, is not to be 
 found until the year 1658, or ten years after the appear- 
 ance of the first advertisement in the press. It con- 
 tained one of the earliest references to tea, or "tay alais 
 tee" as the advertisement has it: 
 
 "That Excellent and by all Physicians approved China 
 Drink called by the Chineans Tcha, by other Nations 
 Tay alais Tee, is sold at the Sultaness Head Cophee- 
 House, in Sweetings Rents, by the Royal Exchange, 
 London." — {Mercurius Politicus, Sept. 30, 1658.) 
 
 The first newspaper published in Scotland appeared 
 in 1653 and recorded the doings of Cromwell. It con- 
 tained a few scattering advertisements. 
 Royal Advertisements. 
 
 The art of advertising had made such progress in 
 England by the time of the Restoration (1660) as to be 
 resorted to on occasion by the royal family. In the Mer- 
 curius Publicus (the RoyaHst title for the former Mer- 
 curius Politicus) of June 28, 1660, there appeared the 
 following: 
 
EARLY FORMS OF ADVERTISING. 81 
 
 "A Smooth Black DOG, less than a Greyhound, with 
 white under his breast, belonging to the King's Majesty, 
 was taken from Whitehall, the eighteenth day of this 
 insftant JunCj or thereabouts. If anyone can give notice 
 to John Ellis J one of his Majesties Servants, or to his 
 Majesties Back-Stairs shall be well rewarded for his 
 labour." 
 
 Apparently this announcement proved fruitless, for 
 we find in the next number, printed in large italics, the 
 following humorous appeal: 
 
 "We must call upon you again for a Black Dog, be- 
 tween a Greyhound and a Spaniel, no white about him, 
 only a streak on his Breast and Tayl a little bobbed. It 
 is His Majesties own Dog, and doubtless was stolen, for 
 the dog was not born or bred in England, and would 
 never forsake his Master. Whosoever finds him may ac- 
 quaint any at Whitehall, for the Dog was better known 
 at Court than those who stole him. Will they never 
 leave robbing His Majesty? Must he not keep a dog? 
 This Dog's place (though better than some imagine) is 
 the only place which nobody offers to beg." 
 
 Early Struggle for Recognition. 
 
 Although the value of press advertising had thus been 
 recognized by the royal house of Stuart it was still in its 
 infancy. It struggled hard for existence, but under very 
 unfavorable conditions, owing to the troubles which pre- 
 ceded the downfall of James the Second. 
 
 Up to 1688 advertisements appeared only by threes 
 and fours, and very rarely exceeded a dozen in any news- 
 paper at one time. They were generally to be found in 
 the middle of diminutive journals or as a tailpiece. They 
 were of a very miscellaneous character, and gave little 
 promise of the vast proportions newspaper advertising 
 was to assume later. 
 
82 EARLY FORMS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 It was only after the Revolution of 1688 that the true 
 value of advertising appears to have dawned upon the 
 public mind. With the political settlement trade began 
 to flourish on all sides, and naturally availed itself of this 
 new and powerful means of publicity. The newspapers 
 in Britain increased both in size and numbers. No fewer 
 than twenty-six new papers were commenced within four 
 years after the accession of William and !Mary. 
 
 Dr. Johnson on Advertising. 
 
 Dr. Johnson, writing in The Idler some years later, 
 spoke of advertising in the following oft-quoted terms: 
 "The man who first took advantage of the general curi- 
 osity that was excited by a siege or a battle to betray the 
 readers of news into the knowledge of the shop where 
 the best puffs and powder were to be sold was undoubt- 
 edly a man of great sagacity, and profound skill in the 
 nature of man. But when he had once shown the way 
 it was easy to follow him." 
 
 This first advertiser, whoever he may have been, cer- 
 tainly had many followers in Dr. Johnson's day. The 
 advertiser was then beginning to feel the immense pos- 
 sibilities which lay before him, and advertising branched 
 forth in many new directions. 
 
 A Newspaper With Ads Only. 
 In 1692 a London newspaper was planned called The 
 City Mercury, "published gratis for the promotion of 
 trade." It was to contain only advertisements. It was 
 actually published and flourished for two years. It then 
 came to an end. The proprietors undertook to distrib- 
 ute a thousand copies each week in the coffee-houses, tav- 
 erns, and bookshops of London. 
 
EARLY FORMS OF ADVERTISING. BB 
 
 This, however, was soon felt to be a move in the wrong 
 direction. It began to be generally recognized that the 
 publication of news and the dissemination of advertise- 
 ments were so closely connected that they could not be 
 advantageously separated. 
 
 Theatrical advertisements were another innovation 
 dating from the commencement of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury. They had long delayed making their appearance. 
 The earliest advertisement of this nature probably ap- 
 peared in 1701. A small theatre in Lincoln's Inn was 
 the first to break the ice. Its example was quickly fol- 
 lowed by its contemporaries. 
 
 The first newspaper published in America is supposed 
 to have been the Boston News-Letter, which appeared 
 in the year 1704. It contained a limited number of ad- 
 vertisements similar in character and style to the British 
 advertisements of the same period. 
 
 Beginning of a New Era. 
 
 The year 1745 is an important date in the history of 
 advertising. In that year The General Advertiser was 
 started in London. This paper marked the beginning of 
 a new era both in the newspaper press and in newspaper 
 advertising. It was the first paper which succeeded in 
 the attempt to depend solely on its advertisements for 
 support. From that day advertisements and news have 
 never been dissociated. The success of a newspaper was 
 from that time forth seen to be dependent upon two 
 conditions — its circulation and its advertisements. These 
 two combined are essential to the continued prosperity of 
 the periodical press. 
 
 Until this salient fact was firmly grasped by the pro- 
 
 I.B.Iy. Vol. 3-3 
 
34 EAELY FORMS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 prietors of newspapers the English press was of a very 
 ephemeral nature. It was not till The General Adver- 
 tiser proved that the financial foundation of every suc- 
 cessful paper was to be found in its advertising columns 
 that the periodical press began to flourish and to increase 
 in numbers and importance. With an assured income 
 from advertisements a newspaper was placed on a solid 
 foundation which secured for it a continued existence 
 and enabled it to build up an extended circulation. 
 
 "The great service which the art of advertising has 
 rendered to the nation in making possible the unUmited 
 development of the periodical press has never been ade- 
 quately recognized," says the British writer quoted here. 
 "We owe to advertising practically the whole of oup 
 daily, weekly and monthly periodicals, and all that they 
 represent in the life of our people today." 
 
 Rapid Growth of the Press. 
 
 No provincial daily existed in England until after the 
 discovery of this vital connection between advertisements 
 and the circulation of news. As soon, however, as this 
 connection was realized papers sprang up Uke mush- 
 rooms all over the Three Kingdoms. 
 
 The General Advertiser^ which effected this revolu- 
 tion, was almost a modern paper in appearance, if not 
 in size. From the very outset of its career its columns 
 were filled with advertisements. Between fifty and six- 
 ty appeared in each publication. A modern advertiser 
 may smile at this number, but, compared with the beg- 
 garly array in all earlier papers, it was imposing in- 
 deed. These advertisements were classified and separ- 
 ated by rules. The departure of ships was regularly 
 
EAELY FORMS OF ADVERTISING. 35 
 
 notified in its columns, which were adorned with engrav- 
 ings of the old high-pooped vessels of the day. Trading 
 matters occupied a predominant position, and the the- 
 aters made a good show. 
 
 Within the next twenty-five years The General Ad- 
 vertiser had many imitators and rivals. Press advertis- 
 ing flourished exceedingly. Dr. • Johnson declared in 
 the pages of The Idler that "the trade of advertising is 
 now so near perfection that it is not easy to propose any 
 improvement." Dr. Johnson would be considerably 
 surprised, not to say disconcerted, if his shade could re- 
 visit his ancient haunts in Fleet street in this period of 
 the twentieth century — or could inspect the modern pal- 
 aces of the daily press in New York or Chicago, Toronto 
 or Montreal. 
 
 Taxes on Advertising. 
 
 It was not likely that the British government, which 
 had shackled the newspaper press with restrictions and 
 taxation almost from its birth, would allow advertise- 
 ments to escape. As early as 1712 a tax of one shilling 
 was imposed upon every advertisement appearing in 
 "any printed paper, such paper being dispensed or made 
 public weekly or oftener." The size of the advertise- 
 ment made no difference. A shilling was charged equal- 
 ly for a line or a page. 
 
 "As soon as advertising became an established insti- 
 tution in the commercial life of England the Govern- 
 ment did its best to prevent its growth, and at the same 
 time to cripple the newspaper press. The tax on adver- 
 tisements was increased in 1757 to two shillings, and a 
 halfpenny was added to the penny already charged on 
 
86 EAELY FORMS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 every copy of any published paper. In 1789 the adver- 
 tisement duty was raised to 2s. 6d., and again, in 1804, 
 to 3s. 6d. This almost prohibitive tax remained in force 
 till 1833, when it was reduced to Is. 6d. The tax was not 
 abolished till 1853. Even this concession to a popular 
 demand was not obtained without long agitation and 
 prolonged debates in parhament." 
 
 Despite these legislative restrictions in England the 
 newspaper press increased both in circulation and in in- 
 fluence. Advertisements also showed a continuous tend- 
 ency to multiply. When the duty was finally abolished 
 the day of small things had already passed, and the ad- 
 vertiser was prepared to embark upon the era of expan- 
 sion which constituted the most striking phenomenon of 
 the latter part of the nineteenth century. 
 
 In 1832, the last year of the heavy duty, the number 
 of advertisements appearing in the Enghsh press was 
 921,943, or only 1 for every 26 of the population. The 
 total number of copies of newspapers circulated was 37,- 
 210.691. 
 
 These advertisements were distributed between the 
 three portions of the United Kingdom in the follo>ving 
 proportion: 787,649 in England, 108,914 in Scotland, 
 and 125,380 in Ireland. The amount of duty paid in 
 that year was £172,570, £127,986 of which was obtained 
 from newspapers. 
 
 "It is difficult," says WiUiam Stead, Jr. "to conceive 
 the state of things which existed almost up to the year of 
 Queen Victoria's accession to the throne. Newspapers 
 were taxed at all points ; the paper on which they were 
 printed paid a duty; each copy had to bear a stamp cost^ 
 
EARLY FORMS OF ADVERTISING. 87 
 
 ing 3^d., and for each advertisement which appeared 
 in their columns a smn of 3s. 6d. had to be paid into the 
 Exchequer. 
 
 "The reduction of the duty led to an immense increase 
 in the number of advertisements. In 1841 the number 
 had risen to 1,778,957, of which England claimed 1,386,- 
 625. The total amount of duty fell little behind the 
 highest amount received during the period of heaviest 
 taxation. In 1851 it had surpassed the figures for 1832, 
 and stood at £175,094. The railway mania, which set in 
 during the 40's, gave a great impetus to newspaper ad- 
 vertising." 
 
 Abolition of the Stamp Tax. 
 
 In 1855 the stamp tax on newspapers was abolished. 
 This date marks the commencement of modern newspa- 
 per and advertising enterprise in the British Isles. The 
 rapid strides made in both branches have far surpassed 
 the wildest dreams of the most enthusiastic advocate of 
 a free press. 
 
 One advantage, however, was claimed for the Stamp 
 Tax. It enabled those interested to arrive at a very fair 
 estimate of the number and circulation of the various 
 papers of the day. This, however, is a more apparent 
 than real advantage, for unstamped papers swarmed 
 in every town. Prosecutions and imprisonment only 
 seemed to stimulate the activity and daring of the pub- 
 Ushers of these illegal papers, which were issued at a 
 price placing them within the reach of the poor man, 
 During the struggle between the unstamped press and 
 the upholders of the tax seven hundred prosecutions were 
 
38 EARLY FORMS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 instituted, and as many as five hundred persons were im- 
 prisoned. 
 
 The following table gives in compact form the num- 
 ber of inhabitants, and the total yearly circulation of the 
 various newspapers, daily and weekly, in the United 
 Kingdom, at different periods during the century be- 
 tween the establishment of the newspaper press and the 
 repeal of the Stamp Act : 
 
 
 
 
 Papers 
 
 Year 
 
 Papers Printed. 
 
 Population 
 
 Per Head. 
 
 1753* 
 
 7,411,757 
 
 6,106,366 
 
 1.2 
 
 1790* 
 
 14,035,639 
 
 8,540,738 
 
 1.5 
 
 ISOlf 
 
 16,085,085 
 
 10,942,646 
 
 1.4 
 
 ISllf 
 
 24,424,713 
 
 12,596,803 
 
 1.9 
 
 1820 
 
 29,387,843 
 
 21,272,187 
 
 1.3 
 
 1831 
 
 37,713,068 
 
 24,392,485 
 
 1.5 
 
 1836 
 
 39,423,200 
 
 24,392,485 
 
 1.6 
 
 1841 
 
 60,759,392 
 
 27,036,450 
 
 2.2 
 
 1854 
 
 122,178,501 
 
 27,724,849 
 
 4.4 
 
 *England alone. fEngland and Scotland. 
 
 In these hundred years it will be seen that the circii.a- 
 tion of newspapers increased seventeen times, while the 
 population only quadrupled. For the greater portion 
 of the time the average allowance of papers per head of 
 population was only a fraction over one a year. Even in 
 1854 it mounted to only 4.4 per annum per head. That 
 is to say, had all the copies of the papers published at 
 that date been evenly divided among the population of 
 the British Isles, each man, woman, and child would only 
 have received a newspaper once every three months. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 Modern methods of advertising have been developed 
 as a direct result of increased competition in the indus- 
 trial world. 
 
 Not so very long ago, in both Europe and America, 
 manufactured goods were sold mostly by personal effort. 
 Traveling salesmen, variously called at different times 
 "bagmen" and commercial travelers in England, and 
 "drummers" or roadmen in America, were employed by 
 the distributing agencies as their sole means of reaching 
 the customer. In the long run, the retail customer, that 
 is the "ultimate consumer," paid the cost of this army of 
 traveling representatives. Salaries, commissions, ex- 
 penses of transportation, hotel bills and the like, forming 
 an enormous aggregate of expense, were charged up to 
 selling cost by the distributer, and formed part of the 
 selhng price. 
 
 The customer of the country store seldom realized 
 that the price charged to him included all these expenses. 
 He did not realize the waste involved in such methods 
 of distribution. 
 
 The traveling salesman was then generally the only 
 means of publicity employed by the manufacturer, 
 wholesaler or distributer. It will be readily seen that 
 this was an expensive system of distribution. 
 
 39 
 
40 MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 Half a dozen salesmen representing the same line of 
 goods might often be found working the same little town 
 at the same time, all under high expense and all adding 
 to the cost of commodities to the consumer. 
 
 Changes Wrought by Advertising. 
 
 The traveling salesman on both sides of the Atlantic 
 is still an important factor in the distribution of com- 
 modities, but he is no longer the sole agent of publicity. 
 Modern advertising has changed all that. 
 
 Many products are marketed nowadays absolutely 
 without the use of the traveUng representative. Pro- 
 ducer and consumer have been brought closer together; 
 middlemen have been partially eliminated; cost to the 
 consumer has been reduced; old markets have been de- 
 veloped and broadened, and new markets have been cre- 
 ated — all by means of advertising. 
 
 The field of the travehng salesman is limited. He can 
 see only a certain small number of customers and pros- 
 pectives each day. As an agent of publicity he does not 
 as a rule come in contact in any way with the consumer, 
 except in lines of business employing house-to-house 
 canvassers — necessarily an expensive method of distri- 
 bution — or in the case of men selling specialties at a high 
 price which will bear the expense of such a method. 
 
 In the economy of modern civiHzation, the wants of 
 the people are continually increasing and every day new 
 articles of convenience or comfort are placed upon the 
 market, that could not be successfully sold solely by the 
 aid of travehng salesmen. 
 
MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 41 
 
 Advertising has made possible the successful produc- 
 tion and sale of such commodities, thus adding greatly 
 to the comfort of the people, and raising the standard of 
 living. 
 
 Recent Progress in America. 
 
 The progress of advertising in the United States and 
 Canada within the last hundred years may be briefly 
 sketched as follows : 
 
 In English-speaking countries, the modern era of ad- 
 vertising dates from about the middle of the nineteenth 
 century. At this period there was a great increase in 
 the number of newspapers published, and the average 
 citizen began to demand the daily news. The newspaper 
 regularly placed in his hands from day to day was soon 
 recognized as a most valuable medium for presenting 
 the merits of manufactured products, and business men 
 of foresight and enterprise began to see the great advan- 
 tage to be gained by availing themselves of the selling 
 power of newspaper advertising. 
 
 The most conspicuous advertisers in the new era were 
 manufacturers of proprietary medicines. In fact it has 
 been said that "the beginning of modern advertising is 
 synonymous with the beginning of patent medicine ad- 
 vertising." 
 
 There was a good reason for this. Patent medicines 
 depended for their sale upon some definite form of ad- 
 vertising, whereas staple goods and the necessaries of 
 life could be marketed without organized publicity. 
 
 Fortunes in Advertised Remedies. 
 Fortunes were made by the manufacturers of several 
 of the proprietary remedies thus advertised in the be- 
 
42 MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 ginning of the modern era. It is not necessary here to 
 specify the names of such remedies. It is sufficient to 
 say that some of them are still household words on the 
 North American continent and in the British Isles. 
 Their advertising was continuous for many years, and 
 while some of the remedies which by means of advertis- 
 ing made fortunes for their proprietors forty and jSfty 
 years ago have lost their prominence as advertised arti- 
 cles, they are still in the market. 
 
 The results of the successful early advertising cam- 
 paigns were truly remarkable. The nature of the "copy'* 
 used in those days was very different from that of suc- 
 cessful copy in the twentieth century. It was perhaps 
 easier then than now to obtain results and there was an 
 absence of the painstaking care and study in the con- 
 struction and use of advertising matter that is necessary 
 for success in the present day. But the advertisers who 
 secured results and made fortunes were those who dis- 
 played courage and enterprise in their methods, and 
 who advertised persistently — just as successful adver- 
 tisers do today. 
 
 A Historical Advertisement. 
 
 Prior to the Civil War in the United States, it is said 
 that the largest single advertisement pubhshed by any 
 newspaper was one of Fairbanks' platform scales, which 
 have since become famous. This advertisement was pub- 
 lished in the New York Tribune at an expense to the 
 advertiser of $3,000, which was a record for those days. 
 A business college, which later achieved wide reputa- 
 tion, was among the earliest advertisers to attract atten- 
 
MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 43 
 
 tion, and was the first institution of the kind to seek pub- 
 licity in business through the newspapers. 
 
 Several large American businesses were built up by 
 advertising during the sixties, notably that of a coffee 
 importer and merchant, which grew to mammoth propor- 
 tions through publicity. 
 
 In those pioneer days, the advertiser usually had to 
 "go it alone." The modern advertising agency, with its 
 scientific methods of procedure and careful planning of 
 advertising campaigns, was as yet undeveloped. The 
 art of illustration for advertising purposes was in its 
 infancy. The effect of various kinds of advertising 
 upon the reading public was an unknown quantity. 
 
 Modern methods of securing attention and arousing 
 interest in the reader were undreamed of. There were 
 advertising agents, it is true, but their services were com- 
 paratively unskilled, though their commissions were high. 
 The whole subject of advertising was partially shrouded 
 in mystery. 
 
 There was little in common between the advertiser 
 and the publisher. They had not really found each 
 other or "got together," as they did later on. 
 
 Early Advertising Agents. 
 
 Among the earliest advertising agencies, the fame of 
 George P. Rowell & Company stands out prominently. 
 This agency was the first to offer to advertisers the kind 
 of service that they may enjoy today from many large 
 and reputable concerns. They secured rates from pub- 
 hshers, made up Hsts of newspapers by which a given 
 territory might be covered, and in other ways began the 
 
44 MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 work that is now so important a feature of the adver- 
 tising business. 
 
 One of the earliest of the middlemen in the advertis- 
 ing world, standing between the advertiser and the pub- 
 lisher, and gradually bringing the two together, was 
 Mr. V. B. Palmer, who as early as 1850 published a card 
 in the New York Tribune announcing himself as * 'au- 
 thorized agent for receiving advertisements for all the 
 leading newspapers of the countr}^" Mr. Palmer 
 opened offices in Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, 
 and aimed at ways to secure and perfect a system that 
 would monopolize the entire trade if he could get the 
 cooperation of pubhshers. He saw that a multiplicity 
 of agents in the same trade, and moreover in a calling 
 which required but little capital with which to start, 
 would soon involve very great competition, with the nat- 
 ural result of very small profits. 
 
 One of Mr. Palmer's clerks and solicitors was Mr. S. 
 M. Pettingill, who left him to establish an agency busi- 
 ness of his own in Boston in 1849, and gained fame and 
 fortune as an advertising man. In 1852 Mr. Pettingill 
 moved to New York and founded the firm of S. M. Pett- 
 ingill & Company, which became one of the most con- 
 spicuous and most favorably known advertising agencies 
 in America. 
 
 Mr. Pettingill started a monthly publication called 
 Pettingill's Reporter, which contained a list of the news- 
 papers pubhshed in the United States and Canada. One 
 of Mr. Pettingill's plans was to establish an American 
 agency in London which should "represent the American 
 press, file newspapers from every state in the Union and 
 Canada, furnish advertising and correspondence, attend 
 
MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 45 
 
 to the wants and promote the interests of publishers, 
 and make it the home of all Americans visiting abroad." 
 Mr. P. T. Bamum, who was then in London, approved 
 of the plan and agreed to take the management of the 
 agency if Mr. Pettingill would guarantee him a salary 
 of $1000 a year, but the enterprise was abandoned be- 
 fore the agency saw the hght. 
 
 Incidents of the Early Days. 
 
 "Many interesting stories are told of 'those early days," 
 say the authors of "Modern Advertising."* "One of 
 the best known relates to Robert Bonner, publisher of 
 the New York Ledger, which, after many vicissitudes, 
 has now passed out of the control of the Bonner family. 
 When James Gordon Bennett, the elder, was editor of 
 the New York Herald, Mr. Bonner was struggling to 
 build up his Ledger, and decided to try a little advertis- 
 ing. He wrote an announcement consisting of eight 
 words, *Read Mrs. Southworth's New Story in the Led- 
 ger,' and sent it to the Herald marked for *one line.' 
 Mr. Bonner's handwriting was so bad that the words 
 were read in the Herald office as 'one page.' Accord- 
 ingly the line was set up and repeated so as to occupy 
 an entire page. Mr. Bonner was thunderstruck the next 
 morning. He had not to his name money enough in 
 the bank to pay the bill. He rushed excitedly over to 
 the Herald office, but was too late to do any good. 
 
 "In a short time the results of the page announcement 
 began to be felt. Orders for the Ledger poured in 
 until the entire edition was exhausted and another one 
 
 ♦Earnest Elmo Calkins and Ralph Holden, authors of "Modern 
 Advertising" (New York, D. Appleton & Co., X905). 
 
46 MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 was printed. The success of the Ledger was then es- 
 tabhshed. Ever after that Mr. Bonner was an ardent 
 behever in advertising and a Hberal purchaser of space." 
 From this incident Mr. Bonner has been regarded as 
 "the founder of the sensational style of advertising in 
 New York," although it was already old in England 
 and was ridiculed by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in 
 "The Critic." 
 
 The Magazine as a Medium. 
 
 "In the early days of advertising agencies the maga- 
 zine was of little consequence. To-day the magazine is 
 the strongest medium we have, or at least is as strong and 
 important as the newspapers. We read in the early days 
 about advertising done in behalf of the Ledger, but 
 nothing at all about the advertising done in it. Some 
 of the magazines that were important in 1850 are still 
 alive and important to-day and are now valuable adver- 
 tising mediums. Again, there is the Saturday Evening 
 Post, which has been pubhshed continuously for one hun- 
 dred and eighty years, but in all its history it never be- 
 came a serious advertising medium until bought by Mr. 
 Curtis. The growth and development of the magazine 
 are coincident with a large part of the history of adver- 
 tising during the last ten years. 
 
 The Foundation of Great Concerns. 
 
 "Some of the early successes made by advertisers are 
 interesting as the foundations of businesses that are to- 
 day flourishing. Before the days of the tobacco and 
 cigar trusts, the name of Pierre Lorillard was one of 
 the best known in the tobacco field. The elder Lorill- 
 
MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 47 
 
 ard was a snuff manufacturer, and his old mill is still an 
 object of interest on the banks of the Bronx, in Bronx 
 Park. He was a warm behever in advertising, and ad- 
 vertising was kept up by his house until the various com- 
 panies were absorbed by combinations. It is said that 
 he built up a fortune of $20,000,000, a great estate for 
 those days, by making and advertising tobacco and snuff. 
 In 1868 this house had gross yearly sales of from four to 
 five million dollars. 
 
 "Some of the older commercial houses have been con- 
 stant advertisers from the earliest day. Among these is 
 Enoch Morgan's Sons, who manufactured Sapolio. This 
 business was started thirty-five years ago, and for thirty- 
 five years has been advertising continuously. At the 
 start an appropriation of $30,000 per year seemed large. 
 To-day the same firm is spending over $1,000 a day. 
 
 Effects of ** Sapolio'* Advertising. 
 
 "The Sapolio advertising has been responsible for a 
 large number of innovations. The proverbs about it 
 which used to appear in country newspapers and street- 
 car cards were interesting novelties. This was probably 
 the beginning of the introduction into advertising mat- 
 ter of something more than a bare statement of facts 
 about the goods. Later Sapolio was responsible for the 
 now famous Spotless Town series of verses, which were 
 probably the first successful advertising jingles. These 
 jingles had great popularity, which was partly because 
 they had great publicity. They were quoted every- 
 where. They have been used as the basis for political 
 cartoons in newspapers. They were kept running per- 
 
48 MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 sistently in street-car cards for years until all people 
 able to read were familiar with them. 
 
 Collateral Advertising Ideas. 
 "The success of the Spotless Town verses led to the 
 inauguration of ideas of this kind which would take 
 advantage of a national trait and peculiarity — the taking 
 up of an idea and passing it on. Such collateral adver- 
 tising is what most large advertisers now aim to secure. 
 I't is very valuable, but hard to obtain. It has been se- 
 cured in many ways, and has resulted not only in jin- 
 gles, but in catch phrases which have almost become parts 
 of the language. For instance, a certain hook and eye 
 was advertised by means of clever jingles and the phrase, 
 *See that Hump?' until *See that Hump?' came to have 
 almost the significance of some colloquial or slang phrase, 
 A large manufacturer of amateur cameras used in all 
 his advertising the catch phrase, *You press the button, 
 and we do the rest,' which became famous everywhere. 
 Improvements in camera construction since then have 
 limited the descriptive powers of this phrase and curtailed 
 its circulation. 
 
 Introduction of Character Figures. 
 "Following these and other successes, for such they 
 were, came the introduction of a single character figure 
 or character figures in advertising, who appeared regu- 
 larly and spoke about the advertised article. For in- 
 stance, the manufacturers of a ginger-snap made it 
 known by means of one or two clowns, figures of whom 
 appeared in all the advertising. The same idea better 
 carried out appeared in Sunny Jim. The manufacturer 
 of a breakfast food purchased some doggerel from a 
 
MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 49 
 
 young girl which described the transformation of a cer- 
 tain mythical Jim Dmnps into Sunny Jim by eating the 
 food in question. A girl chum of the writer drew a very 
 grotesque cartoon showing Jim Dumps before and after 
 taking the food. The advertising manager of the food 
 company perceived in this the possibility of a series of 
 such jingles, had the series written and widely circulated. 
 The original set comprised thirteen jingles, which ap- 
 peared in 45,000 street-cars in America. The same il- 
 lustrated jingles were used in newspapers until they had 
 attained publicity in 12,500 papers. Posters and painted 
 signs based upon the same idea were used freely. The 
 advertising was then carried into England and other 
 countries. Undoubtedly no character created by adver- 
 tising became so widely known as Sunny Jim. He be- 
 came a large part of the language, reminding us of 
 noted characters in fiction and history. He was perhaps 
 better known in many homes than Wilkins Micawber, 
 Sancho Panza or Henry VIII. 
 
 Power of Persistent Advertising. 
 
 "The tremendous power of persistent advertising to 
 carry an idea of any kind into the minds of the people 
 and stamp it there is amazing. Sunny Jim in many 
 homes became the pet name for one of the children. It 
 was used as the basis of thousands of newspaper car- 
 toons; very many plays had allusions to him and his 
 transformation; a noted chief justice of England pointed 
 his charge from the bench by allusion to this same char- 
 acter, and a certain noted London divine preached a 
 sermon from this text. To accomplish this required in 
 the space of about two years nearly a milhon dollars. 
 
 I.B.I,. Vol. 3—4 
 
50 MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 These facts would not mean success except that the food 
 in question while it was advertised outsold all its com- 
 petitors." 
 
 In 1;he long run, however, the upshot of the Sunny- 
 Jim advertising proved disappointing, inasmuch as it 
 did not establish in the minds of the people a reason why 
 they should eat — and continue to eat — the breakfast 
 food Sunny Jim was intended to advertise. That con- 
 dition, however, is dealt with in a later section of this 
 work. For historical purposes it is sufficient to remem- 
 ber that Sunny Jim was made an international charac- 
 ter by persistent advertising. 
 
 Transatlantic Developments. 
 
 The progress of advertising in England in the last 
 hundred years has been thus described : 
 
 *'The nineteenth century has been remarkable for the 
 amazing expansion which has taken place in all depart- 
 ments of life. In none has the development been more 
 rapid or more striking than in newspaper and advertis- 
 ing enterprise. When in 1855 almost the last artificial 
 restraint was removed from the British Press, it received 
 a stimulating impulse which has grown with each suc- 
 ceeding year. Fifty or sixty years ago, the number and 
 circulation of the daily and weekly press could be real- 
 ized without difficulty. At the present time the figures 
 are so immense that the mind altogether fails to grasp 
 their significance. 
 
 "For the year 1855 we have more or less reliable data 
 on which to base our calculations. To-day, although we 
 have accurate lists of the number of papers, daily and 
 weekly, all estimates as to their circulation must be 
 
MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 51 
 
 largely guesswork. The increase in the number of news- 
 papers has been accompanied by a corresponding devel- 
 opment in advertising. The advertising column is the 
 sheet anchor of all periodicals to-day. Were advertising 
 to cease, not one in a hundred papers and periodicals 
 would outlive the year. The advertiser has made the 
 cheap paper and the inexpensive magazine possible. But 
 for him we should still be paying five to eleven pence ( 10 
 to 22 cents) for our daily paper, and half-a-crown to five 
 shillings (60 cents to $1.20) for our monthly magazines. 
 The figures which give an approximate idea of the in- 
 crease in circulation, and in advertising, are so remark- 
 able that it is worth while setting them out in some de- 
 tail. 
 
 British Papers in 1855. 
 
 "In 1855 there were published in the United Kingdom 
 649 papers, which were distributed in the following man- 
 ner between London and the provinces : London ; daily 
 15, other papers 75; total 89. Provincial; Daily 13, 
 other papers 547; total 560. 
 
 "In 1898 the 649 had increased to a total of 3,121, 
 showing a gain of 2,472 publications in the forty-three 
 years. The increase in the provincial papers is especially 
 noticeable, as will be seen from the following list: Lon- 
 don; Daily, morning 25, evening 12, total 37; others 828; 
 total 865. 
 
 Provincial; Daily, morning 6Q, evening 115, total 181 ; 
 others 2,075; total 2,256. 
 
 "Comparing these two tables, we arrive at some very 
 striking facts. The London dailies increased by 22, 
 while the weeklies showed a net gain of 754. In the 
 
52 MODERN PEOGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 provinces the advance was even more marked. There 
 were 168 more provincial dailies in 1898 than there were 
 in 1855, and 1,528 more weeklies. This gave an increase 
 of 500 per cent, in publications, against hardly 50 per 
 cent, in population. The increase in the number of new 
 publications shows no signs of falling off, but rather the 
 reverse. 
 
 Circulation of the Newspapers. 
 
 "If we turn to the circulation of the newspapers the 
 advance is even more startling. The total circulation in 
 1855 was 122,178,501 per annum, or 4.4 per head of pop- 
 ulation. What the precise circulation to-day may be can 
 only be a matter of conjecture. There are no absolutely 
 reliable facts on which to base conclusions ; but that the 
 annual circulations are now counted by the thousand 
 millions where they were reckoned by the hundred mil- 
 lions, is beyond doubt. The estimated increase in the 
 circulation of the daily and weekly newspapers of the 
 United Kingdom is given as follows: 1855, number of 
 papers printed, 122,178,501, which had increased in 
 1898 to 2,700,000,000. The number of papers per unit 
 of the population in 1855 was 4.4 and in 1898 this pro- 
 portion had increased to 67.0. 
 
 "These figures are only approximate estimates, but 
 they suffice to show the great advance made by the pop- 
 ular press since its liberation from oppressive regula- 
 tions. Perhaps this development will be more easily re- 
 alized, if we take the number of papers per inhabitant 
 of the British Isles in the above-mentioned years. Since 
 1855 only forty-three years had elapsed; but, whereas 
 every person, on an average, saw a paper only once every 
 three months in 1855, by 1898 he read a paper at least 
 
MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING, 53 
 
 once a week. In 1864 there were sufficient papers 
 printed to provide every person with one once in three 
 weeks, or 18.8 a year. In 1870 each inhabitant could have 
 read his newspaper once a fortnight, and have received 
 altogether twenty-two papers in the year. In 1882 this 
 had still further been increased to one paper every ten 
 days, or thirty-nine a year. To-day the most conserv- 
 ative estimate would give a paper to every inhabitant 
 once in four days, and, were the weekly periodicals 
 which cannot strictly be regarded as newspapers in- 
 cluded, the result would be very materially altered. It 
 will be seen that there is still much progress to be made 
 before we reach an average of one daily or weekly news- 
 paper for every inhabitant of the United Kingdom per 
 day. 
 
 "It is interesting to note the miserably small circula- 
 tions of the leading papers, daily and weekly, in 1855, as 
 compared with the hundreds of thousands of copies sold 
 daily of many of the London and provincial papers of 
 the present day. The circulation of The Daily News 
 was only 4,160; The Morning Herald^ 3,712; Morning 
 Chronicle y 2,800 ; Morning Post, 2,667. 
 
 The London Dailies. 
 
 "When we come to consider the present circulation of 
 papers, the difficulty of arriving at what may be con- 
 sidered approximately correct figures is very great. 
 Fancy figures could, of course, be easily compiled, but 
 would have no value whatever. With the circulation 
 of the London dailies, the question is not so difficult of 
 solution. There were in 1898 thirty-seven morning and 
 evening papers published in London daily. By a care- 
 
54 MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 ful calculation, based upon the actual figures of the pa- 
 pers sold and checked by independent testimony, we 
 arrive at the huge total of three milhons as the daily 
 circulation of these London papers. This, if anything, 
 was a slight underestimate of the actual numbers. To 
 this total the morning papers contributed almost two mil- 
 lions, and the evening slightly over a million. This fig- 
 ure was more than half as large as the total daily cir- 
 culation of all the newspapers of the United Kingdom 
 in 1882, as calculated by Mr. Mulhall. It was a little 
 less than half the total annual circulation of all the news- 
 papers in the British Isles in 1753. A combined circula- 
 tion of three millions per day gives an annual circulation 
 of 936,000,000, a figure which can hardly be grasped. 
 It is more than two hundred millions greater than the 
 total annual circulation of newspapers in the Three 
 Kingdoms in 1870. In 1864 the circulation of the Lon- 
 don dailies was estimated at 205,462,400 per annum. 
 In the thirty-four years which elapsed up to 1898, the 
 annual circulation increased by 730,537,600 copies. If 
 these figures are fully realized, some idea of the extent 
 to which the papers of the United Kingdom cover the 
 population may be imagined. This is the instrument 
 which the modern advertiser has ready to his hand. As 
 a medium of reaching the great mass of the people, no 
 more perfect method has ever been invented. 
 
 What an Advertiser Obtains. 
 
 "Before referring to the increase of advertising, as 
 shown in the columns of the newspaper press to-day, it 
 may be well to give one or two concrete examples of what 
 an advertiser obtains when he inserts his announcement 
 
MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 5S 
 
 in the columns of a London daily. Suppose an adver- 
 tiser were to insert a one-inch advertisement in all the 
 morning and evening dailies of the British metropolis, 
 and to repeat it every publishing day of the year. At 
 the end of the year he would have obtained an adver- 
 tisement, which, if measured, would amount to a total 
 of 14,773 miles in length. What this figure means will 
 be perhaps more easily understood when we find that this 
 would be equal to a strip of paper, about two and a half 
 inches wide, stretching from London across the Atlantic, 
 to New York, right across the American continent to 
 San Francisco, and from that city to the Sandwich Isl- 
 ands, Hong Kong, and Singapore; or, to put it in an- 
 other way, his advertisement would make an uninter- 
 rupted path about a foot wide, stretching from Liverpool 
 to New York. It would also have appeared in 936,000,- 
 000 separate copies, and the amount of money spent by 
 the public in buying the papers containing the adver- 
 tisement would have been infinitely greater than the 
 cost the manufacturer would have to pay for its insertion. 
 If we take ten shillings ($2.50) an inch as an average 
 rate, we find that the advertiser would have spent about 
 £5,800 a year. This is a large sum, no doubt, but in 
 reahty it is a mere bagatelle when compared with what 
 he obtains in return. The advertisement of his goods 
 would have been placed in the hands of about a thou- 
 sand million people, who would have spent something 
 like three and a quarter million pounds sterling in buy- 
 ing the papers which contained his announcement. Yet 
 there are people who wonder whether advertising pays, 
 and if it is worth while to embark on so hazardous an 
 enterprise. 
 
56 MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 "Suppose, however, the advertiser took a column ad- 
 vertisement instead of an inch. His advertisement would 
 by the end of the year have measured the portentous 
 length of 354,552 miles — a strip of paper which would 
 reach all the way to the moon and almost half way back 
 again. He would have girdled the world fourteen times, 
 or placed a band around it a yard wide. At the end of 
 the year he could boast of having obtained 8,932 acres of 
 advertisement ; a sheet of paper which would be sufficient 
 to cover up the whole of a metropolitan borough with 
 120,000 inhabitants. To say that many large advertis- 
 ers to-day literally advertise by the square mile is no 
 exaggeration; it is the simple truth. 
 
 Money Spent on Advertising. 
 
 "What is the amount of money spent on advertising? 
 This is a question impossible to answer with any degree 
 of exactitude. The figures for London, however, give 
 us a glimpse of the huge sums expended in advertising 
 at the present day. If we take a moderate estimate and 
 reckon each column of advertising to be worth «£lO 
 ($50) we will find that the daily sum expended on ad- 
 vertising in London is £5,620, the weekly £33,750, and 
 the annual £1,750,625. This equals approximately an 
 expenditure of 9s. ($2.16) per annum for every inhab- 
 itant of London. The annual amount paid for adver- 
 tisements appearing in the London daiUes is more than 
 the total public expenditures of Ceylon or Natal, and 
 ahnost equal to that of all the British West Indian Isl- 
 ands. More money is spent in advertising every quarter 
 in the daily papers of the capital of the British Empire 
 
MODERN PROGRESS IN ADVERTISING. 57 
 
 than was spent on the African campaign which destroyed 
 the power of the Khalifa outside the walls of Omdurman. 
 "It is an interesting fact that every day there is issued 
 from the newspaper printing presses of London about 
 a fifth of a mile of advertisements, or, to be more accur- 
 ate, 956 feet. In a year over fifty-six miles of advertise- 
 ments appear in the pages of the daily journals of the 
 British metropolis." 
 
**The advertising man must know the history of ad- 
 vertising. He need not be able to trace it back to the 
 days of Rameses and the cuneiform inscriptions, but he 
 has to know pretty much everything that has happened 
 in the advertising world since advertising became such a 
 vital force in business. That is not a long period of his- 
 tory, but it is quite full of incidents.** 
 
 — ^William D. McJunkin. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 BY JOHN LEE MAHIN.* 
 
 This IS an age of advertising. Within the memory 
 of older men the ambitious youth was urged to enter the 
 church, the army, the law, or the sciences. To engage in 
 trade was to lower social tone. Now business is gener- 
 ally recognized as a world-dominating science. It is 
 becoming m.ore intricate and complex, requiring the 
 highest grade of intelligence. 
 
 Commerce in its elemental form is little more than the 
 hewing of wood, the carrying of water, and trading in 
 the simple things necessary to sustain a low order of 
 physical life. It is only when it advances to grappling 
 with the great wheat crop of the Northwest, the vast 
 yield of cotton of the South, and the products of many 
 mines and factories, that it begins to demand and give 
 substantial rewards for the highest grade of brain power 
 to organize equipment, devise ways and means, and to 
 execute. 
 
 War in its crude state has nothing relating to it that 
 appeals to the admiration of mankind. When it means 
 butchery, it is hideous. It is only tolerable when it is 
 the expression of the undivided will of a nation. It is 
 grand when it is the determined and reverent resistance 
 to tyranny by an outraged people battling for liberty. 
 The skill of the master-mind in war is shown in the in- 
 carnation of the national spirit and the expression of its 
 
 *A lecture delivered to the students of the University of Chicago. 
 
 59 
 
60 COMMERCIAL VALUE Or ADVERTISING. 
 
 purpose in the rapid and masterly handling of large 
 bodies of troops. Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, and 
 Grant possessed more than physical powers. They had 
 the rare quality of securing and maintaining the con- 
 fidence of the nation and the army. They shifted their 
 soldiers as the expert chess-player moves his mimic war- 
 riors, and they won and possess the admiration of man- 
 kind because their achievements gave them clear and un- 
 disputed title. 
 
 So, too, with the master-minds that are now perform- 
 ing the great industrial achievements in commerce. The 
 problems of production and distribution, the elimina- 
 tion of waste and famine, the gathering together of the 
 products of the world and setting them in order for the 
 easy access of mankind, present abundant opportunity 
 for the highest quality of brains. Commerce in gather- 
 ing and distributing, satisfied with ordinary profit and 
 passively awaiting the result of the capricious tastes of 
 mankind, still leaves much to be desired by the mind that 
 has real creative power. 
 
 Commerce Makes Markets. 
 
 Commerce in its higher altitudes is shown when, after 
 gathering the products of industry, it goes farther in 
 changing their form and character into other articles 
 specially suited for the higher needs of men and women. 
 Then, by every possible means stirring interest, creating 
 desire, educating appetite, and developing new wants, it 
 makes a stable market for the newly created and more 
 complex commercial products. In this way the standard 
 of Hving has generally been raised to include as neces- 
 sities articles the need of which was unknown to the 
 grandparents of the coming generation. 
 
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 61 
 
 In doing this, commerce requires the wonderful new 
 power which the mere trader never possessed. That 
 power, with its skill, thought, resources, and judgment, 
 virile energy, largeness of mental growth and equip- 
 ment, combined with a creative force that accomplishes 
 things, is called advertising. I have previously defined 
 advertising as "influencing the minds of people. It is 
 making others think as you desire. It means utilizing all 
 those forces which produce impressions and crystallize 
 opinions. It is the creating of prestige — that quality 
 which causes others to accept a statement without ques- 
 tion." 
 
 The merchant who, through his idea of what wiU 
 please the popular taste, makes his calculation, giving 
 orders to manufacturers for six months to a year in ad- 
 vance, requires great foresight and intimate knowledge 
 of the fickleness of taste. Yet he does not possess the 
 positive force that advertising, when studied and skil- 
 fully employed, will give him in his business. He only 
 deals with conditions as he finds them. There is no ef- 
 fort to create conditions, but simply a shrewd adapta- 
 tion to existing circumstances. 
 
 The Basis of Advertising. 
 
 Advertising rests on the supremacy of commerce. It 
 requires stable business conditions for its existence and 
 development. It is, therefore, a higher form of mental 
 activity than the successful exercise of ordinary com- 
 mercial transactions, because it goes farther, in demand- 
 ing not only the power successfully to cope with com- 
 mercial problems, but an added ability to influence the 
 human mind. Advertising will produce active desire 
 
62 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 where none, or at least only that of a latent kind, existed 
 before. Advertising, by employing the powerful men- 
 tal forces which psychologists call suggestion, can create 
 well-defined habits among the people, which an alert com- 
 mercial mind will utilize to build up and foster a busi- 
 ness. 
 
 A thoroughly equipped advertising man must, then, 
 know something of the fundamental conditions which 
 underlie commerce. For instance, credit, being an es- 
 sential feature of commerce, rests upon absolute integrity 
 and a rigid adherence to well-defined principles. Ad- 
 vertising also without the fundamental principles which 
 are necessary to commerce is no more advertising than is 
 love the mawkish sentiment which some novels depict, 
 the love which founds and maintains homes where the 
 wife and mother are cherished objects. 
 
 There are people who call the displaying of words in 
 newspapers advertising. Such individuals would be apt 
 to consider the clerk who mechanically hands out a cake 
 of soap to a customer, a merchant. 
 
 Object of Advertising. 
 
 Advertising is not the spending of money in magazine, 
 newspaper, street-car, or outdoor space, but the accom- 
 plishment of a definite purpose, which is the influencing 
 of human minds and actions. The many complex con- 
 ditions which enter into the practical execution of plans 
 for advertising can be only briefly discussed -vvithin our 
 time limit. Two sharp distinctions, however, appear 
 when we attempt to consider as to whether an article may 
 be profitably advertised or not. 
 
 Raw materials, which are purchased in large quantities 
 and enter into the manufacture of other articles in which 
 
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 68 
 
 the identity and knowledge of the source of supply of 
 the component parts are lost, cannot be advertised at 
 the large expense which successfully attends articles of 
 small retail value sold in packages and capable of being 
 used in almost every family. 
 
 Raw materials are purchased usually by expert buy- 
 ers, who usually weigh, measure, and consider after 
 themselves carefully exploring the markets. All that 
 advertising at its best can do here is to show how goods 
 offered for sale can be utilized by the purchaser to his 
 profit, and thereby increase the demand for a certain 
 article, or by constantly showing the superior qualities 
 of the goods offered secure a preference at the same 
 price over competing goods or a slight increase in profit. 
 As in selling such goods the number of possible custom- 
 ers is known and usually easily accessible to a sales- 
 man, it is my firm conviction that the salesman, when 
 he embodies knowledge, loyalty, and character, is him- 
 self the best form of advertising where his services are 
 available. 
 
 There are, however, salesmen and people who are 
 called salesmen. A man directing a large business in 
 which certain principles are rigidly maintained should see 
 to it that his customers feel the value of these principles. 
 Hence, some form of concerted, regular, definite com- 
 munication in the form of printed matter between the 
 moving spirit of the organization and the customers is 
 always to be recommended. 
 
 It was for promoting the wider sale of such articles 
 as iron, wheat, corn, raw cotton, and lumber, which can- 
 not be advertised hke soap, breakfast foods, flour, and 
 brands of clothing and house furnishings, that the es- 
 
64 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVEETISING. 
 
 tablishment of the Department of Commerce by the 
 United States government was earnestly urged. The 
 man who presides over this department should be a deep 
 student of advertising and trained in the practical ex- 
 pression of advertising principles. The census reports 
 today are invaluable aids to the general advertiser, and 
 the more extensively the gathering of accurate data can 
 be done by the government, the better it is for commerce 
 and its higher form of activity, which is advertising. 
 Development of Modem Methods. 
 It is in exploiting and selling articles of everyday use 
 to the average family that modern methods of advertis- 
 ing have reached the highest development. An able 
 statistician claims that of the 15,000,000 famihes in the 
 United States but 5 per cent, have incomes exceeding 
 $3,000 a year, counting both the proceeds of invested 
 capital and the earnings of the entire family. When 
 thought is given to the number of articles that can be 
 bought only by families having an income of $3,000, 
 and we remember that only 5 per cent, of the population 
 represents possible purchasers, the problem of the ad- 
 vertiser is so to spend the money that he has appropri- 
 ated that he will reach as nearly as possible only the 
 class to which his goods will appeal. In such a case a 
 magazine of national circulation might have less waste 
 circulation than a local paper reaching the masses. The 
 statistician we have referred to claims that over one-third 
 of all the American families live on less than $400 a year 
 and that over one-half live on less than $600 annually. 
 Thus it is plain that an article which sells just as freety 
 in the family of small means as in that of larger, runs 
 less danger of being exploited in pubhcations where 
 
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 65 
 
 there would be waste. It may also explain why the 
 largest successes in advertising are in those things of 
 small retail value which are in reach of the masses. De- 
 sire may be created for the ownership of an automobile in 
 the mind of a man with a family of six children who has 
 less than $600 annually to live on, but that desire is not 
 likely to make the advertising spent to create it in his 
 mind very profitable to the advertiser. On the other 
 hand, a shoe-shining outfit might bring good returns in 
 a publication read by people of small incomes, which 
 would most Hkely result in absolute failure if offered 
 to the readers of magazines like Harper's and the Cen- 
 tury. 
 
 Wide Choice of Mediums. 
 
 With 22,000 pubHcations in the United States, and 
 many thousands of street cars, billboards, and dead walls 
 constantly offered to the man who has money to spend 
 in advertising, there is ample opportunity for choice and 
 discrimination. 
 
 As many well-dressed persuasive gentlemen are abroad 
 in the land who are very industrious in proclaiming the 
 virtues of the special advertising mediums they repre- 
 sent, it looks as if some training for the purchasing of 
 space would be desirable, if efficient results were to fol- 
 low. 
 
 Advertising is too frequently viewed superficially. 
 Very few men who are known as advertising men have 
 ever gone deeper than to note certain phenomena and 
 blindly assert that history will repeat itself. An analysis 
 of cause and effect, conditions and the character of the 
 forces engaged in changing them, is seldom attempted. 
 
 I.B.I,. Vol. 3— S 
 
66 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVEETISING. 
 
 These men are gamblers in every sense of the word, and 
 they speak of advertising effort as ^'playing the game." 
 Value of Advertising Space. 
 Very few publishers understand the value of the ad- 
 vertising space that they produce. It is pitiful to see 
 the ignorance shown on this subject. Too many fail to 
 see the professional side of the subject, and they view 
 the space as merchandise to be sold to whomsoever comes 
 at whatever price the market will permit. Some advance 
 so far as to say they will make a fixed price in order to 
 produce stability of value and let the matter rest there. 
 A very few study out the possibilities of service that 
 they are able to render others, and by systematic effort 
 develop and maintain an advertising constituency so 
 harmonious to the policy of the publication that the 
 advertisements become of great value to the readers be- 
 cause they are adapted to their tastes, requirements, and 
 conditions. Advertising is not material substance. It 
 is service. To be sure, space is sold in magazines, news- 
 papers, street cars, and on billboards, but the true ad- 
 vertiser and advertising man never forget that the space 
 is subservient to the ser^dce to be rendered. Ideas are 
 paramount. The purpose of the effort should be clear 
 and definite, and kept constantly in mind during the 
 planning and execution of the details by which it is to be 
 realized. Space, type, words, and pictures are only tools 
 the master-workman uses to express an idea. The fin- 
 ished result of the expert work of the advertiser is not 
 a material substance which can be seen with eyes or 
 touched with hands, but a definite, positive impression 
 on many human minds, which is shown by the voluntary 
 purchase of goods the advertiser wants to sell. The 
 
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 67 
 
 mastery of mind over mind is the real test of greatness. 
 The power of Alexander, Julius Caesar, Washington, 
 and Napoleon was not physical. It was the rare quality 
 of causing others to think as they desired. No man 
 ever succeeded as an advertiser that did not possess. this 
 faculty. No man was ever a success in anything with- 
 out a fair degree of it. The field for good men in adver- 
 tising is wide. There is little danger of it being over- 
 done. There is room at the top. 
 
 Growth of the Printing Business. 
 
 We read that Benjamin Franklin's prospective 
 mother-in-law objected to him on the ground that he 
 was engaged in a business already overdone. He had 
 just started to publish a newspaper when there were 
 three others established in this country. 
 
 The last issue of the American Newspaper Directory 
 shows that 21,84.4! publications are regularly issued in 
 the United States.* 
 
 Reading matter is certainly mental food. It affects 
 the mind only, except that some occasionally contrib- 
 utes to starting the kitchen fire. There may be much 
 that is unwholesome and ill-seasoned in what the print- 
 ing press lays before us, but it is intended for mind util- 
 ization only. The development of advertising is closely 
 interwoven with the expansion of the printing business. 
 The large daily papers have typesetting machines and 
 perfecting presses which are expressions of the fierce 
 desire for speed. The great magazines and the magnifi- 
 cently illustrated catalogues have been evolved on the 
 line of more delicate effects in typographic impression 
 
 * Mr. Mahin here gave the figures for 1906. The number of publica- 
 tions listed by the American Newspaper Directory for 1910 is 24,089, 
 
68 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 and more and more minute and artistic detail in illus- 
 trative reproduction. 
 
 Color work has made wonderful progress, and scien- 
 tific men are already beginning to explain why colors 
 in certain combinations seem to have greater powers of 
 attraction than others. 
 
 The Function of Advertising. 
 
 Right here it might be wise to say that advertising 
 does not consist in merely attracting attention. A man 
 could go to his business with a dress suit and a red neck- 
 tie. He would sacrifice the potent force of dignity. 
 A IjuU fight on the campus of this university, if author- 
 ized and conducted by your president, would give him 
 and this great institution more free publicity all over 
 the world than any great scientific discovery that could 
 be announced. 
 
 Advertising must secure attention, but it must come 
 from the right kind of people and in a way that produces 
 respect for the article advertised. Hence, all possible 
 knowledge of the human mind, its mysterious and subtle 
 manifestations, and the infiuence of affirmation, argu- 
 ment, color, suggestion, or an appeal to the imagination, 
 must enter into the deliberation of the mind that plans 
 and executes an advertising campaign. 
 
 Let us imagine for an instant that a man had never 
 shaved himself or knew that such a thing could be done. 
 After seeing a razor skilfully manipulated, suppose he 
 should try it on himself with one of those so-called knives 
 his wife keeps in the kitchen? Would he be competent 
 to say that his face was different and that shaving was 
 not adapted to his peculiar condition? 
 
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 69 
 
 These illustrations are no more overdrawn than the 
 notions some people have about advertising. This, of 
 course, is due to a lack of accurate observation and analy- 
 sis of the fundamental principles on which its operations 
 are conducted. 
 
 Millions Spent Annually. 
 
 Notwithstanding the wide prevalence of mistaken 
 ideas about advertising and its true functions, the money 
 spent amounts to millions annually, and much of it is 
 spent with intelligence and great effectiveness, though 
 I believe much the larger portion is wasted in a desultory 
 manner along lines that even a gambler would despise 
 for their lack of justification. 
 
 The men who have made a success of advertising have 
 not looked at it as a matter of luck. They have beheved 
 its great powers were subject to immutable laws and have 
 sought to become familiar with them. Illustrations, 
 words, and space, and the cost of the same, while care- 
 fully weighed and considered, have been subordinated to 
 the main purpose of producing a mental impression. 
 I can imagine Millet, the painter of *'The Angelus," 
 testing colors and canvas, and demanding only the best 
 the market could afford regardless of price, but never 
 asking the dealers in artists' material to submit bids. 
 The best service and the best articles cannot be secured by 
 asking for competitive offers in price. 
 
 Advertising in Modern Business. 
 
 The place of advertising in modern business is secure. 
 It occupies the most important position, notwithstand- 
 ing its true functions are so largely misunderstood. The 
 merchant princes, the monarchs of manufacturing, and 
 
70 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 the generals of distribution have found advertising abso- 
 lutely essential to the upbuilding and conduct of their 
 enterprises. 
 
 One very interesting fact is the clear distinction be- 
 tween the effect of advertising on the final purchaser or 
 consumer and the intermediate handler of the product. 
 The man who buys a hat to wear himself is in a radically 
 different position from the man who buys it to sell again. 
 
 The latter is the dealer, and, strange as it may seem, 
 the most common error that manufacturers make is in 
 regarding the dealer as a consumer. The dealer buys 
 a hat to make a profit in selling it again. Two consider- 
 ations appeal to him-rprice and a quality for which he 
 can establish a permanent trade. Style is valuable to 
 the dealer only as it is valued by the man who buys 
 from him. Shape, color, trimmings are not in any sense 
 a matter of the dealer's individual tastes, if his customers 
 — the consumers — have well-defined ideas on these sub- 
 jects themselves. The consideration which causes the 
 purchase of a hat by the man who wears it springs from 
 radically different motives. He may think he buys a hat 
 because he has to do it. The habit of hat-buying is 
 evidence of some form of skilful advertising years ago. 
 A really independent man would wear a hood or a scarf, 
 or let his hair grow and wear nothing, if he were not a 
 slave to other men's ideas in putting on and wearing 
 what others have thought out to be best for him, and inci- 
 dentally, perhaps, best for them, because they were in a 
 better position to supply the demand they thus created. 
 To be sure, a buyer may exercise some selection in color, 
 shape, and style, but his selection is usually confined to 
 what is placed before him. He may buy a broad- 
 
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 71 
 
 brimmed soft hat because he admires a certain presi- 
 dential candidate ; he may buy a hat to please a woman ; 
 he may pick one to minister to his own vanity. At any 
 rate, his selection depends upon something which another 
 has unconsciously forced on his mind, and it is in the 
 study, comprehension, and utilization of those things 
 which cause such impressions that the manufacturer of 
 a hat should concern himself as soon as he has mastered 
 the mechanical problems of his factory. 
 
 The Power to Produce Trade. 
 
 Advertising thus gives a manufacturer the power to 
 produce trade for the thing he is best equipped to pro- 
 duce. It eliminates competition. It creates, forces, 
 builds. It makes things happen. Advertising is so 
 many-sided in its character that it deserves attention in 
 connection with every department of a business organ- 
 ization. As already stated, it will produce desire ; grati- 
 fied desire produces habit, and habit produces business. 
 But advertising does more than this. It makes sales. 
 Not in the same sense as the salesman, for the brainy 
 salesman is only given larger fields for usefulness and 
 greater emoluments for his efforts when he co-operates 
 with advertising. But advertising produces a demand 
 for an article which the dealer is compelled to notice and 
 which he supplies as he does sugar, coffee, cotton, cloth, 
 or any other staple. 
 
 In making articles sell as the result of a demand 
 created by the advertiser's efforts, advertising eliminates 
 competition to a large degree, increases profits, makes 
 the good- will or intangible quality of a business or brand 
 name largely enhanced in value. In this way advertis- 
 ing produces value, and many instances could be cited 
 
72 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 proving that the intelligent expenditure of money in 
 advertising was an investment as much as the invest- 
 ment of more capital in tangible things hke buildings and 
 machinery. Take the Royal Baking Powder Co. The 
 capital of this concern, to a large degree, is represented 
 by its good-will and the prestige due to the exclusive 
 right to use the name "Royal" in making baking powder. 
 Take "Gold Dust Washing Powder" as an example. If 
 everything in shape of factory, raw material, and every- 
 thing else which would be called tangible property were 
 swept away, the right to make and sell Gold Dust Wash- 
 ing Powder would represent a very large sum. In this 
 way money spent in advertising is invested just as much 
 as if put into buildings, live stock, or produce, which 
 need constant repair and attention to keep them in proper 
 condition and their value from deteriorating. 
 The Saving of Expense. 
 
 There are several other points where advertising comes 
 in to save expense. A man who does his business on 
 the basis of advertising can employ less capital and 
 thereby save on his interest charges. This is because 
 business based on advertising is produced more by the 
 creating of business conditions than by adapting one's 
 affairs to the same. Collections can be made closer and 
 much less capital used, because the very nature of the 
 business puts the purchaser in the position of having 
 sought the goods when he has read and been influenced 
 by the advertising. 
 
 Great retailers have found that advertising will bring 
 purchasers to their stores earlier in the day than they 
 would otherwise come. Rent, clerk hire, insurance, and 
 aU the other fixed expenses of a business must be met 
 
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 73 
 
 before there are any profits. If a store is rushed with 
 customers from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M., there are really only 
 six hours to do business. As advertising of bargains and 
 special sales will bring in customers two and sometimes 
 three hours earlier, the fixed expenses for those hours 
 are not increased. In this way advertising saves rent, 
 clerk hire, insurance, and reduces the fixed expenses, to 
 say nothing of giving the master-mind who pilots the 
 big modern department store through the seas of busi- 
 ness a close insight into the tastes, habits, and desires of 
 the people. 
 
 Advertising also has an educational value which en- 
 ables the seller of merchandise to convince people what 
 they want to buy before they come to the store. In this 
 way sales are greatly facilitated. One clerk is able to 
 wait on more customers, and the ratio of expense is thus 
 lowered. 
 
 Getting the Public Confidence. 
 
 There are many great stores which have acquired the 
 confidence of large numbers of people in their newspaper 
 announcements. In this way the tastes of these regular 
 customers are molded to a considerable degree, and the 
 buyers for this store are enabled to secure lower prices 
 by placing larger orders, as they have the assurance that 
 the advertising of the house will be able to create a de- 
 mand for the large purchases they have made. 
 
 A shrewd advertising man in a large retail store is 
 able in time to divide the customers of the house into 
 several classes and influence all of them by advertising. 
 
 A certain number want high class and exclusiveness. 
 They are won and held by a studied catering to their 
 wishes. Another class will spend its surplus cash for 
 
74 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 bargains, no matter what kind they are. These are 
 known and the best method of reaching them tested, and 
 the house is thus able to overcome errors of a too sang- 
 uine buyer and to take advantage of a manufacturer's 
 misfortune. 
 
 A shrewd advertiser at Christmas time can influence 
 the people who want quality to spend more money by 
 suggestive advertising. Many a man who has decided to 
 spend ten dollars on his wife's present has been in- 
 fluenced to spend twenty-five, after having it impressed 
 on his mind that about that amount was necessary to get 
 those things which he knew a nice little woman really 
 wanted. A man who regards a piece of jewelry as a 
 luxury and an extravagance reads a suggestive adver- 
 tisement and buys an expensive ring as an expression 
 of sentiment which would be cherished for the sake of the 
 sentiment, and thus by its constant suggestions keep alive 
 and honor a reciprocal feeling. 
 
 Some American Mediums. 
 
 Consideration of the media used by the American ad- 
 vertiser can only be given in a general way. The great 
 family journals of national circulation, hke the Ladies' 
 Home Journal, Delineator, and Youth's Companion, are 
 practically home publications. They deal in a practical 
 manner with those problems which come up constantly in 
 the average home. They go a long way toward answer- 
 ing the ever-recurrent problems: What shall I eat? 
 What shall I wear? How shall I furnish my home? 
 How shall I raise my children? They mold thought. 
 They create habit. These three publications are also 
 worthy of particular attention in the manner in which 
 their advertising columns are handled. No advertise 
 
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 75 
 
 ments of liquors, tobacco, or things of a questionable na- 
 ture are admitted to their columns. The Youth's Com- 
 panion does not draw the line quite so closely as the 
 Ladies' Home Journal and DeHneator on proprietary 
 remedies, but the exceptions are very few and confined 
 to old-time family preparations. The Ladies' Home 
 Journal and Delineator refuse all medical, remedial, or 
 curative announcements, and also all advertisements of 
 investments. All these publications insist on knowing 
 what the advertiser offers to their readers, and if he is, 
 as far as can be learned, fully able to carry out his offers 
 made in his advertising. In the event of complaint of 
 unfair dealing being made by any subscriber, the matter 
 is promptly investigated, and if the advertiser is in the 
 wrong he is denied further use of the columns. All three 
 publications have circulations exceeding half a million 
 copies. One inch space for one issue costs $84 in the 
 Ladies' Home Journal, $42 in the Delineator, and ^56 
 in the Youth's Companion. Even at these prices, which 
 seem extravagant to the uninitiated, it only costs one 
 cent to place this one-inch advertisement in these three 
 publications in the homes of 112 families, and, as it is 
 well known that these publications are read by at least 
 five persons to each copy, 560 readers are reached with 
 each one-inch advertisement at the cost of one cent. 
 Comparison of cost with circularizing or personal solicit- 
 ing is significant and instructive. I might say that I 
 have known one Chicago advertiser to receive over 1,000 
 letters in one day from an inch advertisement in one of 
 these publications. 
 
76 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVEETISING. 
 
 Ads Influence Circulation. 
 
 At this point I should hke to emphasize the statement 
 that because the Ladies' Home Journal and Delineator 
 refuse both proprietary remedies and investment adver- 
 tising, this action is not a reflection on either proprietary 
 medicines or investments as a business. The explana- 
 tion given by the advertising managers of these publica- 
 tions, and other publishers who refuse certain classes of 
 advertising, is that it is done in order to keep their col- 
 umns filled with announcements that contribute to hold- 
 ing the interest of subscribers. 
 
 That advertisements have this power is sho^v^l by the 
 generally admitted fact that the loss of the full-page 
 Wanamaker announcement by a certain Philadelphia 
 newspaper not long ago resulted in a dropping off of 
 about 20,000 daily circulation. Proprietary medicines 
 are better adapted for exploitation in daily papers and 
 media that reach the masses. There is just as much 
 difference in the quality of proprietary medicine adver- 
 tisements as in those of investments. There are some 
 publications which refuse both on the ground that they 
 have not the time to make the constant discrimination 
 necessary. There are others that accept everything that 
 comes along, and hence their columns are shunned by 
 the better class of proprietary medicine and investment 
 advertisers. The best method for a publisher to pursue 
 — and the one which is most generally adopted by those 
 whose service is suitable for either investments or pro- 
 prietary medicines — is to discriminate. The integrity, 
 business ability, and commercial honor of many of the 
 men engaged in the medicine business is fully as high as 
 that of the men who make the words "banker" and 
 
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 77 
 
 "broker" honorable in all of the trustworthiness that is 
 attached to the same. 
 
 The fact that men who want to fleece their f ellowmen 
 call themselves bankers and brokers is really, on second 
 thought, only a compliment to the business. That other 
 men seek to impose on their f ellowmen by offering them 
 remedies that are worse than useless is proof of the 
 efficiency of engaging in the business of selling curative 
 remedies. 
 
 The men who sell investments and proprietary medi- 
 cines with honor are those who are faithful to the trust 
 that the public places in their hands, and, while it is neces- 
 sary for men in both of these lines to establish their integ- 
 rity and efficiency at a very great cost of energy, time, 
 and effort, the reward that comes to them when once 
 the goal of success is reached is such as to justify the 
 attempt on the part of the most courageous and able 
 spirits. 
 
 Influence of Magazines. 
 
 The great magazines like Harper's, Century, Scrib- 
 ner's, World's Work, Review of Reviews, Munsey's, and 
 McClure's possess peculiar influence. They are read by 
 people who expect to find in their pages new lines of 
 thought and the records of the world's achievement in 
 art and literature. The money spent in the preparation 
 of the art and literary matter in these magazines is 
 enormous, but it is exceeded largely by that spent for 
 the same kind of talent in preparing the advertising 
 pages. The life of the magazine is long and its adver- 
 tising pages have far-reaching influence. 
 
 The weekhes lie midway between the monthly maga- 
 
78 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 zine and the daily newspaper. They have some of the 
 deliberative and crj^stallized character of the monthly, 
 with the actual news feature of the daily. The weekly 
 is usually specialized into such divisions as agricultural, 
 religious, society, political, and juvenile. The news fea- 
 ture is usually prominent, but it is news of a much more 
 limited scope than the daily. The comments and special 
 articles are generally directed to the particular class to 
 which the news features most strongly appeal. 
 
 The daily paper is the record of the day's events. 
 Everything that happens today that can have any human 
 interest to its readers is recorded. Accuracy is sacrificed 
 to speed. Gossip, rumor, opinions, impulse, and senti- 
 ment predominate over reflection, analysis, and patient 
 research. The daily paper lives but a day. Where is 
 yesterday's daily? An5i:hing of paramount value finds 
 its way eventually into the specialized weeklies or great 
 magazines, and finally into historical or cyclopedic rec- 
 ords. The daily newspaper is as essential to our busi- 
 ness and social life as the air we breathe or the food we 
 eat to our physical natures. 
 
 Street-Car Advertising. 
 
 The street car has become a powerful factor in adver- 
 tising. Our most important commercial thoroughfares 
 are those crowded with street cars. The more business, 
 the more street cars. The cards give opportunity for 
 display of color, and attract the eye and impress the 
 mind, and eventually create desire to test the articles 
 advertised. 
 
 Painted signboards and billboards, on which posters 
 
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 79 
 
 are placed, have great force. The amount of money in- 
 vested in billboards, the amount paid out in labor to 
 painters, billposters, and for paint, paper, and paste, 
 amounts to several millions annually. I am not one of 
 those who think the billboard and outdoor sign are offen- 
 sive. I am ready to prove that the billposters and sign- 
 painters would refuse to put up many of the advertise- 
 ments that regularly appear in the colunms of the daily 
 papers that find fault with outdoor displays. 
 
 If the encouragement of art is worthy, then commend 
 the painted bulletin and the billboard. They give em- 
 ployment to artists, and the demand for better grades of 
 art work is growing among users of posters just as fast 
 as among magazine or newspaper advertisers. 
 
 Vast Extent of the Business. 
 
 The business of buying and selling space in news- 
 papers, magazines, street cars, posters, and signs has 
 grown to enormous proportions. The men engaged in 
 it, both as buyers and sellers, are remunerated more hb- 
 erally than I believe the same grade of talent secures in 
 law, medicine, or any of the other professions. The tone 
 of the advertising business is higher than ten years ago. 
 The men of dignity, high character, and wide knowledge 
 are rapidly forging to the front. The most successful 
 sellers of space are those who seek only those advertisers 
 who have a proposition peculiarly adapted to the space 
 to be sold. The best sellers of space refuse to sell where 
 there will be certain dissatisfaction on the part of the 
 buyer. Hence, the advertising salesman, to be really 
 successful, must possess, in addition to selling ability. 
 
80 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 that of knowing what the buyer can and will do with 
 his purchase. The men who can do this are so scarce 
 that the demand is greater than the supply, and the 
 young man who gives indication of this peculiar ability 
 is so quickly snapped up and so eagerly sought for that 
 he positively requires the rare quality of balance and 
 ability to bear prosperity to make him permanently suc- 
 cessful. Advertising embodies all the pleasures of the 
 chase with the creative delights of seeing ideas material- 
 ize. It is an intoxicating business. A clear head, rigid 
 adherence to sound principles, and an ability to see things 
 as they are, and not become led away by the seductions 
 of one's own egotism or the excitement of a gay social 
 life, must be possessed by all who would win and hold 
 the honors so lavishly given to those who succeed in 
 advertising. 
 
 The bewildering number of opportunities to spend 
 money in advertising, the very few sellers of space who 
 have discrimination and honesty combined, and the large 
 number who are counterfeits have made the entering into 
 successful advertising about as difficult a thing as can 
 be imagined. 
 
 In the first place, publishers themselves kno,7 very 
 little about the space they sell and its possible use. The 
 mind which has the burden of purchasing editorial, liter- 
 ary, and reportorial abihty, the securing of subscribers, 
 and tlie mechanical production of a paper has about all 
 that it can carry. The publisher must and usually does 
 delegate his advertising department to another, and what 
 a mess he makes of it sometimes! The blowhard, the 
 man who panders to the lowest order of social instincts, 
 and the brazen bull-dozing type, are frequently found in 
 
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 81 
 
 positions where the publisher himself is a man of honor 
 and high character. In such cases the publisher has 
 simply failed to awaken to the importance of advertising 
 and its great possibilities if placed in charge of intelli- 
 gent and clean men. 
 
 Advertisings Agencies. 
 
 The advertising agency has evolved with the enormous 
 increase in the advertising business. The agent origin- 
 ally solicited for one or two papers and received his com- 
 mission direct from the paper. In time he began to get 
 all or a large portion of the contracts placed by a single 
 business house, and his character as a direct representa- 
 tive of the paper changed to that of a quasi-representa- 
 tive of the advertiser. In this way the agent lost ex- 
 clusive representation of his papers and found others 
 recognized as agents working in the same field. Then 
 ensued a period of cutting of rates and dividing of com- 
 missions, which made the agent a mere scalper and an 
 object of distrust by both publisher and advertiser. 
 
 The business has finally become adjusted by the adver- 
 tising agency becoming what I have often defined it — 
 an organization of men competent to select suitable ad- 
 vertising media, buy space, write advertisements, create 
 ideas for and make illustrations, submit copy to adver- 
 tiser for approval, then forward same to the publisher, 
 see that same is correctly executed, collect from the ad- 
 vertiser, pay the publisher, and co-operate with the adver- 
 tiser in conceiving, developing, and perfecting those 
 collateral forms of advertising effort which are necessary 
 to make a campaign fully successful. The advertising 
 agency's services cost the advertiser nothing, as they are 
 
 J.B.I.. Vol. 3— (5 
 
82 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVEETISING. 
 
 paid by the publisher in the commission or lower price 
 which is secured by the agency. 
 
 The pubUshers of the Ladies' Home Journal, Delin- 
 eator, Munsey's, McClure's, and a few other publica- 
 tions, recognize as agents only those who have signed a 
 contract not to rebate any portion of their commission 
 to the advertiser. The tendency of the better publication 
 is toward stabiUty of rates and recognition of agencies 
 limited to those w^ho are creative in their efforts to pro- 
 duce new advertisers. 
 
 The billposters have a very strong association, and 
 since its organization billposting has made wonderful 
 strides. The association does not allow its members to 
 grant commissions to any but authorized solicitors. Any 
 form of advertising space that has not sufficient inherent 
 strength for its o^vner to maintain a staple price for it 
 has not enough strength to become an advertising factor, 
 and as the unmistakable tendency of all strong owners 
 of space is to recognize the agency with a commission 
 making its sersdce free to the advertiser, the agency's 
 position is becoming more clearly defined and established. 
 
 Work of An Agency. 
 
 The modern advertising agency keeps on file complete 
 information as to the cost of space in practically every 
 publication, street car, and billposting plant in the 
 United States and Canada. Records of previous con- 
 tracts are kept tabulated for comparison. Personal 
 acquaintance with publishers and owners of space is 
 carefully cultivated, and the highest type of co-operation 
 urged and secured wherever possible. Artists, writers, 
 expert typesetters, printers, and engravers are constantly 
 
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 88 
 
 employed. The best methods and lowest prices for 
 making and shipping plates to the publisher are care- 
 fully considered. While the mechanical organization is 
 always subordinated to the professional feature of the 
 business, the equipment is always the best possible to 
 be secured, just as any other professional man surrounds 
 himself with the finest tools of his trade. 
 
 Functions of the Agent. 
 There is a popular misconception of the functions of 
 the agent. Many think he should know the technical 
 details of the business he is advertising. Life is too 
 short for him to learn that, and it would be a mistake 
 for him to attempt it. At the same time, a knowledge 
 of nearly everything, even though it be only superficial, 
 can be utilized in advertising better than in most any 
 other line of business. Of what value is the knowledge 
 of the manufacture of a camera to the advertising man? 
 He should know all that the camera will accomplish in 
 the hands of the person who buys it. He should study 
 it wholly from the buyer's point of view, and find as 
 many reasons as possible why it should be bought, and 
 use the most economical and efficient means to arouse 
 the possible buyer's desire to possess it. Knowledge of 
 sales methods and of the estabUshed channels of distribu- 
 tion are essential to the advertising agency, and the plan 
 it produces should incorporate suggestions for utilizing 
 the power of the advertising in all these ramifications. 
 
 The Follow-Up System. 
 
 It is in this further development of the advertising 
 idea to reach the consumer that what is known as the 
 "follow-up" system has been evolved. Formerly an 
 
84 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 advertiser used his advertising space merely to produce 
 publicity. This means that something which makes 
 every person remember there is such a thing as Tobey 
 hand-made furniture, even if you cannot locate in your 
 mind just when and where you saw an advertisement 
 of it. Users of magazine space in time found they could 
 not only secure publicity, but, without in any way 
 depreciating the value of the same, secure in addition 
 direct inquiries from people who are directly interested 
 in the goods advertised. These inquiries made a founda- 
 tion for a follow-up system, which generally consists of 
 some form of direct appeal to both the inquirer and the 
 dealer to whom the person making the inquiry is most 
 Ukely to be known. 
 
 To illustrate, the manufacturers of the Munsing 
 underwear offered in their magazine advertisements to 
 send a catalogue to all who would write for it. The 
 inquiries coming in were from such a desirable class of 
 people that the sales department was able to interest 
 dealers all over the country when they showed letters 
 from the dealers' own townspeople as an evidence of the 
 efficiency of the advertising. This made it desirable to 
 create more inquiries. So it was decided to offer a doll's 
 undershirt, showing the fabric, to every mother writing 
 in and giving the name of her dealer and the number 
 of children she bought underwear for. This resulted 
 in getting six times as many inquiries from the same 
 publications as before. It does not stand to reason that 
 more people saw or read the announcement, but it is 
 certain that the persons who replied were, in the very act 
 of writing, more deeply and permanently impressed 
 
COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVERTISING. 85 
 
 than if they had simply read the first advertisement for 
 many months. 
 
 In distributing samples in connection with the use of 
 street-car cards and outdoor display, in offering samples 
 for coupons published in papers ; in giving every dealer 
 in advance one or two packages of an article, previous 
 to starting the local newspaper advertising, the follow- 
 up system has been successfully incorporated into adver- 
 tising work. It is impossible to enumerate the many 
 ramifications of this idea. In several hundred cases that 
 have come imder my notice there have not been two alike, 
 and I have seen repeated attempts at imitation of an- 
 other's idea result disastrously, because the individual 
 requirements were not carefully studied and covered. 
 Proof of Commercial Value. 
 
 The one thing that should convince the average busi- 
 ness man who has not given much time and thought to 
 advertising is that it has commercial value of the highest 
 order; that it really is a higher evolution of commerce 
 and a marked improvement on average commercial con- 
 ditions, as is evidenced by the growing spirit on the part 
 of owners of advertising space to restrict the use of the 
 same to customers whose business is desirable, and also 
 to censor the text matter and, in some instances, even to 
 tone down the too free use of heavy-faced type, and 
 vary display. 
 
 The up-to-date, alert bill poster, instead of fighting 
 the restrictions in height, size, and quality of the bill- 
 board, is earnestly advocating them. The publisher who 
 knows that the confidence of the readers in his advertis- 
 ing columns is a valuable asset, is growing more careful 
 every day as to what those columns contain. The adver- 
 
86 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ADVEETISING. 
 
 tising man who realizes the professional quality of his 
 services where he can assist the advertiser to use the same 
 space in the same publications and make from 50 to 500 
 per cent more out of them than the advertiser could make 
 for himself, knows that his talent must be guarded and 
 exercised only when sincere conviction and enthusiasm 
 can be brought into requisition. There is a very judi- 
 cious golden mean between the cold, dissecting spirit of 
 the study or the laboratory and the spectacular appeal 
 to the imagination and the emotions. 
 
 Napoleon would have made a grand advertising man. 
 When sought for to quell a riot raging in the streets 
 of Paris, he was found in his attic, alone and diligently 
 studying the streets of the great city. When confronted 
 with the success of his later campaigns, and reahzing 
 the importance of having the masses with him, he care- 
 fully calculated the effect of waiting before announcing 
 his victories until he was able to date his dispatch with 
 the name of the palace of his defeated adversary. 
 
 This intelligent combination of accurate knowledge 
 of the real fundamental and subtle forces with the power 
 to attract and hold the ephemeral popular mind is the 
 wide range of ability that the advertising man who 
 succeeds today must possess. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 ESSENTIALS OF SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING. 
 
 BY WILLIAM STEAD^ JR. 
 
 What is the secret of success in advertising? 
 
 The best answer to this practical question is to quote 
 the opinions of a few advertising experts, setting forth 
 what they have found to be the essential elements of suc- 
 cessful advertising. 
 
 The first essential, according to universal agreement, 
 is that the goods advertised should be of good quality, 
 and the information disseminated of real value to the 
 public. 
 
 To advertise bad or indifferent articles is not good busi- 
 ness. It simply calls public attention to the worthless- 
 ness of the goods, and in the end is certain to injure the 
 firm which sells the inferior article. 
 
 The function of advertising is to direct the attention 
 of the public to an article and induce them to buy it. 
 That is all. The article advertised is judged on its own 
 merits. It stands or falls according to its own intrinsic 
 value or worthlessness, and no amount of advertising will 
 induce the disappointed customer to buy something 
 which he has found to be unsuitable. 
 
 Advertising which simply secures an occasional custo- 
 mer who will buy once or twice is not remunerative. To 
 pay, it must make regular customers, and this is impos- 
 sible unless the article advertised is good in itself. 
 
 87 
 
88 ESSENTIALS OF SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING. 
 
 Groods Must Have Value. 
 On this point it is interesting and instructive to recall 
 the opinion of one of the princes of advertisers, arrived 
 at after many years of practical experience in the "art of 
 advertising." He said: 
 
 "Those who deal with the public must be careful that 
 their goods are valuable ; that they are genuine and will 
 give satisfaction. When you get an article which you 
 know is going to please your customers, and that when 
 they have tried it they will feel that they have got their 
 money's worth ; then let the fact be known that you have 
 got it. Be careful to advertise it in some shape or other, 
 because it is evident that if a man has ever so good an 
 article for sale and nobody knows it, it will bring him no 
 return. If a man has a genuine article there is no way 
 he can reap more advantageously than by "showing" it 
 to the public in this way. He must of course have a 
 really good article, and one which will please his custo- 
 mers; anything spurious will not succeed permanently, 
 because the public is wiser than many imagine. Men 
 and women are selfish, and we all prefer purchasing 
 where we can get the most for our money; and we try 
 to find out where we can most surely do so. You may 
 advertise a spurious article, and induce many people to 
 call and try it once, but they will denounce you as an 
 imposter and swindler, and your business will gradually 
 die out and leave you poor. Few people can safely de- 
 pend upon chance custom. We all need to have our cus- 
 tomers return and purchase again." 
 
ESSENTIALS OF SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING. 89 
 
 ICnowledge of the Conditions. 
 The second secret of remunerative advertising is a 
 thorough and comprehensive knowledge of all the con- 
 ditions which affect advertising. This, all advertising 
 experts are agreed, is absolutely necessary, if advertising 
 is to be successful. 
 
 Special emphasis may well be laid upon the need of 
 wide knowledge and extended experience in all branches 
 of advertising. It is the general demand for special 
 knowledge and experience in advertising which has re- 
 sulted in the creation of the advertising agent. He be- 
 comes more and more indispensable as industrial condi- 
 tions become more complex. . 
 
 Many advertisers who have begun by conducting their 
 own advertising campaigns have, within the last few 
 years, haiKled this branch of their business over to an 
 agent. 
 
 Selection of a Medium. 
 
 One of the difficulties which confronts the advertiser 
 not possessed of special knowledge is well stated by a 
 large manufacturer who has advertised both on his own 
 account and through an advertising agent : 
 
 "The circulation of advertisements is the most diffi- 
 cult thing in the world to pass an opinion upon. I say 
 that it is impossible. The respective value of newspapers 
 and magazines as media one cannot gauge. Endeavors 
 have been made to obtain some comparative gauge, but 
 nothing like reliable or approximate figures are possible. 
 One must use one's own judgment, experience, and busi- 
 ness shrewdness." 
 
90 ESSENTIALS OF SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING. 
 
 This being so, it is natural that the man who spends 
 all his life in studying the conditions of advertising 
 should gradually become the sole connecting link be- 
 tween the man who desires to advertise and the general 
 public. 
 
 Two Great Essentials. 
 
 These two things — excellence of quality in the goods 
 advertised and thoroughness of knowledge in the adver- 
 tising of them — are the great secrets of the Art of Ad- 
 vertising. If they are disregarded, failure will almost 
 certainly be the result. 
 
 The general experience of advertisers points to the 
 value of two further maxims in advertising — first, ad- 
 vertisements should be simple^ and secondly, advertising 
 should be continuous. 
 
 "Advertise simply and advertise constantly," might 
 well be adopted as the motto of the enterprising busi- 
 ness house of to-day. 
 
 Joseph Addison the English poet and essayist, is al- 
 most the last person one would suspect of a practical 
 knowledge of advertising. Those, however, who watch 
 see more of the game than those who play, and Addison 
 had a keen insight into the underlying principles of 
 many things, and advertising among their number. 
 The whole problem which confronts the advertiser could 
 not be more concisely stated than in the following sen- 
 tence from The Taller: "The great art of writing ad- 
 vertisements is the finding the proper method to catch 
 the reader's eye, without which a good thing may pass un- 
 observed." 
 
ESSENTIALS OF SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING. 91 
 
 Catching the Public Eye. 
 
 What is the experience of the experts on this subject? 
 They are unanimously of opinion that the best way to 
 catch the public eye is by the most simple methods. An 
 intricate or confused advertisement is, in almost every 
 case, a bad advertisement. It does not arrest attention^ 
 and so does not possess one of the most essential quali- 
 ties of an advertisement. A few opinions of advertis- 
 ing experts will make this clear: 
 
 "Simphcity is the soul of advertising," a large adver- 
 tiser recently declared. "There are greedy people who 
 think the art is in filling a certain space. This is a mis- 
 take. Of course, the eye cannot take it in." 
 
 "Our experience has satisfied us that the best value is 
 obtained by advertising one article in one advertisement," 
 is the decided opinion of another large advertising firm. 
 
 Yet another advertising manager with a wide experi- 
 ence in the composition of advertisements is equally em- 
 phatic. He says: "It should be the aim of the writer 
 of advertisements to use such expressions as at once and 
 at one time appeal to the eye and impress themselves 
 upon it. This is the whole secret of the art, if art you 
 can call it. The words, phrases, and expressions which 
 most rapidly catch the eye are adjectives and adjectival. 
 But there is one thing which could not be overlooked in 
 the choice of adjectives; they must be appropriate, and 
 they should be startling. I make the endeavor to vary 
 my descriptions as much as possible, in order that the 
 pubhc which is to read the description may read the same 
 thing over and over again until it is, so to speak, fixed 
 upon the mind without the subject becoming wearisome 
 by constant repetition." 
 
02 ESSENTIALS OF SUCCESSFUL ADVEETISING. 
 
 The verdict of the experts is no less unanimous in 
 favor of continuoTis advertising. It is only necessary to 
 point to any of the large advertising firms of today, to 
 prove that constant advertising is both profitable and 
 essential to a business. Most of the large advertisers of 
 twenty years ago are still advertising to-day. No busi- 
 ness which has once proved the value of advertisement 
 dreams of ceasing to advertise and advertise all the time. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 BY C. E. ZIMMERMAN. 
 
 The "science of advertising" conveys to the minds of 
 many people an idea of something mystic or something 
 that can be understood only by a chosen few. 
 
 The dictionaries define science as "classified know- 
 ledge," therefore the science of advertising is simply 
 classified knowledge pertaining to advertising. 
 
 There is nothing mysterious about advertising and 
 there is a great deal of information or science on the 
 subject which any one can understand and apply. 
 
 Most of the sciences in use today, such as medicine, 
 surgery, etc., are the result of discoveries and efforts 
 lasting many centuries. Advertising, in the advanced 
 form in which it is understood and employed today, has 
 only been in use for perhaps twenty-five years, so while 
 many of the brainiest and cleverest men of the age are 
 working in this profession, there is naturally much know- 
 ledge still to be discovered upon the subject. 
 
 A hundred years ago it was customary for physicians 
 to bleed their patients. (This is not in the sense that some 
 of them are supposed to "bleed" their patients today, but 
 pertains to the custom of bloodletting. ) Now it is very 
 rarely indeed that this is heard of. 
 
 It has taken nearly a hundred years to develop the 
 giant engine which whirls us across the country at the 
 rate of sixty miles an hour. Engineering feats are ac- 
 complished today which would have been considered in- 
 
 93 
 
94 THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 credible even a generation ago. Ideas about medicine, 
 surgery, electricity and every science are continuously 
 changing, as more information is obtained on the dif- 
 ferent subjects, and while advertising is a plant of very 
 rapid growth, many new things are brought to light 
 about it which seem very simple when one thinks of them 
 and no doubt many ideas which are in vogue at the pres- 
 ent time will seem obsolete in a decade as the bloodletting 
 does to us at the present time. 
 
 Take, for instance, a heading like the following: 
 
 NEW THINGS IN FURS. 
 
 It was only a very few years ago that the discovery was 
 made that it took five times as long for the eye to read 
 this matter as it did when it appeared in italics as below: 
 
 New Things in Furs, 
 
 Most advertisers are finding this out, but you still see 
 some ads put out by people who are spending enormous 
 sums of money, but who haven't discovered it yet. 
 
 Most of the new things discovered in advertising are 
 like Columbus with the tgg\ they are simple and plain 
 enough after we see how it is done, but very hard to 
 solve before. 
 
 The Open and Closed Circular. 
 
 No doubt you have noticed different merchants dis- 
 tributing handbills over their city, or in the case of 
 smaller towns, placing them in the farmers' wagons or 
 carriages when they came to town to do their trading. 
 This practice became so common that an open circular 
 failed to attract any attention, and then it became the 
 custom in many cases to inclose the circular in an en- 
 
THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 95 
 
 velope. The merchant in cases of this kind would in- 
 variably put his business on the corner of the envelope, 
 sometimes place his advertisement all over the outside 
 of it. This was general with all concerns of any size that 
 did advertising in this way. 
 
 A few years ago one of the cleverest advertising men 
 in the country, noticing the waste of circular matter and 
 the slight attention it received, grasped the idea that if 
 these circulars had simply been inclosed in a plain envel- 
 ope which had been sealed, the person receiving it would 
 not have known what was inside and naturally would 
 have opened it to find out. Upon a keyed test being made, 
 it was found that ten times the results were secured from 
 circulars put out in this way that had been obtained 
 before. 
 
 Basic Principles for Analysis. 
 
 While, as stated previously, a great deal of know- 
 ledge has been accumulated pertaining to the different 
 methods and ways of advertising, all of which is very 
 simple and clear when it is once presented, there is far 
 more to learn than has ever been discovered. 
 
 The following basic principles, however, will enable 
 you to analyze any advertisement: 
 
 First — The ad must attract attention. This is the 
 primary requirement of any kind of salesmanship, and 
 advertising has often been called "salesmanship on 
 paper." 
 
 Second — It is necessary to appeal to some character- 
 istic in the people whom it is desired to reach. With the 
 usual merchandise lines pride is the most important. Then 
 comes need or necessity or comfort. And last, price* 
 
96 THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 Value of Attention. 
 It stands to reason that no one can be influenced by an 
 ad which he has not read and it is becoming more and 
 more the case every day that something unusual must be 
 furnished to attract the American people. 
 
 J. «. BASSETt. PfmL 
 1. r. €A88EU Vie* Pt. CLYDE BOWMAN. AmL CmIi. 
 
 rSAAC MNCOLN, Vk« PX. ALCX HIQHLANO. Awt, Caifk 
 
 H. N« BPULEY, Caahitr 
 
 DEPOSITS 
 
 United States Depositary 
 
 Aberdeen National Bank 
 
 Capital $100^000 Surplus $80,000 
 
 Your a<:cOunt would be apprecfated 
 
 No. 1.— An Old Fashioned Bank Ad. 
 
 The paper or magazine in which advertisements ap- 
 pear is full of type, so type alone fails to attract unless 
 it is displayed in a very unusual way. Wherever the sub- 
 ject permits of it the ideal way of securing attention is 
 by an illustration. 
 
THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 97 
 
 If you will simply turn over the leaves of a magazine 
 you will find that nine times out of ten the advertisement 
 which attracts your attention, the one which you see and 
 read, has a striking illustration which not only gets your 
 attention, but carries home the idea of what the advertiser 
 is talking about. Conmion type and threadbare state- 
 ments are as monotonous as the tick of a clock. You can 
 be in a room all day and never hear the tick of a clock, 
 just because it is the same thing over and over again. 
 The same thing is true of advertising which is mono- 
 tonous. 
 
 The average advertiser will spend a great deal of time 
 and study in writing an important letter, which is read 
 by only one person. How much more important, there- 
 fore, that an advertisement which is read by thousands, or 
 perhaps millions, should be carefully composed ! This is 
 all the more important in consideration of the expense 
 involved in printing it and profits which may be realized 
 if it is properly written. 
 
 Nothing should be included in an advertisement which 
 you would not say in conversation to the person you wish 
 to interest. 
 
 An Old-Fashioned Ad. 
 
 On the opposite page an illustration is given of a bank 
 ad which is intended to attract attention. Let us ana- 
 lyze this old-fashioned ad. 
 
 In the first place advertising is molding public opinion 
 in the favor of the advertiser. In this case it is an at- 
 tempt to create a demand, or rather a desixe in the minds 
 of the readers to possess a bank account. Is there any- 
 thing in an ad of this kind, to begin with, to make any- 
 one want to put a dollar in the bank; to bring money out 
 
 I.B.I., Vol. 3— r ■ ^ ^ 
 
98 
 
 THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 TDEREAL 
 CLOWNS 
 
 OF LIFE 
 
 Are Those 
 Without A 
 BAMMCOUNT 
 
 C«prrWlil IM9. by C. K. ZlmB«r«M C«.-*ll*. ' 
 
 npHE clowns of life are 
 
 those who always thought It 
 funny to spend all they made and 
 still think It funny that they can't 
 get ahead, and they will always 
 be funny till they cease to be 
 <:lowns and, start a bank account. 
 
 BANK OF COMMERCE 
 
 CAPITAL. 
 
 SURPLUS. 
 Offiom 
 
 DEPOSITS 
 
 Caabicr. 
 
 Vice-Prts.... 
 Att'i Caihkr 
 
 Dmcton 
 
 CITY 
 
 No. 2. — Suggestion for a Bank Ad. 
 
THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 99 
 
 of old stockings or tin boxes ? Is there any need shown, 
 pride appealed to in any way, or any inducements of- 
 fered ? 
 
 In most towns where an ad like this would appear, 
 every person in the town would know the name of the 
 bank president and officers and directors. Hardly one 
 person in a hundred who did not have a bank account 
 would even know what a surplus or undivided profits 
 mean. So the ad not only fails to attract, to appeal to 
 the need or value of a bank, but it is practically meaning- 
 less as well. 
 
 Bank Ads That Appeal. 
 
 Compare this ad with either one of the two reproduc- 
 tions, Nos. 2 and 3. "The Real Clowns of Life are 
 Those Without a Bank Account," or "It Is not What 
 you Make but What you Save that Counts." 
 
 The first illustration given is unlike any illustration 
 you have ever seen in an advertisement and it is sure to 
 attract the attention of practically every reader who 
 turns the page. Note also how strong the appeal to pride 
 is. The person who has not saved any money and who 
 has not "got along*' is told that he will always be a 
 clown until he ceases to be funny and starts a bank ac- 
 count. This ijs a strong statement and one that might 
 be offensive if the illustration were not used. However 
 this takes away the subtle sting. 
 
 The next advertisement. No. 3, shows men receiving 
 their pay, and recalls to the minds of the readers the fact 
 that they are getting money from some source every 
 week or every month, and when they get it, every dollar 
 they spend needlessly is only money that they will have 
 
100 THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 IT S NOT WHAT 
 OUMAKE 
 UTWHAT 
 
 OU SAVE 
 THAT 
 
 COUNTS 
 
 O w yrtrttiw^wci.) 
 
 EVERY dollar that you 
 spend foolishly, every 
 
 proportionate amount of money that 
 you earn that it would be possible to 
 save and do not, is only money that 
 you have to work for again. On the 
 other hand every dollar you put in 
 the bcink is money that is going to 
 constantly work for you. Which is 
 the best; money always working for 
 you, or you always working for your 
 money. Come in and start that 
 bank account Don't put it off an- 
 other day. 
 
 BANK OF~COMMERCE 
 
 CAPITAL SURPLUS....^ DEPOSITS 
 
 orriccr* 
 
 Vice-Pm 
 
 Aw'i CMhicr. 
 
 CITY 
 
 No. 3. — Suggestion for a Bank A4. 
 
THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 101 
 
 to work for again. This ad appeals to need and necessity 
 more strongly than to pride. 
 
 The truth about any business must be presented in 
 
 a different light continuously or it soon becomes mono- 
 tonous, for people are too busy to read the same thing 
 twice or anything which is not terse, convincing and 
 logical. 
 
 Advertising Must Create Demand. 
 
 At one time the man who dropped a grain of corn in 
 the ground and covered it up with a hoe or his foot was 
 farming. Today he may be planting something, but he 
 IS not farming. At one time the man who put something 
 in the paper was advertising, but today he is not adver- 
 tising any more than the man would be farming with 
 his foot — and he cannot expect to succeed any better. 
 
 At one time it was only necessary for the merchant 
 to have the town crier announce that he had received 
 new goods, and people would flock to him to buy. It is 
 not so very many years ago that the traveling man sim- 
 ply had to show his samples and take orders. With the 
 growth of different commercial hues, with the keen com- 
 petition that has entered all fields and the rapid progress 
 in commercial facilities, all of this is done away with. 
 The salesman of today is not a mere order-taker. He 
 must be able to persuade people and to present his prop- 
 osition to them intelligently and convincingly. The 
 old-fashioned salesman, however, is not any more out 
 of date or any less of a success than the old-fashioned ad- 
 vertiser. The advertisement of today must create a de- 
 mand, must mold public opinion in favor of the ad- 
 vertiser. 
 
102 THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 Publicity. 
 In the business world the word "publicity" covers a 
 multitude of sins — and meanings. Although publicity 
 has made a wonderful success of some things, its failure 
 has cost money aggregating milHons. 
 
 Perhaps the greatest success today due to publicity 
 is the national game, baseball. This game would never 
 have reached the place it has in the United States except 
 for the publicity given it through the newspapers. 
 
 In advertising, however, publicity must do something 
 more than merely give prominence to a name. There 
 are two kinds of publicity as applied to advertising. The 
 first is general publicity, which is simply acquainting 
 people with the qualities, uses and perhaps the manu- 
 facturing processes of an article ; in other words, the gen- 
 eral information about it which interests people and 
 creates a demand for the goods. 
 
 Direct publicity, the other kind, is where immediate re- 
 sults are sought, such as a demand which will bring 
 actual orders, not inquiries or a favorable impression in 
 the minds of the readers. This kind of pubHcity is be- 
 ing used less and less in the advertising field today. The 
 average American who sees, for instance, the name of a 
 cigar on a billboard repeatedly will, upon going into a 
 cigar store and not seeing a brand which he has been ac- 
 customed to smoking, nine times out of ten call for the 
 cigar whose name he has seen so prominently displayed. 
 However, when it comes to getting people to take up a 
 new article of diet, or when it becomes necessary in any 
 way to create a demand, this kind of publicity will not 
 do it. 
 
THE SCIENCE OF ADYERTISING. 103 
 
 The Experience of ** Sunny Jim/' 
 There is scarcely a student of advertising who is not 
 familiar with "Sunny Jim," a character which cost hun- 
 dreds of thousands of dollars to impress upon the minds 
 of the American people, and today the name is recog- 
 nized wherever it is mentioned. However, there was noth- 
 ing about "Sunny Jim," who was a weakling in stature 
 as well as in intellect, to impress any one with the pro- 
 duct he was supposed to advertise, either as a brain or a 
 strength food. While it seems easy indeed to realize that 
 such advertising could not pay, it cost a fortune to 
 prove it. 
 
 On the other hand take rolled oats for an example, 
 or the common breakfast food which is today called oat- 
 meal. Twenty or thirty years ago rolled oats could only 
 be procured from the druggists and was used as a laxa- 
 tive. Today, however, through constant advertising, as 
 a valuable food, a healthful food, etc., it can be found on 
 practically every breakfast table and bill of fare in the 
 land. 
 
 We are reminded of another failure along the line 
 mentioned above, that of a breakfast food concern that 
 should have profited by the experience of "Sunny Jim." 
 They sent young ladies to canvass cities and to go from 
 house to house giving a dollar bill in each block to the 
 householder wherever they found a package of their 
 breakfast food. The young ladies were good-looking, 
 were stunningly dressed as Miss Columbia, and certainly 
 were ideal from the standpoint of attracting attention. 
 However, there was nothing about them, or about the 
 plan, to impress any one with the value of the article 
 as a food product — and the expensive campaign was a 
 miserable failure. 
 
104 THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 Must Mold Public Opinion. 
 
 Thus we see that when it is desired to get people to 
 take up a new article of food or a new method of living, 
 it is necessary to use logic; in other words, to create a de- 
 mand and mold public opinion in favor of the article. 
 
 Fashion advertising, which has always been accom- 
 panied by illustrations, has changed the figure of the 
 American woman a half-dozen times in almost as many 
 years. 
 
 Ten years ago the man who did not have a tailor-made 
 suit, either could not afford it, or was not located where 
 he could avail himself of the services of a tailor. Today, 
 owing to the advertising by the ready-made clothing 
 manufacturers, who tell how well their garments are tail- 
 ored, and present in a logical way the advantages of get- 
 ting a suit ready-made, "all ready to put on," "ready to 
 walk out in," many men buy ready-made clothes and 
 often pay more than they formerly paid a tailor. It is 
 nothing unconmion in a city like Chicago to find ready- 
 made suits selling from $35 to $60. This became true to 
 such an alarming extent that recently the tailors in dif- 
 ferent cities banded together, secured the services of a 
 prominent advertising man and put on an advertising 
 campaign, using the same advertising in different cities, 
 and presenting their side of the argument, stating the 
 advantages that a customer would enjoy by having his 
 clothes made by a good tailor instead of buying them 
 ready-made. 
 
 A General Publicity Campaign. 
 
 By a "general publicity campaign" we mean the kind 
 of a publicity campaign that pays, and a world of 
 
THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 105 
 
 trouble and a lot of loss would be done away with if the 
 dealer would only remember that advertising is salesman- 
 ship on paper and would make his advertisement talk as 
 he would wish his salesman to talk if he were meeting the 
 people personally. 
 
 There is a vast amount of difference between what the 
 ordinary business man would say to a man personally 
 and the language he uses to him in a letter. And there 
 is just as great a difference between what the average 
 advertiser would say to a prospective customer person- 
 ally, or would say to him in a letter, or would want his 
 salesman to say to him, and the advertisement in a paper 
 or magazine which he expects to influence a customer. 
 
 Therefore you can see that the first thing necessary in 
 a general publicity campaign is a thorough knowledge 
 of the goods or business to be advertised. No matter if 
 attention is secured by attractive illustration, the adver- 
 tising will not pay unless it is logical and convincing. 
 People are always wilHng to be entertained and if a sales- 
 man wants someone to talk to he can easily collect 
 a crowd on the street corner, but this doesn't sell his 
 goods. If you want people to read a joke or look at a 
 pretty picture at your expense, and you make it attrac- 
 tive, they will do so, but this won't sell goods. 
 
 Seeing is believing, and it is much easier to illustrate 
 by a publicity campaign which has been remarkably suc- 
 cessful than it is to lay down technical rules for a success- 
 ful one. Take for instance, a certain Pork and Beans, 
 which you have seen for the last year or two. The ad- 
 vertising man who handled their campaign, one of the 
 cleverest in the country, made a canvass of the situation 
 and found a number of competitors already in the field. 
 
106 
 
 THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING, 
 
 TBM XiTOBflUir KVKMtmO POSt 
 
 The Hard Way 
 
 Pick over the beans the day before, ind aoak 
 them over nighL 
 
 -Boil them next day in two waters— not leas than 
 an hour and a halL Then bake them three hour*. 
 
 One must keep^e stove going fuU blast half a 
 day— just for a dish of beana. It's about as much 
 trouble as roaAing a turkey. 
 
 Then serve the beans before they sour— ttie sooner 
 the better. And serve them until they're' used up. 
 
 When beans are wanted again, repeat the Xfr- 
 bour process of soaking, boiling and baking. 
 
 That is the old way — the Bard way. 
 
 One might m» well spin her own linen, weave her 
 own carpets, make her own soap — as they did in 
 die olden days. 
 
 The Easy Way 
 
 Take the can from the shelf and pour the bcaoa 
 on a plate. Put the slice of pork on tofv 
 
 The meal can be aerved in a jii^ 
 
 If you want the beana hot. heat the can befara 
 opening. They'll taste then as though tbey caxM 
 direct from the oven. 
 
 Keep a doxen cana on hand — a dosen nteals 
 always ready. When guests drop in unexpectedly 
 there's something good to serve. 
 
 Three to five meala a week — among the beat 
 meals you have^arc thua prepared without any 
 (rouble. 
 
 A skilful chef has done all the work for yoo. and 
 it cosu less to employ him than to do it youiaell 
 
 That ia the Van Camp way 
 
 
 The Nitrogen in Beans 
 
 It reqnirea a rare soil, rich in nitrogen, to grow 
 good navy beans. For beans aro 33 per cent 
 nitrogenoua. 
 
 Vaa Camp'a come from Michigaa. They »t* 
 picked oat by hand from the choicest beana that 
 grow. They are so choice that they coat aa laal 
 year, on the average, fxaj per bushel 
 
 Such beana are S4 per cent nutriment. They are 
 richer in food value than meat or eggs or c hees e. 
 
 Por oar sauce we we the Livingston Stone toma- 
 toes—the whole solid tomato, ripened on the vine. 
 
 This tomato sauce costs us 6ve times what 
 common sauce would coat But, when you taste 
 Van Camp's with thia tomato 
 sauce baked in, you know why 
 we pay the price. 
 
 There is 00 other way to get 
 such baked beans as you get 
 when you buy Van Camp'a. 
 
 P0RK><'BIANS 
 
 TLmSam: 10. tS mi 30 tmlb pm cm 
 
 We Multiply the Heat 
 
 Van Camp's beans are baked in steam oweaa^ 
 The heat applied is a i-a times as great as a 4fy 
 oven appliea to the middle beans in a diah. 
 
 Because of that heat. Van Camp'a beans dig a * 
 aa home-baked beana never do. That's «ky 
 Van Camp's don't ferment and form gaa. 
 
 And Van Camp's beana are not crisped like yoar 
 home-baked beana They are not broken aa4 
 muahy. but nut-like and whole. That is the way 
 people like them. 
 
 One can't bake such beans without a steam 
 oven — without years of experience — without ttaa 
 rareat akilL 
 
 That's why millioAS of housewives have adopted 
 Van Camp's, and the people 
 they serve are glad of it 
 
 Please think what tbey gaiaia 
 convenience —what tbey save ia 
 trouble and rime. Then find ool 
 how good Van Camp's ara. 
 
 Van Camp Packing Company, '^^i' Indianapolis, Ind. 
 
 No. 4. — ^A Successful Magazine Ad. 
 
THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 107 
 
 A careful analysis of the situation showed that about 10 
 percent of the beans sold were canned beans and the com- 
 petitors already in the field were fighting each other for 
 the business, telling how their brand was better than the 
 others, some of their advertising really hurting the 
 canned bean business more than it did it good. 
 
 The manager who was handling the publicity cam- 
 paign decided to let the competitors fight for this 10 
 per cent of the business, and go after the 90 per cent of 
 people who cooked their beans at home. You will notice 
 that their advertisements, of which a specimen is given 
 on the opposite page, show the many advantages of using 
 the cooked Pork and Beans over cooking them at home, 
 the time it saves, how much better the beans are cooked, 
 the superior quality of the beans used, the rich, sparkhng 
 tomatoes that are used for sauce, etc. 
 
 The presentation could only be made in this way from 
 a thorough knowledge of the ingredients and of the in- 
 dustry from start to finish. 
 
 The managers of this concern intended, when their 
 bean business reached a certain point, to let it run itself 
 and advertise another department of their canned goods 
 business. As soon as they stopped advertising, however, 
 business began to fall off and they found it necessary 
 to stimulate the business with constant advertising. 
 
 In a general publicity campaign the more the man- 
 ager knows of the business the more logically and the 
 more convincingly he can present his arguments after 
 getting the attention of the readers, the more successful 
 and profitable the campaign will be. 
 
 Perhaps of all general publicity campaigns the most 
 difficult to handle is that of the local dealer whose busi- 
 
108 THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 ness is right at the door of his customers. As familiar- 
 ity breeds contempt it is not an easy matter, especially 
 with his limited advertising facilities, always to present 
 his story in a new and attractive light. In a case of this 
 
 Nov is the Time to Biiy 
 to Save lllloney 
 
 One lot of Men's Suits and Overcoats former 
 price $10.00 & £12.50 now 
 
 $5.00 
 
 One lot of Childrens' Suits former price $2.50 to 
 $4.00 now 
 
 98c 
 
 One lot of knee pants former price 50c 6t 750 
 now 
 
 19c 
 
 One lot of Shirts former price $1.00 & $1.50 nov 
 
 S9C 
 
 Big cut in prices in all Departments. Come and 
 be convinced before buying elsewhere. 
 
 The Huhn Clothing Co. 
 
 ^ Morris Huhn, Manlager. 
 
 No. 6.— An Old-Fashioned "Bargain'* Ad. 
 
 kind more than any other it is fatal to make an assertion 
 without giving a legitimate reason. "Talk is cheap" and 
 people are getting more and more "from Missouri" every 
 day, hence they do not place any credence in a bargain 
 or a low price unless a logical reason is given. 
 
THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 109 
 
 We reproduce some examples of advertisements which 
 illustrate this point very nicely. The first is an old- 
 fashioned "bargain" clothing ad, which gives no reason 
 
 iVERSTOCKED 
 
 in order to relieve 
 
 ourselves from the position we 
 
 %ifere found in by Father Time, we nave borrowed 
 his acvthe and nave been using it on our prices, 
 ezpectmg therebv not only to enjoy a share of the 
 patronage of the public the coming year, but to convince them that to buy 
 «laewhere is a loss of money and to look elsewhere u a loss of time. 
 
 No. 6. — ^Heading for a Bargain Ad. with a Eeason. 
 
 for the special sale; the others appeal to the reader by 
 giving logical reasons. 
 
 
 RL6MiD 
 
 QPTIMISTIC™that*s the 
 ^-^ story. Not that our trade 
 
 this season wasn't good, because we are 
 more than satisfied, but in this business we 
 always have to be on the safe side In buying, 
 so we are not ashamed to admit we are over- 
 loaded on seasonable lines and we're going 
 to unload. There Is only one way to do this, that 
 Is to make prices you cannot resist. If you come 
 
 loto our store tfurlng Um ovorhMulcd sale, you go ridicr Uion you 
 
 No. 7.— Another Suggestion for a Bargain Heading. 
 
110 
 
 THE SCIENCE OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 ^r,v^. 
 
 TpHE business end of a busi- 
 -■• ness cyclone has struck 
 
 our prices and literally blown them to pieces. 
 This is not due to a short bank account; 
 an overstock or unseasonable goods, but 
 
 ' simply our policy to «>eve«' carry anything over 
 
 We are determined to clear up aD of this season's goods 
 
 and to make it doubly interettinfl all merchandUe U included in thU tale. 
 
 No. 8.— Also a Logical Bargain Heading. 
 
 * 'Advertising is to businejis what steam is to machin- 
 ery, the grand propelling power.*' 
 
 — Lord Macaulay, 
 
 **The great art of writing advertisements is the find- 
 ing the proper method to catch the reader's eye, without 
 which a good thing may pass unobserved." 
 
 — Joseph Addison. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 ADVERTISING A REGULAR LINE. 
 
 BY C. E. ZIMMERMAN. 
 
 The merchant who advertises a regular line is in many 
 respects like the salesman who handles one. 
 
 The salesman who has an established line or trade m a 
 certain business, like the wholesale grocer, for instance, 
 ordinarily does not possess or use the selling ability of 
 a man handling a specialty. 
 
 There is a certain amount of prestige carried by the 
 name of the house which he represents ; he has an estab- 
 lished trade and devotes most of his time and work to 
 keeping it in line. 
 
 The specialty salesman has to make new customers in 
 order to make money and the good specialty salesman us- 
 ually makes at least three times the income of a good 
 salesman handhng a staple line. This is simply due to 
 the fact that, although his product is harder to sell, he 
 works harder, and uses more salesmanship ability in his 
 work. 
 
 The merchant who advertises a regular line, like the 
 salesman on the road for an established line of trade, 
 does not have as strong advertising as the concern that 
 must succeed or fail on the strength of one ad. 
 
 Analysis of Advertising. 
 Not many merchants or concerns advertising a regular 
 line, however, would advertise unless they expected or 
 hoped thereby to gain new customers. If they would 
 
 111 
 
112 ADVERTISING A REGULAR LINE. 
 
 carefully analyze their advertising, they would see how 
 unprofitable it is from this standpoint. 
 
 In the town of any size from a thousand up will be 
 found two or more general stores, each running the same 
 class of ads, and each expecting to gain new customers 
 from their advertising. If Brown is using the same kind 
 of advertising as Smith, how can Brown expect to get 
 Smith's customers unless Smith gets his? The people 
 who are regularly trading with Brown will be likely to 
 pay some attention to his ads. The people who are regu- 
 larly trading with Smith will do hkewise. There is noth- 
 ing in Smith's advertising to interest the customers of 
 the other concern, and vice versa. 
 
 Brown should take into consideration these facts as 
 well as the following: That the reader of the paper in 
 which his ad appears does not take the paper for the 
 purpose of reading his ads ; that there are three parts to 
 the paper, the news part of it, the editorial part, and the 
 advertising part. On the news and editorial parts of 
 the paper, for which the customer reads it, trained minds 
 are at work practically day and night packing every 
 column and every paragraph with items of interest to 
 the readers. The new customer whom he wishes to 
 reach is not interested in his business. Therefore it is 
 necessary for him to get the attention of this customer in 
 some way. 
 
 Getting the Reader's Attention. 
 
 Let us consider the various ways by which he may at- 
 tempt to do this: They are: 
 
 1. Bold type. 
 
 2. Strong statements, such as fire, flood and damage 
 sales. 
 
ADVEETISING A BEGULAR LINE. 118 
 
 8. Bargains. 
 
 4. Stock cuts. 
 
 5. Illustrations. 
 
 Use of Type. 
 
 In attempting to secure the reader's attention with 
 type the advertiser of a regular line is attempting almost 
 an impossibility and it is certainly an impossibility to at- 
 tract a large number of news readers in this way, no 
 matter how convincing the statement or how good the 
 display used. The papers are full of type. It is com- 
 
 Do Your Business In 
 A Safe Way 
 
 4 The clieck account demands that you ktep your 
 money. in the bank where we employ every means to 
 make it secure. 41 We are responsible for loss when, 
 funds arc in our care. 4 With money m the bank, 
 you may issue checks against it. d|f Your checks are 
 good only when properly signed, and can be cashed 
 only when signed by the party to whom you made 
 the check. 4 The check account is an absolutely 
 safe convenience which the bank furnishes without 
 charge to the customer. 
 
 PEOPLES' SAVINGS BANK 
 
 NEVADA. IOWA I 
 
 No. 14. — Use of Type to Attract Attention. 
 
 mon. People do not care to look at it; they do not have 
 the time to read something in which they are not inter- 
 ested; in other words, it is the old story of monotony — 
 it is as monotonous as the tick of a clock and receives as 
 little attention. 
 
 Pick up newspapers and magazines yourself, turn 
 them over and see how few ads of this character — that is, 
 
 1.6.1,. Vol. 3—8 
 
114 
 
 ADVERTISING A REGULAR LINE. 
 
 relying solely on the use of bold type — get any consid- 
 eration or even attention from yourself. 
 
 Use of Strong Statements. 
 
 Although at one time fire sales, damage sales, etc., 
 were alluringly advertised, they have gradually lost their 
 power to attract, until they have died a slow but certain 
 death for this purpose. 
 
 Firms using this kind of advertising proceeded large- 
 ly on two principles — that the American people like to 
 be humbugged and that there is "a sucker bom every 
 minute." 
 
 ■ ^--^ ^ ■ ■ f^|i^^:D iiM^^ 
 
 ALTHOUGH summer 
 
 is not half gone, several choice 
 
 lines of our lawns, dimities and muslins are. 
 
 C**v««*4 vm It t. C H at I — o» •• 
 
 We do not want any summer remnzmts and have set prices 
 
 so we won't have any. They'll malce splendid dresses for you 
 
 just the time you need them and enable you to finish the summer %nth a 
 
 couple of new, light, cool dresses. 
 
 No. 12. — ^Another Logical Bargain Ad. 
 
 The first statement is getting to be a thing of the 
 past and while the "sucker" theory may prove true, 
 there are a great many people fishing for "suckers" and 
 most of them can only be caught once, so the profit to be 
 derived from them is gradually eliminated. Besides, the 
 average person whose trade is profitable to a concern is 
 not looking for damaged goods, and the unprofitable or 
 cheap trade that any concern might acquire by catering 
 
ADVERTISING A REGULAR LINE. 115 
 
 to them would be lost many times over with the intelli- 
 gent and good class of patrons which is open to the 
 properly advertised business in any community. 
 
 Use of Bargains. 
 The word Bargain is a stimulant. A sitimulant may 
 be an advantage to a business at times, the same as it is 
 to men at times. However, we all know well what hap- 
 pens to the man who uses stimulants to excess. They 
 soon produce a weakening, instead of a strengthening 
 
 Just received them 
 
 ^ —we have opened them 
 
 up and we are proud of our selection — 
 dandy, snappy muffs, rich handsome 
 neckpieces, in fact choice furs from every 
 standpoint of quality and style. 
 
 flNot only did we buy the right goods, but we 
 bought them at the right prices and give you the 
 benefit of both. 
 
 No. 13 — Heading for Dry Goods Ad., which should be followed 
 by description of goods and prices. 
 
 effect, and the man who makes their use a habit has to 
 keep it up or grows much weaker than he was before he 
 started. It is the same way with the business which a- 
 dopts the policy of bargain stimulants. They do alttract 
 a certain class of trade, but it is not profitable and the 
 concern not only loses its desirable patronage, but has to 
 keep up the bargain business or lose the bargain-hunters 
 too. 
 
 We all remember the old fable of the boy who went out 
 every day and cried "Help, help I wolf, wolf I" Others 
 
116 ADVERTISING A REGULAR LINE. 
 
 ran to his aid, but no wolf was in sight. After this was 
 repeated several times no further attention was paid to 
 the cries for help. Finally one day the wolf did come 
 and no attention being paid to the cry for help the boy 
 was devoured. 
 
 The same thing is true of the merchant who is continu- 
 ally crying "Bargains!" People soon recognize the fact 
 that they are not bargains, that goods cannot be sold for 
 less than they are worth, and so pay no attention to his 
 cries. If he should offer bargains they have no reason to 
 pay any attention or believe him, for like the boy who 
 cried for help, he has been crying them all the time, when 
 he really had no bargains, so he is not believed when he 
 does have them to offer. 
 
 In this connection let us say that there is very little 
 good at any time in offering a bargain through an ad- 
 vertisement without giving a logical reason for so doing 
 and giving a detailed description of the goods. You can 
 pick up almost any newspaper in the country and see 
 $15 suits for sale at $9.98 or other attractive figures. 
 This does not mean anything when the claim of similar 
 bargains is so common, and particularly so when a de- 
 scription of the garment or article is not given. 
 
 When it is necessary or desirable to advertise a bar- 
 gain, give a logical reason for it. If it is a ladies' suit, 
 describe in detail the material, the style, the way it ia 
 made, that it is sewed with silk, button holes are hand- 
 made, etc., etc. 
 
 Remember that you are to make the description attrac- 
 tive enough to make the reader want to buy. The mere 
 mention of a suit and the price certainly will not do this. 
 The description given of such an article should be in the 
 
ADVERTISING A REGULAR LINE. 
 
 iir 
 
 same language as you would use in describing the gar- 
 ment to a customer if you were talking to one. 
 
 If in an advertisement of this kind you have an illus- 
 tration which gets the customer's attention, give a logical 
 reason for the bargain and then, if the description is 
 
 48 Madison Str««t 
 
 Easter Apparel 
 
 For Women 
 
 ThoM of us who know w$ nmst 
 have and are going to get new 
 apparel before, or for Easter. Ut 
 %is start in today to pick oh$ thai 
 which is necessary. 
 
 Whetfier yoa know it or not; 
 it it true that many of tfao moat 
 exdunTO wearoa and ahadingt 
 vrill be quickly uiapped up and 
 %rill be gone f orerer — impcadble 
 to get nioce of tnein. 
 
 Choice now is greatest, prices 
 are low for auick response, and 
 more time both for yon and for us 
 to devote to your choice. So 
 modest are the prices that a happy 
 selection may be made at 
 
 $25, $30, $35, $40, $45, $50 t^j^ 
 
 No. 15.— Use of Stock Cut. 
 
 plain and attractive, you have a right to expect to inter- 
 est the reader, but otherwise you cannot hope to do so. 
 Use of Stock Cuts. 
 Stock cuts are almost as common as type, and have as 
 little distinction; in other words, they are as monotonous 
 
118 ADVERTISING A EEGITLAE LINE. 
 
 and consequently attract as little attention. The sales- 
 man with a poor personality or one which does not fit his 
 line of business cannot expect to be successful. Adver- 
 tising has been called, in one sense of the word, salesman- 
 ship on paper. 
 
 The stock cut fails to get attention because of its com- 
 monplace appearance; besides it has no personahty and 
 usually does not carry home the idea of the advertise- 
 ment; in other words, it does not fit, it is not "built to 
 measure" of the ad, but is ready-made. The merchant 
 who uses it usually has only four or five cuts that he 
 could possibly make a selection from. This is just like 
 a saleman getting a suit of clothes from a stock of four 
 or five ready-made suits. He can find something that 
 will cover his person, but it most assuredly does not look 
 as if it was built for him, or give him a pleasing perso- 
 nality, and he could not hope to succeed in this kind of a 
 garb. 
 
 Proper Illustrations. 
 
 The proper illustration answers every purpose for 
 which it was intended. In the first place it is distinctive. 
 It is totally different from the remainder of the paper. 
 There is nothing commonplace about it. It will catch 
 the eye of practically every reader who turns the page. 
 
 The art work used in making a good illustration is us- 
 ually superior to that of any other in the magazine or 
 newspaper in which it appears. People like to look at 
 pictures. Besides, "seeing is believing" and conse- 
 quently it is more attractive from every standpoint. 
 
 The proper illustration also carries home the idea of 
 the advertisement, and makes it easy for the reader to 
 understand what the advertiser is talking about. The 
 
ADVERTISING A REGULAR LINE. 119 
 
 American people are too busy to wade through some- 
 thing that is hard to read or hard to see, or difficult in 
 any way to understand. The illustration, therefore, is 
 the key to the advertisement. 
 
 Continuity of Advertising. 
 
 The next important feature to consider in advertising 
 a regular line is continuity of advertising. 
 
 Molding public opinion might be compared to heat- 
 ing a vessel of water. It takes a certain sized flame to do 
 the heating properly. It would be impossible to heat a 
 big kettle of water with a match or candle. Likewise it 
 is not practical to do a big business with a small adver- 
 tising appropriation. 
 
 It would be a waste to use a furnace to heat a small 
 kettle of water. In the same way it would not be profit- 
 able to spend a big advertising appropriation for a bus- 
 iness which was not capable of being expanded. 
 
 In heating a kettle of water with a flame of the proper 
 volume the water does not begin to boil at once. It re- 
 quires a steady, persistent flame to bring about the de- 
 sired result. If the flame was turned on for a few min- 
 utes, then off awhile, then on again, it would require a 
 much greater amount of heat to make the water boil than 
 when the flame is steady and persistent. The same is 
 true in advertising a regular line. 
 
 An advertising campaign for a business of this nature 
 is really a chain. Every ad is a link in the chain which 
 molds public opinion and no chain is stronger than its 
 weakest link. 
 
 The American people are too busy to remember things 
 concerning other people's business unless they are con- 
 
120 ADVERTISING A REGULAK LINE. 
 
 stantly kept before them. There have been endless ex- 
 amples along this line. 
 
 Take the case of a patent medicine which ten years 
 ago was known all over the country. The makers placed 
 the credit for their popularity in the merit of their goods 
 instead of in their advertising, where it justly belonged. 
 They discontinued advertising for several years, with 
 the result, it is said, that their business gradually dimin- 
 ished. When they saw it was dying a slow but positive 
 death they started to advertise again. However, they 
 used the same kind of advertising they did ten years be- 
 fore, with few illustrations and pictures — and they are 
 now practically out ot the field. 
 
 A few years ago a "Toffee King," was known all 
 over the continent. His confection was sold through- 
 out the United States at from 33 1/3 to 55 per cent 
 above the similar product sold by local confectioners. 
 Upon the discontinuance practically of all his advertis- 
 ing his business after the lapse of a year was almost 
 forgotten. 
 
 People Soon Forget. 
 
 Perhaps not one citizen of the United States in ten can 
 today name the last four Vice-Presidents. Probably 
 only a very small proportion could tell who was Presi- 
 dent when the Wilson bill was passed by Congress. 
 When people cannot remember matters and events of na- 
 tional importance they certainly cannot be expected to 
 remember or hold in esteem any one of the thousand and 
 one businesses that are constantly before them, especially 
 when they are subject to the force and competition of 
 all other advertisers. If no other patent medicine were 
 
ADVERTISING A REGULAR LINE. 121 
 
 on the market, perhaps the patent medicine referred to 
 above would still be enjoying a nice business, but being 
 subject to the force of competition of every business 
 through the advertising columns of every newspaper 
 and every magazine going into a home, no business can 
 expect to progress today which does not advertise con- 
 tinuously. 
 
 In many small towns, it is true, we can find businesses 
 which have been established forty years or twenty-five 
 years and which have an old and faithful Une of patron- 
 age. Every business of this kind, however, is becoming 
 more and more subject to the competition of advertising, 
 and if they do not advertise they are gradually dying 
 a slow but certain death. 
 
 A business is either getting stronger or weaker every 
 day and while the business not advertised may die slowly, 
 its death is fixed and certain. 
 
 Advertising Experiments. 
 
 Many a man with a regular line of business, recog- 
 nizing that there is force in advertising, tries out what 
 it will do for his business. He does not realize in the 
 first place that advertising is something besides using 
 space in the paper. He expects it to fill his store with 
 customers and when it fails to do so at once, he becomes 
 dissatisfied, and arrives at the conclusion that there is 
 nothing in advertising. 
 
 With advertised names before us like Hart, Shaifner 
 & Marx, Royal Baking Powder, Sapolio, Ivory Soap, 
 and hundreds of others familiar to every person in the 
 United States who can read or write, how can the effec- 
 tiveness of continucyus advertising be questioned? One 
 
122 ADVERTISING A REGULAR LINE. 
 
 ad for Ivory Soap would sell a very small amount. Two 
 ads would not sell very much. It is the continuity that 
 does the work. 
 
 One drop of water falling on your head does not pro- 
 duce any sensation. However, if the drops continue for 
 a period of twenty-four hours they produce the most 
 horrible pain known to the human race. This is one of 
 the most terrible tortures to which the Chinese in past 
 ages have consigned their victims. 
 
 If you have ever seen a prize-fight or read a descrip- 
 tion of one, you know that the firsrt blow the fighter gives 
 his antagonist does not win the battle. Take, for in- 
 stance, a recent fight. One of the pugilists gets a blow 
 in the eye. It hurts, of course, and partially closes his 
 eye, but it really has but little effect on his power of en- 
 durance. The next one in the same place hurts three 
 times as badly as the first one did, and after he has re- 
 ceived several others the pain is almost unendurable. 
 Eventually one of his eyes is closed and one side of his 
 face is hammered continuously. It takes over forty 
 rounds of hammering like this to win the fight. The 
 defeated pugilist did not lose because he could not stand 
 punishment. He received more punishment in the fight 
 he lost than any pugilist has ever endured in the ring 
 perhaps, but a sufficient amount of it could not be with- 
 stood by even his almost superhuman prowess. 
 
 Advertising Must be Followed Up. 
 
 No fighter ever won a battle of any consequence who 
 did not follow up his blows properly. There has never 
 been a business of any consequence estabhshed where the 
 advertising was not followed up properly. Look at the 
 
ADVERTISING A REGULAR LINE. 128 
 
 advertisements of Ivory Soap, Williams's Shaving Stick, 
 the Edison Phonograph, Rogers Brothers' Silver, 
 Uneeda Biscuit, Gold Medal Flour, etc. You can hard- 
 ly pick up any one of fifty magazines that does not carry 
 their advertising. They don't advertise because they 
 have a big business, but they have a big business because 
 they advertise. 
 
 Pick up a magazine of five years ago or even a year 
 ago. You will find many concerns in it with a full page 
 ad. You probably read the ad when the magazine was 
 issued but you have forgotten all about it now. Perhaps 
 the advertisers' proposition had more merit than others 
 which have made big successes, but they didn't have 
 enough fire to make the water boil. If you will go over 
 the files of some old magazines you can see how thou- 
 sands and hundreds of thousands of dollars have been 
 wasted by advertisers for this reason. 
 
 Just as a bargain offering may be considered a stimu- 
 lant to a business, so may good advertising be considered 
 a tonic or a medicine to the business that needs advertis- 
 ing. You have no doubt heard of people who try to doc- 
 tor themselves, or who employ a doctor who does not 
 know his business, and then have no faith in the science 
 of medicine because a cure is not effected What do you 
 think of such a man ? He, however, is no worse than the 
 man who has his ads prepared by someone who is incom- 
 pd:ent, or who tries to prepare them himself, and then 
 says there is nothing in advertising because they do not 
 bring results. 
 
 Advertising is a Science. 
 
 Advertising is just as much a science as medicine. 
 You could not expect a doctor to cure you if he pre- 
 
124 ADVERTISING A REGULAR LINE. 
 
 scribed a medicine to be taken every hour and you took it 
 once a day, or if you took it one day out of the week when 
 it should be taken every day. 
 
 When you are sick you get a good doctor, one who 
 knows his business. It doesn't do any good to get a 
 prescription from him unless you get it filled, and it 
 doesn't do any good to fill the prescription unless you 
 take the medicine according to directions 
 
 It is the same way with advertising. It doesn't pay to 
 advertise your business unless you get someone who can 
 do it right, then follow instructions and see that the tonic 
 is taken regularly in exact accordance with instructions. 
 
 The man who expects one advertisement to build his 
 business would be like the farmer who would expect to 
 raise a field of corn by cultivating it once. The corn 
 might be started to grow, but he has to cultivate it a 
 number of times in order to get his harvest. If he 
 cultivated it just once or twice, the weeds would choke it 
 to death and he could not hope to get very much. The 
 competition today which every merchant is subjected to 
 may be likened to the weeds in a cornfield. If he doesn't 
 cultivate his business it certainly will be choked to death 
 by the force of competition to which he is subjected. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 ADVERTISING A SPECIALTY. 
 
 BY C. E. ZIMMERMAN. 
 
 Just as selling a specialty requires a much higher de- 
 gree of salesmanship than selling a regular line, so does 
 advertising a specialty require better advertising than a 
 regular line. The specialty salesman ordinarily sells his 
 customer only once. He cannot make a regular custo- 
 mer out of him and for a medium-priced specialty can- 
 not afford to cultivate his acquaintance for months or 
 perhaps years in order to make him a customer. 
 
 In advertising a regular line of goods the product is 
 usually something that, while it may take a long time to 
 make a permanent customer, will be used with more or 
 less regularity once the customer is secured. 
 
 In advertising a specialty the reverse is true. Usually 
 the sale is made only once. 
 
 Many mail order houses, for instance, pay considerable 
 more to secure a new customer than the profit on his order 
 amounts to. But after securing the customer they get 
 new orders every six months, or perhaps every month, 
 with very little additional expense. 
 
 Educating the Customer. 
 
 On the other hand, take the case of the woman who 
 buys a carpet-sweeper which she has seen advertised. 
 Perhaps the average woman would see the advertisement 
 a great many times before she even read the ad. Then 
 she has to be educated on the various points in favor of 
 
 125 
 
126 ADVERTISING A SPECIALTY. 
 
 the pneumatic carpet-sweeper, such as the fact that she 
 can clean house every day instead of every year, that 
 she can do away with germs, dirt, etc., and the many 
 other points contained in the advertisement. This article 
 is sold at the popular price of, say ^65, and the woman 
 buying it would use it for a lifetime, so you can readily 
 see that there is a limit to the amount which could be spent 
 to make her a customer, especially if the specialty was 
 sold on monthly payments, as nearly all specialties of 
 this price and nature are at the present time. You can 
 readily see the vast amount of difference required in an 
 advertisement of a specialty like this, where the custo- 
 mer has to be made acquainted with all of the advan- 
 tages of the advertised article, rather than a regular line 
 with which the customer is already famihar. 
 
 Low-Priced Specialties. 
 
 It is generally conceded that it is not usually profit- 
 able to advertise a specialty on which the price is under 
 $10, and never profitable when the price is under $5. The 
 only exception to this is where some specialty of excep- 
 tional merit is advertised in a medium of which practic- 
 ally every reader is a possible customer. It might be 
 feasible, for instance, to advertise with profit a $2.00 
 ofiice device in a business magazine. Another exception 
 is where some article with a particular merit or talking 
 point is carried by a large number of merchants and 
 where the object in advertising is to direct trade to them. 
 
 It might also be possible to take some inexpensive 
 article and make an advertisement so attractive that an 
 article costing say 50 cents could be advertised for $5 in a 
 way which would bring some orders, with such a com- 
 
ADVERTISING A SPECIALTY. 127 
 
 fortable margin of profit as would permit of a large 
 advertisement for a small number of orders and still 
 leave a profit. The advertising columns of all good 
 mediums, however, would be closed because the ability of 
 a magazine or periodical to secure contracts for adver- 
 tising depends upon the results their advertisers secure, 
 and as confidence is the basis of trade, people would soon 
 fail to buy goods from the advertising columns in a 
 magazine which contained advertisements of this char- 
 acter. 
 
 Two Methods of Advertising. 
 
 There are two ways to advertise a specialty in a news- 
 paper or magazine. One way is to put all of the in- 
 formation concerning the article in the advertisement and 
 endeavor to get all of the orders direct. Most con- 
 cerns, however, do not expect their advertising to be 
 strong enough to accomplish this but write their adver- 
 tisements with the idea of getting some orders direct, 
 but do the large bulk of their business by having the cus- 
 tomer write for literature. This enables them to give the 
 prospective customer far more information than they 
 possibly could in the advertisement and also gives them 
 the decided advanltage of being able to follow up the 
 customer by mail. 
 
 In this way many a likely customer for the article ad- 
 vertised is placed in a position to order it after he has 
 read the advertisement. If it were not for the follow- 
 up, the article would be forgotten among the thousands 
 of other advertisements presented to his notice amid the 
 events of his every-day life. But when he has once 
 written for literature he not only gets a much better 
 
128 ADVERTISING A SPECIALTY. 
 
 understanding of the article advertised, but the follow- 
 up letters which he receives constantly jog his memory 
 regarding it. 
 
 Value of Follow-Up Letters. 
 
 The sum of $65, which is an average price for a speci- 
 alty at the present time, is a lot of money for the average 
 customer who buys it and it usually requires a number 
 of strong, convincing letters in order to get the maxi- 
 mum results. The experience of the ordinary concerns 
 that send out a booklet or catalog on a specialty of this 
 kind is that they receive more orders as the result of 
 their follow-up letters than from the direct orders re- 
 ceived from their advertisement and from the catalog be- 
 fore the first follow-up letter is sent. 
 
 One such concern that had been in the business for a 
 number of years and had built up a large and profitable 
 business was accustomed to follow-up prospective cus- 
 tomers twice; that is, they sent them a caitalog in re- 
 sponse to their inquiry, following this up with one let- 
 ter in ten days and a second letter fifteen days laAer. 
 They came to the conclusion that any prospect who would 
 not close with an offer as good and fair as theirs in this 
 length of time would not be profitable to spend further 
 postage and literature upon. Looking about them for 
 different methods of increasing their business, as they 
 were constantly doing, they finally decided to pick out 
 a number of (these old names and send them another 
 letter. They received some business, but hardly enough 
 to make it profitable. Upon selecting another list, how- 
 ever, of prospects who had only received their second fol- 
 low-up letter — the one sent twenty-five days after cata- 
 
ADVERTISING A SPECIALTY. 129 
 
 log — and mailing them a letter twenty-five days after the 
 second follow-up letter was sent them, they were very 
 much surprised to receive as many orders as they had 
 from all the other letters. While this was surprising, 
 this firm was fairly astonished when after extended ex- 
 periments it was found 'that a customer could be followed 
 up six or eight times to advantage instead of twice. 
 
 Send FoUaw-Ups Regularly. 
 
 The most important fact to be taken into considera- 
 tion, however, in (this connection, is that a prospective 
 customer must not get cold. In other words, the maxi- 
 mum results are obtained by the follow-up letters going 
 to the customer regularly. 
 
 In the remarks on "Advertising a Regular Line" we 
 made the comparison of advertising to a flame heating a 
 kettle of water. If the flame is turned out for awhile 
 and then turned on again, the water gets cold in the 
 meantime and it takes a lot more heat to make it boil 
 than if the flame had been constant and steady. It is 
 the same way in following up a prospective customer. 
 Every letter going to him must be interesting and must 
 be sent in such a way as to get his attention. This is 
 70 per cent, of the value of the follow-up letter, just as 
 it is 70 per cent, the value of an advertisement. Besides 
 this, every letter or piece of literature must drive home 
 the same vital points, but put them in a new light so 
 they will always be interesting. 
 
 In advertising a specialty, and particularly where it 
 is intended to get direct returns from the advertisement, 
 it is necessary to give all of the selling points clearly 
 and in detail. 
 
 I.B.I<. Vol. 3—9 
 
MONEY BRINGING AXIOMS. 
 
 By Nathaniel C. Fowler, Jr. 
 
 "The man who can not use advertising in his business 
 has no business to be in business, and generally isn't.'* 
 
 ''The man who doesn't find advertising profitable in 
 his business finds business unprofitable." 
 
 "Some intelligent knowledge of advertising, and of 
 that which pertains to it, is as essential to the success of 
 a well-regulated business, as is familiarity with debit and 
 credit." 
 
 **The day passed into history, half a century ago, when 
 any brainy man dared to say that advertising did not 
 
 pay." 
 
 "Advertising, like everything else, must be made to 
 pay." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 TESTS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 Tests of advertising copy have heretofore existed — ^if 
 at all — only in the mind. They were intuitive rather than 
 logical. 
 
 Before a machine is deemed trustworthy, it is first 
 tested to see if it will accomplish the work it was intended 
 to do. One example will serve to illustrate the import- 
 ance of applying to every advertisement some tests by 
 which its strength and probable "pulling power" may be 
 gauged. Take any advertisement, good or bad, and 
 without influencing opinion by any remark of your own, 
 ask for the comments of a number of people. The more 
 you ask the greater may be your surprise at the diversity 
 of opinions expressed and, especially, the variation in 
 the impressions created by one advertisement upon dif- 
 ferent minds. Your own advertisement may **sound" or 
 "read" most convincingly to you, or to some one whose 
 opinion you value; but will it have an equally convinc- 
 ing effect upon each of 1,000 or 100,000 minds? It 
 remained for Mr. John Lee Mahin, of Chicago, to 
 reduce these criteria to a specific formula, whereby the 
 layman, as well as the expert, may accurately judge the 
 merit of any piece of advertising copy. 
 
 The Ten Tests which follow are generally recognized 
 in the advertising profession as being of standard char- 
 acter. They are reproduced by the author's kind permis- 
 sion from the Mahin Advertising Data Book.* 
 
 * Copyright, 1909, by Mahin Advertising Company, 125 Monroe Street, 
 Chicago. 
 
 131 
 
182 TESTS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 TEST NO. 1. 
 
 Is It Natural? 
 
 Advertising space is a vehicle by which an advertiser's 
 ideas are distributed to the readers. 
 
 That the identity of the sender may be immediately 
 recognized, his message must be a natural expression of 
 himself, and reflect his personality. 
 
 So much advertising fails because the advertiser 
 clothes his ideas in wording that is not at all consistent 
 with his nature. 
 
 His best friends do not recognize him in his advertis- 
 ing garb, while those who do not know him feel, instinc- 
 tively, that he is masquerading. 
 
 The secret of a perfect photographic likeness is not 
 in an expensive camera, in the up-to-date equipment of a 
 gallery, nor yet in the effective use of light. 
 
 It is the ability of the artist himself to command un- 
 consciously the confidence of the sitter, and to accurately 
 gauge his real character. 
 
 By it he overcomes the feeling of strangeness, the lack 
 of poise in his subject, and catches him in a natural atti- 
 tude. He can then transmit to a piece of paper a like- 
 ness of the man as he really is. 
 
 The best "copy" for a newspaper advertisement is 
 simply the natural, sincere talk that a merchant uses in 
 making a sale over his counter. 
 
 A copy writer must be able to impersonate the adver- 
 tiser's personaUty, and so express his ideas in print that 
 they are instantly recognized as a sincere message from 
 the head of the business. 
 
 If he can make the reader feel in his "copy" that intan- 
 gible something that pervades every successful conmier- 
 
TESTS OF ADVERTISING, 188 
 
 cial organization — he can be trusted with the work. If 
 not, the head of the business had better prepare his own 
 copy. 
 
 In a word, before sending a message to the people, 
 through the columns of the newspaper, see if the thought 
 and the wording ring true as the natural expression of 
 the advertiser. 
 
 TEST NO. 2. 
 
 Is It Specific? 
 
 An advertisement which does not bring out individual 
 features of the store and of the article advertised, is al- 
 most as much help to competitors as to the institution 
 paying for the space. 
 
 On the other hand, an advertisement which exploits 
 distinctive features exclusively, is likely to create an im- 
 pression of freakishness — a feeling that the advertiser 
 is placing undue emphasis on mere talking points. 
 
 The best test of whether an advertisement is specific 
 or not, is to substitute the name of a competitor. If the 
 advertisement is just as effective over the name of an- 
 other house, individuality should be instilled into it. 
 
 A specific advertisement meets a condition squarely as 
 it is, instead of dealing with it as it ought to be. 
 
 It should give a definite reason, to attract the prospect- 
 ive customer's immediate attention as well as to justify 
 its appearance from the viewpoint of the advertiser. 
 
 It should so concentrate attention on the article ad- 
 vertised that the reader is completely absorbed in, and 
 unconsciously obtains a clear comprehension of, the story 
 itself, rather than be impressed in any way by the man- 
 ner in which it has been told. 
 
134 TESTS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 If the cleverness of the "copy," the brilliancy of the 
 language, or the vividness of the illustration, diverts the 
 reader's attention from the article itself — the advertise- 
 ment fails to fulfill its real purpose. 
 
 To produce an advertisement which is consistently spe- 
 cific often requires much time and thought. 
 
 The only way to accomplish this is to write it experi- 
 mentally, and if it does not stand the test, keep on at- 
 tempting and testing, until the desired result has been 
 accomplished. 
 
 TEST NO. 3. 
 
 Is It Timely? 
 
 A storekeeper who permits dust and cobwebs to litter 
 his store windows is no more wasteful than he who uses 
 space in a live, progressive medium merely to repeat a 
 few hackneyed phrases in connection >vith his name and 
 address. 
 
 The newspaper is the live merchant's most valuable 
 display window. In it he should take care to exhibit, 
 by pictures and word-painting, his newest and most at- 
 tractive stock. 
 
 There are always plenty of things that every adver- 
 tiser can utilize to create and further the impression that 
 he is strictly up-to-date ; one of his most valuable assets. 
 
 Timely advertising inspires confidence in its readers 
 that the advertiser is wide awake and ready to meet all 
 emergencies. 
 
 It is not uncommon to see in provincial newspapers 
 such absurd instances of untimeHness and public an- 
 nouncements of unprogressiveness as ice cream freezers 
 advertised in January or heating stoves in July. 
 
TESTS OF ADVERTISING. 135 
 
 Yet to be timely does not necessarily mean to make 
 definite plans on the spur of the moment. Successful 
 general advertisers forecast conditions, according to the 
 seasons of the year and the general trend of events, and 
 make plans months ahead. 
 
 The retailer should act on the same lines. 
 
 Such a procedure yields much more satisfactory results 
 than a patchwork campaign, constructed from day to 
 day in hit or miss fashion. 
 
 Should the advertiser wish to take advantage of some 
 unusual event, it is very easy to substitute a piece of 
 timely copy in harmony with what has appeared and 
 what is to follow. 
 
 Timeliness involves an accurate insight into the trend 
 of public opinion. But the public mind is fickle and in 
 taking advantage of prevalent conditions, the unneces- 
 sary incurring of prejudice must be guarded against. 
 
 See if your advertisement is in harmony with the 
 times, the season and the day. 
 
 TEST NO. 4. 
 
 Is It Pertinent? 
 
 A publisher of a country newspaper had tried his hard- 
 esft to interest a piano and organ store in the use of space 
 in his paper and was at his wits' end, when a farmer 
 subscription solicitor, hearing of his quandary, suggested 
 some excellent "pertinent copy." 
 
 Instead of talking about how pianos and organs were 
 made, or who made them, he headed his advertisement, 
 "Why Do the Boys Leave the Farm?" 
 
 He then went on to explain that to keep the boys on 
 the farm, the home life should be made attractive with 
 
186 TESTS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 a piano or organ, which the advertiser was ready to fur- 
 nish. 
 
 An advertisement should deal with an article from the 
 purchaser's standpoint. "How is it made?" is not so 
 important to him as "What will it do for me?" 
 
 It is often well to cater to pretended motives, or 
 subtly suggest the real ones. 
 
 Many a piano is bought for a larger purpose than to 
 develop the musical talent of a family. The purchase 
 actually marks their social advancement from the bread- 
 winning state to the possession of some of the recognized 
 luxuries. 
 
 Suggestion, recognized as a most potent factor in per- 
 sonal salesmanship, is no less effectively utihzed on the 
 printed page. 
 
 A father who felt that the possession of a diamond 
 would foster the love of display and extravagance in his 
 daughter, would refuse to buy her one of the jewels. 
 
 Yet he would quickly change his decision if won over 
 by the suggestion that in no other way could he make 
 so concrete or permanent an expression of the sentiment 
 he entertained for her. 
 
 In planning an advertising message, therefore, it is 
 well to examine it from this point of view: "Is this copy 
 adapted to the results I wish to secure?" 
 
 TEST NO. 5. 
 Is It Consistent? 
 
 An advertiser should make sure that his "copy" is a 
 perfect link in his chain of real seUing policy. 
 
 To determine upon the character of the advertising 
 
TESTS OF ADVERTISING. 137 
 
 in any particular medium, he should give careful thought 
 to the following questions : 
 
 "What class of people read this publication?" "How 
 best can I exploit my goods to them?" "What will they 
 do when they read my advertising?" "What must I do 
 to cash in to the best advantage on the impression I create 
 in their minds?" 
 
 A cut-price sale is a consistent procedure for one kind 
 of a store, but entirely inconsistent for another. 
 
 The writer of these articles discovered this fact in his 
 first advertising effort — a marked-down sale in tomb- 
 stones. 
 
 On his regular fall trip a few weeks later, the proprie- 
 tor was astounded to learn that a number of sales prom- 
 ised him had gone to his competitor, who had deftly con- 
 strued the advertising into an announcement that the 
 advertiser was retiring from business. 
 
 The story of the "reasons" behind a store's policy— 
 for instance — why bargain sales are not held — why high 
 priced goods are handled exclusively — often proves most 
 profitable advertising. 
 
 It is wise for a merchant to impress upon patrons that 
 he has a definite policy and stick to it. 
 
 Methods that bring success to one institution are ridic- 
 ulously inconsistent for another to use. To exploit a 
 bank in the extravagant superlatives of a circus publicity 
 man would be absurd, and disastrous for the advertiser. 
 
 On the other hand, some advertisers, in their fear of 
 appearing undignified or sensational, actually say noth- 
 ing in their announcements that is interesting. 
 
138 TESTS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 Happy is the advertiser who early learns the lesson, 
 "How to be consistent," and can consistently embody the 
 quality in his advertising "copy." 
 
 TEST NO. 6. 
 
 Is It Persistent? 
 
 A single advertisement, standing alone, cannot, per- 
 haps, be said to possess within itself the quality of per- 
 sistency or pertinacity. It can, however, form a part 
 of and bear out a plan which a business house has ad- 
 hered to strictly for years. 
 
 The trade mark, or name of a house which is repro- 
 duced in publicity of an individual or characteristic style, 
 indicates that each advertisement containing it is one of 
 a series, or that the use of advertising space is an estab- 
 lished policy of the house. 
 
 In no other way can a merchant win confidence or es- 
 tablish so thorough a credit with the public as by adver- 
 tising prudently and persistently. 
 
 Confidence is a plant of slow growth, but persistency 
 is its sun, rain and fertilizer. 
 
 When the late Frank Cooper, of Siegel, Cooper & 
 Co., was running a store in Peoria and needed $10,000 
 he did not go to the bank for it. He frankly told the 
 people that he wanted to raise this amount of money, 
 and got it by offering them inducements for immediate 
 purchases. 
 
 Persistency in an advertiser is necessary to estabUsh 
 such a reputation with the people that he can command 
 co-operation like this. 
 
 An advertiser establishes his character with the public 
 the same as he does with his bank, by persisting in mak- 
 
TESTS OF ADVERTISING. 189 
 
 ing promises and never failing to fulfill them. A credit 
 with the great general public is a very present help in 
 time of need. 
 
 A persistent advertising campaign, covering a period 
 of three years in legitimate publications, will seldom fail 
 to produce a good will asset that is worth more to the ad- 
 vertiser than the entire amount spent in space during that 
 time. 
 
 In preparing an advertisement, remember this quality 
 of persistency — the fact that it is published as a part of 
 a house's policy and will either build up or break down 
 prestige. 
 
 TEST NO. 7. 
 
 Is It Authoritative? 
 
 The men who lead the masses all possess one distin- 
 guishing characteristic. No matter how illogical are 
 their arguments, or how fallacious are their conclusions, 
 they are confident in their affirmations. 
 
 An authoritative tone must be assumed and main- 
 tained by the advertiser at all times and in all conditions. 
 
 It is impossible for an advertiser to inspire confidence 
 in others without possessing it himself, and unless adver- 
 tising is awarded the reader's confidence, the advertiser 
 is wasting his money. 
 
 Yet, too wanton an exhibition of confidence is danger- 
 ous. The advertiser must keep in close touch with the 
 pulse of the public and know how much the people will 
 stand in this line. 
 
 While everybody unconsciously acknowledges leader- 
 ship to others in many ways in their daily contact with 
 
140 TESTS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 their fellow men, no one is happy in the consciousness of 
 being forced. 
 
 The results of advertising depend upon voluntary ac- 
 tions on the part of free people, and threats, scares or 
 pessimistic utterances will never make friends or cus- 
 tomers. 
 
 Public service corporations should educate the public 
 to the many advantages they offer. 
 
 They could overcome much current prejudice against 
 monopolies and add greatly to their popularity by asking 
 the people for their patronage in a pleasing manner, 
 without in any way sacrificing their confident or authori- 
 tative standing. 
 
 Optimism is a wonderful, confidence-inspiring tonic. 
 The optimist who is tempered by self-control, makes the 
 best advertiser. 
 
 An advertiser who in pessimistic tones continually de- 
 cries competition, and insinuates that the people them- 
 selves cannot be trusted, destroys confidence and will not 
 command a large success. 
 
 Let your advertising be authoritative — not the self- 
 assertiveness of the bully — but express a well regulated, 
 optimistic spirit of confidence. 
 
 TEST NO. 8. 
 
 Is It Institutional? 
 
 An institution is composed of individuals who have 
 many thoughts in common. The circulation of a success- 
 ful publication is necessarily institutional in character. 
 
 A group of people cannot be constantly reading a sin* 
 gle publication day after day without unconsciously ac- 
 cepting, and at the same time influencing, the institu- 
 tional quality of the publication itself. 
 
TESTS OF ADVERTISING. 141 
 
 The business house that is well managed necessarily 
 develops an established order of doing things which gives 
 it an institutional character. 
 
 The best copy for an advertisement reflects not only 
 the institutional quality of the business which it is pro- 
 moting, but also takes cognizance in its appeal of the in- 
 stitutional traits of the readers of a publication. 
 
 While advertising is an organized form of salesman- 
 ship, because of its institutional quality it must neces- 
 sarily place high premium upon personal, individual 
 salesmanship, as it is dependent upon it to secure satisfac- 
 tory results. 
 
 Advertisers can develop this institutional quality in 
 their copy, and intensify the personal sales power of their 
 employees, by encouraging suggestions from them. 
 
 In addition to their common interests as employees, 
 each one is more or less closely connected with numerous 
 institutional bodies, such as religious or political organi- 
 zations. Their suggestions, therefore, are very broaden- 
 ing to the advertiser and reveal to him, oftentimes, new 
 horizons of endeavor. 
 
 In this way the feeling of community of interest is 
 fostered and the institutional idea in newspaper adver- 
 tising is developed and emphasized, to the highest possi- 
 ble degree. 
 
 An. advertiser should test his "copy" to see if it incor- 
 porates this potent quality — institutionalism. 
 
 TEST NO. 9. 
 
 Is It Plausible? 
 It is not enough that an advertisement tells the truth. 
 The reader of the advertisement must beUeve it before it 
 can bring the advertiser any returns. 
 
142 TESTS OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 The fact that so many untruthful advertisements are 
 plausible may explain their apparent success. 
 
 The highest art in writing newspaper "copy" is the 
 ability to tell the whole truth in a plausible manner. 
 
 In other words, good newspaper "copy" is 100 per cent 
 salesmanship — not 125 per cent, which overstates, and 
 which the wise buyer must discount to get the net value. 
 
 Nor is it 75 per cent, which is the weak refuge of nega- 
 tively honest men. They endeavor to conceal their own 
 shortcomings in not rising to 100 per cent possibilities as 
 salesmen, by decrying the 125 per cent men, who really 
 are no more potential. 
 
 100 per cent salesmanship is ability to state in an in- 
 teresting manner all the desirable features of an article 
 which cause it to make good — and in addition to make 
 the statement in a plausible manner. 
 
 Plausibility is often secured by the use of illustrations, 
 incidents, or suggestive references to situations appar- 
 ently similar, where a doubted point was ultimately ac- 
 cepted. 
 
 Yet this latter method involves the danger of bringing 
 up doubt where none might have existed before. 
 
 That "copy" is plausible is the advertiser's best assur- 
 ance that it will be read with credence. He should take 
 care, therefore, that this important quality is not lacking 
 in his newspaper advertising. 
 
 TEST NO. 10. 
 
 Is It Sincere? 
 
 During the recent financial flurry the public did not 
 look for relief either to the muck-rakers or the comedians. 
 
TESTS OF ADVERTISING. 143 
 
 It IS always the sincere men in this world, who take 
 things as they find them and do their very hest, that suc- 
 ceed best as advertisers. 
 
 The best advertisement is one which unconsciously in- 
 fluences a purchaser to buy, honestly feeling that he or 
 she has acted on his or her own judgment. 
 
 The advertisement with an earnest and sincere message 
 burning through it — no matter how crudely the idea may 
 be expressed — will command a respectful hearing. 
 
 Senator Ingalls crowded the galleries when he made 
 a speech, but his influence in legislation was nothing to 
 that wielded by Senator Alhson, whose simple sincerity 
 won the confldence of all. 
 
 Test the sincerity of your advertisement by laying it 
 on someone's desk, with the simple request for frank 
 criticism. 
 
 The flrst thing that is said by the person to whom you 
 hand the advertisement will generally show what impres- 
 sion it creates of itself. 
 
 If comment is made on the appearance, the wording or 
 the size, rather than the story you are telling, try again. 
 
 For immediate dollars-and-cents returns from adver- 
 tising, plausibihty can be placed before sincerity. Yet 
 mere plausibility in advertising, no matter how skillfully 
 it has been utilized, has not built one genuine success. 
 
 But plausibility backed by sincerity finds in the adver- 
 tisement unhmited possibilities of expression for the cre- 
 ative spirit of this age of industrial activity. 
 
 In all advertising be particular to say just what you 
 mean, and above all, mean what you say. 
 
"Money can be lost in advertising, money has been lost 
 in advertising, and always will continue to be lost, until 
 the advertiser gives the same thorough business brainy 
 attention to his advertising as he gives to every other 
 vital department of his business.'* 
 
 "Advertising is like the sowing of seed, its success 
 depending upon the way it is planted. Scattering seed 
 will grow grass, for wherever the seed strikes, if the 
 soil be at all fertile, it must spring into something, and 
 even weeds have some value.'* 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 
 
 BY WILLIAM D. MC JUNKIN. 
 
 [In this chapter one of the best known and most ex- 
 perienced advertising men in the country deals with the 
 question of the place held by the advertising agent in 
 the economy of modern publicity. For fifteen years 
 Mr. McJunkin was advertising manager of large stores 
 in Chicago and, after making a notable success in this 
 Une of effort, he founded the advertising agency which 
 bears his name and handles the publicity accounts of 
 many important concerns.] 
 
 I.— Defining the *' Expert." 
 
 People are a little shy about calling themselves "ex- 
 perts" these days. Time was, and not so long ago, either, 
 when one would say "expert" in quite a respectful tone 
 of voice. Now if you hear it used, it is with — ^weU, just 
 a suspicion of irony in the accent. 
 
 Yet it is a fine word. "One who has special skill, ex- 
 perience or knowledge in some department or branch of 
 science." So says the dictionary. The expert was as- 
 sumed to know things ; likewise to do them — especially to 
 do them. But men who failed to make good took to en- 
 tering the lists of experts, and the result was a startling 
 slump in "expert" stock. 
 
 It is a grave charge to make, but I believe it was the 
 advertising man who helped most to cause the degrada- 
 tion of this splendid word. A decade ago there was a 
 
 145 
 
 I.B.Iy. Vol. 3—10 ^^^ 
 
146 THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 
 
 marvelous crop of experts in the advertising field. But 
 its chief yield was straw, and the "expert" is not now 
 much in evidence. About the only person who really 
 enjoys being called, or calling himself, an expert, is the 
 recent advertising-school graduate who has not yet 
 "caught on." 
 
 Yet there are experts in advertising, as there are in 
 whist, or metallurgy, or golf, or any other profitable 
 or pleasurable pursuit or pastime. And "expert" is a 
 good word, a needed word, and a word that will stay, 
 once the mushroom crop of experts is gathered up. 
 
 Sphere of. the Advertising Agent. 
 
 If there is an "expert" in advertising, who is he? 
 Business men would like to know. They really have had 
 quite a troublous time among all these claimants to ex- 
 pert knowledge of advertising, and would be relieved to 
 know precisely what is meant by such knowledge. 
 
 I hold that the only man who is entitled to the name 
 of expert in advertising is the advertising agent who 
 knows and does what the advertising agent should 
 know and do. 
 
 Not the writer of clever copy, not the hypnotic so- 
 licitor, not the magnetic "representative," nor even the 
 strenuous manager. Just the advertising agent — the 
 ideal, or approximately ideal one. And I think I can 
 show why. 
 
 The ad- writer may be an expert in his work, but his 
 field is not co-extensive with that of advertising. He 
 may be able to handle any theme with dexterity and to 
 show "results" — but the writing of a good advertise- 
 
THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 147 
 
 merit, however essential, is not the whole of advertising 
 by a great deal. 
 
 The successful solicitor may be able to talk fascinat- 
 ingly to a possible advertiser on aspects of the advertis- 
 ing problem. He may have more schemes up his sleeve 
 than "the cards that Ah Sin had been hiding, in the game 
 he did not understand." But all that is only, as it were, 
 the flourish of bugles before the battle is really on. 
 
 Concerns the Business Man. 
 
 But the advertising agent, as he is sometimes, as he 
 should be always, and as he will be eventually, is an "ex- 
 pert in advertising." Why? Because his field of 
 knowledge and action coincides, line for line, and 
 angle for angle, with the whole field of advertising. 
 What ought he to know? 
 
 He must know the mediums of publicity. Not just 
 a little about a great many magazines and newspapers — ■ 
 not mere odds and ends of information about circulations 
 and what this medium did for that advertiser, and how 
 this other "panned out" for that — not sporadic knowl- 
 edge of this character, but a solid structure of systema- 
 tized knowledge which has been slowly built up, and 
 which enables him to determine almost automatically the 
 line of pubUcations which a particular proposition calls 
 for. 
 
 He must know the history of advertising. He need 
 not be able to trace it back to the days of Rameses and 
 the cuneiform inscriptions, but he has to know pretty 
 much ev^ery thing that has happened in the advertising 
 world since advertising became such a vital force in busi- 
 ness. That is not a long period of history, but it is quite 
 full of incidents. 
 
148 THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 
 
 Must Be a Live Business Man. 
 
 He must know business conditions. He musft be in 
 touch with commerce in all its phases — as closely as a 
 Spider at the center of its web is in touch with the outer- 
 most edge of it. ( The comparison has its drawbacks, for 
 I have to explain that I do not mean the spider to repre- 
 sent the agent, or a possible fly to stand for the ad- 
 vertiser.) When a new advertising proposition is put 
 before him, he must be able to estimate the likelihood of 
 its finding a competitive footing. 
 
 He must be able to plan a campaign — its character, 
 its inception and every step in its progress, till the laurel 
 wreath is woven and the dollars spent in advertising are 
 finding their way back home. 
 
 He must be able to execute a campaign; must know 
 a thousand and one things about the work of a book- 
 keeper, a writer, an artist, an engraver, a printer; must 
 be a busineSo man, a literary man, "an artist chap," and 
 a practical craftsman all rolled into one. 
 
 Whether this agent's brain be a single brain or a com- 
 posite one — formed of the specialized abilities of a num- 
 ber of men — shall we deny it the title of "expert"? A 
 closer consideration of his duties which I will next take 
 up, must afford an answer to the question. 
 
 n.— *Twixt Advertiser and Publisher. 
 
 The mythical gentiempn who maintained a difficult 
 and anxious position between the devil and the deep sea, 
 is supposed to have foreshadowed the modern advertis- 
 ing agent. The advertiser may very well stand for the 
 devil, at least in Goethe's conception of him as "the spirit 
 
THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 149 
 
 who always says no" (especially to the suggestions of 
 common sense in advertising) . And the deep sea, with 
 its insatiable maw, is not a bad emblem for the hungry 
 publisher whose appetite for advertising is Gargantuan. 
 The ground held by the agent is debatable, and the 
 lunges made by the devil on the one hand and the inroads 
 of the deep sea on the other make its occupancy anything 
 but a bed of roses. 
 
 To drop metaphor, let us recognize the fact that there 
 is in the minds of many advertisers and many publishers 
 a doubt as to the real need for the services of the adver- 
 tising agent. Before deciding whether this doubt is or 
 is not reasonable, let us glance at the advertising prob- 
 lem as it concerns the warty of the first part, the adver- 
 tiser, and the party of the second part, the publisher. 
 The party who is most interested in the whole question — 
 the consumer — may be quietly ignored. Just so the liti- 
 gant in a suit sees a legal point debated with very little 
 relation to himself, who was the means of stirring it up. 
 
 The Advertiser's Problem. 
 
 What is the situation of the advertiser? He has goods 
 to sell. The market for them may be part or whole of 
 a city, a section or the whole of the United States ; or it 
 may be world wide. The complexity of the advertising 
 problem increases with the range of the market. 
 
 Take the small local advertiser. If his business justi- 
 fies use of the local press, the problem is very simple. 
 It does not require great acumen or much expenditure 
 of time and money to discover what local medium is 
 best for his purpose. So in this case there is no real 
 necessity for a link between advertiser and publisher. 
 
150 THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 
 
 The advertising agency may prove a convenience and 
 assistance in getting up copy, placing and attending to 
 details of proof-reading, etc. The advertising agent 
 may give useful hints as to the amount and character of 
 the advertising advisable in such a case. But for the 
 most part, the small local advertiser could "paddle his 
 own canoe." 
 
 The large local advertiser whose business warrants a 
 big advertising appropriation and the services of an ad- 
 vertising manager, srtands in still less need of the agent. 
 Contracts for space may be made direct with the pub- 
 lisher; and the manager, with or without assistance, is 
 sufficient to advise on and write the advertising. 
 
 When the Plot Thickens. 
 
 But the moment the market widens beyond the local 
 field to the extent that the selection of mediums becomes 
 a problem in itself, the advertiser at once feels the need 
 for skilled assistance. And when that problem becomes 
 so complex in character that special study and continu- 
 ous attention are required to master it, that is the time 
 when the advertising agent is a veritable deus ex ma- 
 china. 
 
 Now, what is the position of the publisher? As mat- 
 ters stand, it is he who foots the bill for the advertising 
 agent, and anyone approaching the question with a 
 "plentiful lack of knowledge" would naturally infer that 
 it is the pubHsher who is chiefly interested in the existence 
 of the advertising agency. In paying the agent a com- 
 mission, the publisher admits a value received, and in a 
 sense he does receive one. But, abstractly considered, 
 the situation is this: For a very important service ren- 
 
THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 151 
 
 dered by the agent to the advertiser, the publisher agrees 
 to pay the agent. Why should he? That is the ques- 
 tion that will not down. FiriSt, let us be sure of the 
 nature of the service performed by the agent. Second, 
 which of the two, publisher or advertiser, derives the 
 greater benefit from that service? Then we may fairly 
 answer the above question. 
 
 Is the Pilot Aboard? 
 
 The agent is a skilful pilot who guides the advertis- 
 er's vessel through the shoals of fallacious circulation fig- 
 ures, among the rocks of unprofitable mediums, out into 
 the deep ocean where the breeze of publicity may fill his 
 sails. As "one star differeth from another star in glory," 
 so one pubhcation differs from another in "pulling" 
 power. The relative values in mediums — that is for the 
 "expert" to decide. And for the exercise of such impor- 
 tant knowledge, someone has got to pay. Who? 
 
 There can be no question of the value of the agent's 
 services to the advertiser. They save him money that 
 would be lost in experiments. His skilful selection of 
 mediums is of the utmost consequence in the returns. 
 But how does he help the publisher? 
 
 If the agent brought the publisher business which oth- 
 erwise would not have come to him, then clearly there 
 is a service which ought to be rewarded. But does he? 
 Would not the fittest survive, and the best medium get 
 the most advertising, even if the agent were out of exist- 
 ence? 
 
 Again, if the agent brought the publisher business 
 which otherwise should not have come to him, then 
 clearly there is a service — ^to the publisher — ^which ought 
 
152 THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 
 
 to be rewarded by him. But that is precisely what an 
 honest advertising agent will not do under any circum- 
 stances. Indeed, it is what no inteUigent agent would 
 do under any circumstances. For it is only the agent 
 who serves the best interests of the advertiser that will 
 continue in business. 
 
 Who Gets the Lion's Share? 
 
 This seems to point to the conclusion that it is the 
 advertiser who gets the hon's share of the services of the 
 agent. From which proposition the deduction would 
 seem to be that the advertiser should pay for them — not 
 the publisher; that the present relations of advertiser, 
 agent and publisher are somewhat of an anomaly; and 
 that the agent must be shown to be necessary to the 
 advertiser before his place in the economy of publicity 
 can be regarded as stable and enduring. What the agent 
 does, or might do, for the advertiser — that is a question 
 worth considering. 
 
 III. — The Advertising Agent vs. The Broker in Space. 
 
 The advertising agent is essentially a link between ad- 
 vertiser and publisher. His primary function is buying 
 space of the publisher for the advertiser, and there are 
 not a few who declare that that should be his only func- 
 tion; that he would discharge it more efficiently if he 
 confined his attention to it; that the other duties — advis- 
 ing, planning, writing for his chent — are adventitious, 
 extraneous, irrelevant; in short, out of his line; that the 
 advertising agent should be purely and simply a broker 
 in advertising space. Let us imagine what can be said 
 in favor of this view and the contrary one. 
 
THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 158 
 
 Those who would restrict the agent's work to arrange- 
 ing purchases of space in advertising mediums, proba- 
 bly believe that attention concentrated on that single 
 effort would produce better results than are now ob- 
 tained. They probably hold that the multifarious ques- 
 tions in which the advertising agent is now interested 
 serve to dissipate his energies. Not many things but 
 much — ^that is what they would have from the agent. If 
 his sole subject of study were the space-values of differ- 
 ent mediums, they think he might have advice on the 
 point worth having. Thus it is not inconceivable that 
 some day an inventive genius may construct a machine 
 which would perform such work with absolute accuracy, 
 and so supersede the advertising agent. 
 
 Identical Interests of Advertiser and Agent. 
 
 In thus restricting the responsibility of the agent, 
 may there not be some danger of wiping out his sense 
 of responsibility altogether? As things are, the repu- 
 table agent regards his client's interests as his own, and 
 no temptation of extra profit would lead him into rec- 
 ommending purchase of space in a medium that is not 
 in every way good for his client to use. The nearer the 
 agent drifts to the position of a space-broker, the less 
 thought is he likely to bestow on the general welfare of 
 his client. 
 
 What is best for the advertiser? For the sake of ar- 
 gument let us suppose all advertisers were independent 
 of outside assistance and advice in regard to their adver- 
 tising except in the single matter of buying space. 
 What kind of person is likely to be engaged in that 
 work? One whom they may trust implicitly as theyj 
 
154 THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 
 
 would a tried and confidential employee, or one whose 
 sole ambition is centered in and circumscribed by his com- 
 mission? If the latter, then it is the advertiser's interest 
 to have the status quo maintained. 
 
 Clipping the Agents' Wings. 
 
 Cutting down the advertising agent's duties and re- 
 sponsibilities to the sole task of buying space would in- 
 evitably have the effect of cheapening his services. To 
 buy advertising space judiciously is, no doubt, an all- 
 important duty, and one calling for special knowledge 
 and shrewdness, but it does not call for a man of more 
 than ordinary ability or more than ordinary knowledge 
 of the advertising field. In fact, the work and the ca- 
 pacity of a house agent and of an advertising agent 
 would be pretty much on a par. To rent a house or to 
 rent a page in a magazine — why should orle be more diffi- 
 cult than the other? 
 
 With diminished duties would come a class of adver- 
 tising agents of smaller caliber, and one may be excused 
 for doubting whether the purely commercial transaction 
 — the buying of space — would be performed with as 
 much satisfaction either to advertiser or publisher as at 
 present. It is to the interest of the advertiser that this 
 transaction should be performed by a highly inteUigent, 
 broadly cultured and thoroughly honest man; nor has 
 the publisher a smaller stake in the matter. 
 
 *'More Light** the Advertiser's Need 
 
 There are, of course, plenty of advertisers who sniff 
 at the notion of receiving advice from anyone in regard 
 to their advertising. But it will be generally found that 
 
THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 155 
 
 an advertiser's desire for all possible light on the subject 
 of advertising, and willingness to receive it from any 
 source whatever, are directly proportioned to his intelli- 
 gence. There are many other subjects in which "a lit- 
 tle learning is a dangerous thing," but there are few in 
 which it is so costly as in advertising. Regarding which 
 the following little story is in point. A merchant doing 
 a very considerable business, was ambitious of extending 
 it. He consulted an advertising agent to whom he was 
 referred. The agent, after study of the merchant's field, 
 his rivals, his gross receipts, etc., advised the expenditure 
 of a certain sum in newspaper advertising and circular- 
 izing. The merchant had an idea that premiums were 
 the thing for him ; he laid on the shelf the agent's advice 
 and lent an ear to every premium-monger that came 
 along. At the end of six months he had spent in pre- 
 miums just twice as much as if he had followed the 
 agent's directions, and his business had fallen back quite 
 noticeably. Thereupon he repented, and once more 
 sought the sanctum of the agent. As events proved later 
 the agent had given good advice, the neglect of which 
 cost the merchant many silver dollars. 
 
 **More Light"— the Agent's Duty. 
 
 The fact is that "experts"— authorities on advertising 
 — are a necessity. We do not need to believe that adver- 
 tising is an exact science, or, for that matter, that it is 
 scientific at all. But if the volume of knowledge in re- 
 gard to advertising is to be extended, we must have men 
 who are in relation to it, what the scientific inquirer is in 
 relation to the progress of chemistry or other branch of 
 science. We need advertising specialists; but, as adver- 
 
156 THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 
 
 tising is a very practical study, these specialists musft be 
 right in the midst of things, not cloistered in libraries or 
 study-rooms. They must be business men with an un- 
 usual capacity for studying deeply, comparing widely 
 and arguing logically. 
 
 The best hope for advertisers and for advertising in 
 general hes in the improvement of the agent — better 
 powers, greater powers, more knowledge, finer knowl- 
 edge devoted to the problem of what constitutes good ad- 
 vertising. No worker in the advertising field has such 
 ample opportunity as he to become in the true sense of 
 the word an "expert." 
 
 IV. — Is the Advertising Agent a Necessity? 
 
 Simplification is economy. Modem commerce has be- 
 come great not only through expansion, but also through 
 elimination. A great department store may be regarded 
 as the type of commercial progress. It does the business 
 of 500 little stores — that is expansion. It saves in rent 
 and wages — through elimination; it buys direct from 
 manufacturers — excluding the middleman. Modern 
 progress dispenses with everything and everybody that 
 is not a logical necessity. 
 
 The middleman is disappearing. Manufacturer and 
 retailer are in close touch, thanks largely to the influence 
 of advertising. The analogy between the middleman 
 and the advertising agent is too obvious not to raise the 
 question: Is the advertising agent a necessity, or is 
 he simply a convenience in an order of things that is 
 bound to pass away? 
 
THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 157 
 
 Advertising Blunders Costly. 
 
 To prove that, it would be necessary to point out how 
 his office is to be filled when he vacates it. For no one 
 doubts that his office is vitally important. Success or 
 failure for the advertiser attends upon the wisdom or 
 unwisdom of the agent's counsel. A blunder in an ad- 
 vertising campaign, lack of judgment in the selection 
 of mediums — that sort of thing is costly; may, indeed 
 be irreparably damaging. 
 
 You may eliminate the agent — at least theoretically — 
 but you cannot eliminate, even in theory, the vital neces- 
 sity for wisdom somewhere in regard to an advertising 
 campaign. Now, where shall we look for this wisdom? 
 The advertiser in general does not possess it, because it 
 involves too much and too continuous attention to the 
 problem of advertising. The advertiser in general has 
 enough to do to run his business. Of course, merchants 
 and manufacturers are awakening to the necessity of 
 knowing something about advertising. But those who 
 know the most are the readiest to admit that the problem 
 is too big to be a side issue. 
 
 How about the advertising manager? Could he not 
 assume every duty that the advertising agency now dis- 
 charges? Could he not always, as is the practice with 
 some houses, arrange directly with the pubhshers for 
 purchase of space, etc? 
 
 Well, there are three classes of advertisers ; those who 
 cannot afford an advertising manager, those who cannot 
 afford a big advertising manager and those who cannot 
 afford to have a big advertising manager's time wasted. 
 For the first class the advertising agency is a necessity, 
 for the third an economy. The medium business can run 
 
158 THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 
 
 along by itself. That, so far as we can foresee, is a con- 
 dition of affairs that is likely to persist. 
 
 For the small advertiser just trying his advertising 
 wings the agency is invaluable. It is well known that 
 one may burn money in advertising as quickly as in any 
 interesting experiment you can think of. The agent 
 may and does prevent this sacrifice. 
 
 Advertising Agency an Economy. 
 
 Again, for the large advertiser, able to command the 
 services of a trained specialist in advertising, the agency 
 proves a source of economy. It can perform various 
 services in the routine of business between advertiser and 
 publisher at much less expenditure of time and money 
 than it would cost the individual advertiser. But that is 
 not all. The advertising manager, however capable, 
 must necessarily look at things in a more restricted man- 
 ner than the agent. The manager is a specialist in a 
 particular branch of advertising; the agent is a special- 
 ist in advertising. He views things in a broader way, 
 has more data for comparison and for forming conclu- 
 sions, and his advice must necessarily be more weighty 
 in regard to matters which he is dealing with all the 
 time — circulation values, space values, campaign meth- 
 ods, successes and failures of advertisers along all lines. 
 The manager is the chief engineer on board the adver- 
 tising vessel, but the agent is the man who directs the 
 vessel's course. 
 
 In fact, if one restricts his prophecy to a period some- 
 thing short of the millenium (when, of course, publish- 
 ers will cease from troubling and advertisers ^vill be at 
 rest) one may venture to say that the advertising agent 
 
THE ADVERTISING AGENT. 151> 
 
 will grow more of a necessity and more of a utility as 
 the years pass. The more complicated and more difficult 
 the problem of advertising, the more necessity for spe- 
 cialized skill to cope with it. The broader the field of ad- 
 vertising, the sharper must be the eyes that scan it for 
 signs of failure or success. 
 
 The Ideal Advertising Agent. 
 
 And while we anticipate increasing need for the 
 agent's services, we also anticipate continual improve- 
 ment in the quality of these services. Wide buying of 
 advertising space involves much knowledge, much wide 
 and precise knowledge of the publishing world — in- 
 volves, moreover, a keen sense of duty and honor, duty 
 to the client and honorable dealing to both publisher and 
 advertiser. So that we confidently look for an attraction 
 of the very best type of business men to the difficult and 
 responsible work of the advertising agent. 
 
"To get good out of advertising one must adapt the 
 quality and quantity of the advertising to the goods he 
 has to seE and to the people who may buy them.*' 
 
 **The intelligent, shrewd attention which is given to 
 selling should include advertising." 
 
 ''Advertising is not an experiment, nor is it a business 
 side issue; it is part of the paraphernalia of business 
 necessity, to be studied and experimented upon as one 
 studies and experiments upon the other departments of 
 the business house." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 WHAT IS GOOD COPY? 
 
 BY WILLIAM D. MCJUNKIN. 
 
 When asked the pertinent question, "What is good 
 copy?" the advertiser, looking for results, has a ready an- 
 swer: "That which sells goods;" and the answer acts 
 Uke a broom among the cobwebs of scholastic theorizing. 
 Unfortunately, however, the answer explains nothing. 
 It reminds us — and advertising men cons?tantly need the 
 reminder — that no advertising is good which does not 
 produce results. But it leaves us where we were on the 
 question: What makes good advertising? 
 
 An equally brief and more enlightening answer to this 
 question would be: "That which fits the case;" for it 
 would point out the essential consideration that the kind 
 of advertising which would sell goods under one set of 
 circumstances, would fail under another. That being so, 
 the preparation of copy must be preceded by a sftudy 
 of the conditions, of which these are the chief : The 
 character of the proposition advertised, and the charac- 
 ter of the people addressed. 
 
 Copy Must Fit the Case. 
 
 First, the proposition must determine the qualities of 
 the advertising. To sell a cure for catarrh, a block of 
 stock, a bargain lot of dress goods, an automobile — these 
 are undertakings so different in kind that good copy in 
 every case must present striking differences. 
 
 Second, the advertising must be adapted to the educa- 
 tion, taste and peculiarities of the audience. The cZiVn- 
 
 I.B.L. Vol. 3—11 
 
162 WHAT IS GOOD COPY? 
 
 tele of a cheap bargain store will hear with complacency 
 any variety of misused English except that which they 
 do not understand. The patrons of a first-class estabhsh- 
 ment look for some degree of culture in the person who 
 invites their attention to its merchandise. 
 
 There is no need to dwell on these conditions of good 
 "copy." Every advertiser and advertising man per- 
 fectly understands them, although any newspaper will 
 show you advertisements which have not taken sufficient 
 account of these conditions. Let us turn to the consid- 
 eration of some points on which there is far from being 
 general agreement. 
 
 Individuality, But Not Idiosyncrasy. 
 
 We are sometimes told that good ad-writing is impos- 
 sible unless the copy is ahve with the individuality of the 
 writer. Individuality is forcefulness, we are told, and 
 forcefulness is the "open sesame" to the buyer's purse. 
 Now, there would be no harm in insisting on individual- 
 ity, if individuality meant no more than that. But when 
 ad-writers are urged "to be themselves, first, last and all 
 the time," they are encouraged to let their personal lik- 
 ings, crotchets and whims overshadow considerations of 
 infinitely more importance. Indeed, it might be better 
 to advise the ad-writer to merge his own individuahty 
 in the business which he is representing; to think not at 
 all of himself, but of the people he is writing to, and 
 instead of intrenching themselves within the conceptions 
 reared by his individual views and education, to get out 
 into the open and see things through the eyes of the 
 public. 
 
WHAT IS GOOD COPY? 163 
 
 Ad- Writer versus Litterateur. 
 
 Much of the talk about individuality, I suspect, is due 
 to the belief lingering in many minds that ad-writing is 
 a kind of Uterary occupation. That is the source of 
 many mistaken efforts at ad-writing. It is responsible 
 for the "vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself," lead- 
 ing the ad-writer to aim at the production of something 
 fine, rather than of something useful. It is constantly 
 bringing forth imaginative efforts which had better have 
 been unimagined. It supplants hard facts by fancies, 
 and sound arguments by "airy nothings." 
 
 Here, for instance, is a pamphlet issued by a piano 
 manufacturer. It resembles a tale of Hans Andersen, 
 only it is much "finer." The piano speaks to us in the 
 first person — tells how it was once a tree in a great for- 
 est — how the sunlight played among its fluttering leaves 
 — ^how the birds sang among its branches ; and so forth. 
 Imagine the effect of all this stuff on paterfamiUas, who 
 is debating the question of "grand" or "cottage," "cash 
 down" or the "installment plan." 
 
 Put all the human interest you can in your advertise- 
 ments, but let it be of the sort that will sell the goods. 
 The ad-writer is not a novelist, poet or essayist. He is 
 a salesman, and he must sternly repress his longings for 
 any "effect" except the effect on the customer. 
 
 Straining for Effect. 
 
 Another "will-o'-the-wisp" which leads the ad-writer 
 astray is an overwhelming desire to be original. Origi- 
 nality in advertising is not desirable for its own sake; 
 only if it helps to sell goods. One may write an adver- 
 tisement in a manner wholly new and original, without 
 
164 WHAT IS GOOD COPY? 
 
 exciting the least desire on the part of the reader to buy 
 the thing exploited. The ad-writer is paid to sell goods, 
 not to furnish entertainment for the reading public. 
 
 Of course advertising that is commonplace, stereo- 
 typed, is Ukely to be ineffective ; but it may be questioned 
 whether much of the labor spent in efforts at originality 
 might not be better employed in striving to attain fitness 
 to the case in hand. Let the ad-writer keep his mind 
 fixed on the result, unoccupied with the question wheth- 
 er his own cleverness will shine forth in the effort to 
 reach it. 
 
 Write for Your Reader. 
 In the choice of language, the audience must be the 
 sole determining consideration. In addressing unedu- 
 cated people one cannot stick too closely to the Anglo- 
 Saxon part of the dictionary ; in writing to educated peo- 
 ple one has a wider range and may choose the most ex- 
 pressive term, even if it should be of "learned length and 
 thundering sound." At the same time it should never be 
 forgotten that, no matter who are the audience, the sim- 
 pler the terms the better, provided they say all that you 
 mean. 
 
 Conviction Is Strength. 
 
 Good copy must be strong. Advertisers are insistent 
 on that point. But what is strong copy? There is little 
 agreement on the question, as you will see if you note the 
 qualities that are chosen to give strength to advertising. 
 Here you will find an advertiser assuming a belligerent 
 attitude, striving to hammer down opposition with lan- 
 guage of turgid vehemence. There you will see another 
 firing abrupt, jerky sentences, like bullets, at his audi- 
 
WHAT IS GOOD COPY? 165 
 
 ence. The fact is that strength in an advertising appeal 
 is a subtle quality, which no laws of style or language 
 can bind. It defies definition but is immediately recog- 
 nizable. It is the reflection of the writer's earnestness. 
 Red hot conviction is the source of strength. Where 
 conviction is entirely wanting, the advertising must needs 
 be weak. 
 
 Get at Essentials. 
 
 Brevity is always a welcome quality of style; in ad- 
 writing it is essential. But as the danger that attends 
 brevity is lack of clearness — a thing absolutely fatal to 
 the success of an advertisement — the ad-writer must give 
 wary heed to his attempts to attain this quality. In this 
 respect, the great blunder that advertisers make is to buy 
 space without regard to the question of how much should 
 be said. First decide what must be said in any case. 
 Then buy space. Of course, much depends on the skill 
 of the ad- writer. Brevity depends not so much on tricks 
 of language, or even on the choice of words and phrases, 
 as on the power of the writer to analyze a proposition so 
 as to determine what is essential and what is unessential 
 for his reader to know. Brevity is not so much a question 
 of language, as of logical grasp and judgment. 
 
 Having said that earnestness is the source of strength, 
 we need hardly remark that witticisms are out of place 
 in advertising. A wit in literature may be very much in 
 earnest, but somehow or other in advertising people will 
 not give him credit for being other than a buffoon. And 
 the antics of a buffoon are disturbing to the mood in 
 which people are when doing business. 
 
166 WHAT IS GOOD COPY? 
 
 Life in the Headline. 
 
 We cannot lay too much emphasis on the importance 
 of the headline. On it the ad- writer must bring to bear 
 all his powers of originaHty in thought and expression, 
 striving to render it brief, striking and pointed, and mak- 
 ing it the keynote of the whole advertisement. 
 
 Among mechanical aids to strengthening the headline, 
 it helps sometimes to follow Holofernes' practice and to 
 "affect the letter," for alliteration never seems to lose its 
 effect in rousing the attention of readers. But the strong 
 headline comes from a thorough grasp of the theme. 
 Thorough study of the proposition alone will suggest the 
 most arrestive form for introducing it to the pubHc. 
 
 To sum up, good copy is that which fits the case, which 
 is suited to the audience, which is strong with the earnest- 
 ness of conviction, brief as it can be made without sacri- 
 ficing clearness, and skilfully heralded by a phrase 
 which commands attention hke a bugle-call. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 
 
 BY HUGH CHALMERS.* 
 
 The relation of salesmanship to advertising is the clos- 
 est relationship known — closer than friends ; closer than 
 a team under a single yoke ; closer than brothers ; closer 
 then man and wife, as there can never be separation and 
 divorce; all salesmanship is part advertising, and all ad- 
 vertising is part salesmanship; they are the twin screw 
 engines that drive the ship of business; they are Uke a 
 chemical compound, each contains the other and is itself 
 the thing contained. 
 
 Nitrogen and glycerine each is a power alone, but 
 when combined in the proper parts they make the most 
 powerful explosive known. It takes knowledge to mix 
 them and a spark to set off the mixture, but the results 
 are tremendous. 
 
 So with salesmanship and advertising. Each is a 
 power alone, but combine them and you have the greatest 
 business-producing force known. It takes brains to cre- 
 ate and combine them, and it takes nerve to touch them 
 off, but the results are worth while. 
 
 Every ad is a salesman ; every salesman is an ad. Ad- 
 vertising is salesmanship plus publicity. Salesmanship is 
 advertising, plus getting the order signed. 
 
 * Mr. Hugh Chalmers is the well-known president of the Chalmers 
 Motor Company, Detroit, Mich. He is a great employer of labor, has an 
 army of salesmen and is a recognized authority on modern scientific ad- 
 Yertising and salesmanship, 
 
 167 
 
168 RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 
 
 Advertising and salesmanship are alike in that in both 
 you are trying to influence the human mind — trying to 
 teach people to believe in you and your goods. Adver- 
 tising is teaching; so is salesmanship. 
 
 The Foundation of Salesmanship. 
 
 The close relationship of salesmanship to advertising 
 is most apparent perhaps when we get clear down to bed- 
 rock and discover the real foundation of salesmanship — 
 doing business successfully. 
 
 The whole business world rests on a foundation of 
 confidence. When confidence is gone, business is gone. 
 Individual salesmanship depends upon confidence as 
 much as any other transaction in business. If a man has 
 confidence in you and in your goods you can sell him. 
 You cannot make many sales where confidence is lacking. 
 If your prospect lacks confidence in you then your en- 
 tire efforts must go to building up in his mind a feeling 
 of confidence. 
 
 Now the greatest builder of confidence is publicity — 
 advertising. Lack of confidence is usually due to igno- 
 rance. Unless you know a man well you haven't confi- 
 dence in him. Unless you know a business house well you 
 haven't confidence in that house. 
 
 The greatest foe of ignorance is pubhcity. The say- 
 ing that "publicity corrects all abuses" is a true one. 
 
 Advertising makes you acquainted with the pubHc. It 
 gives people knowledge about you and your goods, and 
 knowledge is absolutely essential to confidence. 
 
 Big advertising looks like big sales; it makes people 
 familiar with you; it unconsciously creates confidence. 
 
RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 169 
 
 Without a doubt the greatest force today in the in- 
 terest of confidence — ^in the interest of credit, if you will 
 — ^is advertising. 
 
 Advertising is Teaching. 
 
 Advertising and salesmanship are identical in their ob- 
 ject. 
 
 What is their object? The distribution of goods at a 
 profit. 
 
 How can this be done? It is done by teaching. That 
 is what advertising is — ^teaching. Teaching great num- 
 bers of people to believe in your goods. And that is what 
 salesmanship is too. But advertising conducts a public 
 school, while salesmanship gives individual lessons. 
 
 One of the oldest chestnuts in the talk of advertising 
 men is: "We must carry on a campaign of education." 
 Nearly every advertising magazine you pick up you read 
 about someone carrying on a "campaign of education." 
 When an advertising agent is up against it for some- 
 thing to say to his client, he assures him with great sol- 
 emnity that he must carry on a "campaign of education." 
 
 Let us get through with this old chestnut. All adver- 
 tising campaigns are campaigns of education. If they 
 are not education, they are not advertising at all. 
 
 The object of advertising is to teach people to believe 
 in you and in your goods; to teach them to think that 
 they have a need for your goods and to teach them to buy 
 your goods. 
 
 And the object of a salesman when he goes into his 
 territory is exactly the same. Judging from some of the 
 advertising I see, and from what I know of a great many 
 salesmen, I am convinced that neither the advertising 
 
170 RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVEKTISINQ, 
 
 man nor the salesman has plainly before him the object 
 he is trying to accomplish. Of course, a man who does 
 accomplish an object without knowing himself the object 
 which he is trying to accomplish is only a fortunate vic- 
 tim of an accident. We all know that this kind of an 
 accident very seldom takes place. 
 
 Have an Object in Mind. 
 
 I once learned a valuable lesson from a School of Ex- 
 pression in Boston. I went there because they said that 
 they could teach anyone to talk in public. I do not know 
 that I learned much about speaking in public, but I 
 learned this one thing, which has been worth a whole lot 
 to me ever since. 
 
 The first thing that this teacher told me was that I had 
 to have an object in mind when I was addressing an audi- 
 ence. He said, "Now what is your object ? What do you 
 want to tell these people ? Why are you going to talk to 
 them? Get the object first fixed in your mind and then 
 talk about it, but if you get up to talk and haven't any 
 particular object in mind, you won't make much of an 
 impression." 
 
 Now this "object" business is not only good for public 
 speaking, but in everything we do every day. If you are 
 going to write an advertisement, what is the object of it? 
 If you are going to hold a meeting of six or seven of your 
 people, what is the object? If you are going to print a 
 paper for salesmen, what is the object of it? You can 
 see from these applications what a great point that is. 
 
 Easier to Make than to Sell. 
 I have been in the manufacturing business nearly all 
 my life and I have found that it is much easier to make 
 
RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 171 
 
 things than it is to sell them. It took me some time to 
 figure this out. It finally dawned on me that the differ- 
 ence is caused through the fact that in one case you deal 
 mostly with machinery and metals, while in the other you 
 deal entirely with the human mind. 
 
 Machinery is a fixed quantity. You know exactly 
 what a machine can do and exactly what it will do under 
 given conditions. It is very often automatic and requires 
 little attention from anyone. It is nearly always the 
 same. It never changes its mind. It is very seldom in- 
 fluenced by outside conditions. Nearly everyone who has 
 some money can start a factory and manufacture things, 
 but it doesn't follow that anyone can sell things after 
 manufacturing. 
 
 When you get on the other side of it and try to deal 
 with humanity, you face very different problems. Hu- 
 manity thinks. It has feelings. It has sensations, de- 
 cisions, prejudices. It changes its mind. It is influenced 
 by environment and the conditions surrounding it. 
 
 Here is a peculiar thing about humanity. It has al- 
 ways wanted and it wants now, teachers, leaders. People 
 are willing to be taught. The man who makes a great 
 success, I don'^t care whether he is a business man, a law- 
 yer, a politician, or an advertiser, is the one who goes into 
 the teaching business. 
 
 Teaching the Use of New Things. 
 
 Advertising and salesmanship form the connecting 
 link between invention and the use of any article. All the 
 best inventions of the world would have fallen flat had it 
 not been for advertising and salesmanship — had it not 
 been for teaching people the use of new things. There- 
 
172 RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 
 
 fore, I think I will not be stating the case too strongly 
 to say that advertising and salesmanship have done more 
 to push the world ahead than anything else. Through 
 advertising and salesmanship, men have been brought 
 to see and to appreciate the blessings which the world 
 affords. 
 
 What is salesmanship? Salesmanship is nothing more 
 or less than making the other fellow feel as you do about 
 what you have to sell. 
 
 A sale does not take place in a man's pocket, or in his 
 pocket book, or his check book, but it first takes place in 
 his mind. 
 
 In order to make a sale you must convince a man's 
 mind. When you go in to see him he feels that he does 
 not want to buy your goods. You feel that he should 
 have them and would buy them if he knew as much about 
 the goods as you do. 
 
 Now, in order to sell him you must change his mind 
 and bring it around to agree with your mind. So that 
 when we once put salesmanship on this one broad plane 
 of convincing the other man's mind, it doesn't make any 
 difference whether we are trying to sell a house and lot or 
 a paper of pins. 
 
 • A Process of Salesmanship. 
 
 Advertising is a process of salesmanship. It is a means 
 toward making the other fellow feel as you do. Most 
 frequently we hear that "advertising is salesmanship on 
 paper." This is not untrue, and yet it is not wholly true. 
 Advertising is more than salesmanship. It is an insur- 
 ance on the continuance of trade. It is salesmanship plus 
 publicity. 
 
RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 173 
 
 To show you the value of teaching salesmen what to 
 say to prospective purchasers — suppose you were a man- 
 ufacturer and could call all of your prospective purchas- 
 ers together in one large tent, and you would have them 
 there for the purpose of telling them about your goods. 
 What would you do? First of all, you would be mighty 
 careful about the man or men you picked out to talk to 
 these people. You would pick out the man who could 
 make the best talk, the man who in the time he had to 
 speak could teach these people the most about your 
 goods. You would want to know beforehand just what 
 he was going to say before you would let him go on the 
 platform. Now, what is the difference between talking 
 to them all at one time or talking to them one at a time? 
 Then why not train your salesmen how to talk to each in- 
 dividual since you would consider it so important to 
 know what would be said to all of them at one time? 
 
 Saying the Right Thing. 
 
 I beUeve if advertisers could get all of their readers to- 
 gether in one large tent, and would be able to say to these 
 readers what they are saying to them in print, that nine- 
 tenths of them would change their copy. If we were go- 
 ing to say the things to people that we print, we would 
 certainly be more careful. Yet there are more "bad 
 breaks" being made today in advertising than in almost 
 anything else. Some advertisers seem to say everything 
 but the right thing to their prospective customers. They 
 would not think of talking about these same things if 
 they were talking to these people. 
 
 It is, after all, all teaching, whether it is selling goods 
 orally or selling them through printed matter. I am not 
 
174 RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 
 
 foolish enough not to know that there are exceptions to 
 this rule. I realize that there are certain well-established 
 concerns that print very little about their goods and 
 merely keep their names before the public, but any one 
 else who wishes to go into the same Hne of business will 
 fail absolutely on following these same methods. 
 
 The only way that any concern can hope to take away 
 a share of the patronage of another concern well-es- 
 tablished in the same line is to adopt different adver- 
 tising and selhng methods. It is necessary for the new 
 concern to give a reason why people should change their 
 place of trading. 
 
 If a man wants to start in the hardware business, the 
 shoe business, or any other business, it is not enough 
 merely to put an advertisement in the paper saying that 
 you are in the shoe business or hardware business, and 
 expect people who are buyirg elsewhere, and are fairly 
 well satisfied, to change their place of trading, but in 
 addition to stating that you are in the shoe business or the 
 hardware business, you must give reasons why people 
 should buy shoes or hardware from you. 
 
 MakiDg the Buyer Understand. 
 
 I think most ':opy writers and advertisers take it for 
 granted that the buying public knows a great deal about 
 their goods; at least some of the copy would make you 
 think so. They use all kinds of technical expressions and 
 big words. 
 
 I once heard it said that a man with big ideas uses 
 little words to express himself, while the man with Httle 
 ideas is always using big words to try and impress the 
 people with the greatness of the little idea. 
 
RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 175 
 
 Small words are more important in advertising than 
 in anything else. No one ever buys until he is convinced. 
 You can't convince him until he understands. He won't 
 understand unless you express yourself clearly, and the 
 only way to express yourself clearly is to use small words 
 that any one can understand. 
 
 Most advertisers shoot over the heads of nine-tenths of 
 the people they want to reach. They don't understand 
 the art of merely talking common-sense to these people — 
 the same kind of talk they would use if they were trying 
 to sell them orally. 
 
 Form of the Advertisement. 
 
 Next to the importance of what you say, is the way in 
 which you say it. It is so in talking — ^it is so in advertis- 
 ing. 
 
 The set-up of an advertisement is like the dress of a 
 salesman. Suppose a salesman would go into a store to 
 sell goods and would have on a hat of one color, a coat of 
 another color, a vest of another, and green trousers. He 
 might attract attention, but he would not make much of 
 an impression. 
 
 The set-ups of some advertisements remind me very 
 much of such wearing apparel for a salesman. Of 
 course, this is exaggerated, but nevertheless you see the 
 point. 
 
 In my opinion an advertisement must be just as sim- 
 ple in form as the dress of a salesman. Some people 
 write an advertisement and then put a lot of red lines or 
 heavy black lines around it, or all kinds of curlycues, so 
 that the most important thing about the "ad" is the big 
 red lines, or the fancy type or the fancy border, when, as 
 
176 RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 
 
 a matter of fact, that is the very thing they want to sub- 
 due. 
 
 Eveiything must be so arranged and the type so set 
 that attention is called to the most important thing, and 
 that is the statements you are making in the copy about 
 the goods you want to sell. Everything must be subor- 
 dinated to that. 
 
 Omit Self-evident Things. 
 
 Another thing in connection with copy: I think that 
 all self-evident things should be omitted, such as "Are 
 you in business to make money?" — "Are you satisfied 
 with what you made last year?" — and a number of sim- 
 ilar clauses, all of which are foolish, and it is fooUsh to 
 waste time talking about things that are self-evident. 
 Of course the man is in business to make money, and of 
 course he is not satisfied with what he made last year if 
 he can make more this year. Don't waste time on non- 
 essential things. 
 
 I have always claimed that all you can hope to do is to 
 get a man to read the first five or six lines of your copy, 
 and if the first five or six lines are not interesting enough 
 to cause him to read the balance, the fault is yours. He 
 gave you the chance but you didn't take advantage of it. 
 To prove this — one time we sent out 1,000 circular let- 
 ters, and they were all mailed under a one-cent stamp, 
 and to show you that nearly all of these people opened 
 the letter and read the first few lines, would say that this 
 circular letter was asking for prices on the goods which 
 the man handled, and out of the 1,000 letters mailed out, 
 nearly 900 people replied by giving prices, which showed 
 that nearly nine-tenths of these people received the let- 
 
RELATION OF SAUESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 17T 
 
 ter under the one-cent stamp, opened it and read the 
 first few lines of it, because nearly 900 of them quoted 
 prices. This convinced me that much depends on the 
 opening Hues of any copy. It is the same thing in a per- 
 sonal interview. You are impressed by what the man 
 tells you at the start. Let's eliminate all the "by-the- 
 ways" in advertising. Talk straight business. 
 
 A Lesson for Advertisers. 
 
 I once went in to see an old business man and wanted 
 to borrow $500. I went in and said: "I want to borrow 
 $500, and will give you my note for 60 days and I will 
 pay you at the end of 60 days." He turned to the cash- 
 ier and said "Write Mr. Chalmers a check for $500." He 
 then said to me: "Young man, let me tell you something 
 — you could not have gotten that money had it not been 
 for the straightforward way you asked for it. Most 
 men come in here and waste a lot of my time by saying : 
 *Good morning, how are you this morning? Nice weather 
 we have been having the last few days. How is the fam- 
 ily? And, by the way, I am a little short of money and 
 would like to borrow $500 for a couple of months.' But," 
 he said, "I was impressed by the way you asked for it. 
 You came in and asked me for the money right off, so I 
 am going to let you have it." So in this busy time 
 and generation let's eliminate all the "by- the- ways" and 
 get down to straight business. It pays. 
 
 Now there is a lesson in that for advertisers, too. This 
 is a busy world, and getting busier all the time. Even 
 those who have lots of time to read like to read direct 
 statements. So get down to talking your business in the 
 opening paragraphs of your copy. 
 
 I. B. h. Vol. 3—13 
 
178 HELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 
 
 Ten Qualities for Salesmanship. 
 
 I have had a great deal to do with salesmen. I was a 
 salesman myself for a great many years, and I have em- 
 ployed and supervised the work of hundreds of others. 
 There is an old adage which says "Salesmen are born and 
 not made." I don't believe that. I believe salesmen are 
 made as well as born, and teaching will do a great deal to 
 make a salesman. However, there are ten qualities which 
 a man must possess to be a successful salesman, and as 
 far as my experience goes I should say that these princi- 
 pal qualities are Health, Honesty, Ability, Initiative, 
 Knowledge of the Business, Tact, Sincerity, Industry, 
 Open-mindedness, and Enthusiasm. I think these same 
 qualities may be applied to advertising men, or, as a 
 matter of fact, to any man, because when you get right 
 down to the facts, we are all salesmen. Every man is try- 
 ing to sell his personality to some other man. He is try- 
 ing to impress the people he meets. He wants people 
 to think well of him ; consequently, he is a salesman, be- 
 cause he is trying to sell what he considers his good qual- 
 ities to other people. A man may not have all ten of 
 these quaUties, but in proportion as he has them will he 
 succeed. 
 
 I believe that the question of health should enter 
 largely into the selection of men, because in my own ex- 
 perience a healthy mind is better nourished in a healthy 
 body than otherwise. Into the questfon of the health of 
 a salesman enter those things he shouldn't do. There is 
 hardly a salesman in the country today that isn't doing 
 one or two things that are injuring him. The greatest 
 thing that bothers us all is our habits. 
 
RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 179 
 
 In speaking of honesty, I don't refer to it in its basest 
 sense, because a man is nothing short of a fool nowadays 
 who is not absolutely honest. But honesty goes further 
 than just what a man does. Honesty means what a man 
 thinks as well as what he does. After all, there is only 
 one man in the world who knows whether a man is hon- 
 est, and that is himself. It is good sense and business 
 logic that honesty in all things must be the rule of all 
 men if they are going to succeed. 
 
 In regard to ability; I have found in my limited ex- 
 perience that most men have two arms, two legs, two 
 eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth, and considering their 
 height, they weigh about the same. Now what makes 
 the difference between one man and another? Nothing 
 but brain power. That's all. One man has developed 
 his brains further than another. If all men were created 
 equal in brain power, they would not remain that way. 
 You remember the parable of the talents? Some of us 
 are so afraid that what we have will get away from us 
 that we wrap it up in a napkin and keep it, and we have 
 that talent always, but we never add to it. 
 
 Three Kinds of Men. 
 
 It has been my experience that there are but three kinds 
 of men in the world — the kind you have to tell once to do 
 a thing, and you can bet your life it will be done ; the sec- 
 ond is the kind that you have to tell three or four times, 
 and the third is that great business-producing creative 
 lot of men who don't have to be told. They have initia- 
 tive. They know what to do and they go ahead and do 
 it. Dewey had initiative when he cut the cable at Ma- 
 
180 RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 
 
 nilla, because he was on the ground and knew better 
 what to do than the men at Washington did. 
 
 What we call skill in a surgeon is initiative in a busi- 
 ness man. If a surgeon had you on the table and had 
 operated on you for appendicitis, and found he had made 
 a mistake and some other condition existed, he hasn't 
 time to go and take a book from the shelf and say "I will 
 read up on this subject." No, he has to go ahead and 
 finish the job, whether it is your finish or his finish. 
 
 They call that skill in a surgeon, but it is initiative in 
 a business man, because he must face critical situations, 
 he must face untried problems and must solve them for 
 himself. He must do something. 
 
 I am more thankful every day that I live in a country 
 where men have an equal chance, where poverty is no 
 barrier to progress, but in many, many cases is a posi- 
 tive help, because it is only by learning to overcome the 
 obstacles of our youth that we are taught to do things 
 and know things, and are taught the value of a dollar, 
 that we learn to overcome our troubles in business and 
 are able to solve the knotty problems that confront ev- 
 ery business man. 
 
 Knowledge of the Business. 
 
 On the question of knowledge of the business ; I have 
 always noticed that the lawj^er who reads the most law 
 books and keeps up to date on law, is, as a rule, the best 
 lawyer. I know the statement that "Salesmanship is a 
 profession" is worn threadbare, but it is true, neverthe- 
 less. A man ought to have all the knowledge of his busi- 
 ness that he can possess, keeping in mind the old saying 
 that "knowledge is power." 
 
RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVEETISING. 181 
 
 I remember once being in Germany at a salesman's 
 convention, and there was one man there who had been 
 banner agent for three years in succession. In awarding 
 him the prize at this convention I asked him to tell the 
 other agents why he had led all the rest for three years. 
 He could not have answered better if he had talked a 
 day, and yet he answered in practically one sentence, 
 when he said: "I defy anybody in all Germany to ask me 
 a question about my business that I cannot answer." 
 That was the great secret of his success. 
 
 Tact is that rare quality which enables a man to know 
 how to deal with his fellow men. Tact is something it 
 is pretty hard to give a man. He must cultivate it him- 
 self. Some people mistake tact for "jolly." A man who 
 can "jolly" you into something isn't always tactful; he 
 is merely expedient. He has done the most expedient 
 thing at the time, perhaps, but he probably hasn't been 
 honest with you. So don't mistake the thing. Tact 
 would not jump out of a window unless he saw a soft 
 pillow at the bottom. It is pretty hard to describe it, 
 but we all know that tact is a great quality to possess. 
 
 Sincerity Makes and Holds Friends. 
 
 Sincerity is that rare quality which not only makes 
 friends, but holds them. You can tell from the way men 
 talk whether they are sincere or not. Men are affected 
 by everything you say and do. You know that throwing 
 thoughts at a man is nothing more nor less than throw- 
 ing something tangible at him. I claim it is impossible 
 to throw insincere thoughts at a man and have him catch 
 sincere thoughts. It is just as impossible to do this as it 
 is impossible for me to throw a cup at a man and have 
 
18^ RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 
 
 him catch a saucer. If he catches anything he will catch 
 the cup, and I say that men are unconsciously affected by 
 the sincerity or insincerity of the man they are dealing 
 with ; so I believe in being sincere in all things. 
 
 Insincerity has taken a few orders, but insincerity 
 never held a job long. I admire a sincere man, and so 
 do you. I hate the jolHer. It is your friend who criti- 
 cizes you and your enemy who flatters you. Your friend 
 is sincere, wants you to improve, and tells you where you 
 are wrong, and the man who tells you that you are the 
 best fellow on earth when you are doing wrong isn't 
 your friend, because he is encouraging you to continue 
 to do things that aren't right. Therefore, accept criti- 
 cism that way, because it is your friend. 
 
 As regards industry, I think the man who coined that 
 sentence "always on the job" did a good day's work, be- 
 cause industry is a great thing. Keep busy! Keep doing 
 your work right! 
 
 Be Willing to Take Suggestions. 
 
 Open-mindedness is the willingness to take sugges- 
 tions. The man who knows it all is standing on a ba- 
 nana peel placed there by the fool-killer who is waiting 
 just around the corner. The man who is not open- 
 minded will get into a rut, and, after all, the only dif- 
 ference between a rut and a grave is the width and the 
 depth. 
 
 We should all be willing to receive suggestions. The 
 day is not long past when salesmen used to resent sug- 
 gestions. Most salesmen accept them nowadays. I have 
 heard of cases where men have made suggestions to a 
 superintendent and he has told them that that was his 
 
RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 183 
 
 business and has gone so far as to "fire" them for inter- 
 ference. The man who is doing the work every day is 
 the man who is best able to tell you how to improve it. 
 I would just as soon be stopped by a janitor as by a gen- 
 eral manager, because the chances are ten to one that the 
 janitor knows more about the things he wants to tell me 
 about than the general manager does. So I say that if 
 we are to progress we should solicit and gladly receive 
 suggestions. 
 
 Enthusiasm a Crowning Quality. 
 
 As to enthusiasm, a man might have honesty, health, 
 ability, initiative, knowledge of the business, tact, sin- 
 cerity, industry, and open-mindedness, and without en- 
 thusiasm he would only be a statue. Enthusiasm is the 
 white heat that fuses all of these qualities into one effec- 
 tive mass. To illustrate enthusiasm: I can take a sap- 
 phire and a piece of plain blue glass, and I can rub the 
 plain glass until it has a surface as hard as the sapphire, 
 but when I put the two together and I look down into 
 them, I find that the sapphire has a thousand little lights 
 glittering out of it that you cannot get out of the blue 
 glass if you rub it a thousand years. 
 
 What those little lights are to the sapphire, enthusiasm 
 is to a man. I love to see enthusiasm. A man should 
 be enthusiastic about that in which he is interested. I 
 like to go to a ball game and hear a man "root" for the 
 home team, and it never bothers me a bit, because I know 
 that that man has enthusiasm. He has interest. 
 
 I would not give two cents for a man who works for 
 money alone. The man who doesn't get some comfort 
 
184 RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 
 
 and some enthusiasm out of his daily work is in a bad 
 way. 
 
 Some men are ahnost irresistible — you know that; it 
 is because enthusiasm radiates from their expression, 
 beams from their eyes and is evident in their actions. En- 
 thusiasm is that thing which makes a man boil over for 
 his business, for his family, or for anything he has an in- 
 terest in, for anything his heart is in. So I say, enthu- 
 siasm is one of the greatest things a man can have. 
 
 Concentrate on Important Things. 
 
 I have given what I consider are necessary qualities to 
 a successful salesman, advertiser, or business man, but 
 the man who handles other men will succeed just in pro- 
 portion as he keeps his mind on the important things he 
 has to do. I want to give you a suggestion as to what 
 I have done for many years to keep my mind on the most 
 important things. I keep before me at all times the ten 
 most important things, and I have these in a folder on 
 my desk, and as the things are attended to they are 
 marked off and my secretary keeps making a clean sheet 
 of the ten most important things, because I only want to 
 keep my mind on important things. 
 
 Transfer to some one else the details, because we men 
 who handle other men succeed just in proportion as we 
 can intelligently direct their efforts. The actual work we 
 do ourselves doesn't amount to anything; it is what we 
 can succeed in getting others to do that counts. 
 
 I might illustrate this by a homely story: Suppose a 
 farmer had a 40-acre corn field, and he had a helper 
 named John, and he would say: "John, go chase the pigs 
 out of the cornfield." John might chase pigs for a week 
 
BELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADVERTISING. 185 
 
 and never know when he had them all out, because he 
 doesn't know how many are in there. 
 
 But suppose this farmer should say: "John, there are 
 ten pigs in that cornfield; go get them out." After John 
 got out ten pigs he would no longer be chasing pigs that 
 didn't exist. 
 
 This same thing applies to business men. If we keep 
 before us the ten most important things we have to do, 
 we are sure that we are not chasing things that do not 
 exist. Train your mind to do this. 
 
 If I should ask almost any business man "What are 
 the ten most important things you have to do?" he will 
 have to scratch his head and think. Now, if he doesn't 
 know what the ten most important things in his business 
 are, how can he be sure that he is working on these impor- 
 tant things? 
 
 Greatest Business in the World. 
 
 I consider that advertising is the greatest business in 
 the world viewed from many standpoints. In the first 
 place, there is perhaps more money spent on advertising 
 today than on nearly anything else you can think of, and 
 yet it requires more skill and more care in the spending 
 of it than almost anything else connected with business. 
 
 It seems to me that an advertising man has a right to 
 feel very proud of his profession. Not only because it is 
 a profession which calls for talent and ingenuity on the 
 part of those who practise it, but more especially because 
 it is the profession which is doing more than any other 
 I believe, to solve the world's biggest problem. 
 
 The world's biggest problem is the problem of distri- 
 bution — the problem of getting things from where they 
 
186 RELATION OF SALESMANSHIP TO ADTERTISING. 
 
 are to where they ought to be. It is the business of the 
 advertising man to find markets ; to create demand, and 
 to cut down cost to the consumer, or increase the profit 
 of the manufacturer as the case may be, through lessen- 
 ing selling expense. 
 
 It is really wonderful when you stop to think of the 
 influence which an advertising man can wield and the op- 
 portunity for service to his employer and to the public 
 which is his ; a good salesman is permitted to talk to one 
 person at a time, or at best a half-dozen persons perhaps, 
 but a good advertising man has the privilege of talking 
 to millions at one time. 
 
 There is a great responsibility resting on the shoulders 
 of advertising men and fortunately there are evidences 
 that many of them realize these responsibilities and are 
 putting forth every effort to measure up to them. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 ADVERTISEMENT WRITINa. 
 
 BY NATHANIEL C. FOWLER^ JR.* 
 
 *' 'Tis not so much how much is said — 'tis how 'tis said." 
 
 The man who frames an invariable rule to govern his 
 advertisement writing is simply a fool. 
 
 An arbitrary principle may be strictly adhered to in 
 railroad building, even to the always uniform size of the 
 regulation bolts and screws and the curves and gullies 
 provided for years before the first blow of the pickaxe, 
 but no man has been bom who can back his claim of right 
 to dictate a set policy, or to run a string of fixed regula- 
 tions, for the writing of all advertisements. 
 
 The author has given many years to constant practice, 
 and has prefaced those years with the hardest prepara- 
 tory training, and kind friends have been known to speak 
 well of some of his work, and its results; yet, to-day, he 
 does not know how to write an advertisement which he 
 would dare present as representing a sftyle, or principle 
 of advertisement writing positive to improve with the 
 age of even six months. 
 
 The advertisement writer is but a counterpart of the 
 physician. He does his best. He brings his special edu- 
 cation, long practice, and conscientious desire to his la- 
 bor — ^to more often succeed than to fail. 
 
 One can no more formulate a definite plan of advertis- 
 ing composition and style, before being filled with the 
 
 *From ** Building Business*' by the author of ** Fowler's Publicity,'* 
 a cyclopedia of advertising, etc., etc. 
 
 187 
 
188 ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 
 
 knowledge of the to-be-treated article, than can the phy- 
 sician write his prescription before feeling the pulse of 
 his patient. 
 
 Dependent on Conditions. 
 
 Advertisement writing depends as much upon sur- 
 rounding conditions as is the mercury dependent upon 
 the temperature for its rise and fall. 
 
 A style which will raise garden seeds might bury 
 pianos. 
 
 Lot's wife is a good trade mark for a com beef man, 
 but a mighty poor one for a Vermont dairy. 
 
 The best kind of advertising plan for a hotel or steam- 
 boat is not always effective for any other line of business. 
 
 Some good style, with the best writer of it, may make a 
 fool of the writer, and positively injure the goods adver- 
 tised, by the silly persistence of continually using it. 
 
 That which is fresh and wholesome to-day, is often 
 very stale and unattractive to-morrow. 
 
 There has never been invented a style of advertising 
 which grew better with age. 
 
 All intelligent handling of all good styles, with as 
 many original ones as can be thought of, one at a time, 
 is a hundred times more effective than any continuous 
 one, no matter how good it may be. 
 
 Various Kinds of Originality. 
 
 There are several kinds of originality, of all degrees 
 of qualiiy. 
 
 Any idiot can be original. 
 
 Sensible originahty is the only kind marketable. 
 
 Years ago, big type, bold-headed statements, and 
 hackneyed sentences, filled the advertising columns of the 
 
ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 189 
 
 newspapers, with about as much art and refinement about 
 them as there is melody in bedlam. 
 
 Then came a change. 
 
 The reaction has created a whirlwind of businesslike 
 and unbusinesslike art, and advertising lore. 
 
 Story writers and poets turned their attention to the 
 profitable field of advertisement composition, until a part 
 of the better class of advertisements are made up to 
 satisfy the taste of the members of the Monday Morning 
 Club, or of the Authors' and Artists' League. 
 
 Many professional advertisement writers have jumped 
 as far above the people as they were once beneath them. 
 Announcement of Something to Sell. 
 
 An advertisement is a simple announcement of some- 
 thing to sell, coupled vnih more or less of an appeal to 
 somebody to buy it. 
 
 The man who expects his good advertisements to sell 
 his goods without a salesman or agent is as foolish as the 
 man who expects the salesman to make sales without the 
 prehminary skirmish which advertising always makes. 
 
 The advertisement and the salesman together fight the 
 battle of trade. 
 
 Because one does a style of advertising, which, con- 
 tinued for a century, pays, is no argument that intelli- 
 gent variety would not pay better. 
 
 Advertising generally pays something, even when 
 handicapped by botch work. Give it half a chance, and 
 it will bring in results. It is often a question of making 
 it pay better. 
 
 Relation of Matter to Space. 
 
 The great criticism in advertising is too little space, 
 and too much matter. 
 
190 ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 
 
 Many a man attempts to tell the story of his trade 
 within the measure of an inch. He can't do it. 
 
 An advertisement, pure and simple, consists entirely 
 of the advertisement in the newspaper. Such an adver- 
 tisement will very likely bring in many inquiries for a ten 
 cent chromo, or a box of flavored toothpicks, but if the 
 advertisement announces regular goods of trade there is 
 little or no chance of the advertisement being a direct 
 means of direct selling. 
 
 Advertisement writing is simply a part of busin?Ss 
 management, or rather of business capital itself. Success- 
 ful advertisements must dovetail and harmonize with 
 every department of business. The more advertising 
 done, the more business should be shaped to meet that ad- 
 vertising, that it may work in conjunction with it. 
 
 The coat on the office boy, the letter-head in the book- 
 keeper's drawer, the store furniture, the lights, the show 
 windows, are all accessories before, or after an advertis- 
 ing fact. 
 
 If an advertisement be cordial, and have in it the es- 
 sence of truth, it is absolutely necessary that the recep- 
 tion to the possible customer should be as cordial and as 
 honest. 
 
 Changing the Ad. 
 
 Change of advertisements is absolutely necessary. 
 
 No advertiser should allow the same advertisement to 
 appear more than a few times, unless the advertisement 
 be a card, or giving such definite information that it is 
 necessary to continue it indefinitely. 
 
 Only the cheap newspapers object to resetting adver- 
 tisements. The leading publications would rather reset 
 
ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 191 
 
 them than not, because the proprietors of leading papers 
 not only have the facility to reset advertisements, but are 
 ever anxious to make their advertising columns pay their 
 advertisers. 
 
 When the advertiser can think of nothing new to say 
 about his article, let him send a courteous note to the pub- 
 lisher requesting him to reset the advertisement in a 
 style far removed from that then appearing. 
 
 The sense of experience, where experience has built its 
 right to dictate by experimenting with all experimental 
 styles of advertising, has labored hard in proving that 
 the strength of advertising is in the change and novelty 
 of it. 
 
 The advertisement which reads: 
 
 BEST PIANOS 
 
 at 
 John Smith's 
 
 undoubtedly has a certain amount of business-bringing 
 in it, but it can never do as much good for John Smith 
 as it would if he had something else to say about his 
 pianos than that they are "the best." 
 
 Changing the Style. 
 
 The discipline of experience teaches constant change 
 of style in advertising. It has made one believe that no 
 one style of advertising, no matter how profitable or how 
 much it be recommended, is worth anywhere near as 
 much as it was when it was new and fresh for the adver- 
 tiser. 
 
 Whether the style be modem, or that of the poster 
 style m the backwoods weekly, it cannot retain for the 
 
192 ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 
 
 advertiser who uses it the full vigor of business-bringing 
 strength after it has run the course of a year. 
 
 The pica reading-letter style of advertising has paid, 
 it is now paying, and it may continue to pay for ages, 
 but it cannot be worth as much as it was when its bright- 
 ness was undimmed by age. 
 
 The man who advertises by descriptive matter this 
 month, had better advertise by more open matter next 
 month. ^ 
 
 The man who has persisted in the primer style of ad- 
 vertising for three months can well consider the advisabil- 
 ity of hunting up some new style for the next three 
 months. 
 
 The primer style is good. It was invented by one of 
 the brightest advertising experts whom the world has 
 prodiiced. It was presented to the American reader at 
 a time when advertisement WTiting was going back to the 
 conventionahty of the Dark Ages. The public was de- 
 lighted. Something new under the advertising sun had 
 come to it. 
 
 The well-written primer, particularly that written by 
 this genius in primer writing, is a work of business litera- 
 ture. 
 
 Any advertiser can to great advantage use the primer 
 style, but he should not persistently use it, after it, good 
 as it may be, becomes a catalogued chestnut. 
 
 Business Calls for Changes. 
 
 No man thinks of keeping on his counters the same 
 goods arranged in the same way, indefinitely. The shrewd 
 business man buys new goods, or rearranges his old ones. 
 He is constantly changing things so as to be up with the 
 
ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 193 
 
 times, if not a little ahead of them. He is putting down 
 a new carpet in his office, whitewashing his walls; — up 
 goes a new sign ; — perhaps he is building a new store. 
 
 The quantity of business sagacity is shown by the ever 
 constant endeavor to make people see that the business 
 man is attending to business, and ready for more busi- 
 ness. 
 
 There is no part of business which so absolutely re- 
 quires constant change, originality, different style of ex- 
 pression, and manner of expressing it, than does the ad- 
 vertisement. 
 
 Because a man has always done business under gas 
 light, is 'that fact a good argument against the electric 
 light? 
 
 Is there any sense in persisting in one line of action 
 without branching from it sufficiently to discover other 
 lines or branches, which although not of material change, 
 are sufficient to attract those people who have never be- 
 fore been reached? 
 
 Avoid Radical Changes. 
 
 Radical changes are dangerous. The business man 
 who has made a success working along one path, had bet- 
 ter keep his feet in that path until they step off of it for- 
 ever, but the feet can be in the path, while the arms are 
 reaching out for newer and fresher things, while the 
 head is bobbing from one side to another, inhaling the 
 higher air of enterprise, sending to the feet a new circu- 
 lation, born from the mother of the times. 
 
 The old fogy idea of persistently following in the old 
 ruts, because the old ruts have held the business, is abso- 
 lutely sure to bring no new business, and it even may not 
 hold the old. 
 
 I.B.L. Vol. 3—13 
 
194 ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 
 
 The house which can get new business is generally the 
 store which holds all the old business. 
 
 The man who is advertising in a dignified way, need 
 not, for sake of change, advertise in an undignified one. 
 There are as many kinds of dignity as there are of any- 
 thing else. 
 
 An advertisement is that which a man sends out to ask 
 the people to come to him. Would the same man think of 
 asking his wife's sister on Monday to "Come to see us" ; 
 on Tuesday to "Come to see us"; and repeat the same 
 hackneyed invitation for the balance of the week, and so 
 on until the woman dies, or comes to see him? If the 
 same man ask the same woman to come see his family 
 on Monday, and if she does not come JNIonday, say to 
 her on Tuesday, "We are going to have strawberry short- 
 cake for supper, why not drop around to see us?" he 
 adds an inducement which appeals to her palate. If 
 she does not accept it, on Wednesday he may say: "My 
 wife and I are going to take a ride to the Falls; would 
 you hke to accompany us?" Here he adds still another 
 inducement, something which appeals to another side of 
 her natural desire. The plain invitation is still there, but 
 so framed that it becomes interestingly cordial. It is 
 simply a different way of saying the same thing, with 
 the weight of the invitation increased by its attractive- 
 ness. The advertisement is nothing more nor less than 
 this sort of an invitation, only it is more general ; but it 
 must be varied as often as any other invitation, to attract 
 the new, as well as to hold the old. 
 
 The advertiser who finds his advertising is not draw- 
 ing, had better investigate the fault in himself before he 
 
ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 195 
 
 investigates the fault in the paper, or that in the not-yet 
 come-to-him customer. 
 
 On general principles the more space an advertiser 
 takes the more people read his advertisement; but it 
 makes no difference whether the space be one inch or 
 four pages, change of style is just as necessary as is 
 change of collar and cuffs on the clerk who stands behind 
 the counter. 
 
 Advertise Goods, Not Men. 
 
 Advertise the goods for sale, not the men who sell 
 them. 
 
 Beyond a few of the great concerns, which are in them- 
 selves of Barnum-like conspicuousness, whose names are 
 trade-marks of business, the firm name is worth compara- 
 tively little beyond its good reputation, its age, and the 
 enterprise attached to it, all of which accumulate intrinsic 
 value, but none of which justify bill-board advertising; 
 nor is it necessary that the name should be at the top, in 
 the middle, and at the bottom, all together in any one 
 advertisement, set in type of the largest size, at tremen- 
 dous sacrifice of good space, and acting as a direct handi- 
 cap to the salability of the goods for sale. 
 
 The firm name should not occupy more than a very 
 limited space. It had better be at the bottom of the ad- 
 vertisement, in small type, than at the top in any size of 
 type, although certain firms believe that there is advan- 
 tage in keeping the firm name at the top, in some distinct 
 and characteristic lettering, assuming to act as a sort of 
 trade-mark. 
 
 If the name appears at the top it should not appear 
 at the bottom, and the firm name should seldom appear 
 more than once in any advertisement. 
 
196 ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 
 
 If the advertiser has something to suit the necessities 
 of the people, and his name be printed in the smallest 
 type at the bottom of the advertisement, the reader will 
 find it. 
 
 The advertiser who argues that his name should be in 
 the largest type, in order that the people may not forget 
 he is advertising, simply shows his poor opinion of the ef- 
 fectiveness of advertising. Better make the style of the 
 advertisement characteristic than the size of the type in 
 the firm name. If the advertisement has anything in it 
 worth reading it will be read, and the advertiser's name 
 discovered. 
 
 Use of Simple Names. 
 
 One point the advertiser must never forget : never use 
 a mystifying or difficult-to-pronounce name for any- 
 thing. 
 
 If buyers cannot easily pronounce the name, they are 
 not likely to ask for it. 
 
 Do not set before the prospective reader more than he 
 will read. 
 
 A sfteady, small stream will fill the bucket to the re- 
 quired fullness. 
 
 A stream larger than the bucket will fill it, and slop 
 out half of the contents. 
 
 There would not be the slightest objection to cram- 
 ming the advertisement, if the reader would digest it ; but 
 the trouble is the reader will not even taste enough of 
 it to learn its flavor. 
 
 A Silent Drummer. 
 An advertisement is a silent drummer; and people in 
 general imagine themselves to be opposed to dnmimers; 
 
ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 197 
 
 and here is certainly an appearance of objection with 
 a proportion of most folks against advertising in gen- 
 eral ; consequently it is absolutely necessary that the ad- 
 vertisement should be so written, that the reader will 
 absorb it before he has time to remember the convention- 
 al apathy he may suppose he possesses. 
 
 The wording of an advertisement frequently rises to 
 the dignity of sound literary character; indeed, it is 
 easy, if one possess the ability, to throw considerable 
 sensible literary work into the construction of a single 
 headline ; and right here it is opportune to say, that the 
 average business man considers himself too much oc- 
 cupied to give the time to the proper construction of ef- 
 fective advertising. 
 
 It is not intended to imply that the business man can 
 say that few have, or can have, in justice to business 
 affairs, the trained knowledge sufficient to make the ad- 
 vertisement as effective as it would be if he should pos- 
 sess that which the present business methods have so far 
 refused to teach him. 
 
 Learning to Write Ads. 
 
 It is not intended to imply that the business man can 
 not write, or learn to write, a good advertisement. He 
 can so learn, if he will but give intelligent attention to 
 this essential department of his business; and any busi- 
 ness man, no matter how busy, to be a successful adver- 
 tiser, must study the methods of advertising thoroughly 
 and carefully, or else engage the professional services 
 of some one competent to write and direct his advertising. 
 
 In many cases the employing, regularly or occasion- 
 ally, of such trained assistance, is to be recommended. 
 
198 ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 
 
 The average shoe clqrk can write a better shirt ad- 
 vertisement than can the maker of shirts. The shoe man 
 is not handicapped by technical shirt fact. A shirt to 
 him is a means to an end. He will write only that about 
 shirts which interests the shirt wearer. He is the buyer 
 of shirts. He knows what a shirt should do. 
 
 Because the advertiser will read his own advertise- 
 ment, and it pleases him, and his wife, and his doctor, 
 his bookkeeper, and his office boy, there is no reason 
 for claiming that the "don't-care" public will notice it. 
 
 Don't Crowd Your Space. 
 
 No more think of crowding your advertisement into 
 crowded space than of crowding your salesroom. 
 
 One sentence of crisply printed words is far more ef- 
 fective than a conglomeration of catalogue prose. 
 
 It is all well enough to use small space, if you can 
 hire folks at a reasonable price to look at it. 
 
 The value of a well-written advertisement can hardly 
 be over-estimated. 
 
 There are plenty of cases on record where the com- 
 position of a single effectively written advertisement has 
 been worth several hundred dollars. 
 
 The idea, resulting in the words, 
 
 "Fanny Fern writes for the Ledger f 
 
 as applied to the advertising of that famous national 
 publication, was the lightning stroke of genius. These 
 words alone were made to fill entire pages in the leading 
 daily papers, and America wondered at the extravagance 
 of space, and bought the Ledger. 
 
 If head-lines be used, and they are recommended for 
 
ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 199 
 
 nine-tenths of the advertisements, the burden of the ad- 
 vertisement hangs on the head-hne. 
 
 Long Descriptions of Goods. 
 
 There are some hnes of goods which occasionally re- 
 quire extended description, but when long descriptions 
 occur it is well not to have them run more than once or 
 twice in succession; and the intervening advertisements 
 should be particularly short and crispy. 
 
 The advertisement of many things can be subdivided, 
 so that each article has a prominent identity. 
 
 Books are published to be sold, and are sold. The 
 purchaser buys the book because he wants to read it, and 
 yet every attention is given to the typographical make- 
 up of the book, to have it set up in clear, readable type, 
 with plenty of space between the lines, and frequent 
 paragraphs. 
 
 If so much attention be given to the typographical 
 appearance of that which will be read irrespective of its 
 appearance, should not more care be exercised in the 
 construction of the advertisement, to induce people 
 to read that which they imagine they do not really care 
 much about reading? 
 
 Use of Display Type. 
 
 The common form of writing advertisements is to put 
 big statements into big type. 
 
 Generally a statement cannot be too broad and strong, 
 if it be true. 
 
 There is no objection to using very large display type, 
 provided there are not too many similarly prominent 
 lines in the same advertisement. 
 
200 ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 
 
 Many large type lines should never be close together. 
 They should either be separated by blank space, or by 
 printed matter in small type. 
 
 The value of large type is dependent on its contrast 
 with the type preceding or following it. Frequently 
 the smallest type, by its very minuteness, if there be no 
 large type in the same advertisement, makes nearly as 
 conspicuous a line as one set in the largest type. 
 
 In the majority of advertisements, display lines are 
 used, and probably always will be used. They may not 
 look artistic, but there is no denying that there is a busi- 
 ness look about large type, which cannot be readily pro- 
 duced in any other way. 
 
 An advertisement can be instructive in a general waj'-, 
 so as to contain positive information, which will be read 
 and looked for, and which cannot be read without the 
 substance of the advertisement permeating the remotest 
 recesses of the reader's brain. 
 
 Strive After Uniqueness. 
 
 Direct advertising is generally better than indirect, 
 buit a combmation of all of the methods is the most effec- 
 tive and the advertiser should strive to follow a style of 
 advertising different from the common style prevalent 
 in his territory. 
 
 The personal letter form of advertising, which tells 
 in a gossipy, sprightly style, with more or less of de- 
 scription, of the goods offered for sale, is to be recom- 
 mended for frequent use. In this style of advertisement 
 use few paragraphs, a modest heading, or no heading 
 at all, and Old Style Roman, or Full Face type, is gen- 
 erally the best style of type to set it in. The size of the 
 
ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 201 
 
 type should not be smaller than will comfortably fill the 
 space, miless the advertiser be willing to pay for con- 
 siderable blank space, at the top and bottom of the read- 
 ing matter. The -blank space is not wasted, for it not 
 only helps the typographical appearance of the adver- 
 tisement, but, by seeming to make the advertisement so 
 brief, increases the chances of its being read. 
 
 The negative form of writing advertisements, that is, 
 apparently running down the advertiser, provided it be 
 done so that it is plainly intentional, is occasionally bene- 
 ficial. 
 
 For instance, 
 
 "Brown makes the best candy out of the poorest mo- 
 lasses" 
 
 or, the dry goods dealer might announce, 
 
 "The poorest calicoes at the highest prices. No at- 
 tention paid to customers. Shrinkable ginghams war- 
 ranted not to wash. Ten thousand handkerchiefs, not 
 worth five cents apiece, at twelve dollars a dozen." 
 
 This class of advertisement must be written in the 
 broadest style of exaggeration, and should appear not 
 more than a few times during the year ; and never should 
 be used at all if the advertiser has doubts about the way 
 the public will understand it. . 
 
 The Use of Humor in Ads. 
 
 If the advertiser or writer possess a humorous vein, 
 he can often use it to advantage ; but before attempting 
 anything in this line, he must be sure that his humor is 
 genuine, not imaginary. No matter how good the humor 
 is, the shorter it is the better; and the advertisement 
 should be all humorous or not humorous at all. 
 
202 ADVERTISEMENT WKITmO. 
 
 Rhymed advertisements are often effective, and as 
 they are little used, have the appearance of originality. 
 But if reputation be valued, do not indulge in this sort 
 of advertising unless the services can be secured of one 
 versed in the art of versification. Poor prose is bad 
 enough, but poor rhyme is an abomination. 
 
 Public Tired of **Bargain*' Talk. 
 
 Avoid the everlasting typographical harangue about 
 bargains. The public is thoroughly tired of reading 
 about that which doesn't often exist, and is seldom rec- 
 ognized when it does. Nobody has the slightest confi- 
 dence in a bargain store, — the name itself is a libel on 
 truthfulness. 
 
 The man who advertises impossible bargains, and 
 goods at less than cost, would find it would improve his 
 advertisement, at least in a novel way, to print 
 
 LIE, LIE, 
 
 at the top of the column, for that is exactly what every- 
 body believes that sort of a sale amounts to. 
 
 The old phrase of "less than cost" has helped to cost 
 many a man his reputation and business. No sensible 
 merchant does business on that basis, and printed claims 
 that he does so are transparent lies, pure and simple ; and 
 the public, be it ever so ignorant, scents a printed He, 
 the more so when it is surrounded by a nest of misleading, 
 extravagant statements. 
 
 Bargains are the chestnuts of trade, and less-than- 
 cost goods parodies on nothing. 
 
 Business is done to make money ; everybody knows it ; 
 and it is useless to attempt to deny priticiples of trade. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 203 
 
 Falsehood is a Boomerang. 
 
 A truthful advertisement is worth a value in any mar- 
 ket; a falsifying one is a business boomerang, bringing 
 loss at the rebound. 
 
 There is no objection to a moderate amount of talk 
 about low prices, but do not talk too much on that score, 
 for folks will not believe you, even if you are telling the 
 truth. 
 
 Good goods at fair prices, attention being directed to- 
 ward the quality of the goods more than to the price, 
 will do more good in any market than a long-winded 
 harangue on less than cost, and that sort of nonsense. 
 
 Many business men believe in, or at least practice, the 
 advertising doctrine of doing by their neighbors as they 
 would that their neighbors should do by them. Not 
 satisfied with expostulating on the merits of their own 
 stock, they spend half their valuable time in digging out 
 the faults in their neighbors' goods, and the evil which 
 exists among their competitors. These men advertise 
 selected affirmatives about themselves, and selected nega- 
 tives about others. This sort of advertising never has 
 paid for any length of time, and never will pay. The 
 people care about the quality and price of the goods pre- 
 sented, and even though they may be somewhat influ- 
 enced by comparison, they are never gulled by advertis- 
 ing blackmail. 
 
 Preserve Your Identity. 
 
 Do not copy neighbors' ideas. Each advertisement 
 should be new and fresh, and it is well to preserve an 
 identity in all of them easily recognizable as peculiar to 
 the advertiser. 
 
204 ADVERTISEMENT AVRITING. 
 
 The perfection of advertising is in its oneness. 
 
 A conglomeration of the goods for sale in the store is 
 just as sure not to bring business as the printing of the 
 entire inventory of the goods. 
 
 People will look at one thing when they will not look 
 at two, and people will see one thing when it stands by 
 itself when they will not look at the same thing when it 
 stands with others. This is business sense and applies to 
 everything, as well as to advertising. 
 
 Drive one nail at a time, and drive it well — it will 
 clinch itself a great deal tighter than if you try to drive 
 two nails with one hammer stroke. 
 
 The Business-Bringing Quality. 
 Let the advertiser paste the following in every hat he 
 owns: 
 
 It matters little whether the advertisement pleases the 
 advertiser or not. It may he a literary production worthy 
 of literary recognition; it may he a comhination of words 
 so heautifully put together that the Monday Morning 
 Cluh will discuss the heauty of its sentiment; it may read 
 like a poem the minister is willing to recite in his pulpit; 
 and yet it may not have in it that husiness-hringing qual- 
 ity which alone can hring husiness. 
 
 Many an advertisement which contains but a few 
 words, which seems to be sawed out with a rusty saw and 
 nailed together with a broken hammer, which appears 
 to have nothing in it in the way of art, may contain the 
 germ of business-bringing. What the people want, not 
 what the advertiser wants, so long as he keeps within the 
 bounds of respectabihty. Because he likes certain ex- 
 pressions, because his wife admires his beautiful style of 
 
ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 205 
 
 word-painting, are no reasons that his printed words con- 
 tain business-bringing quality. He had better not pre- 
 sent them to the pubhc unless the public will reciprocate 
 with business. 
 
 Advertise One Thing at a Time, 
 
 The golden rule of advertising is to advertise one thing 
 at a time, and only one thing, with, of course, certain 
 legitimate additions which come in as directly connected 
 with the particular article ; for instance, shirts and draw- 
 ers may be advertised together, hkewise collars and cuffs, 
 molasses and syrup. 
 
 The advertiser seems to be afraid that if he does not 
 advertise all he has got, people will not buy all he has. 
 No theory stands upon falser bottom, for no writer can 
 describe the goods of any store, unless it deal exclu- 
 sively in one specialty, without using the space of a dic- 
 tionary to describe them in, and dictionary space is not 
 good advertising. Such advertisements, no matter how 
 comprehensive they may be, and no matter how good 
 they may seem as pure literature, are at best a collection 
 of good things so served as to appear like a conglomera- 
 tion of chaff. 
 
 An advertisement of neckties, although it does not 
 mention shirts, will help sell shirts. 
 
 The man who advertises shirts, neckties, collars, cuffs, 
 dress goods, hats, caps, boots and shoes, and other things, 
 all at the same time, can be positively assured of making 
 no impression upon any one, nor can he have the satis- 
 faction of feeling that he has directly or indirectly 
 pointed out anybody's needs, or suggested to any one 
 that he has something which they ought to have. 
 
206 ADVERTISEMENT WEITING. 
 
 The advertiser who advertises a particular kind of 
 shoes, or a particular kind of shirt, or a particular kind 
 of dress pattern, or anything else in particular, can be 
 assured that his advertisement will catch the eyes of all 
 people in particular need of those particular things, and 
 the people are liable to call at his store, to see that which 
 he has especially advertised, perhaps to buy, and very 
 likely to purchase a great many other things well dis- 
 played, or which his shrewd salesmen suggest to them. 
 
 If a man have a cold, the hne 
 
 ''Stop that Cough" 
 
 will gain his attention, while the line "Brown's Syrup 
 cures all diseases" will pass by his intelligent attention, 
 even though he may read in the advertisement that 
 Brown's Syrup cures a cough. 
 
 The woman who is out of sheeting is more likely to go 
 to the store which on that particular day advertises sheet- 
 ing only, than to the store which advertises ever)i:hing 
 including sheeting. 
 
 There is no objection to a line at the bottom of the 
 advertisement, stating that everything is for sale, but 
 it is decidedly objectionable to make the advertisement 
 general, for general advertising is like scattering shot, 
 which kills mighty small game. 
 
 Changing Newspaper Ads. 
 
 The same newspaper advertisement should seldom run 
 more than twice without change ; better change it every 
 time. If something new cannot be picked out, rewrite 
 the old. If you cannot think of anything new to say, re- 
 set the old advertisement in different style. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT WRITING. 207 
 
 Fifty words inside of a man are worth five hundred 
 words outside of him. Better impress the reader with 
 one word, and impress him well, than to throw at him 
 a wordy flood which he will not read, and if he does, will 
 not retain enough of it to remember that he has ever seen 
 it. 
 
 Make every advertisement readable. 
 
 Remember that the advertisement should be written 
 for the eye of the reader, not as a means of personal 
 gratification to the advertiser. 
 
 Do not have half the advertisement blow, the balance 
 bluster. 
 
 Have all of the sentences short, and complete. 
 
 Always see a proof of the advertisement. 
 
 Brevity is the soul of advertising, as it is of about 
 everything else. 
 
208 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT WEITING. 
 
 r| •a..iiu,iw.».i.p»» \B 
 
 The Firsi AM I S^ 
 
 -THE- 
 
 Annapolis Banking d Frasf Co. 
 
 Cm Mftik StrMi mi4 CiMrck Ordib 
 
 milt sunu ihat Vf spent caretc»ly ind -uselessly 
 thai couid t)» savtrd if on* mide • firm rcaolvittM 
 re. dojl. And liltl* sums pow I 
 Mpk5)y Mmy mr n spend en»^ In » 
 pensM during (h«r lilt ome 10 provide for the 
 UJtripn ol their Uiniliei» if the SMne amourtts had 
 be$(V:jaycd Oui Uttle Banks tfford t stle ind 
 iStT'MxteV P>»ct •> which (o aauntuiait snul 
 
 Some Modern Bank Ads. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 PICTURES IN ADVERTISINa. 
 
 BY WILLIAM D. MCJUNKIN. 
 
 An analysis which I made of the advertising pages in 
 a recent issue of a high-class magazine, yields some re- 
 sults which may prove interesting to business men and 
 students of advertising. This analysis concerned only 
 the illustrations and their bearing on the advertising 
 "copy." 
 
 Out of 254 separate and distinct advertisements, 79 
 had no illustration of any kind. Discounting 49 small 
 advertisements of less than one-quarter page size, such 
 as school announcements, together with ten publishers' 
 announcements, I found that only 20 advertisements of 
 general business had no illustration — about twelve per 
 cent of the whole number. 
 
 What Pictures Aim At. 
 
 The pictures in the 175 illustrated advertisements, I 
 roughly classified as follows : 61 portrayed the merchan- 
 dise offered ; 33 showed the merchandise in use or in some 
 relation to its use: 22 bore trade marks, under which 
 heading I include the photo of the advertiser, office build-? 
 ing, or a sample package or bottle of the article for sale; 
 53 were of a fanciful character, the connection between 
 the picture and the talk being sometimes natural, some- 
 times rather far-fetched; only six were purely fanciful, 
 relying for their effect on decorative beauty. Only two 
 of the 175 illustrations attempted humor. Of the whole 
 
 I.B.L. Vol. 3—14 ^"^ 
 
210 PICTURES IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 number 13 were positively bad, 7 were excellent, and 155 
 ranged from tolerable to fairly good. This last state- 
 ment of course, involves the "personal equation," but I 
 may say that as advertising manager for large concerns, 
 it has been my duty to study very carefully the value of 
 a "picture" in relation to "copy." 
 
 I desire to draw attention to some questions which 
 these figures raise. In view of the universal appeal 
 which pictures make — to all classes, all ages, and to peo- 
 ple of all degrees of culture — it is not strange that such 
 a small percentage of advertisements should dispense 
 with their aid. About the first question which the adver- 
 tising man asks himself when preparing copy for a mag- 
 azine or newspaper, is: How shall I have it illustrated? 
 I suggest, however, that there is a question which ought 
 to precede this, to-wit: Will an illustr'ation help? 
 
 Winning Attention. 
 
 The answer is almost sure to be: "Yes — of course — 
 an illustration is bound to arouse attention." I am not 
 so sure of that. When page after page of the bulky 
 advertising section of a big magazine is covered with il- 
 lustrations, the public may be pardoned for passing over 
 some with slight attention or none. I am not at all sure 
 that, purely for the purpose of arresting attention, it 
 may not be desirable, amid the present universal leaning 
 toward illustrations, to leave them out. After a surfeit 
 of dainties, plain food tastes excellent. Attention to any 
 one object among a crowd of similar objects, as in a pic- 
 ture gallery, depends upon some striking difference, and 
 it may be that an illustrated advertisement stands a bet- 
 
PICTURES IN ADVERTISING. 211 
 
 ter chance of presenting a marked difference from its 
 neighbors than an illustrated one. 
 
 Pictures Should Sell Goods. 
 
 However that may be, it is certain that an illustration 
 should not be used merely for the purpose of arousing at- 
 tention. It ought to help sell the goods. As ad-writing 
 is not literature, so advertising pictures are not art. 
 Beautiful, pleasing — of course they ought to be that, if 
 possible — but they subserve the interests of the useful, 
 not of the beautiful merely. 
 
 What will the illustration do to help my argument? — 
 that is the question for the advertiser. This is becoming 
 better understood by advertisers, as is proved by the fig- 
 ures I have offered. Only six out of 175 illustrations 
 had no relation to the argument which the "copy" set 
 forth; and in the 53 whose connection with the "copy" 
 was fanciful, an attempt more or less ingenious was 
 made to make the illustration "point the moral" in some 
 way. Two-thirds of the illustrations "stuck to business," 
 showing the goods, or something about the goods in a 
 way that the advertiser supposed would multiply sales. 
 
 What Makes Pictures Talk? 
 
 Reverting to the classification I made above — illustra- 
 tions of the goods, illustrations of the goods in use, trade- 
 marks, part-fanciful illustrations and wholly-fanciful il- 
 lustrations — I will ask: Is it possible in regard to each 
 of these, to say what will make the illustration effective, 
 a real advertising help ? 
 
 One-third of our advertisers contented themselves with 
 showing the goods and "let it go at that." The illustra- 
 tions are nearly all half-tone reproductions of photo- 
 
212 PICTURES IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 /jraphs, and the "artist" in the case is the engraver. But 
 what a difference between this effect and that ! Some of 
 the illustrations are cheap-looking, and can serve only to 
 depreciate the goods ; while a few at once create, through 
 the perfect finishing of the plate, a desire for possession 
 of the goods. The difference in cost between the best 
 and the worst is only a dollar or tv/o, yet advertisers who 
 will open their purse without a groan to pay a heavy bill 
 for advertising space will "scrimp" on the expenditure 
 of an insignificant sum necessary to procure an illustra- 
 tion that will make the space pay. It is too absurd, but 
 this is not a solitary example of the false economy by 
 which many advertisers are guided. 
 
 Poor Pictures Don't Pay. 
 
 Next as to illustrations of the goods in use, as of a 
 corset on a lovely female form, or of an automobile dash- 
 ing along a country road and occupied by society's elect. 
 Here the illustrator — the "commercial artist" — ^works 
 alone or combines with the photo-engraver to produce an 
 attractive effect. The scope is much wider than in the 
 former case, and the results range from wooden, lifeless 
 imitations of life, to pictures full of "verve" and grace. 
 Without any question this kind of illustration, when well 
 executed, is a most potent seller of merchandise, and the 
 advertiser is wise v/ho does not hesitate to pay the price 
 demanded for the best procurable. 
 
 The trademark may be a mere reproduction of the ad- 
 vertiser's signature, or of his photograph or office build- 
 ing or factory, or it may be an elaborate effort of the il- 
 lustrator's art. In any case it aims at distinctiveness 
 rather than beauty; its purpose is to recall the advertis- 
 
PICTURES IN ADVERTISING. 213 
 
 er's goods whenever it is presented, and it unquestion- 
 ably helps to bestow individuality and make sales. The 
 trademark can be easily used in combination with a fan- 
 ciful or part-fanciful picture, and its usefulness is in di- 
 rect ratio with the frequency of its appearance. 
 
 Fruitful and Foolish Fancies. 
 
 Part-fanciful illustrations are the rock on which the 
 craft of many an "artist" splits. They are used where 
 for some good reason the merchandise cannot be repro- 
 duced. Here, for instance, is an illustration occupying 
 nearly the whole of the magazine page. It is an adver- 
 tisement of a railroad company. An old gentleman is 
 reclining comfortably in a parlor chair car, a newspaper 
 over his knee, a cigar in his hand, and a look of such bliss- 
 ful content on his benevolent features that the headline 
 of the copy, "A comfortable trip," strikes you as the only 
 right thing that could be said. There is complete har- 
 mony between the illustration and the copy, and the ef- 
 fect is powerful. 
 
 But you have only to glance at the advertising pages 
 of any magazine to see how inefficient, inept, ludicrous, 
 this sort of illustration may be made. Think how often 
 the poor globe has had a chunk torn out of it in order 
 that somebody's product should be inserted in the gap, 
 thus conclusively proving that "it beats the world," or is 
 "on top," or something equally wonderful — and foolish. 
 The imagination of the artist in such a case is on the 
 wrong side of the line which demarcates the spheres of 
 the lunatic and the poet. Part-fanciful illustrations are 
 difficult and dangerous. Unless they bring out cleverly, 
 strongly and aptly some prominent feature of the prop- 
 
214 PICTURES IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 osition advertised, they do infinite harm. They "arrest 
 attention" but they have a contrary effect to that pro- 
 duced by the powerful sermon that the poet eulogizes. 
 In this case "those who come to pray, remain to scoff" 
 and not vice versa. 
 
 Lastly, illustrations that are purely fanciful are be- 
 coming rare — amounting in the issue of the magazine 
 afore-mentioned, to little more than three per cent of the 
 advertisements. They are decorative merely. They aim 
 to produce, through mere attractiveness, that indefinite 
 something which is called prestige. They are survivals 
 of a time when advertising illustrations were thought to 
 be "art," and advertising copy was called "literature." 
 Their proper place is on calendars, posters and such like 
 bids for publicity, which the advertiser distributes "for 
 prestige only." 
 
 A Back Seat for Funny Pictures. 
 
 A word on the "funny" illustration. It is becoming 
 conspicuous on magazine advertising pages by its ab- 
 sence. The (alleged) wit and the (indubitable) buffoon 
 have been frowned out of respectable advertising society, 
 making surreptitious appearances occasionally in the 
 newspapers, but forced to confine themselves mainly to 
 the bill-boards and the "meaner sort" of mailing cards. 
 The reason is not far to seek. Advertising is business. 
 Business is mostly serious work. And the aim of the il- 
 lustration must be serious, not freakish. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 
 
 BY P. V. COLLINS.* 
 
 A well-known authority on Minnesota farming stated 
 recently that absolutely nothing is done on an up-to-date 
 farm today as it was twenty-five years ago. Farmers 
 plowed twenty-five years ago walking, but today they 
 ride luxuriously. Then they ignored the waste of moist- 
 ure in not creating a dust-blanket as quickly as possible 
 after plowing, to stop evaporation. Today soil culture, 
 deep plowing and conservation of moisture is a science. 
 
 Then they salted old spoiled hay to tempt salt-hungry 
 stock to fill their stomachs with half -rotten provender, 
 valueless as food ; today the stock feeder weighs out the 
 protein, carbohydrates and other chemical ingredients 
 of feed as scientifically as a manufacturing chemist, and 
 feeds his stock a balanced ration. And so on through all 
 branches of farming. 
 
 * As president and general manager of the P. V. Collins Publishing 
 Co., Minneapolis, publishers of The Northwestern Agriculturist, Mr. Col- 
 lins has made one of the notable business successes of the great North- 
 west. He is widely known in the United States and Canada and 
 speaks with authority on advertising, not only as a successful 
 publisher but as a member of the Executive Committee of the 
 Associated Advertising Clubs of America and past president of the Na- 
 tional Editorial Association of America. The practical remarks embodied 
 in this chapter were contained in an address made by Mr. Collins Decem- 
 ber 1, 1909, before the Publicity Club of Minneapolis, composed of men 
 actively interested in advertising. His observations will interest and 
 benefit all students of the subject. 
 
 215 
 
216 A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 
 
 Filling the Trade Field. 
 
 Advertising men are farmers. If you are still farm- 
 ing your trade field as you did twenty years ago, you are 
 behind the old walking plow instead of sitting on the 
 seat of the gang; or you are stuffing your customers with 
 salted weeds instead of giving them a balanced ration. 
 You may fill your space with half-decayed provender 
 and think you are feeding protein and carbohydrates. 
 You may create indigestion and colic, but such a course 
 will fatten no stock nor bonds nor bank accounts.* * * 
 
 Go to the files of any newspaper, published say twenty 
 years ago, and you will find all of its real estate "classi- 
 fied ads" adorned with a miniature cut of an alleged 
 house, looking more like a chicken coop with a chimney 
 than a residence. Every "For Rent" or "For Sale" 
 ad had to have that little house cut. 
 
 Stock Cuts in Ads. 
 
 All steamboat ads were adorned with a toy steamboat 
 picture as large as a thumbnail or smaller. All live 
 stock ads had a tiny bull or sheep or hog cut. These ads 
 were in no sense illustrations of the particular house, 
 steamboat or hog, but were all the same cut according 
 to its class. This was a rehc of the still older days, when 
 only the privileged few could read, and the cuts, like 
 the "Sign of the Lion Rampant" before an inn, or the 
 "Sign of the Red Goose" before a tailor shop were as 
 trade-marks, that he who could not read might run. 
 
 That peculiarity of two decades or more ago came 
 down much closer to our own day than many of us imag- 
 ine. In some cities it penetrated even the decade just 
 closing. When I began preparing this sketch, I turned 
 
A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 217 
 
 to the file of The Northwestern Agriculturist to com- 
 pare the December 1, 1898, issue with the issue of this 
 week, 1909, and behold a double-page advertisement of 
 one of the great mail order stores of Minneapolis. It is 
 a curiosity. Here is a double page of paid space filled 
 with absolutely illegible, microscopic type, photographed 
 down from a proof of an ad probably two or three times 
 the dimensions each way. Not five per cent of the 
 printing can be deciphered without a powerful magnify- 
 ing glass. Nothing at all, except the largest display 
 lines and the cuts, is visible to the naked eye. 
 
 Mere Eye-Oatchers. 
 
 I remember protesting to this same advertiser that I 
 feared that, as his ad could not be read, he would not 
 receive returns, but he explained that his theory was 
 that what was a little difficult to reach was coveted all 
 the more, and that the reader, seeing the cuts and the 
 display Unes, would even strain his eyes to read the mi- 
 croscopic photo-type. At that time this micro-photo- 
 graphic advertising was almost habitual with this firm 
 and also was used more or less by others, but I have failed 
 to find it in later years. It did not appear in our files 
 of 1899 at all, nor I believe at any later time. 
 
 Now, what does this illustrate ? It points to the fact, 
 as I beUeve, that the age of the Red Goose and Lion 
 Rampant, to which geologic age belonged the tiny stock 
 cuts of the house, the steamboat and the bull or hog, and 
 to which I assign all ads having cuts as mere eye-catchers, 
 came to an end about ten years ago. It was succeeded by 
 an entirely different doctrine or school of advertising. 
 
218 A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 
 
 The old advertising appealed only to the eye. It was 
 anything to catch the eye and excite attention, even 
 though it went no farther than to arouse curiosity. Does 
 anybody with experience do advertising today from that 
 standpoint? No! 
 
 Essence of Salesmanship. 
 
 Advertising today must contain the concentrated es- 
 sence of salesmanship; if it fails in that, it is bad adver- 
 tising. And I am free to say that there is a lot of ad- 
 vertising done, even by firms eminently successful in 
 their business, that, from this modern standpoint cer- 
 tainly, is bad advertising. 
 
 Let us be specific and even local in another illustration, 
 so that if our theories are wrong, they can be overthrown 
 by the very advertisers they hit : 
 
 We are now considering the fundamentals of sales- 
 manship in advertising, and I must confess that when I 
 see Sinbad the Sailor or Robinson Crusoe discovering a 
 pine box on the sea-shore, and find, in half obliterated 
 letters, the tiny words "Cream of Wheat," on that ship- 
 wrecked box, I would lack the nerve to pay $5,000 or 
 $6,000 for the full page pubhcation of that shipwreck, 
 and expect to sell $50,000 or $60,000 more of Cream of 
 Wheat to the relatives of Sinbad or Robinson Crusoe, 
 because of that ad. 
 
 Is that an ad ? 
 
 Anti-Salesmanship. 
 Because some famished shipwrecked sailor will seize 
 on a box of salt-water-soaked Cream of Wheat, is that 
 an argument why I should order it for tomorrow's break- 
 fast in my home? Such so-called advertising is absolute- 
 
A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 219 
 
 ly devoid of a salesman's argument, and falls short of 
 the mark of even publicity advertising. Why, Robinson 
 Crusoe would have eaten sole-leather under the circum- 
 stances depicted in that Cream of Wheat page "ad." 
 If anything, the picture suggests that a fellow must be 
 starving to death before he could relish or swallow 
 Cream of Wheat. 
 
 Yet this theme is a favorite one with that firm. If 
 it isn't Robinson Crusoe driven to eat the stuff, it is a 
 pack of famished wolves on a wintry night upon a snowy 
 plain howUng to the moon about their horrible hunger, 
 that has driven them even to Cream of Wheat. 
 
 From that, we turn to Uneeda biscuit — one of the 
 great successes in advertising. Why is that good ad- 
 vertising? There is a boy out in the rain dressed in a 
 sUcker, and carrying in that downpour of water, a pack- 
 age of Uneeda Biscuit. Argument in that? I should 
 say there is, a whole sermon in that picture, telling pic- 
 torially that Uneeda biscuit are so packed that moisture 
 does not affect them — they continue crisp in the worst of 
 weather. 
 
 That is one point of the argument and it is better to 
 drive one point home than to scatter your blows and fail 
 to hit the nail on the head. There is salesmanship in that 
 boy in the rain; there is anti-salesmanship in suggesting 
 that only in most desperate straits would man or wolf 
 try to swallow Cream of Wheat. 
 
 Illustrations Grood But Not Essential. 
 
 Yet both are almost wholly pictorial ads, and wholly 
 different from the style of advertising done ten or twenty 
 or a hundred years ago. Neither one would be classed 
 
220 A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 
 
 with the sign of the Red Goose or the Lion Rampant. 
 Both are meant to call attention to and illustrate the 
 identical thing advertised, but one does it in a far-fetched 
 and unsalesmanlike way, the other in a way that fixes 
 at least one real argument for buying the article ad- 
 vertised. 
 
 Salesmanship or a salesman's argument does not nec- 
 essarily consist in controversial discussion of the special 
 merits of the article to be sold. It may consist partly 
 in a picture which represents or suggests one salient 
 point of merit in the article, or it may be a picture in 
 connection with a phrase: "Good morning, have you 
 used Pears' Soap?" 
 
 That is an impertinent question, but in its advertising 
 use, it becomes merely playfully saucy, and the tease, 
 who is found in almost every company, catches it up 
 and shows his own pertness by repeating that question: 
 "Good morning, have you used Pears' Soap?" 
 
 There is psychology too in coupling "Good morning" 
 with the question, because people are most likely to use 
 soap in the morning. Note too that the pert tease or 
 joker never thinks of the advertising of Pears' soap. 
 He might say "soft soap" or "Fairbanks' soap" but 
 there is such a tripping, teasing fun about the imperti- 
 nent question, that he is almost sure to use the whole sen- 
 tence, as he finds it, and so Pears' soap is "advertised 
 by its loving friends." 
 
 Or, take Ivory Soap. "It floats!" Good, I don't 
 lose it in the bath. "It is 99.98 per cent pure." Goodl 
 It v/on't poison my skin. Short, snappy expressions, 
 but packed full of salesman's earnest argument for 
 using the thing advertised. 
 
A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 221 
 
 Contrast these with that ad of some other kind of soap 
 — I forget what — showing a disgusted tramp writing a 
 testimonial that he had used that soap ten years ago and 
 had used no other since. When tramps read that ad 
 they may perhaps appreciate the hidden argument in that 
 tramp's testimonial that his use of that soap, ten years 
 ago, was the fearful cause of his going back on soap 
 altogether. How many of you buy soap on the endorse- 
 ment of such a tramp, whether he had had a bath in the 
 last ten years or not? 
 
 There is no salesman argument there, hence it is bad 
 advertising, yet tens of thousands of dollars are spent 
 annually to perpetuate that tramp joke. 
 
 Look Pleasant. 
 
 Avoid disgusting your prospective customers with un- 
 pleasant pictures or words. There is a poster often seen 
 which illustrates this point — two tramps on a railroad 
 track passing a sign of a bunion cure. Did ever any 
 gentleman buy that bunion cure through a fellow-feel- 
 ing toward those horrid tramps ? 
 
 I have said enough, I think, to emphasize the value 
 as well as the misuse of pictorial advertising and to point 
 out that modern advertising is and must be salesman- 
 ship through presenting real reasons for appreciation of 
 the article to be sold. 
 
 Strong Arguments in Ads. 
 Pictures are not the essential feature; they are the 
 means incidental to the salesmanship, and only the sales- 
 manship is the essential feature. We use pictures only 
 to illustrate a point forcibly and they are good only as 
 illustrations, not as ornaments or works of fine art. 
 
222 A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 
 
 But words without pictures may be equally forceful. 
 One of the greatest successes of advertising a breakfast 
 food is Grape-Nuts, which I believe seldom has had a 
 picture in any of its ads. The motto adopted by the 
 advertiser of Grape Nuts is, "There's a reason." Its ads 
 discuss that reason, why grape-nuts are nutritious, mus- 
 cle and bone building, tissue forming, chemically right 
 food. 
 
 The agency which places the ads has actually changed 
 the name of the agency itself to "There's a Reason Co., 
 Limited," though it seems unfortunate to have to say 
 "limited" since there seem to be unlimited reasons for 
 eating grape-nuts, — a food containing neither nuts nor 
 grapes. It is like the joke about a certain church which 
 "kept out of politics and religion." 
 
 Advertising Not Magic. 
 
 This demonstrates that there is no necromancy in ad- 
 vertising. It is not a mysterious miracle-worker. It 
 is nothing but salesmanship with the power of the verbal 
 salesman multiplied by the circulation of the medium 
 used, but salesmanship still. The clerk in the store talks 
 to one individual customer at a time. The advertise- 
 ment talks to hundreds of thousands of customers at 
 once, and if the argument is good for one it should be 
 good for the mass. 
 
 Ten or twenty years ago it was as if the clerk srtood 
 at the store door shouting to the passer-by, **Come on 
 in, Rube I" but had no legitimate proposition to make 
 to Rube after he had collared him. That was the mere 
 "attract attention" style — out of date now forever. 
 
A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 228 
 
 Now we may seek to attract attention, just as a beau- 
 tiful show window display attracts attention, rather than 
 as the "Come-on-in-Rube" hails the passer-by. But the 
 attention catcher alone is worse than valueless and is 
 only the introduction to the real salesmanship of the ad. 
 The evolution of advertising in the past decade, there- 
 fore, is radical: 
 
 First, the picture having no connection with the ad 
 
 itself. 
 Second, the illustration of the identical thing adver- 
 tised, together with some selling phrase pointedly 
 expressed. 
 Third, pure, serious, strong argument with or without 
 
 illustration — argument of the salesman. 
 That is advertising and the picture, however beautiful 
 or however illustrative, is merely incidental to the real 
 aim of the ad-salesmanship. 
 
 Value of Personality. 
 There is one more step in the evolution, which applies 
 to only one style of advertising, but which, when skil- 
 fully handled, is a powerful feature. That is the play- 
 ing up of the personality of the advertiser in the ad. 
 The most potent influence in business is the warm flesh- 
 and-blood personal magnetism of the man behind the 
 proposition ; this can be invoked, under some conditions, 
 even in cold type, and when it can, it is invaluable. I 
 would refer to the success of William Galloway of Water- 
 loo, Iowa, who within less than a decade rose from a farm 
 boy, fresh from college and the farm through a brief ex- 
 perience as a traveling salesman for farm machinery, up 
 to the creation of a three-and-a-half million dollar group 
 
224 A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 
 
 of factories making and selling such unsentimental ar- 
 ticles as gasolene engines, cream-separators and manure 
 spreaders directly from the factory to the farm. His 
 ads contain usually the friendly, smiling but not smirk- 
 ing face of Bill Galloway — not as a clown but as a man 
 talking to fellow-men. In the language of a visiting 
 delegation of farmers, men who meet him feel that they 
 have "found a big brother" and their heart goes out to 
 his big whole-souled personality, and, through that per- 
 sonality, to his bargains, as naturally as though indeed 
 trading with a big brother or a life-long friend. That 
 feeling is Galloway's fortune, the feeling that he is on 
 a level with his customers, on the square and glad to 
 work with them, because he feels as they feel and knows 
 their wants. 
 
 It is not vanity, therefore, which puts Mr. Galloway's 
 portrait into his ads, it is a legitimate recognition of the 
 value of the asset, — personaHty. 
 
 The portrait of some other man, cold featured or cyni- 
 cal, however handsome, would be a direct handicap on 
 any ad, and so it is not the fact that the ad contains or 
 does not contain a portrait that gives the measure of the 
 value to the ad, but it is the question of what does the 
 portrait itself contain in human nature and its sym- 
 pathy with human nature, which "makes us kin." 
 
 The same principle applies in the writing of an ad» 
 It is a modern fad to write ads in "first person singu- 
 lar," as the grammarians say, which is effective if well 
 done but dangerously near silly and conceited in a tyro's 
 hands. 
 
A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 225 
 
 If You Lack Enthusiasm, Buy It. 
 
 But even that is less objectionable than the cold, offish, 
 formal style of proposition having no more red blood 
 than a fish, no more enthusiasm than a wooden Indian. 
 If the writer can put no enthusiasm into his ad, how can 
 he hope to arouse enthusiasm in his reader? A stream 
 will not rise higher than its source. Be enthusiastic I 
 Be even warmly impetuous! Be earnest, sincere and 
 full of confidence in your own proposition — or hire an 
 ad writer to furnish the enthusiasm you lack. Even 
 mourners are hired in some countries. 
 
 It makes little difference whether the advertising is 
 intended for direct orders by mail or is what is known as 
 publicity advertising, its merit must be measured by 
 the same standard, that of its salesmanship — ^the quality 
 which impels the reader to want to buy the thing adver- 
 tised. How he is to buy, whether by mail or of a local 
 dealer, is immaterial so far as the ad is concerned. 
 
 The mail order advertisers, as a rule, do better ad- 
 vertising than publicity advertisers — not because they 
 are any brainier but because they get a quicker test, 
 a more exact and immediate line on the selling power 
 of their copy. Hence they have learned their lesson of 
 salesmanship more thoroughly, for that is the only test. 
 A mail order ad which does not show profit in tangible 
 form within a month is recognized as a failure, while 
 a publicity advei^tiser whose goods are sold through 
 dealers, has no adequate line on the pulling power of 
 his ads and must travel in the dark, depending on his 
 judgment. No key, no offer of a free booklet to all 
 who reply to a publicity ad, is a real gauge of its sales- 
 manship. 
 
 I.B.L. Vol. 3—15 
 
226 A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 
 
 Above All, Be Sincere. 
 
 A year or so ago a certain manufacturer of harness 
 used large space in one of the farm papers of Minne- 
 sota to advertise his harness, and filled his space with a 
 picture of a team of horses drawing a big manure 
 spreader wagon, and above this picture in large letters 
 was the caption "A Spreader Free." Naturally thou- 
 sands of farmers wrote in for one of those free manure 
 spreaders, only to learn that it was not a manure spreader 
 that was free but a harness spreader — a stick to keep 
 the horses apart — and that was free only when you 
 bought a $30.00 set of harness. 
 
 Now that sort of tricky advertising brought thousands 
 of "replies," and perhaps the paper carrying the "ad" 
 got credit for being a great puller, but every reply, in- 
 stead of indicating a probable customer, indicated a 
 certain deceived farmer, a certain and lasting enemy. 
 Was that salesmanship? 
 
 This brings me to the foundation not only of advertis- 
 ing, but of all successful business, and that is inherent, 
 unswerving honesty. The advertiser who is tricky, de- 
 ceitful, who plays on the credulity of his readers, who 
 thinks to explain away the double meaning of his pledges 
 and descriptions of his so-called bargains, is a fool. I 
 will not mince the terms — he is a stupid fool. Honesty 
 is not only the best policy, it is the only poHcy for the 
 lasting business man, whether dealing with the individ- 
 ual over the counter or with the millions in their homes 
 around their evening lamps. You all certainly endorse 
 that truism, regardless of the question of moralit^% and 
 from merely the sordid consideration of success in sales- 
 manship. 
 
A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 227 
 
 Publishers Guarantee Advertisers' Honesty. 
 
 This is so recognized that most periodicals, or at least 
 many of them — including my own — now refuse to pub- 
 lish any advertisement which the publisher cannot guar- 
 antee as to its honesty. If any of our subscribers com- 
 plain of dishonest dealing by any of our advertisers, 
 we promptly reimburse the subscriber and then go for 
 the dishonest advertiser by published exposure and by 
 legal prosecution. This has cost us some losses, as in the 
 case of a wool commission merchant, two years ago, who 
 deprived our subscribers of their wool shipments by false 
 claims. We reimbursed the subscribers and the com- 
 mission man was prosecuted and fined in the Federal 
 Court for using the mails for fraudulent purposes — 
 falsely advertising in publications that were mailed to 
 subscribers. 
 
 But such occasional losses are good investments for 
 the publication, as a warning to other trickster adver- 
 tisers that we can and will make it interesting to them if 
 they prey upon our subscribers, and also as a confirma- 
 tion to our readers that whoever is found in our columns 
 is reliable, for all advertisements are backed by the pub- 
 lisher's guarantee of reliability. 
 
 This is a phase of advertising that has developed in 
 the past ten years, and is of very great importance. It 
 has not been adopted yet, I believe, by the daily papers, 
 but there is hope that even the dailies will yet come to it, 
 for the protection of their reliable advertisers from the 
 company of tricky, dishonest advertising. 
 
228 A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 
 
 Barring Objectionable Advertising. 
 
 Another phase of evolution in advertising not only in 
 periodicals, is the elevating of the standard of truth and 
 decency, in barring obnoxious medical advertising. The 
 higher class of periodicals go the full length of barring 
 all medical advertising, whether of quack doctors of in- 
 decent pretenses and practices, or of so-called patent or 
 secret-formula medicines. 
 
 I cannot stop to discuss here the ethics of patent medi- 
 cines, except only from a standpoint of advertising pol- 
 icy, to say that the standard of the advertising policy of 
 the best periodicals today is that of the virtue of Caesar's 
 wife — it must not only be guiltless but it must be "above 
 suspicion." Hence the advertising manager today, rec- 
 ognizing that there may be some patent medicines that 
 are harmless if not beneficial, yet feeling his inabihty to 
 discriminate and his personal responsibility, if, for filthy 
 lucre, he aids in beguiling a human being into tampering 
 with his health and hfe, takes the high stand by refusing 
 all, that he will no longer be a party, an "accomplice be- 
 fore the fact" to deceiving invalids or murdering his fel- 
 low men with harmful drugs, ignorantly used. 
 
 And so the better class of periodicals not only refuse 
 liquor ads, but also ads of patent medicine factories. 
 
 In short, the selling of space has ceased to be, with 
 publishers, a mere commercial transaction, but in the evo- 
 lution of the last ten years, or five years, it has become 
 an act of grave, moral responsibility, and a self-respect- 
 ing publisher will no more think of selling his space for 
 advertisements he can not personally endorse than a true 
 Christian would rent his property for a saloon or for 
 immoral purposes. 
 
A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 229 
 
 Study Your Customer. 
 
 I have dwelt on the preceding phases of advertising 
 but I must not slight another phase, which is that of 
 the intelligence necessary to put salesmanship into an ad. 
 The most successful salesman is the man who can see his 
 proposition from the customer's point of view. He must 
 know the character of his customer if he would success- 
 fully appeal to him. 
 
 Know your customers. For example, do most adver- 
 tisers really know the farmers of the Northwest? I refer 
 now to advertisers of firms directly dependent on farm 
 trade. How closely do they know them? 
 
 Studying Northwestern Farmers. 
 
 Guess what kind of goods should be offered to farm- 
 ers. 
 
 "Anything, so it is cheap enough." 
 
 Is that your notion? That appears to be the foolish 
 notion of many, but is it right? 
 
 Six years ago we published in The Northwestern 
 Agriculturist a list of some fifty questions, and we told 
 our readers that we would give a present to all who would 
 answer all those questions within thirty days. We re- 
 ceived 2,621 replies. 
 
 Among these questions were : 
 
 "Do you or your family carry an American watch? 
 What make?" 
 
 Now you guessers, who think you know farmers, will 
 guess the Waterbury or the IngersoU as the favorite 
 watch because "farmers want cheap things" ( ?) . Yet out 
 of 2,621 replies we found 1,190 farmers carrying Elgins, 
 
230 A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 
 
 707 carrying Walthams and only 16 carrying Ingersolls 
 and 14 Waterburys. 
 
 The cheap things go to cheap people in the cities; none 
 but the genuine is wanted by the farmer, I can't stop to 
 drive home that axiom but it is the truest thing I have 
 said. 
 
 We now have in the hands of the printers a second in- 
 vestigation along the same lines and out of 3,143 watches 
 reported now, we find 1,449 Elgins, 646 Walthams, 20 
 Waterburys and 37 Ingersolls. 
 
 A certain Twin City shoe manufacturer recently made 
 a direct investigation- amongst his dealers as to which of 
 his two grades of shoes — one at $3.50 and the other at 
 $5.00 — sold best to farmers, and the result showed that 
 seventy-five per cent of the five-dollar shoes were sold to 
 farmers. The farmer may use the $3.50 shoe in the field 
 but he demands the $5.00 shoe also, for Sunday, and his 
 demand for that better grade is three times as great as 
 is that of the city or town trade. 
 
 Others of our questions covered farm machinery and 
 family supplies, and proved beyond dispute the genuine- 
 ly high grade of our farmers' demands, I am told that 
 more automobiles were sold to farmers last season than 
 to city people. 
 
 Trend of Farm Trade. 
 
 It is interesting to study the trend, during the past six 
 years, showing how this farm standard is being still fur- 
 ther elevated. For example, thirty per cent increase in 
 pianos. Do you know your farmers, you who are adver- 
 tising for farm trade? 
 
 I refer to this, not only for its intrinsic significance, 
 
A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 231 
 
 but to illustrate the point that advertisers must study 
 their customers as well as their goods. 
 
 But again, that is only the fundamental of salesman- 
 ship and the essence of advertising is salesmanship. This 
 lesson applies to all lines of advertising as well as to 
 farm advertising. 
 
 Growth of the Press. 
 
 How advertising in its modern development has mag- 
 nified the power of good salesmanship ! 
 
 Instead of talking now to the customer across the 
 counter, the salesman on paper talks simultaneously to 
 the millions of customers. 
 
 Traffic is ever a question of communication. The old 
 cross-roads merchant was shut in with the few who 
 walked, or rode with horses, to his store. The railroad 
 widened the horizon of the merchant and the manufac- 
 turer. The telegraph and telephone expanded his pos- 
 sible field, but how futile would be that expansion, but 
 for the growth of the press ! 
 
 In 1893, when I bought the Northwestern Agricul- 
 turist, the entire output of farm papers in Minnesota was 
 53,000 copies a month. Now the same three pubUcations 
 issue over 700,000 copies in a month. 
 
 This illustrates the increasing part that the press takes 
 in business, as compared with a decade ago, and I be- 
 lieve that its development has just begun. 
 
 Corroborative Letters. 
 Here is a letter in answer to an inquiry which I ad- 
 dressed to Mr. Cyrus Curtis, the head of the Ladies' 
 Home Journal and the Saturday Evening Post — the 
 most successful publisher of periodicals in the world. 
 
232 A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 
 
 THE CURTIS PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 philadelphia 
 
 The Ladies^ Home Journal 
 The Saturday Evening Post 
 
 November 23, 1909. 
 P. V. Collins, President, 
 
 The P. V. Collins Publishing Company, 
 Minneapolis, Minn. 
 Dear Sir:— 
 
 Your letter of November 17th addressed to Mr. Cyrus Curtis 
 has been referred to this department for attention. 
 
 Unfortunately for you, our business has gone forward with 
 such strides and bounds during the past ten years, that we 
 have not made any appreciable progress in preparation of sta- 
 tistics incident to the general volume of advertising carried in 
 American periodicals, and are therefore unable to give you any 
 data aside from that pertaining to our own publications. 
 
 While advertising has perhaps passed the incubative period, 
 it is still young and quite a tender animal. 
 
 To the best of our knowledge, the same class that was adver- 
 tising ten years ago is advertising now, but within the past five 
 years have been many marked additions. In this connection we 
 might cite the great volume of clothing advertising that is ap- 
 pearing in magazines of general circulation, as well as the ad- 
 vertising of machinery, tools and articles along that line, and 
 further add, the great volume of business that is being done with 
 automobile manufacturers. There is also a noted tendency on 
 the part of textile manufacturers to extend their business through 
 the use of magazines of general circulation, and while this particu- 
 lar branch of advertising is to-day small, we have every reason 
 to expect a marked increase in that line within the next few years. 
 From the writer's observation, there has been a more marked 
 increase in the volume of business and a greater variety of the 
 lines carried in the Woman's publications, and one or two Nation- 
 al Weekhes, than there has been with the Standard Magazines, 
 and of the older magazines of standard size, there has not been 
 an appreciable increase in the volume of business carried within 
 the past ten years. 
 
 Ten years ago the maximum number of columns carried in 
 The Ladies^ Home Journal was seventy, which approximated in 
 
A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 233 
 
 the aggregate $70,000. During 1909 we have not published 
 but one number containing less than eighty columns, the remain- 
 ing issues carrying from 120 to 209 columns, and carrying cash 
 advertising in amounts from $135,000 to $250,000 per issue. 
 
 The story of The Saturday Evening Post is if anything even 
 more remarkable than the foregoing for the reason that The 
 Saturday Evening Post has practically been made within the past 
 ten years. In 1900 the volume of business amounted to a matter 
 of $2,000 per month, whereas during 1909 we have not carried 
 in any month appreciably less than 300 columns, and in the 
 month of October there were inserted 654 columns. This reduced 
 to dollars and cents would amount to from $150,000 to over 
 $400,000 per month. 
 
 Ten years ago about 70 per cent of all advertising appearing 
 in mediums of general circulation emanated from the East; that 
 is, east of Pittsburg and Buffalo and north of the Potomac 
 River. To-day but about 50 per cent of the advertising is origi- 
 nated in the East, and in all likelihood, within the next five years 
 the conditions of ten years ago will practically be reversed. 
 The reason assigned for this is that the Western manufacturer 
 is to a large extent directly in competition with the manufacturer 
 of the East whose business has been long established, and by re- 
 sorting to advertising the Western man can establish a market 
 for his goods much more easily than through the channels which 
 have been followed for so many years by the Eastern manufac- 
 turers. It is not unlikely in this connection that the manufacturer 
 of the East will awaken some day to find his business slipping 
 away from him; but when that time arrives he will experience a 
 very much greater difficulty in regaining the prestige he has lost 
 than if he were to begin to advertise now. It is rather a difficult 
 matter, however, to bring mill owners to see this point when they 
 are operating large mills, whose output is sold each season in ad- 
 vance, and in the face of their having a large surplus and paying 
 enormous dividends; but the fact remains that this experience 
 has been brought home to some of the Eastern manufacturers even 
 at this early date, and it is but natural to assume that under 
 ordinary conditions it will be brought home to all of them. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 C. D. Spaulding, 
 Manager Advertising Department. 
 
234 A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 
 
 The managing editor of Printer's Ink gives some very- 
 interesting facts, as follows: 
 
 PRINTER'S INK PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 12 WEST 31ST STREET^ NEW YORK 
 
 November »7, 1909. 
 Mr. P. V. Collins, 
 
 Northwestern Agriculturist, 
 Minneapolis, Minn. 
 Dear Mr. Collins : — 
 
 The advertising expenditure of ten years ago, covering all 
 classes of advertising from novelties and printed matter upward, 
 is not supposed to have exceeded a hundred million dollars, where- 
 as the amount to-day reaches close to $600,000,000. For in- 
 stance, in 1900 there was Spent only $95,861,127 for newspaper 
 and periodical advertising; in 1905 this total had risen to $145,- 
 517,591, or a per capita of $1.75. It is now about $228,000,000. 
 
 An idea of the growth of advertising in the West may be seen 
 by the fact that Illinois spent in 1900 $9,029,291 for newspaper 
 and periodical advertising, while in 1905 she spent $13,780,752. 
 
 The Northern Central States, including Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
 Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, 
 South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas, spent $30,767,290 in 1900 
 for newspaper and periodical advertising, while in 1905 they 
 spent $47,055,208. The 1909 expenditure is estimated at $68,- 
 000,000. 
 
 As to the advertising development in particular lines, that is 
 the most wonderful part of the story, for while advertising ten 
 years ago was largely done by soap, toilet and a few food adver- 
 tisers, together with a great host of medical advertisers and small 
 mail order concerns, to-day the great bulk of advertising is 
 being done by large manufacturers of high standing who have 
 adopted periodical advertising as a modern link in the chain of 
 salesmanship. They have become alive to the fact that instead 
 of manufacturing for a limited section of the country (oft times 
 without trademark or reputation), they can now obtain a world- 
 wide market and build a trade-marked good will more valuable 
 than their factories themselves. 
 
 The medical advertisers have almost entirely disappeared, ex- 
 cept for certain reputable ones, and mail order advertising ha» 
 
A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 235 
 
 taken a new turn, fitting into the sales and distributive scheme of 
 large manufacturers who desire to deal direct with consumers. 
 
 As to the things advertised to-day which were not advertised ten 
 years ago, they are numerous, ranging all the way from trade- 
 marked shoe laces to trade-marked furniture and caskets. There 
 is now scarcely an article of wide consumption that is not adver- 
 tised or will be advertised. Up to this year no umbrellas or peas 
 or cheese or brick, and many other articles, have been advertised. 
 
 The trend of advertising is along the line of closer alignment 
 with sales forces and co-operation with the dealer. As to whether 
 it will increase in the next ten years is a matter of almost abso- 
 lute certainty. It is now acknowledged that it costs more to get 
 a given amount of publicity to-day than it did ten years ago, 
 and it is likely to increase in ratio in the next ten years. In other 
 words, business reputation and trade-marked good will are rising 
 like stocks in Wall Street and it well behooves manufacturers to 
 buy on a rising market while it costs less to achieve reputation. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 J. GEORGE FREDERICK, 
 
 Managing Editor. 
 
 Advertising Does Work Wonders. 
 
 I have said that there was no necromancy in advertis- 
 ing, that it is not a miracle worker, but looking upon 
 some of its accomplishments I am not sure that that was 
 correct. 
 
 In the past decade it has performed a miracle right at 
 our own doors. The Canadian Northwest had stretched 
 its plains from Lake Superior to the Rockies and to 
 Hudson Bay, practically untrammeled by man, except 
 the Indian and the hardy hunter and trapper, since the 
 great glacier had smoothed its surface and covered it 
 with loam. There lay the acres from horizon to horizon, 
 and, through the centuries, 
 
236 A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 
 
 "Full many a flower was bom to blush unseen 
 And waste its sweetness on the desert air," 
 
 but civilized man had been taught that those plains were 
 
 arid and barren. 
 
 Then in 1896 came an advertiser in the person of Clif- 
 ford Sifton of Manitoba, a young man then scarcely 
 thirty-five years of age, who, for previous distinguished 
 services, was offered the position of Secretary of the In- 
 terior in the Canadian cabinet, and he accepted it only on 
 condition that he be given sufficient funds, and be left 
 unhampered, to organize an advertising campaign to 
 people those Northwestern plains. You know the rest. 
 
 The story is that of a romance in Government — the 
 marvelous march of Americans, 200,000 a year through 
 Minneapolis, past the Minnesota farm land, two-thirds 
 of which is yet unsettled, up to the land of Advertising — 
 the Canadian Northwest. 
 
 And the plains appear no longer barren. Millions of 
 acres have laughed into harvests that rival our own, and 
 Clifford Sifton, the advertiser, the empire builder, has 
 lifted millions of American families out of American 
 cities and off of American farms and created out of such 
 royal material a new Canadian Empire. 
 
 Did Arabian necromancy ever do more? Advertising 
 is a miracle worker. Sifton's campaign involved organ- 
 ization, intelligence, persistence, self-confidence, but it 
 has made good. 
 
 The Northwest's Opportunity. 
 Today Minnesota and the Dakotas are the marvel of 
 all who understand their resources and capabilities. For 
 three years past it has been my practice, in August, to 
 
A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 237 
 
 compile the best estimates of crop experts of Minneapolis 
 regarding the probable yields of the leading crops of 
 Minnesota and the Dakotas and to appraise the farm 
 value of those crops by the Minneapolis market prices of 
 August 1. This year we found that the five principal 
 grain crops — wheat, oats, flax, barley and rye — were 
 worth on that basis $187,000,000 more than they were 
 last year — due to both increased yields and increased 
 price. I could get no data on hay, corn or potatoes, very 
 important crops. 
 
 The October Government crop report confirmed the 
 substantial accuracy of our estimate, cutting down our 
 wheat guess by 7,000,000 bushels but increasing our oat 
 figures by 18,000,000, so that the net result on wheat and 
 oats was a million dollars increase over our August esti- 
 mate. The Government also reported Minnesota as hav- 
 ing 58,000,000 bushels of corn, grading, with South Da- 
 kota corn, better than corn raised in any part of the 
 famous com belt; Minnesota corn beats the world this 
 year. 
 
 In short the excess of crop values in Minnesota and the 
 Dakotas this year amounts to an average of a thousand 
 dollars per family for every farm family in these three 
 states. 
 
 But the insufferable apathy of our state, under this 
 tremendous advertising opportunity is keeping this situa- 
 tion a most profound and oppressive secret. 
 
 A thousand dollars per farm family more (than any 
 previous year's income, and we fail to advertise it from 
 the very housetops ! 
 
 It would seem that the very stones would cry out ! Oh 
 
238 A DECADE OF PUBLICITY. 
 
 for a Minnesota Clifford Sifton to turn that army of 
 200,000 American farmers to the rich virgin acres of our 
 own state, and multiply the wealth of our farms and 
 cities three-fold in the next ten years! It can be done. 
 It should be done. Advertising can accomplish it, in ten 
 years, and without advertising nothing will do it, for the 
 next two generations. The example of Canada laughs 
 to scorn the doubter. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADVERTISma. 
 
 It must be remembered that the object of every ad- 
 vertisement is to create a certain condition in the minds of 
 the people to whom it is addressed. It must have a cer- 
 tain mental or psychic effect on them or it will not prove 
 successful. 
 
 It must not only arrest Attention and arouse Interest, 
 but it must create some sort of Desire for the goods ad- 
 vertised, — and the acme of success is reached when it 
 causes Decision to purchase that which is advertised. 
 
 The sum of knowledge regarding the mental effects 
 of various kinds of advertising— the effect of words, the 
 effect of illustrations, of fanciful pictures, of bold type 
 or italics, and of the innumerable other methods of ap- 
 peal at the command of the modern advertiser — all such 
 knowledge is commonly called the psychology of adver- 
 tising. 
 
 In Salesmanship, we mean by the psychology of that 
 subject the science or sum of knowledge concerning the 
 mind and mental operations in their relation to the act or 
 art of selling goods; so in Advertising, we mean by its 
 psychology, the science or aggregate of organized 
 knowledge regarding the mind and mental operations in 
 their relation to the advertiser and the person reached byj 
 the advertisement. 
 
 239 
 
240 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADVEETI8ING. 
 
 It must be remembered too that all advertising is not 
 written advertisement, though in discussing the subject 
 we usually mean by "advertising" that form of appeal 
 to prospective customers which is made through the me- 
 dium of type and the printing press, with its allied forms 
 of Art. 
 
 A Necessary Study. 
 
 It is even more necessary for an advertiser, or a stu- 
 dent of advertising, to look into the subject of psychol- 
 ogy in advertising, than it is for the student of salesman- 
 ship to study the psychic phenomena relating to that sub- 
 ject. The advertiser and the public stand to one another 
 in the relation of seller and buyer ; hence the mental phe- 
 nomena which are generally recognized as occurring in 
 the processes of selling goods by means of advertising 
 should be known to every advertiser and writer of ad- 
 vertisements. 
 
 A knowledge of these metaphysical principles under- 
 lying all successful advertising is of advantage to the 
 business man, because it enables him so to shape his public 
 announcements as to bring the greatest possible psychic 
 power to bear upon the greatest number. 
 
 In the preparation of an advertisement, the man who is 
 acquainted with the psychology of advertising will not 
 rest satisfied that an ad is a good one because he personal- 
 ly is satisfied with it — because it appeals to his own men- 
 tality. He himself has a prior knowledge of the subject. 
 He knows his goods and is already biased in their favor. 
 An ad that satisfies him may not appeal at all to one 
 whose mind is a blank regarding his goods. 
 
 Psychology of salesmanship teaches that the effect of 
 the ad upon the advertiser has little to do with the case. 
 
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADVERTISING. 241 
 
 He must carefully consider and calculate all possible ef- 
 fects of the ad upon those to whom it is addressed, and 
 he must so shape his appeal, with all the aids of typog- 
 raphy and art at his command, as to suggest to the 
 reader that the goods are desirable, and that he wants 
 them — and that he wants them now» 
 
 Suggestion is the basic principle of the psychology of 
 advertising. The object of the advertiser is to bring 
 about accord and harmony between his own mind and the 
 mind of the prospective customer — the reader of the ad- 
 vertisement. To this end, suggestion is used in adver- 
 tising as in salesmanship, and by a right understanding 
 of its use, followed by its intelligent exercise, the adver- 
 tiser can bring about the results which he desires. 
 
 What Is Suggestion? 
 
 "The mental process known as * Suggestion' is in some- 
 what bad repute because, in the popular mind, it has too 
 often been associated on the one hand with hypnotism 
 and on the other with indelicacy and vulgarity," says 
 Mr. Walter Dill Scott in "The Psychology of Advertis- 
 ing."* 
 
 "Hypnotism in the hands of the scientist or of the 
 fakir is well known to be a form of suggestion. A story 
 which does not specifically depart from that which con- 
 forms to the standards of propriety, but which is so con- 
 structed that it leads the hearers to conceptions that are 
 "off color," is said to be suggestive. In this way it has 
 come to pass that the whole subject of suggestion has 
 been passed by with less consideration than is due it. 
 
 **'The Psychology of Advertising*' — Boston: Small, Maynard & Co. 
 I.B.L. Vol. 3—16 
 
242 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 "There is no uniformity in- the meanings that are 
 attached to the term suggestion even among the most 
 careful writers. If I were sitting in my office and con- 
 sidering the advisabihty of beginning a certain enter- 
 prise, I might say that one idea "suggested" a second 
 and this second a third, etc. A scientific definition would 
 not allow this use of the term but would substitute the 
 expression 'called up' for 'suggested.' Thus I should 
 say that one idea 'called up' the second, etc. Sugges- 
 tion must be brought about by a second person or an ob- 
 ject. In my musings and deliberations I should not say 
 that one idea suggested another, but if the same idea 
 were called forth at the instigation of a second person or 
 upon the presentation of an object, I should then call it 
 suggestion — if it met the second essential condition of 
 suggestion. This second condition is that the resulting 
 conception, conclusion or action must follow with less 
 than the normal amount of deliberation. Suggestion is 
 thus a relative term, and in many instances it might be 
 difficult to say whether or not a particular act was sug- 
 gestion. If the act followed a normal amount of con- 
 sideration after a normal time for deliberation, it would 
 not be suggestion, while if the same act followed too 
 abruptly or with too little consideration, it might be a 
 true case of suggestion. 
 
 Universality of Suggestion. 
 
 "Every normal individual is subject to the influence 
 of suggestion. Every idea of which we think is all too 
 liable to be held for truth, and every thought of an action 
 which enters our minds is likely to result in such action. 
 I do not think first of walking and then make up my 
 
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADVEETISING. 243 
 
 mind to walk. The very thought of walking will in- 
 evitably lead to the act unless I stop the process by the 
 thought of standing still. If I think of an object to the 
 east of me my whole body sways slightly in that direc- 
 tion. Such action is so slight that we ordinarily do not 
 discover it without the aid of accurate recording instru- 
 ments. Almost all so-called mind-reading exhibitions 
 are nothing but demonstrations of the fact that every 
 thought which we think expresses itself in some outward 
 action. Thought is dynamic in its very nature and every 
 idea of an action tends to produce that action. 
 
 "The most perfect working of suggestion is to be 
 seen under hypnosis and in crowds. In hypnosis the 
 subject holds every idea presented as true, and every idea 
 suggested is acted out with no hesitation whatever. 
 Here the mind is so narrowed by the artificial sleep that 
 no contradictory or inhibiting idea arises, and hence no 
 idea can seem absurd and no action seems out of place. 
 There is no possible criticism or deliberation and so we 
 have the extreme case of susceptibility to suggestion. 
 
 "The effect of a crowd upon an individual approaches 
 that of the hypnotizer. The individual is affected by 
 every member of the crowd and the influence becomes so 
 overpowering that it can hardly be resisted. If the 
 crowd is a 'lynching party' the whole atmosphere is sug- 
 gesting the idea of 'lynch the culprit.' This idea is pre- 
 sented on all sides. It can be read from the faces and 
 actions of the individuals and is heard in their cries. No 
 other idea has a chance to arise in consciousness, and 
 hence this one idea, being the dynamic, leads to its nat- 
 ural consequences. 
 
244 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 Reasoning Not Universal. 
 
 "It was once supposed that suggestion was something 
 abnormal and that reason was the common attribute of 
 men. Today we are finding that suggestion is of uni- 
 versal application to all persons, while reason is a proc- 
 ess which is exceptional, even among the wisest. AVe 
 reason rarely, but act under suggestion constantly. There 
 has been a great agitation of late among advertisers for 
 'reason why' copy. This agitation has had some value, 
 but it is easily over-emphasized. Occasionally customers 
 are persuaded and convinced, but more frequently these 
 make their purchases' because the act is suggested at the 
 psychological moment. Suggestion and persuasion are 
 not antagonistic; both should be kept in mind. How- 
 ever, in advertising, suggestion should not be subordi- 
 nated to persuasion, but should be supplemented by it. 
 The actual effect of modern advertising is not so much 
 to convince as to suggest. The individual swallowed 
 up by a crowd is not aware of the fact that he is not ex- 
 ercising a normal amount of deliberation. His actions 
 appear to him to be the result of reason, although the 
 idea, as presented, is not criticized at all and no contra- 
 dictory or inhibiting idea has any possibility of arising in 
 his mind. In the same way we think that we are per- 
 forming a deliberate act when we purchase an adver- 
 tised commodity, while in fact we may never have delib- 
 erated upon the subject at all. The idea is suggested by 
 the advertisement, and the impulsiveness of human na- 
 ture enforced the suggested idea, hence the desired re- 
 sult follows in a way unknown to the purchaser. 
 
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADVERTISING. 245 
 
 Influenced by Advertising. 
 
 "Some time ago a tailor in Chicago was conducting a 
 vigorous advertising campaign. I did not suppose that 
 his advertising was having any influence upon me. Some 
 months after the advertising had begun I went into the 
 tailor's shop and ordered a suit. While in the shop I 
 happened to fall into conversation with the proprietor 
 and he asked me if a friend had recommended him to 
 me. I replied that such was the case. Thereupon I tried 
 to recall who the friend was and finally came to the con- 
 clusion that this shop had never been recommended to 
 me at all. I had seen his advertisements for months and 
 from them had formed an idea of the shop. Later, I 
 forgot where I had received my information, and as- 
 sumed that I had received it from a friend who patron- 
 ized the shop. I discovered that all I knew of the shop 
 I had learned from advertisements, and I doubt very 
 much whether I ever read any of the advertisements fur- 
 ther than the display type. Doubtless many other cus- 
 tomers would have given the same reply even though, as 
 in my case, no friend had spoken to them concerning the 
 shop. 
 
 Treatment of Competing Gk)ods. 
 
 "When an advertiser realizes that the public to which 
 he is appealing will compare his goods with those of his 
 competitor, he is tempted to resort to the questionable 
 methods of showing the weak points of his competitor's 
 merchandise or methods of sales. There may be in- 
 stances in which this method is justifiable and even nec- 
 essary, but ordinarily it is self-destructive. The act of 
 comparison is a process in volition that the advertiser 
 
246 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 should not seek to encourage. It is a hindrance to the ad- 
 vertiser, and his function is to minimize it. If I, as an 
 advertiser, am offering goods in competition with other 
 goods, I know that my goods will be compared with the 
 others, and it is my place to give the reader such a clear 
 and vivid idea of my goods and to make the means of se- 
 curing them so plain that my goods will not suffer by 
 comparison. My purpose is best served by holding my 
 goods up to the attention of the potential purchaser and 
 not by emphasizing the weakness of those of my com- 
 petitor. I must emphasize the strong points of my mer- 
 chandise and especially those points in which my goods 
 are superior to competing goods, and in this way I get 
 attention to those points at which my goods will gain by 
 comparison. 
 
 Completing the Process. 
 
 "The last point in the analysis of the process of voli- 
 tion is that of choosing one of the ends and striving to 
 attain it. All the other stages of the process are but sub- 
 sidiary to this. What can the advertiser do to secure or 
 to facilitate this part of the process? It is a well-known 
 psychological fact that at the moment of final decision all 
 competing ideas are usually banished from the mind and 
 attention is centered on the idea (the merchandise) which 
 is chosen. At the moment of final choice we do not hold 
 competing lines of action before us and then choose the 
 one that seems the best. The process is one of ehmina- 
 tion preceding the choice. We compare different lines of 
 action and eliminate one after another till but one is left. 
 This one has seemed better than the others, and is held 
 to and acted upon. The acting upon is part of the choice. 
 
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADVERTISING. 247 
 
 The one line of action is before us and the very act of 
 attending to the one idea results in the appropriate ac- 
 tion. 
 
 "There may have been no conscious choice preceding 
 the action, but now that the action has commenced the 
 competing ideas are kept from the mind and the action 
 gets put into fulfillment. There are, therefore, two dis- 
 tinct things which the advertiser can do to facilitate this 
 final step. In the first place he fills the mind of his po- 
 tential customers with thoughts of his own particular 
 goods, and, in the second place, he suggests immediate 
 action. 
 
 Laws of Progressive Thinking. 
 
 "If Edison and Marconi had not a comprehensive 
 grasp of these laws they would not be inventors. Others 
 have as good a knowledge of all the phenomena con- 
 nected with electricity as they and yet are unable to make 
 a practical use of their knowledge. Science can formu- 
 late the laws of the phenomena as far as they have been 
 discovered and applied, but it can not lay down rules or 
 suggest infallible methods for further discoveries and 
 inventions. This does not minimize the value of science, 
 but it emphasizes the need of originality and ingenuity 
 in the man who strives to lead his profession and to in- 
 vent new methods and to make new applications of those 
 he has learned. 
 
 "Certain keen students of advertising have prophesied 
 but little benefit to advertising from the science of psy- 
 chology, because a science can not lay down rules for 
 things which are not yet discovered. This criticism has 
 weight with any who should be so foolish as to suppose 
 
248 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 that every accomplished student of the human mind 
 would of necessity be a successful advertiser. To sup- 
 pose that a great psychologist would of necessity be a 
 successful innovator in advertising is just as sane as to 
 suppose that every one who understands electricity as 
 well as Edison would have as great a record as he at 
 the patent office. If Edison had known nothing of the 
 science of physics, it is quite certain that he never would 
 have been heard from. Science does not produce inven- 
 tors, but it is of great assistance to a genius and may 
 cause him to become a great discoverer. Psychology is 
 of assistance to every advertiser in helping him to ob- 
 serve widely and accurately, in teaching him how to 
 classify or group his observations systematically; it 
 should help him in drawing the correct conclusions from 
 his classified experience. 
 
 "If psychology could do no more it would be of ines- 
 timable value, but as applications or new discoveries de- 
 pend so largely on the formation of correct deductions 
 and hypotheses, psychology may even be of benefit in 
 this last and most difficult step in the mental process of 
 the innovator. 
 
 The Method Further Illustrated. 
 
 "The most successful advertisers are those who ob- 
 serve most widely and accurately, who classify their ob- 
 servations and group them in the most usable form, who 
 then think most keenly about these classified observa- 
 tions so as to draw the most helpful conclusions, and 
 lastly who have the greatest ability in utilizing these de- 
 ductions in their advertising campaigns. They are the 
 active men, those who are seeking better methods of ob- 
 
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADVERTISING. 249 
 
 servation and of classification and who are never con- 
 tent with their past deductions or their applications. 
 
 Unconscious Influences Which Affect Our Judgment. 
 
 "Our minds are cons/tantly subjected to influences of 
 which we have no knowledge. We are led to form opin- 
 ions and judgments by influences which we should re- 
 ject if we were aware of them. After we have decided 
 upon a certain line of action, we frequently attempt to 
 justify ourselves in our own eyes, and so we discover cer- 
 tain logical reasons for our actions and assume them to 
 have been the true cause, when in reality they had noth- 
 
 < > 
 
 ing to do with it. The importance of these undiscovered 
 causes in our every-day thinking and acting may be illus- 
 trated by the following example: 
 
 "Lines A and B are of equal length although A seems 
 longer. Now, why do we reach the conclusion that A is 
 longer than B, when in reality such is not the case? If 
 they are the same length, and we see them in a clear light, 
 we should expect that they would appear to be as they 
 actually are. 
 
 "The accepted explanation of this illusion is that 
 there are, entering into the judgment, certain impercep- 
 tible causes which make us see the lines as of different 
 
250 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADVERTISING. 
 
 length. This explanation was not discovered till recent 
 years, but it has proved to be correct. In judging the 
 length of lines we run our eyes over them, and so get a 
 sensation from the contraction of the muscles of the eyes. 
 We judge of the length of lines by the amount of this 
 sensation derived from contracting the muscles which 
 move the eyes. If two lines are the same distance from 
 us and are the same length, our eyes will ordinarily move 
 equal distances in traversing their lengths. If two lines 
 are equally distant from us, and one longer than the 
 other we ordinarily have to move our eyes farther in esti- 
 mating the length of the longer one than in estima- 
 ting the length of the shorter one. We are not aware of 
 the sensations received from these movements of our 
 eyes, and yet we estimate lengths of lines by them. The 
 peculiar construction of the lines A and B induces the 
 eye to move farther in estimating the length of A. We 
 therefore assume that A is longer than B because our 
 eyes move farther in estimating its length than in esti- 
 mating the length of B. 
 
 We Learn Nothing Perfectly Until We Have Forgotten 
 Where We Received Instructions. 
 
 "It has been said that we learn nothing perfectlj^ un- 
 til we have forgotten how we learned it. This has a 
 special application to advertising. An advertisement 
 has not accomphshed its mission till it has instructed the 
 possible customer concerning the goods, and then has 
 caused him to forget where he received his instructions. 
 
 "This forgetfulness of the source of our information is 
 due to the interval which has elapsed between the first 
 
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADVERTISING. 251 
 
 time the advertisement was seen and the present. The 
 more frequently the advertisement is seen, the more rap- 
 idly will the memory of the first appearance fade and 
 leave us with the feeling that we have always known the 
 goods advertised, and that the advertisement itself is no 
 essential part of our information." 
 
The object of advertising is to teach people to believe 
 in you and your goods; to teach them to think that they 
 have a need for your goods and to teach them to buy 
 your goods. 
 
 — Hugh Chalmers. 
 
 There is no advertising value in one-time insertions. 
 It is the keeping at it which brings results in advertising. 
 
 — The Advertising World. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 MAIL ORDER ADVERTISING. 
 
 * 
 
 BY TRUMAN A. DE WEESE.* 
 
 "Mail order advertising" is the name given to that par- 
 ticular kind of advertising which, in distinction from 
 general publicity, is intended to bring orders for a com- 
 modity direct without the use of any middlemen or 
 selling agencies. A broad application of mail-order ad- 
 vertising, of course, might easily include all kinds of 
 advertising, for it is a fact that all advertising where 
 the firm name and address are used is certain to bring 
 some inquiries by mail. 
 
 All advertising, therefore, might be characterized as 
 mail-order advertising except that in which the name of 
 the manufacturer or dealer does not appear. 
 
 Modern usage, however, confines the apphcation of 
 the term to advertising which seeks orders for a product 
 by mail. No department of practical or commercial pub- 
 licity has attained such remarkable development as this. 
 Great fortunes represented by costly buildings and big 
 mercantile establishments have been built up in this 
 country out of mail-order advertising, and all this in 
 spite of the fact that this country is many years behind 
 the European nations in the matter of providing facili- 
 ties for the cheap transportation of parcels. 
 
 *From *'The Principles of Practical Publicity,'* by Truman A. De- 
 Weese, Director of Publicity, The Shredded Wheat Company, Niagara 
 Falls, N. Y. 
 
 253 
 
254 MAIL OEDEE ADVEETISING. 
 
 Two Kinds of Mail-order Houses. 
 
 There are two kinds of mail-order houses: 1st, Those 
 which sell goods only by mail direct to the consumer. 
 2nd, Those which sell goods by mail direct but whose 
 goods are also carried by general stores. 
 
 Advertising for the first of these must be real "sales- 
 manship-on-paper." Mail-order advertising of the sec- 
 ond class aims to bring inquiries which are usually re- 
 ferred to some dealer who handles the goods in the town 
 from which the inquiry came. The inquiry is not only 
 referred to the local dealer, but the local dealer himself 
 is advised by letter of the fact that the inquiry has been 
 received and referred to him. The local dealer then 
 makes it his business to also communicate with the person 
 who sent in the inquiry and in this way by a systematic, 
 well-organized follow-up system the man who sent the 
 inquiry is gradually converted into a customer for the 
 goods. This sysJtem of "drumming up'* business for the 
 local dealer or retailer is the one usually followed by 
 nearly all advertisers who are not purely and simply 
 mail-order houses. 
 
 Economy of Mail-order Advertising. 
 
 It is the first division of mail-order advertising which 
 engages our attention in this chapter. The field for 
 ^is kind of advertising in this country consists of eighty 
 million people. It is the kind of advertising, however, 
 that appeals most strongly to people in smaller cities and 
 towns who do not enjoy the shopping opportunities that 
 are presented by the larger cities. TVTiile the ordinary 
 merchant may be showing a commodity to one customer 
 
MAIL ORDER ADVERTISING. 255 
 
 in his store the mail-order house may be showing the 
 same commodity through printed Hterature to fifty mil- 
 lion people. There are mail-order houses which book 
 thirty to forty thousand orders for a wide range of com- 
 modities in sixty days. How many salesmen would it 
 take to get an equal number of orders for the same com- 
 modities in the same length of time, and what would be 
 the total expense for their salaries, hotel bills, railroad 
 fares and other expenses? 
 
 It must also be borne in mind that nearly all goods 
 sold outside of the mail-order houses are sold on a credit 
 system. They are sold on thirty to sixlty days' time. In 
 conducting a mercantile business of this class allowance 
 must be made for a certain percentage of uncoUectable 
 bills. The bad debts constitute an appreciable loss that 
 must be reckoned with in any well-organized system of 
 merchandising. In a mail-order business there are no 
 bad debts for the reason that there is no credit system. 
 Everything is sold for cash and the cash must accompany 
 the order except in a few instances where goods are sent 
 on approval. The general practice is, however, to have 
 the money in advance so that the business of all mail- 
 order houses may be said to rest upon a cash-in-advance 
 basis. 
 
 Almost Any Commodity May Be Sold by Mail. 
 
 The history of the great mail-order houses shows that 
 it is possible to convert almost any form of merchan- 
 dising into a mail-order business. Experience has shown 
 that almost anything can be sold by mail, from toilet soap 
 to an automobile. It is estimated, indeed, that in the year 
 1905 two million dollars' worth of automobiles were sold 
 
256 MAIL ORDER ADVERTISING. 
 
 to country buyers through mail-order advertising.* It is 
 unnecessary to mention the very obvious fact that the 
 sale of two million dollars' worth of automobiles by mail 
 involved the use of much expensive publicity literature 
 outside of the advertising which called forth the inquiries 
 from possible purchasers — and this leads to a considera- 
 tion of the essential features of successful mail-order ad- 
 vertising. These may be classified as follows: • 
 
 1st. The mail-order advertisement. 
 
 2nd. Booklets, leaflets or catalogs. 
 
 8rd. The follow-up system of correspondence. 
 
 Essential Features of Mail-order Advertising. 
 
 Opinions of advertising experts differ as to the rela- 
 tive importance of these features of mail-order advertis- 
 ing. My own opinion is that there is a very little differ- 
 ence in relative value considered from the standpoint of 
 actual "salesmanship-on-paper." If there is any differ- 
 ence in pulling power as betrvTcn these essential features 
 of mail-order advertising, I should say that the il- 
 lustrated booklet or catalog is the most- import- 
 ant in that it is the connecting link between the mail- 
 order advertisement and the possible purchaser. It con- 
 tains the argument or "talk" which, if properly con- 
 structed, carries con\nction and finally results in sales. 
 It is the selling agency which, when combined with a 
 carefully arranged system of follow-up letters, actually 
 sells the goods. 
 
 • It is estimated that the sales of automobiles to country bnyere 
 through mail-order advertising in the year 1909 amounted to $10,000,000. 
 The figures have increased yearly since 1905. 
 
MAIL ORDER ADVERTISING. 257 
 
 The Mail-order Advertisement. 
 At the same time, it is plainly obvious to even a novice 
 in mail-order advertising that unless the mail-order ad- 
 vertisement is so constructed that it will bring inquiries, 
 the most attractive and most expensive booklet ever writ- 
 ten or printed is useless, for there is no opportunity for 
 using it. The first essential, therefore, is an advertise- 
 ment so constructed that it wiU. arouse the interest and 
 curosity of the reader to such an extent that he will send 
 in a request for descriptive matter pertaining to the 
 commodity advertised. 
 
 Must be a ** Puller" of Inquiries. 
 
 Writing mail-order advertising is an art in itself. A 
 man might be capable of writing the most erudite essay 
 upon some interesting subject or a fascinating story in 
 the most racy and captivating style and at the same time 
 be utterly lacking in the ability to write a good mail-or- 
 der advertisement. It is not of much consequence if 
 the ordinary newspaper editorial misses its point and 
 fails to con\dnee the reader; but the mail-order ad- 
 vertisement must be written to get business. It must be 
 a "puller" in small space, for mail-order advertising is 
 usually done in small space and if properly phrased and 
 constructed gets as many inquiries as can be ehcited 
 through large space, in which respect it differs radically 
 from the so-called general pubHcity advertising. Every 
 line counts in a mail-order advertisement, hence the sen- 
 tences musft be clear and terse. Certain redundancies 
 and waste of space may be permissible in general pub- 
 licity, but in mail-order advertising every word must be 
 pregnant with vital interest as the object is to possess the 
 
 I.B.L. Vol. 3—17 
 
258 MAIL ORDER ADVERTISING. 
 
 reader's mind with a new wan!t or to move him with the 
 idea that an old want may be quickly and cheaply grati- 
 fied. 
 
 Must Have Individuality of Style. 
 
 The sentences must have individuahty of style and 
 must be different enough from the general run of adver- 
 tisements to command immediate attention and interest. 
 As the object is to stimulate the curiosity of tthe reader, it 
 is a good plan in most mail-order advertising to leave out 
 the price of the commodity, and, for this same reason, the 
 advertisement should include a picture of the commodity 
 that is offered for sale. Unless the advertisement is to 
 occupy four hundred or more lines the headUne or cap- 
 tion of the advertisement should tell what the article is, 
 and much will depend upon the wording of this headline 
 or introductory sentence in the matter of its abihty to 
 attract the attention of readers. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 ADVERTISING BY MAIL. 
 
 BY NATHANIEL C. FOWLER^ JR. 
 
 Mail advertisers are advertisers who advertise through 
 the mail. They are the wasters of advertising money. 
 They make more mistakes than all the other classes of ad- 
 vertisers put together. They overwrite and underwrite. 
 Most of them assume that the uninterested public is as 
 much interested as they are. 
 
 Let the writer picture the mailed circular: 
 
 A sheet of paper, three times folded. Too. much on 
 the first page, and altogether too much on the other 
 pages. Type too fine, and composition too prosy. Pa- 
 per generally fair. A cheap envelope. A one cent 
 stamp. It reaches its destination. The mail opener sees 
 the one cent stamp first, and that is all he sees, for the 
 circular immediately reaches the home of all circulars, — 
 the waste basket. 
 
 The unsealed mail circular presents itself with an ex- 
 cuse for not being opened. 
 
 The merchant receives circulars. 
 
 Does he read them? 
 
 If he does not, can he not judge others by himself, and 
 assume that if he does not read others' circulars, others 
 will not read his circulars? 
 
 Successful Circular Advertising. 
 
 The writer is referring to the conventional circular 
 sent unsealed through the mail, and not to that class of 
 
 259 
 
260 ADVERTISING BY MAIL. 
 
 circular advertising which by its unique character, com- 
 mendable brevity, and clean typographical appearance, 
 commands attention — if it puts itself in a position to be 
 attended to. 
 
 The right kind of a circular mailed under seal, is Ukely 
 to be read. It costs more to mail sealed circulars, but it 
 is cheaper, for one circular seen is worth much more than 
 fifty circulars unseen. 
 
 A letter should always accompany a circular, the letter 
 to contain the salient points of the circular, and excite 
 interest in the circular itself. 
 
 A catalogue need not be sealed, for its bulk commands 
 attention. 
 
 Circulars should not be sent in odd-sized envelopes, for 
 even if they are sealed they have the appearance of being 
 circulars, and may receive but little attention. 
 
 The sealed circular should be sent in the envelope used 
 for regular correspondence, that it may be dehvered in 
 the regular letter mail and be found among the regular 
 letters. 
 
 Unique Envelopes. 
 
 Extremely original and unique envelopes sometimes 
 pay, but it is better to put the originality into the circu- 
 lar, and use the ordinary commercial envelope, that it 
 may receive at the start the attention given other sealed 
 matter. 
 
 Envelopes that are larger than the ordinary commer- 
 cial size are likely to be delayed in the mail. Mail clerks 
 are pretty busy, and they handle the ordinary sized mail 
 first. These envelopes are officially tied, and the odd- 
 sized envelopes, although sealed, generally go out in the 
 
ADYERTISING BY MAIL. 261 
 
 supplementary mail or skip several mails. A sealed 
 package is not transmitted much quicker than an ordi- 
 nary package of merchandise unsealed. Not one clerk 
 in a hundred takes pains to notice that it is sealed and it 
 generally goes in the bundle mail. 
 
 Matter sent by mail in envelopes or packages of un- 
 usual size, unless carefully packed, and securely fastened, 
 is likely to be damaged. 
 
 Use of Post Cards. 
 
 The use of cards that have the address on one side 
 and printed matter on the other is not to be commended. 
 They have not the rights of the postal card, and if of un- 
 usual size, they are badly broken in the mail. It is better 
 to condense the matter, and place it upon a postal card, 
 than to say more or use larger type upon a card of odd 
 size, with the chances in favor of half of them being 
 smashed in the mail. 
 
 The writer believes in the postal card because every 
 postal card is supposed to be a letter if the address side 
 appears uppermost; the receiver must turn over every 
 postal card that comes in this way, and if the matter up- 
 on it is sufficiently brief, he has a chance to absorb it, 
 even though it may pass from his hands directly to the 
 waste basket. 
 
 Care Required in Mailing. 
 
 Damaged printed matter loses half its value. 
 
 It is better to have a small catalogue in good condition 
 than a large catalogue damaged. 
 
 Expensive catalogues and other printed matter, and 
 all works of advertising art, should either be of small 
 size, or sent securely packed. 
 
262 ADVERTISING BY MAIL. 
 
 Advertising through the mail is profitable if it is made 
 to be profitable. The reason so much of it is unprofit- 
 able is because an opportunity is given to over-write, 
 and to say too much. The advertiser thinks he has the 
 right to get his full two ounces for a cent, and to take it 
 out in quantity if not in quality. 
 
 It is generally inadvisable to send more than one circu- 
 lar at a time by mail. 
 
 Advertising on Envelopes. 
 
 Some advertisers seem to be of the opinion that it is 
 profitable to use envelopes for advertising purposes, and 
 they make billboards of them with the mistaken idea that 
 the mail clerks will pause in their work and read the ad- 
 vertisements. There is just as much sense in painting 
 water color floral designs on the lining of the rubber 
 overcoat or the mackintosh as in covering the envelope 
 with advertising. 
 
 The envelope is nothing but a cover. The postal 
 clerk has neither the time nor the incUnation to read more 
 than the address. 
 
 The receiver gets inside of the envelope as soon as he 
 can, and if the envelope tells the story of its contents, the 
 contents may never be taken from the envelope. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 ADVERTISING AS A CREATIVE FORCE. 
 
 BY JOE MITCHELL CHAPPLE, 
 Editor of The National Magazine, Boston. 
 
 Back of all exploitation stands the human equation in 
 some form or other. A name in advertising is in fact a 
 trade-mark. Even in exploiting the most prosaic arti- 
 cles of everyday life there is an incessant suggestion of 
 human interest. The device may be a unique trade- 
 mark, or simply such a saying as "Jones pays the 
 freight" — ^but at the root of it all is the consciousness that 
 some human being has a secret that others have not. 
 
 It would indeed be difficult to devise a mode of ac- 
 counting which should exactly determine the amount of 
 money spent in the various forms of advertising. The 
 mere hard cash that passes through the advertising agen- 
 cies or is paid directly to the publishers, printers, or bill- 
 board men, would not cover the expenditures because 
 there are a thousand indirect ways in which money is 
 spent on exploitation, in ways that have a direct effect 
 on advertising as a whole. One gives a banquet, or an 
 excursion ; one calls a convention ; a lecture is given or a 
 vaudeville troupe is employed — all are primarily adver- 
 tising, though the money so expended is never entered 
 under such heading in any account book. Such examples 
 are many. 
 
 The enormous expenditures of a political campaign 
 may be called in one sense pure advertising or exploita- 
 tion. 
 
 263 
 
264 ADTERTISING AS A CREATIVE FORCE. 
 
 In short it is merely a guess — and a guess sometimes is 
 as reliable as figures — that the annual expenditures of 
 advertising in the last five years in the United States 
 have increased to at least one billion dollars. 
 
 We are accustomed to use that word "billion" rather 
 freely nowadays, perhaps because it fits in with the ef- 
 fective use and operation of superlatives common to this 
 country — such an extravagant expression as "The only 
 show on earth," and similar phrases that were made fa- 
 miliar to the general public in the days of Barnum, when 
 billboards were emblazoned with circus proclamations in 
 alliterative and high-sounding style — somewhat similar 
 to that later adopted by newspapers and set up in slug 
 heads to arrest the attention of the passer-by. 
 
 A Veritable Revolution. 
 
 The change in forms and methods of advertising dur- 
 ing the last few years has come about so subtly that it 
 has hardly been generally recognized as a veritable rev- 
 olution of the wheels of progress. The use of descrip- 
 tive articles has given business to numberless press bu- 
 reaus, that furnish matter concerning different interests 
 or articles to be exploited, giving such data to news- 
 papers and periodicals free of charge. 
 
 Of late the veil has worn so thin that the great inter- 
 ests understand how easily, by the judicious and broad 
 use of descriptive advertising — ^written with a direct pur- 
 pose in view — public opinion may be molded through the 
 same mediums that have been employed in the editorial 
 columns in years past. After all, it is more the manner 
 than the matter, in what is said, that counts, even as the 
 rollicking barbecues of the South might rather be re- 
 
ADVERTISING AS A CREATIVE FORCE. 265 
 
 garded as models of jovial hospitality than as any form 
 of advertising ; yet they have had a permanent influence 
 on politics. 
 
 In the last ten years every class of business man, and 
 even municipal and trade associations have acted in uni- 
 son with the spirit of development, and have achieved 
 results through some sort of advertising, such as could 
 never be obtained by any academic or ethical activity. 
 The sneer of "only advertising," of a few years ago has 
 passed. The scoffers have remained to worship at the 
 shrine they despised, and have kept eyes and ears open 
 for information concerning the magic power of adver- 
 tising. 
 
 All Professions Advertise. 
 
 Ministers, doctors, lawyers, and all the learned pro- 
 fessions now recognize the value of exploitation. Even 
 the church pews contain men who advertise directly for 
 some specific purpose, and the "announcements" from 
 the pulpits have been supplanted by a form of advertis- 
 ing, which is admitted to be absolutely essential to any 
 progress whatever. Even the church edifice itself is re- 
 garded as a sort of advertisement of a given creed, and 
 it is often possible to outHne the belief of the worshipers 
 by the shape or appearance of the spires of the building. 
 
 Civic organizations and social gatherings have each 
 their advertising, as clear as to its purpose as any printed 
 announcement in a morning paper. 
 
 Public Utility Advertising. 
 
 Public utility corporations would have scoffed at the 
 idea of advertising ten years ago; now the telephone 
 
266 ADVERTISING AS A CREATI\TE FORCE. 
 
 companies are among the largest advertisers in the 
 United States. 
 
 The Western Union did not advertise. The moral is 
 printed for all to read in the recent announcement of the 
 absorption of that Union by the association which re- 
 sorted to advertising. 
 
 The Boston Street Railway has advertised for some 
 time past to direct the stream of traffic, so as to relieve 
 the congested channels and winding thoroughfares of 
 the city. They wanted more nickels to carry on their 
 work, and actually changed the tides of traffic by adver- 
 tising, and made it pay by saving some expense while 
 accommodating the pubhc. 
 
 The Trend of Advertising. 
 
 Of late years the trend of advertising has dealt largely 
 with fundamentals, in creating sentiment, and through 
 it new markets. The details of making and selling ad- 
 vertising are simple functions of modern business. Every 
 article of general use will be more than ever directly ad- 
 vertised in the future. It is not so much a matter of 
 competition as of the creation of new trade and new 
 wants. 
 
 The sugar barrels in the country grocery store have 
 given way to packages, with more or less decorative 
 wrappers, all of which means additional advertising. 
 Salt, flour, coal, and indeed all the prosaic necessaries of 
 life of everyday use are being advertised, and the only 
 question now is as to which form of advertising pays best 
 for given articles. 
 
 Ask any woman to tell you honestly how much she is 
 influenced by advertising — one out of ten will say 
 
ADVERTISING AS A CREATIVE FORCE. 267 
 
 frankly that through the medium of advertising she has 
 received many of her "new" ideas. Hooks and eyes, 
 f eatherbone, side combs, a new shoe tie, a special sort of 
 safety pin — to say nothing of the improvements on the 
 elusive collar button for "hubby" — ^have all had their 
 first step by introduction through advertising to the 
 home market of the housewife. 
 
 More and more exploitation embraces every human 
 want, and the tendency of all this publicity is to improve 
 the quality of goods, for,- in order to succeed, the goods 
 advertised must be kept up to the standard, or the adver- 
 tising is bound to fail in results. What would the aver- 
 age magazine or newspaper today be without advertis- 
 ing? Like a dance without ladies; like slapjacks without 
 syrup, or baked beans without brown bread. 
 
 Picking up a magazine, the overture with almost every 
 reader is invariably a glance through the attractive pages 
 of advertising — to see what's new — a bulletin, as it were, 
 of human activities. 
 
 A Distinctive Form of Literature. 
 
 Advertising has become a distinctive form of litera- 
 ture and a most interesting chronology of the times could 
 be collated from these sections of the various periodicals 
 and newspapers, as well as from the billboard epigrams. 
 
 Long after the stirring and erudite words of the editor 
 are forgotten, the impressions created by a "catchy" ad- 
 vertisement will remain in the memory, perhaps because 
 the advertiser has the advantage of being permitted to 
 reiterate certain important points — a feature which is 
 denied the editor who desires to observe the literary ban 
 of tautology. 
 
268 ADVERTISING AS A CREATIVE FORCE. 
 
 Made interesting by artistic pictures and verse, char- 
 acteristic and clever verbiage, the advertising of the 
 present and future will strike with a sledge-hammer im- 
 pact of good Anglo-Saxon and convincing argument 
 that may be regarded as a model in its way, and placed 
 side by side with the EngHsh of the EHzabethan era, for 
 the enhghtenment of those who come after our genera- 
 tion. 
 
 It may be that in future years there will be a special 
 branch of study for the creation of a word, a phrase, or 
 an idea that will fasten itself on the memory of the peo- 
 ple and be constantly brought to mind, as are those sub- 
 tle pieces of advertising which have made fortunes for 
 the advertisers of today, and at the same time have served 
 to better the quality and service for the consumer, and in 
 regard to food, have safeguarded human life. 
 
 It Defies Analysis. 
 
 Advertising baffles all analysis. The study of the pub- 
 lic taste, the art of creating a want and then convincing 
 the people that the advertiser is capable of filling it — 
 what is this but the "power of the eye," the force of per- 
 sonality, that animated kings, emperors, warriors, states- 
 men who have made their impress upon history, and 
 pushed forward the march of events? Closely analy^ied, 
 every great career may be reduced to the common de- 
 nominator of advertising — exploitation pure and simple. 
 
 Advertising is as varied as human temperament and 
 expression, but there must be one little thing in everj" 
 advertisement that attracts and holds attention, or it is 
 worthless. It is a question of focus, and the lens or me- 
 dium to secure this is the subject to be closely considered 
 
ADVERTISING AS A CREATIVE FORCE. 269 
 
 in advertising. Everything depends on what a man has 
 to exploit — no matter what it may be, a suitable medium 
 may be found, from the covers of the books and maga- 
 zines, the "scare" headings of the newspapers, to the 
 elaborate or "tailor-made" garments of the well-dressed 
 man or woman, which are merely another form of adver- 
 tising — impressing individuality on the public. 
 
 Results May Be Quick or Slow. 
 
 Then results may be quick or slow. It is not in pass- 
 ing a show window that one gets the impulse to purchase. 
 Something will be seen that will cling to the memory. 
 Results are accumulative, and by and by when the need 
 for that certain article arises, back to the store goes the 
 individual who saw it and he makes the purchase. 
 
 Nothing is so forceful as constantly recurring and sim- 
 ilar impressions. Many an advertiser has given up the 
 chase when three-fourths of the track has been covered, 
 and could he but clear his vision he would see the goal in 
 sight. Many a man has not the courage of his convic- 
 tions to pursue his course until results come. 
 
 Then there are advertisers today aflame with such a 
 spirit in exploiting their wares as to bear comparison 
 with the leading thought of the evangelists who have a 
 message to deliver. Many an advertiser has an article to 
 offer for sale that he believes is a boon to mankind, and 
 he cannot cease advertising until he has made that boon 
 known to all. The Salvation Army itself, attired in red 
 ribbons and military coats, is based on advertising. 
 
 In the last analysis upon the effectiveness of advertis- 
 ing genius, whether in a shop or managing an industrial 
 
270 ADVERTISING AS A CREATIVE FORCE. 
 
 establishment — ^it all comes back to the central force — 
 
 publicity. 
 
 Tribute to a Pioneer. 
 
 When the historian chronicles the events of the past 
 fifty years, he will assuredly catch the inspiration that 
 has occasioned the greatest era of commercial expansion 
 that the world has ever known. In searching for the 
 cause of this remarkable development, the student of the 
 future will not need to go beyond the one word of eleven 
 letters, "A-d-v-e-r-t-i-s-i-n-g," which is the magic key 
 that has unlocked the door of success for the Twentieth 
 Century. 
 
 When the subject of advertising is mentioned in these 
 days, on® name stands out preeminently associated with 
 the present phenomenal development of exploitation in 
 varied forms. One of the first to grasp the possibilities 
 of magazine advertising, as a means of expansion, was 
 J. Walter Thompson, of New York City. As a young 
 accountant he fully understood business methods and 
 needs, and he also had a thorough knowledge of the con- 
 ditions in a printing office and knew the practical side of 
 pubUshing. He decided that in the magazines a new 
 field was open for the development of trade, and also 
 foresaw that all periodicals must have a large general 
 circulation to permanently prosper and exercise their real 
 function. He predicted the coming of the "periodical 
 era," and, with his keen business sense, grasped the fact 
 that in order to make a periodical a permanent business 
 institution, it would be necessary to supplement the sub- 
 scription price with an advertising revenue. It was long 
 ago proved that the demand for good reading matter 
 could not be supplied at a popular price unless supple- 
 mented by an advertising income. 
 
ADVERTISING AS A CREATIVE FORCE. 271 
 
 Mr. Thompson as a Leader. 
 
 Old time publicity methods, the hackneyed phrases 
 employed by the grocer and "general dealer," had failed 
 to create a revenue or attract attention outside of a very 
 small circle. With courage and daring Mr. Thompson 
 led the van in a great forward movement, determined to 
 make advertising a definite message to the people at 
 large, giving it all the force of editorial utterance and an 
 educative campaign. Clients came to him, and long 
 years ago J. Walter Thompson had among his custo- 
 mers many of the best known advertisers in the country, 
 who felt that his agency was as sure in regard to results 
 as any purchase of reliable goods which they might make 
 for the conduct of their business. A glance at the records 
 of this agency reveals a record of continuous advertising 
 success ; every campaign undertaken was intensely prac- 
 tical, yet imbued with wisdom, fitly symbolized by the 
 owl, with outspread wings and wide-open eyes — ^the bird 
 that sees as well by night as by day, and, it is said, never 
 sleeps. 
 
 Forty-five years of business experience in creating a 
 demand for articles that add to the comfort, health and 
 convenience of the people have made Mr. Thompson a 
 very remarkable man. He fully realizes the value of a 
 plain, direct, homely way of regarding life and business 
 matters. At a single glance he sees through shams and 
 in one letter he insisted that everything in the world is a 
 luxury, including even bread and meat. In short, he gets 
 back to the old biblical promise, "Thy bread and water 
 shall be sure unto thee," from which the old church 
 fathers drew the deduction that bread and water are the 
 only essentials for the support of human Uf e. 
 
272 ADVERTISING AS A CREATIVE FORCE. 
 
 Mr. Thompson even regards chairs and couches of all 
 kinds as luxuries. For thousands of years mankind sat 
 upon the ground, but after a time the demand for raised 
 seats grew and today the old-time luxury has become a 
 necessity. "The luxury of today becomes the necessity 
 of tomorrow." 
 
 New Demands Created. 
 
 For more than two-score years this agency has written 
 and placed advertising, and even in that comparatively 
 brief period, thousands of articles have ceased to be re- 
 garded as luxuries and have become necessities. One in- 
 stance from the cyclopedia of business development 
 comes to mind — from the germ of an idea, O' Sullivan's 
 Rubber Heels have become an every day necessity to per- 
 sons walking day after day on city pavements. Many 
 other instances also occur to the mind — ^leimen's toilet 
 articles are in general use. The Atlas Cement Company 
 has a contract to supply 175,000,000 barrels for the con- 
 struction of the Panama Canal. Pond's Extract is a 
 household necessity for the modem housekeeper. Books 
 of every kind are in constant demand. A notable triumph 
 in advertising is the Prudential Insurance, with its thou- 
 sands of people getting into a place of security under the 
 shadow of the powerful and impregnable "Rock of Gib- 
 ralter." Rambler automobiles. Swift's soap, the goods 
 of Libby, McNeill & Libby, Vose pianos, Wirt fountain 
 pens, Boston garters, are all regarded as indispensable 
 articles of daily life by thousands of people. 
 
 There is another phase of advertising not so generally 
 understood, by which the art of exploitation is raised to 
 a higher plane and made still more educative. Mr, 
 
ADVERTISING AS A CREATIVE FORCE. 273 
 
 Thompson is keenly observant of public life, and can 
 gauge the trend of modern thought with wonderful ac- 
 curacy. To direct that thought is a gigantic undertaking. 
 During the troubled days of the McKinley campaign he 
 was called upon to help solve a serious question that 
 threatened the business interests of the country. With 
 his usual keen foresight he immediately took hold. In 
 a few weeks he was able to demonstrate the power of 
 plain, direct exploitation, whether in spreading informa- 
 tion regarding an idea or merchandise. A broad view- 
 point has always been one of the significant features of 
 Mr. Thompson's career. 
 
 A Wise Counselor. 
 
 More than all else he has been the friend, advisor and 
 counselor of the publishers of the country, who are ever 
 ready to respond to a suggestion made by Mr. Thompson 
 for the development of an advertiser, and freely follow 
 out a policy which they believe to be for the public good. 
 Nor is there an editor in the country who would not con- 
 sider it a great privilege to receive counsel from J. Wal- 
 ter Thompson, and listen to his broad views on human 
 affairs. Not only does he keep constantly in touch with 
 national affairs, but each year he makes a trip abroad, 
 and has developed some of the most successful foreign 
 advertisers. Not only American but cosmopolitan in his 
 ideas and purposes, it is not surprising that an agency 
 established on a world-wide foundation should achieve 
 concrete results, and be honored by the people of the 
 United States. No important phase in business develop- 
 ment, no link in the chain of human thought, no event 
 
 X.B.I.. Vol. 3—18 ^ 
 
274 ADVERTISING AS A CREATIVE FORCE. 
 
 of national or international import has escaped his atten- 
 tion; he is fundamentally a student. Had he been less 
 practical he might have become a college professor, but 
 he has always loved to put every proposition to the steel- 
 yard test, and bring two and two together to make four. 
 Mere theorizing would not satisfy Mr. Thompson. He 
 was the seer, the true prophet of the early days of ad- 
 vertising, and it is meet that he should live to see his most 
 sanguine expectations more than fulfilled. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 
 
 BY TRUMAN A. DE WEESE.* 
 
 I am asked to discuss the subject, "How Advertis- 
 ing Helps the Manufacturer." The subject has the 
 charm of refreshing originahty. Everybody knows how 
 Advertising helps the magazines, newspapers and adver- 
 tising agents. Everybody knows how Advertising helps 
 the street car companies to pay dividends on watered 
 stock. Since Mr. Balmer took up street car advertising 
 the earnings of the street car companies have been aug- 
 mented to such an extent that a portion of the surplus 
 is actually diverted toward the purchase of new cars and 
 the improvement of the service, for all of which the strap- 
 hangers who do not own automobiles should be duly 
 thankful. 
 
 Everybody knows how Advertising helps the bill- 
 board fellows. Look at the picture of the immortal 
 Shakspere leaning on a bottle of Holbrook's Worces- 
 tershire Sauce. The picture may not convey the correct 
 impression as to the kind of stimulants which the Bard of 
 Avon imbibed, but it looks good to those who are inter- 
 ested in carrying high art to the plain people who have 
 neither time nor money to visit the art galleries or to own 
 pictures. 
 
 Everybody knows how Advertising helps the publish- 
 ers. Let your eye take in the magnificent proportions 
 
 * From an address by Mr. DeWeese before the Sphinx Club at the 
 Waldorf-Astoria, New York City, on the occasion of the one hundredth 
 anniversary of the club, March 16, 1909. 
 
 275 
 
276 WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 
 
 of the palatial building which the Curtis Publishing 
 Company is about to erect in Philadelphia — a building 
 that will have a floor space of eleven acres and that will 
 rear itself in stately grandeur above the historic struc- 
 ture that commemorates the birth of American Inde- 
 pendence — a monument to the faith of one man in the 
 "creative power" of Advertising. 
 
 Everybody knows how Advertising helps the Adver- 
 tising Agency. Look at the publicity plutocrats who 
 have gone into the banking business. The tendency of 
 Advertising Agents to go into the banking business can 
 be explained only on two theories: either the Agency 
 needs the credit of the bank in order to pay those "high- 
 salaried" copy-writers; or it has to start a bank to loan 
 out the accumulated surplus. 
 
 Does it Help the Manufacturer? . 
 
 But does Advertising help the manufacturer? Does 
 the manufacturer get his money back? Of course he 
 does. 
 
 I am expected to tell briefly what Advertising has 
 done for the manufacturer. I might as well try to put 
 "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire" on a phono- 
 graph record. To tell what Advertising has done for 
 the manufacturer would be to write the history of in- 
 dustrial progress for the last quarter century. This is 
 an age of specialties. How can you sell "specialties" 
 without advertising But Advertising has gone be- 
 yond specialties into staples. The white flour millers 
 and the Sugar Trust have come down from the lofty 
 pedestals of Doubt and are now using printers' ink in a 
 reckless manner. 
 
WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 277 
 
 Even the brickmakers are about to become national 
 advertisers. Brickmaking began hundreds of years be- 
 fore the Israehtes went down into Egypt and were put 
 to the task of making bricks without straw. At a meet- 
 ing of the National Brick Makers' Association recently 
 held in Rochester it was decided to spend ten thousand 
 dollars in a publicity campaign to save their ancient and 
 honorable craft from destruction by the modern makers 
 of cement blocks. 
 
 And now comes the National Casket Company with 
 the proposition to advertise coffins to the end that the 
 deceased will refuse to be buried in a box that does not 
 bear their trade-mark. As a result of this campaign 
 it is expected that the National Casket Company coffin 
 will be specified in the last will and testament so that the 
 obsequies will not be marred by any unseemly wrangle 
 among relations who may favor rival concerns. Adver- 
 tising begins with the foods and nursing bottles and 
 diapers of Infancy and is finally interred with your 
 bones. Almost any rational being would feel more com- 
 fortable in a coffin bearing the trade-mark of a national 
 advertiser. 
 
 It Makes New Wants. 
 
 Advertising brings Opportunity to the door of Doubt. 
 It hammers on the door until Opportunity becomes Im- 
 portunity and the doubting one finds himself possessed 
 with a new want and a new desire. This new desire, 
 multiplied in potency and pulling power thousands of 
 times and through all the changing moods of human 
 fancy, is the thing that pulls business and piles up in- 
 dustrial wealth to colossal heights. This is the thing 
 
278 -WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 
 
 that builds factories, cities and railroads and all the in- 
 strumentalities that contribute to human happiness and 
 human progress. It makes the luxuries of today the 
 necessities of tomorrow. By multiplying human desires 
 it brings about the establishment of agencies for grati- 
 fying those desires until the earth is filled with the crea- 
 tive forces Uberated by man*s genius and industry. 
 
 Within ten years Advertising has filled the country 
 and city highways of this and other lands with flying 
 chariots of cushioned comfort and luxury. It has taken 
 thousands from the city out into the byways of rural 
 loveliness, along sunlit meadows and singing brooks into 
 quiet lanes of blossoming beauty, while poor old Dob- 
 bin is ambling off to the bone-yard, and village magis- 
 trates enrich their coffers with fines gathered from speed- 
 ing chauffeurs. The automobile is rushing onward into 
 popular favor, riding roughshod over prejudice and op- 
 position. If the gasolene holds out, nothing can retard 
 the coming of the horseless age. The automobile busi- 
 ness done in 1903 amounted to less than $8,000,000, 
 while the total for 1907 reached $150,000,000. There 
 are now over two hundred and fifty firms engaged in 
 the manufacture of automobiles with invested capital 
 amounting to $200,000,000, giving employment to 
 nearly 200,000 persons. It is believed that there are at 
 present over 320,000 motor cars in this country, New 
 York leading with 64,500. 
 
 Effect on the Public Health. 
 
 Advertising has sent the Evangel of Good Health and 
 the Simple Life into thousands of homes. A few years 
 ago a Nebraska lawyer whose stomach had gone out of 
 
WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 279 
 
 business was trying a lawsuit in a small town in that 
 state. At the hotel where he stopped he observed a 
 man at the table each day eating a dish of boiled whole 
 wheat. Being a dietetic crank, his curiosity was aroused. 
 On inquiry he learned that he, too, had a stomach that 
 had refused to do the work for which Nature had in- 
 tended it. He was waxing strong and fat on boiled 
 whole wheat which he macerated in a bowl and ate with 
 cream and sugar. The lawyer began eating it and when 
 he found that he could digest it and maintain his mental 
 and physical powers, he began a series of experiments 
 to make it a commercial proposition. That is the story 
 of Shredded Wheat briefly told. Advertising has built 
 this business into a mammoth industry, housed in a palace 
 of light on the banks of the Niagara River and sending 
 out each day of the year a milhon and a quarter Shredded 
 Wheat Biscuits. The annual expenditures of this Com- 
 pany for all kinds of advertising now aggregate nearly 
 $400,000. The two-million dollar plant in which these 
 biscuits are made is visited annually by nearly 100,000 
 persons from all parts of the habitable globe. The 
 Shredded Wheat Company has for years conducted an 
 educational campaign which has not only led to a world- 
 wide recognition of the nutritive value of whole wheat 
 foods, when properly prepared, but has created a na- 
 tional sentiment in favor of pure foods and clean foods. 
 
 Has Filled the World With Music. 
 
 Advertising has filled the world with music. Into 
 hovel and palace it has taken the wonderful voice of 
 Caruso, leading the lover of grand opera to the mountain 
 tops of wonder and delight, while simple folk who love 
 
280 WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 
 
 the music that never dies are stirred by the strains of 
 "Dixie" or moved by the mellow melody of "My Old 
 Kentucky Home." The phonograph, although in- 
 vented in 1878, made no headway as a commercial prop- 
 osition until 1896, when the National Phonograph Com- 
 pany was organized. Now there are three great com- 
 panies manufacturing "talking machines" and doing a 
 business that aggregates many millions of dollars annu- 
 ally. 
 
 Advertising has "touched the button" of joy in a 
 hundred thousand homes, letting in the sunhght that 
 preserves the faces of loved ones on the films of Memory. 
 It has given the world-wanderer a record of his travels 
 and the lover of Nature those imperishable etchings of 
 woodland and dell that sweeten and gladden the evening 
 of life. It has expunged the word "camera" from the 
 lexicon of photography and put the word "kodak" in its 
 place. 
 
 Advertising has rescued the piano from the garret and 
 the junk-heap where it started to join the spinning wheel 
 and the tallow dip. It has made the piano almost as busy 
 as the sewing machine. The piano is no longer a pol- 
 ished loafer — a sentinel of soundless silence, giving forth 
 sounds only when Susie is pounding it under the direc- 
 tion of Professor Snooski. The Angelus doesn't wear 
 long hair but it has the power of evoking the sweetest 
 melody from the silent keys, which makes the piano work 
 overtime. Perhaps it is a bad thing for Susie or the 
 Professor and the future of one of the fine arts, but after 
 all, there comes the question: Is the piano a musical in- 
 strument or a piece of furniture? 
 
WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 281 
 
 Safety Razors and Fountain Pens. 
 
 Advertising has robbed the patient barnyard hen of 
 the joys of maternity, relegating her to the occupation 
 of laying eggs. When it comes to hatching chicks she 
 is too slow for the age of automobiles and flying ma- 
 chines. The "broilers" didn't come fast enough for the 
 cold storage facilities of the Beef Trust. The manufac- 
 ture of incubators has grown to such enormous propor- 
 tions that it is possible to find in the market an occasional 
 Spring pullet that has not been cornered by the packers 
 of Chicago. "Why do poultry ads nearly always show 
 the picture of a rooster?" some one asks. I should say 
 it is because the rooster crows and never sets. 
 
 Advertising has emancipated busy, bearded bipeds 
 from the slavery of the barber shop. It will in time 
 make the barber as extinct as the dodo. It has made 
 every man his own barber, saving his face from the ton- 
 sorial fiend whose razor is never any sharper than his wits 
 and who spreads the practice of profanity by scraping a 
 man's countenance "against the grain." Advertising 
 that inoculates man with a desire to shave himself is a 
 boon to the race. The average man who doesn't shave 
 himself and who has reached the age of seventy has 
 wasted three years of his precious life in barber shops. 
 Advertising adds all these wasted hours to the produc- 
 tive energies of the race, besides promoting its peace 
 and tranquihty. It is claimed that one manufacturer of 
 safety razors now spends a quarter of a million dollars 
 in Advertising every year. 
 
 Advertising has put a rubber ink-well into nearly every 
 business man's pocket. The pen may be mightier than 
 
282 WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 
 
 the sword, but it is of no account when there is no ink 
 to be had. With a fountain pen in one pocket and a 
 check book in another pocket, what excuse can a man 
 give for not paying his bills? The universal use of the 
 fountain pen has promoted prosperity by increasing 
 the elasticity and volume of the currency. The check- 
 writing habit has added millions to the circulating med- 
 ium of the country, leaving the actual currency for the 
 banks to loan out to grease the wheels of commerce and 
 industry. The first Waterman fountain pen was put 
 on the market in 1884. The advertising appropriation 
 for the first year was $62.50, while the total sales were 
 200 pens. It is claimed that the total annual sales 
 at the present time amount to two and a half miUion 
 dollars. 
 
 Passing of the Cracker Barrel. 
 
 Advertising has sent the old cracker-barrel of boy- 
 hood memory into the limbo of the Past along with the 
 old vinegar barrel and the old molasses barrel. When 
 the store cat didn't sleep in it at night the mice found 
 it a cozy place in which to build their nests. Along came 
 the National Biscuit Company in 1897 with its "Iner- 
 seal" dust-proof package, keeping the crackers clean and 
 fresh and crisp, working a world-wide revolution in the 
 cracker business. But the "Inerseal" idea has extended 
 to all sorts of bakeries who imitate "Uneeda" Biscuit in 
 everything but the outside wrapper. 
 
 Advertising has made the paint brush go hand in hand 
 with the rolling pin. While the bread is in the oven the 
 housewife can brighten up the floors and doors, making 
 old furniture new, adding a touch of beauty and fresh- 
 
WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 283 
 
 ness to the home without bringing in a crew of maseu- 
 Une daubers and splashers with dirty overalls and plug- 
 tobacco manners. The history of Advertising doesn't 
 afford any more wonderful example of the creative 
 power of Advertising than the story of Jap-a-lac. It 
 is true that there were varnish stains on the market before 
 the appearance of Jap-a-lac, but the Glidden Varnish 
 Company was the first concern to inaugurate a national 
 advertising campaign for a varnish stain. 
 
 Mr. Sherwin of the Sherwin-Williams Company, be- 
 ing a great believer in advertising, started advertising 
 the day of the organization of the Company, and when he 
 retired, Mr. Cottingham, the present General Manager 
 and President, took even a more active interest in the 
 advertising. The advertising appropriation has been 
 increased at the rate of $25,000 to $30,000 a year, until 
 it is now one of the biggest advertising appropriations in 
 the country. 
 
 Portimes in Toilet Articles. 
 
 Advertising has smoothed the wrinkles of Worry from 
 the brow of Care. It has brought the roses of June to 
 the fading cheek of December. It has covered crows'- 
 f eet and freckles with velvety smoothness and whiteness, 
 transforming old maids into Poems of Pulchritude. 
 Pompeian Massage Cream was first put on the market in 
 1902. The advertising appropriation for the first year 
 was $3,000. A circular issued in 1903 spoke of the Com- 
 pany's "tremendous" advertising campaign of $8,000 in 
 ten publications. This circular announced that the "De- 
 lineator" would carry Pompeian copy to the extent of 
 three inches. Four years later the Company was an- 
 
284 WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 
 
 nouncing to the dealers a double page spread in the Sat- 
 urday Evening Post. 
 
 Advertising takes the steer of the Western plains and 
 uses every portion of his carcass from the end of his 
 horns to the tip of his tail. It makes cloth out of his 
 hair, soap out of his fat, buttons out of his blood, glue 
 from his hoofs and pepsin from his stomach. These 
 are the by-products of the Chicago packing industry; 
 but they are the only products of this industry that can 
 be advertised, and it is these products which yield the 
 profits and pay the dividends on the stock. 
 
 Created the Dollar Watch. 
 
 Advertising created and originated the dollar watch, 
 putting a reliable timekeeper within the reach of hun- 
 dreds of thousands who couldn't afford the more expen- 
 sive timekeepers. The story of the IngersoU watch is 
 the story of one of the most wonderful advertising sue-, 
 cesses of the century. The first watch was put on the 
 market in 1893, and for the first year the sales averaged 
 about 300 watches per day. Last year's output was 
 approximately 3,000,000, or between 11,000 and 12,000 
 per day. Their advertising covers a very wide range of 
 publicity and the annual expenditure must be consider- 
 ably in excess of a hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 The Franco- American Food Company first put their 
 products on the market in 1887, starting without any 
 capital and confining their advertising to sampling. 
 As their business grew they kept on setting aside sums 
 for magazine advertising. Their business has grown 
 so that from an output of about 600 cans per day, their 
 present output is 30,000 cans per day. 
 
WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 285 
 
 Three Dangers to Advertisers. 
 
 Three things menace national advertising : ( 1 ) Trusts ; 
 (2) Substitution; (3) Bad Copy. 
 
 A trust formed by the manufacturers of a staple prod- 
 uct may enable the manufacturers to cut out advertis- 
 ing or reduce advertising expense, but if it is a combina- 
 tion of manufacturers of the luxuries or specialties, the 
 educational work must go on or the sales will stop. The 
 formation of a bicycle trust not only killed advertising, 
 but killed the bicycle business. If the bicycle had con- 
 tinued to be manufactured by independent companies 
 as a specialty the vigorous competition in advertising of 
 the independent companies would have kept the bicycle 
 business alive for many years. When all the manufac- 
 turers of automobiles form a trust or combine, it will 
 mean death to Advertising and death to the automobile 
 business. The business will be immediately deprived of 
 the vigorous competitive advertising of rival concerns 
 which is necessary to keep the pubhc mind alive to the 
 uses and pleasures of the automobile. It is true that 
 the formation of the Eastman camera trust did not 
 totally destroy camera advertising, but it reduced camera 
 advertising from half a dozen or more competing firms 
 to one firm. 
 
 Automobile Advertising. 
 
 It is easy to see what Advertising has done for the 
 manufacturer who advertises. Did you ever stop to 
 think what Advertising does for the fellow who does not 
 advertise? Take the Pierce Auto-Car Company of 
 Buffalo, for instance. Its advertising helps a lot of 
 manufacturers who do not advertise to sell automobiles. 
 
286 WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 
 
 All automobiles look alike to the general public. The 
 beautiful pictures of automobiles, showing the pleasures 
 of automobiling and the picturesque country bjrways in 
 this and foreign lands, which are run on back covers by 
 the Pierce Company, create a desire or longing for the 
 pleasures of this fascinating outdoor pastime. 
 
 While it is true that these advertisements make some 
 reference to the superior mechanical construction of the 
 Pierce Arrow, three-fifths of the space is used to popu- 
 larize automobiling and to impress the public mind with 
 the utilitarian value of the vehicle as well as its pleasur- 
 able possibilities. 
 
 It must not be assumed, however, that this advertis- 
 ing has failed to yield large returns for the Pierce Com- 
 pany. This company began business in October, 1901. 
 They had no advertising appropriation for the first year, 
 but spent $5,000, and their total sales were $100,000. 
 In 1908 their total expenditure for advertising was $75,- 
 000, spent in a great many kinds of publicity, including 
 circulars, catalogues, books, newspapers, and weekly 
 and monthly publications. The sales for that year were 
 $3,500,000. 
 
 For the purposes of illustration it may be said that 
 the big automobile. advertisers are: Pierce, the Locomo- 
 bile, Peerless, Winton, Thomas, Oldsmobile, Packard, 
 White Steamer, Rambler, Frankhn, Maxwell and Cadil- 
 lac. If you should make an investigation of the automo- 
 bile business, however, I think you would be surprised 
 to learn how many great automobile industries have been 
 built up on the advertising done by these big concerns. 
 It will interest you to know that out of 102 automobiles 
 exhibited in the Chicago show only 20 are well known 
 
WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 287 
 
 as national advertisers. There are probably 200 concerns 
 that are doing a big automobile business every year on 
 the strength of the educational publicity that has been 
 paid for by the ten or twelve big automobile advertisers 
 of this country. 
 
 A Million Dollar Appropriation. 
 
 The National Biscuit Company, I am told, will spend 
 a million dollars this year in all kinds of publicity. On 
 the strength of this wide-reaching advertising campaign 
 hundreds of firms have commenced putting up soda bis- 
 cuits of the same size and general appearance and the 
 same size carton, selling at the same price. 
 
 If I go into one large grocery store in Buffalo and 
 ask if they sell "Uneeda" Biscuit, three out of four of 
 the clerks will say "Yes," and hand me a package of 
 soda crackers made and put up by some firm in exactly 
 the same size box with the same "Inerseal" paper to 
 keep the crackers crisp and selling at the same price. 
 The fourth clerk is apt to say: "No, we do not have 
 Uneeda, but we have something just as good. In fact, 
 if you try them, I think you will like them much better." 
 
 Hundreds of stores all over the country are doing this. 
 And the practice is not confined to the cracker business. 
 It extends into the manufacture of every commodity that 
 has been popularized by national advertising. 
 
 Now, what is the remedy? Better copy — good ads 
 that have more selling power in them, ada that are writ- 
 ten by a master of wordcraf t instead of rhetorical root- 
 ers and roustabouts whose sole ambition is to catch the 
 eye of the reader with strange and unusual diction and 
 
288 WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 
 
 who fill valuable space with long sentences and long 
 words. The remedy is copy so terse, so crisp, so incisive, 
 so convincing that it will bum into the public mind the 
 name of a commodity and its selling arguments so deeply 
 that no nine-dollar a week clerk in any store can per- 
 suade a customer to accept any substitute for it. 
 
 The remedy is in the control of the advertising business 
 by individuals or agencies who can create a demand for 
 a commodity through their ability to present its selling 
 arguments in such a way as to persuade, impress and 
 convince the mind of the reader. 
 
 Four Glasses of Ad Men. 
 
 I have always divided "ad men" into four classes. (1) 
 space buyers; (2) space sellers; (3) space fillers; (4) 
 advertisers. 
 
 It is easy to buy space if you have the money. It is 
 easy to sell space if you can convince the manufacturer 
 that your medium reaches the right people. It is easy 
 to fill space if you know how to string words together. 
 But it is not easy to write copy that has actual selling 
 force in it — copy that will create in the mind of the 
 reader a desire to possess the article that is advertised. 
 
 I do not believe in freak advertising — the kind that 
 attracts attention by offending the public taste or the 
 public sense of decency. It may create a spasmodic 
 spurt in the sale of a commodity, inducing dealers to 
 load their shelves with it, but it will not move the goods 
 from the shelves because it has no selhng power. I do not 
 think a breakfast food can be peiTnanently established 
 in public favor by asking women to wink at the grocer 
 in qrder to get a package. A food must finally rest 
 
:WHAT ADVERTISING HAS DONE. 289 
 
 on its merits as a food. No amount of freak advertis- 
 ing will make a permanent market for it unless it is 
 palatable, nutritious and wholesome. I do not believe 
 that the wave of prohibition that is sweeping over the 
 country can be stemmed by hitching a beer or a whisky 
 to the name of the immortal Lincoln or to any other 
 statesman who is enshrined in the affections of the people. 
 An intelligent selection of media based on a thorough 
 knowledge of the product, combined with copy that 
 penetrates the understanding of the average reader and 
 burns into his memory a few impressive facts about the 
 commodity in such a way as to imbue him with a desire 
 to possess it is the only thing that will secure to the ad- 
 vertiser any permanent returns from his investment. It 
 may not prevent the other fellow making money out of 
 the advertising that is done by the big advertiser, but it 
 will at least give the latter commanding position if not 
 absolute control of the business in which he is engaged. 
 
 I.B.I,. Vol. 3— If 
 
* 'Persistent advertising is absolutely necessary to suc- 
 
 cess.'* 
 
 **The man who expects to put ten dollars into an ad- 
 vertisement, and get it back before the ink is dry upon 
 the paper which holds it, is as badly deceived as is the 
 one who depends upon getting his money for the season's 
 crops before the tops are an inch out of the ground.'* 
 
 * 'Prosperous advertising means regular continuous ad- 
 vertising." 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 WASTE IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 BY GEORGE FRENCH.* 
 
 It is alleged that there is a great net loss in the money 
 that is annually expended for advertising, and there 
 doubtless is. The professor of psychology at Harvard 
 University says the loss is "many hundreds of millions" 
 of dollars, but he does not fix the exact number of hun- 
 dreds of milhons, nor does he venture to say how many 
 hundreds of millions of dollars are annually invested or 
 wasted in advertising. But any level-headed man who 
 knows a little about advertising, and a little about human 
 nature, will be able to agree that many dollars are every 
 day wasted through unwise and ignorant advertising. 
 He will be led to wonder what the men who pay the bills 
 are thinking of when they allow such rot as is often seen 
 to be printed as their advertising ; and he will also won- 
 der how it is that reputable periodicals and newspapers 
 will admit such puerile and ineffective advertisements on 
 their pages. Probably he will reason that as the maga- 
 zines and some newspapers constantly trumpet the as- 
 sertion that they edit their advertising pages as carefully 
 as they edit their text pages they should proceed to edit 
 even a little some of the advertising they print. 
 
 Advertiser the Waster. 
 If it is an advertising man who scans the pages of the 
 papers and periodicals and is impressed with the futility 
 
 *From ** Advertising and Selling," New York, February, 1910. 
 
 291 
 
292 WASTE IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 of much of the advertising, it is likely that he will refer a 
 large portion of the waste to the advertiser himself; to 
 the man who pays the bills, and who would be benefited 
 if the advertising proved effective. This man would 
 have placed the blame where it belongs. While there is 
 plenty of poor advertising done by men who profess to 
 know what they are doing, and plenty of poor advertis- 
 ing promoted by the mediums, we are sure that we are 
 right in claiming that a very large proportion of the 
 inefficiency of advertising is due to the ignorance, van- 
 ity, or meddlesomeness of the advertisers themselves. 
 
 It requires but a superficial knowledge of conditions 
 to convince a reasonable man of the truth of this state- 
 ment ; and we venture to believe that it will not be ques- 
 tioned by any well-informed agent or advertising man- 
 ager who has been for more than a year famihar with 
 conditions, or by any manager of the advertising de- 
 partment of a newspaper or magazine. Every capable 
 and resourceful advertising manager for manufactur- 
 ers or dealers knows it, to his infinite disgust, sor- 
 row, and great loss. 
 
 Why is it that men and concerns that depend upon ad- 
 vertising for their business, many of them for their very 
 existence, are so prone to fight the source of their pros- 
 I)erity? It is a fact that they do fight it, and that their 
 attitude towards advertising not only limits the advan- 
 tage advertising can give them but exhausts the vitality 
 and spirit of the men they employ to do their advertis- 
 ing. It is not too much to say that if there was not this 
 spirit of Ignorant hostility to the advertising man, and 
 to the progressive mediums that are anxious to be of 
 service to their advertisers, there would automatically be 
 
WASTE IN ADVERTISING. 293 
 
 a rise in the net returns from advertising amounting to 
 as much as 25 per cent, and in many cases to much more 
 than that. The largest and most Hberal advertisers in 
 the country antagonize their agents, limit their power, 
 and force them to expend a far too large percentage of 
 their time and vitality in the profitless labor of fighting 
 to be allowed to do good and effective work. 
 
 Most Serious Drawback. 
 
 This is the most serious drawback in the advertising 
 business at this time. It is an evil the extent of which 
 cannot be estimated. Through the unwise exercise of 
 their power of approval the advertisers of the country 
 are losing immense volumes of business. It is to be ad- 
 mitted that some useless expenditure of money is thus 
 prevented, but such prevention only goes to show that 
 the advertising agent or manager has been unwisely 
 chosen, not that it is right for the advertiser to assume 
 to check up all the advertising moves he pays a man or 
 an agency to make in his behalf. 
 
 For example: A man having charge of the advertis- 
 ing of a concern that markets its produc'ts in a variety 
 of packages, and that depends upon the appearance of 
 those packages for a part of the attractive power of its 
 goods (like a cracker and biscuit baker for example), 
 has been obliged to fight a matter of three years to get 
 attractive packages adopted for a majority of the line, 
 despite the fact that every new package he got adopted 
 made good at once. The principals in the firm and sales- 
 men on the road resisted the new packages, while con- 
 stantly damning the old ones. With a long series of ab- 
 
294 WASTE IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 solute successes back of him, and not one failure, it is 
 still necessary for the manager to fight a long and hard 
 fight to get even the sHghtest change approved. 
 
 Was Too Original. 
 
 Another man had a furniture concern for a patron. 
 A rival brought out a novel piece that had some vogue, 
 and was made the subject of considerable attractive ad- 
 vertising. It did not have a great sale, and was pecul- 
 iarly well adapted for a portion of the rival's trade. It 
 was not well adapted for the trade of the man's clients. 
 But he was asked to have a piece designed to offer in 
 competition. He advised against it, and had plenty of 
 good reasons to back his position. He was overruled, 
 and went ahead to have the article he disapproved of de- 
 signed. He argued to himself that as long as he must 
 furnish the article he would get a design that would make 
 the rival's article look cheap and unattractive ; and he did. 
 He had a really artistic and beautiful piece designed, 
 and a sample built. It was far superior to the other, in 
 actual merit and selling attractiveness, as possible, but 
 it was unanimously turned do\vn, by the concern and the 
 salesmen. Why? Because it did not ZooA: like the article 
 it was to compete with! 
 
 A concern making a cheap household staple attempted 
 to market a new brand, in competition with a brand that 
 had been first in the field and that had got to a point 
 where it was automatically asked for by the housewives 
 and the housekeepers. The attempt was a flat failure, 
 apparently because the new package did not look better 
 than the package containing the established product. 
 After a long and costly trial the new package was with- 
 
WASTE IN ADVERTISING. 295 
 
 drawn and an attempt made to devise another package 
 that should look larger than the old one. This concern 
 was wise, and allowed its advertising man to work out 
 the problem in his own way. He made a package of 
 exactly the same size as the old one but used a color for 
 the wrapper that had the optical quality of exaggerat- 
 ing its size. This package carried the product to success 
 at once. This instance is not cited to sustain the conten- 
 tion that advertisers are averse to allowing managers to 
 make the most of their talents and knowledge, but to 
 show that some of them are really wise. 
 
 Pet Page of the Boss's. 
 
 A skilled designer of advertising printed matter re- 
 cently wished to reject a page of pure punk "the old 
 man" had written for a new catalog. This banality gave 
 the whole catalog a black eye, it was so deadly punky 
 and irrelevant. It spread over the whole an atmosphere 
 of conceit and ignorance that made the advertising man 
 and the printing designer ill. But it had to go, and the 
 salesmen of the concern were forced to endure the gibes 
 and scoffings of ninety per cent of the customers of the 
 house whenever the catalog was brought into, view. All 
 to minister to the turgid vanity of a man who did not 
 know the meaning of the word advertising. 
 
 Another advertising man was allowed to have a new 
 container for a household article designed and he had 
 a fine one made. He showed it to the firm confident that 
 it would be accepted, and expected commendation for his 
 happy effort. He got neither. The container was dis- 
 approved, and specifically because it looked too unlike 
 the container used by a rival! 
 
296 WASTE IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 It is amusing, when it is not utterly disheartening, to 
 sit by and watch some pompous head of a concern criti- 
 cize an advertisement in proof, and hsten to the vaHant 
 and lucid but futile explanations and arguments of the 
 advertising manager. Because the boss knows how to 
 manufacture his product, how to buy his raw material, 
 how to deal with customs officials (perhaps), and how 
 to hire men at less than the going rate of wages, he is 
 prone to think that no man alive can frame up an ad- 
 vertisement better than he. 
 
 Harrying the Ad-Man. 
 It seems to be the special object in life of many heads 
 of concerns employing advertising managers to harry 
 them and hinder them and take the courage out of them. 
 Many managers are obliged to expend more than half 
 of their time and vitahty in endeavoring to get some- 
 thing reasonable in the way of an advertising poUcy en- 
 forced, and get the O. K. of the man who insists upon 
 bossing a job he does not understand. 
 
 But Yet Some Excuse. 
 There is some excuse for those men who keep their 
 advertising managers in leash. There are so many ad- 
 vertising men who need a leash, and who ought to be in- 
 duced to become coal heavers. There is not too much 
 knowledge among the best of the advertising men, and 
 there is far too little among the most of them. There are 
 "experts" in the field who do not know the A. B. C. of 
 the business. And the advertiser has no really effective 
 way of knowing who the inefficient and ignorant are, 
 so he suspects that none of them know more than the 
 most ignorant, or than himself. 
 
WASTE IN ADVERTISING. 297 
 
 But there are a few good advertising men, and a few 
 agencies that can be relied upon to give good and skill- 
 ful service; that do know their business, and are capable 
 of building a legitimate business through advertising. 
 The large advertiser who falls into the hands of an in- 
 competent manager, or a thimble-rigging agency, has 
 himself to blame for his misfortune. The efficient and 
 the honest we have always with us, as well and as easily 
 as the other. It is entirely up to the man who is look- 
 ing. If he is looking for goods a yard wide he can get 
 them — at a price ; and cheaper than shoddy at its price. 
 
 There Are No Standards. 
 
 The root of the trouble is, perhaps, with the advertis- 
 ing managers and the agencies. They have never taken 
 measures to establish standards, and a trademark. 
 
 Let the agencies that are able to give the best service 
 associate themselves together and adopt standards and 
 give certificates of efficiency; and let the advertising 
 managers do the same. Then when an advertiser wishes 
 to deal with an agency, or employ a manager, he will 
 only have to see to it that the applicant is furnished with 
 the proper credentials. 
 
 This for the advertising men's part. But they cannot 
 cure the evil of the interference of the advertiser. That 
 cure must come from within, and the best possible cure 
 for the distemper is knowledge of advertising, and then 
 more knowledge of advertising. 
 
 The Usual View. 
 Usually, the man or company that wishes to advertise 
 knows nothing about advertising except that it is some- 
 thing the purpose of which is to increase the business, and 
 
298 WASTE IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 that its more common manifestation is in the form of 
 announcements printed in newspapers and magazines. 
 It is, to the average beginner, merely a question of buy- 
 ing some space in certain mediums and filling that space 
 with some sort of announcement about the business to be 
 advertised. The unskilled advertiser does not, usually, 
 consider that there is anything for him to do but this. It 
 never enters his head that it is necessary to consider the 
 people who are expected to purchase his goods. He 
 generally so far forgets this that he wishes to advertise 
 to himself. He does not think that it matters what are 
 his processes of manufacture, what form his goods are 
 in when they are shipped, or whether they are really 
 what he represents them to be. He does not see that 
 truth has much to do with the matter. He rather thinks 
 that it is good advertising tx) make a lot of statements 
 that will not bear the light, to coquet with the facts. 
 
 Advertising seems to this typical man particularly to 
 depend upon statements that have no very ^lose relation 
 to the facts, and are but ^lightly descriptive of the goods 
 to be offered. Therefore he wishes to have his factory 
 referred to as the largest in the world, even if it actually 
 consists of one rented room in a power building ; he wants 
 it stated, in big type, that his goods are the best and the 
 cheapest; he wants his competitors maligned and 
 "sassed"; he wants all sorts of fairy stories told. And, 
 worst of all, he is often inchned to wish to have an ir- 
 relevant picture in the ad, or a cut of a building that he 
 will describe as "Factory No. 1"; he usually expects an 
 advertising man to draw up an advertisement for him in 
 a few minutes, and without any knowledge of the prop- 
 
WASTE IN ADVERTISING. 299 
 
 osition except what he tells him — and there are plenty of 
 advertising men ready to do it. 
 
 He Is Not Universal. 
 
 This type of advertiser is not universal. There are 
 those men among them who have plenty of sense, an ap- 
 preciation of what advertising is and what it can fairly 
 be expected to do for them, and a knowledge of the 
 powers and functions of the advertising manager or 
 agent. But they are few. The great majority insist 
 upon applying the brake so persistently and so power- 
 fully that the advertising man is able to put but a por- 
 tion of his power at work for their benefit. 
 
 If the prospective advertiser, or the advertiser who is 
 already in the field but has not yet learned how to get the 
 best work out of the agents and advertising managers, 
 and the most possible returns for the money he is invest- 
 ing, will stop and think about the matter for a little while 
 it will be likely to result to his distinct advantage. 
 
 The Advertiser's Kit. 
 
 The advertiser has a kit of tools with which he is 
 obliged to do his work. These tools consist of good 
 goods, a market, a good scheme for distribution, right 
 prices, a good sales plan, a good sales manager, a well- 
 considered plan for publicity, a liberal appropriation 
 for publicity, a good advertising manager or agent, and 
 plenty of optimistic courage. To these tools it is neces- 
 sary to add confidence in the sales manager and the ad- 
 vertising manager; and there should be added knowl- 
 edge of advertising or willingness to trust to the adver- 
 tising manager's knowledge. 
 
800 WASTE IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 The First Thing. 
 
 Here comes a consideration which imposes responsi- 
 bility upon both parties to the advertising compact. If 
 it is incumbent upon the advertiser to know something 
 about the nature and operation of the power he is to in- 
 voke to help him build his business it is surely incumbent 
 upon the agent or the manager to point out to the ad- 
 vertiser the way by which he may come by the knowledge 
 he needs. It is incumbent upon them to do more — to in- 
 sist that the advertiser shall consider what it is that he 
 is undertaking to do. 
 
 The first thing an agent should do for a new adver- 
 tiser is to instruct him in the principles of advertising; 
 explain to him what it is proposed to do and why it is 
 proposed to do it. The first task of the agent should be 
 to get into the mind of his new client a true idea of what 
 he is proposing to do. Give him a clean and clear talk 
 about advertising in general, the principles that particu- 
 larly apply in his own case, and cite reason, principle, 
 precedent, example for everything it is proposed to do 
 in his own case. 
 
 If advertisers were to once get the idea that advertis- 
 ing is not a bunco game, nor the sport of the spare mo- 
 ments of the business man, but is a profession founded 
 upon principles that have been as slowly and carefully 
 evolved as have the principles of any other business or 
 profession, and that he must expect results in propor- 
 tion as he works in accordance with these principles, the 
 way of the advertising man who knows and can produce 
 will be much smoother, and advertising will make good 
 much nearer to the 100 per cent efficiency mark. 
 
WASTE IN ADVERTISING. 301 
 
 For Their Own Sakes. 
 
 But it must not be assumed that it is to make the way 
 of the professional advertiser more smooth that adver- 
 tisers should understand the principles of advertising. 
 It is that they may get their money's worth; that they 
 may realize adequate returns for the money they spend 
 in advertising. 
 
 What this adequate return should be is not known. 
 So much advertising that is only passably well done is 
 so very profitable, and so much advertising that is posi- 
 tively badly done is so fairly profitable, that it is difficult 
 to guess what a proper return for advertising expendi- 
 ture should be reckoned. 
 
 It is perhaps one of the disadvantages of advertising 
 as a profession that it affords such tremendous profits to 
 those who know how to utilize it properly. The great 
 returns possible seem like wild exaggerations, like Monte 
 Cristo tales, Uke anything but the truth. And, on the 
 other hand, the dead failures are so many and so appar- 
 ently inexpHcable that the advertiser whose mind is a 
 blank with respect to advertising principles is inclined 
 to feel that he is being invited to sit into a very risky 
 poker game with men he suspects have cards up their 
 sleeves. 
 
 The Cure for Most Evils. 
 
 The cure for almost all the evils that afflict advertis- 
 ing, so far as the advertiser and his executive agent are 
 concerned, is to be found in knowledge of advertising — 
 a knowledge that extends a long way beyond patter 
 about rates, mediums, circulations, and the like. There 
 are plenty of men in advertising — ^buyers and sell- 
 
302 WASTE IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 ers — who know all about circulations and rates and 
 mediums, but who yet know nothing worth mention- 
 ing about advertising. Even the man who keys 
 and watches returns, and has follow-up systems may 
 be very ignorant about the results that his advertis- 
 ing is bringing to him. 
 
 This, like all consequential advertising discussion, 
 leads up to the often-suggesfted project of some sort of 
 an advertising institute, or association of some form, 
 that shall have the support and favor of the great adver- 
 tising interests, and have for its object the systematizing 
 of advertising practice and the formulation of advertis- 
 ing knowledge, in order that the certificate of the associ- 
 ation would be prima facie evidence of the capacity and 
 honesty of the agent and advertising manager. Such a 
 movement might bring about something hke agreement 
 among the men who expound advertising to potential 
 advertisers. There is now nothing like agreement, and 
 the would-be advertiser is filled with as many different 
 theories as there are different men interviewing him; and 
 of course his faith is shattered. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 HOW TYPE TELLS IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 BY WILLIAM D. MCJUNKIN. 
 
 Good type display sells goods. Here and there you 
 may meet with a "befo' the wah" species of advertiser 
 who would make flat-footed denial of that proposition. 
 But only here and there. As a rule, advertisers know 
 that the better the display the stronger the pull of the 
 ad. Where they differ is on what constitutes good dis- 
 play. On that, opinion runs riot, as any newspaper or 
 magazine page will testify. 
 
 What Is a **Good-Looking'' Ad? 
 
 I would answer, one that pleases the eye and helps the 
 mind — one that is well-balanced or harmonious, or nice- 
 ly-arranged (whatever name you give to this eye-pleas- 
 ing quality) and that is also a positive aid to the quick 
 comprehension of the ideas which the ad seeks to convey. 
 
 It is clear that you might have the one quality with- 
 out the other. An ad may present a harmonious appear- 
 ance to the eye and yet task the understanding of the 
 reader more than need be. Let me explain. A maga- 
 zine page set in one paragraph of 10-point old style with 
 a 24-point gothic display head is not inharmonious — ^no 
 possible objection can be taken on the ground that it dis- 
 pleases the eye. And yet it would not be called "a good- 
 looking ad." Why? 
 
 303 
 
304 HOW TYPE TELLS IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 Make Things Easy for the Reader. 
 
 The other quaHty of good display comes into the reck- 
 oning — and that is a mental phenomenon which we have 
 translated into a physical one. We know by experience 
 that the reading of a paragraph of that length generally 
 entails a certain strain on the understanding, and our 
 mental laziness — always shying at work — really makes 
 that page appear repulsive. It is a trick which the asso- 
 ciation of ideas has performed, just as a child cannot 
 help a feeling of disgust in looking at a vessel from 
 which it once had to drink a nauseating medicine. The 
 fact may be that the cup or glass is a pretty and pleasing 
 object, but it does not "look good" to the child. The un- 
 broken page is unpleasing or painful (means hard work) 
 to the mind, and so becomes (by transference of the 
 idea) unpleasing to the eye. 
 
 Good display, then, involves harmony of appearance 
 and an arrangement that will facilitate the reader's 
 grasp of the ideas set forth. Suppose we take the above 
 page — paragraph and break it into three portions (equal 
 or as nearly equal as the sense of the words will let us) 
 — setting the first in 12-point old style, the second in 8- 
 point italics or 8-point old style underscored, and the 
 third in 10-point or 12-point old style. The page will 
 look better, more inviting, for experience has made that 
 broken-up appearance a sign of moderate strain on our 
 mental powers. 
 
 Generally speaking, advertising display has improved 
 100 per cent on what it was not many years ago. Yet 
 every now and then we come on an ad which is as "un- 
 improved" as Noah's ark would appear alongside of the 
 great Atlantic liners. 
 
HOW TYPE TELLS IN ADYERTISING. 305 
 
 Good Type-Display Sells Goods. 
 How does good display help to sell goods? First it 
 lures the pubhc to read an advertisement, while poor or 
 bad type display discourages the effort. Second, it cre- 
 ates a good first impression — just as a keen, alert, well- 
 dressed salesman does — while a poor or bad display cre- 
 ates a prejudice which the reading of the advertisement 
 may fail to dispel. More than that, a cunning arrange- 
 ment of type will help to make the points of an argu- 
 ment tell. Three or four strong arguments made in- 
 cisive by a clean cut, prominent arrangement, will do 
 greater business than a jumble of type, much in the same 
 way as single shots from a sighted gun will do more ex- 
 ecution than a random broadside. 
 
 Hitting Attention **on the Wing.'" 
 
 This is not mere theory. Experience has convinced 
 me that the advertisement which is arranged in pointed 
 paragraphs so that a busy man or woman may read at 
 any point j bottom, middle or top, imbibing, as it were at 
 a gulp, a potent argument — ^that kind of advertisement 
 is the best salesman. To make a homely comparison, it 
 is like the fishing line provided with several hooks. If 
 one escapes attention, another may catch the fish. 
 
 Always remembering that good type display is not 
 an object in itself, but only a means of making a good 
 impression on the reader and enforcing the argument, 
 we must be guided in all selection and arrangement of 
 type solely by the consideration of result. Losing sight 
 of this, some advertisers sacrifice all to display. 
 
 While on this point, I would refer to a question that 
 puzzles some advertisers. Should not the compositor, 
 
 I.B.L. Vol. 3—20 
 
306 HOW TYPE TELLS IN ADVEETISING. 
 
 they say, with his technical knowledge of printing be a 
 better judge of what is the right display than an adver- 
 tising man who could not set up a stick of type? Not 
 necessarily. The advertising man and the compositor 
 view display from different standpoints. The advertis- 
 ing man regards it as a means to an end — the compositor 
 as an end in itself. And, though the best results may 
 possibly be attained through the combined efforts of 
 these two, it is certain that an advertising man who is not 
 sufficiently posted on printing to use it intelligently for 
 definite ends, is seriously handicapped in his work. 
 
 An Advertiser Is Judged by His Type-Display. 
 
 In creating a favorable first impression, cleverly dis- 
 played type does not yield in importance to illustrations 
 however good. What an impression of dignity, of con- 
 servative business principles, of elevation above the 
 "shoddy" or the "piking" kind of business, do the an- 
 nouncements of some business houses create through the 
 mere judicious selection and harmonious combination of 
 type faces! On the other hand, how suggestive of petti- 
 fogging methods, of catchpenny principles, of hurry- 
 and-splutter ways of business, are those wierdly huddled 
 circus-poster combinations of irreconcilable types. 
 
 The cards which an advertiser holds in his hands are 
 these: argument^ illustration^ type display and — last, but 
 by no means unimportant — white space. How dexter- 
 ously some advertisers play all four — ^how clumsily 
 others! What desperation in the resolution of some to 
 stake all on one card — a magnificent illustration, without 
 an argument — a striking display which is all "front" — a 
 
HOW TYPE TELLS IN ADVERTISING. 307 
 
 splendid area of white space with a feehle announcement! 
 The advertisements which one instinctively classes as the 
 "best I have ever seen" will be found to be a happily bal- 
 anced combination of four elements — clever argument, 
 good pictures, striking display and enough space. 
 
308 
 
 HOW TYPE TELLS IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 ONTARIO 
 
 Oanada's Pramltr ProvJaot 
 Offtrt Unrlfaled Opportu- 
 Bltlts to Ibt Farmtr. tbt 
 LiifflbarinaB, fba Mlatr, fht 
 ManuffaotHrar and Iha la- 
 tastar. 
 
 The value of Ontario's neld crop 
 
 •a 1908 was nearly ooe-balf of the total 
 for th« whole niue Provihoes of Ca&ada. 
 More than one-half the valUQ of the 
 mineral output of Canada <putside of 
 coal) in .1908 was taken from Ontario 
 tnioes.' Ontario's foresfe of red a£id white 
 pine are uneqaaled in North America, 
 with spruce forests containiof over 
 tbred btindred mfUfon cords of pulp 
 «rood« with water-powers c paMeof gen- 
 ifating over three million five hundred 
 thousand horse-power, and with -Excel- 
 lent triusportation facilities by land and 
 water, a great industrial development.is 
 sasored. 'fhereistn Northern Oota loa 
 clay belt containing over sixteen mifUon 
 acres of rich agricultural timbered lapd 
 now oped to nettlers. These lands have 
 only recently b en made accessible by 
 the construction oi railways and colo- 
 nizaticrti roads, and are located south of 
 \kxe North>rn boundary of the l/oated 
 States. The settler can obtain 160 acres 
 of these lands at fifty ceata per atfre. 
 The experimeotsl stage is passed and 
 the country i» rapidly filling up. 
 
 For lAfonnatfon as to terms of sa'-e. 
 homestead re*ulatJons, aorf" spe- 
 cial colonizadoQ rates to settlers 
 and tor setcl«cs' effects, appjy to 
 
 BORALO SUTHfiaaAUD 
 
 Olrsjpter of eeloiria»trei> 
 TORONTO 
 
 HON. JftsTs. DUFF 
 
 Mlnlstor of Agricult«ro 
 
 A Government Ad. (Ontaxio, Canada). 
 
 — ^Western British American, 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 MUNICIPAL ADVERTISING. 
 
 In these days the value of advertising is so completely 
 recognized that governments and municipalities adver- 
 tise — the former to secure settlers for virgin lands, and 
 other similar purposes, and the latter to secure the es- 
 tablishment of new industries in their midst or to present 
 their advantages as places of residence or resort. 
 
 Replying to a request for some practical suggestions 
 as to the best methods of conducting municipal adver- 
 tising campaigns, Judge A. C. Floyd, of the City Court 
 of Memphis, Tenn., recently outlined for ^^ Practical Ad- 
 vertising" the results of his long and successful study of 
 the problem. Judge Floyd has devoted much time to 
 this study from the viewpoint of the practical political 
 economist and at the editorial desk. His discussion es- 
 tablishes the fact that his investigations have been along 
 practical lines and toward tangible results. In the paper 
 referred to he said : 
 
 "This is an age of combination and co-operation. The 
 captains of industry who have distanced all their rivals 
 are those who have been able to carry out on a large scale 
 the plan of consolidating various concerns in certain lines 
 into great organized combinations. In doing this they 
 are simply following the well established principle of po- 
 litical economy, which teaches that production is cheap- 
 ened and all efforts rendered more effective by combina- 
 
 309 
 
310 MUNICIPAL ADVERTISING. 
 
 tion and co-operation of forces. The same law holds 
 true in almost every field of endeavor. It is just as ap- 
 plicable to advertising as to any other line of activity. 
 The great advertising agencies are an illustration of 
 this in private business. 
 
 "It follows logically that the principle would hold 
 good also in municipal publicity. This fact has had wide- 
 spread recognition, especially within the last year or two, 
 and efforts are now being made in various cities all over 
 the United States to work out well organized plans of 
 community advertising. It is true of the great cities as 
 well as of the small ones. It extends from New York, 
 Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and St. Louis to the 
 smallest city on the Pacific coast. 
 
 Worthy the Best Talent. 
 
 "Already much progress has been made toward per- 
 fecting the ideal plan. The best advertising talent of 
 the United States is now engaged in the task, and it is 
 an undertaking worthy of the best efforts of the greatest 
 publicity experts. 
 
 "As a newspaper editor, I have naturally been inter- 
 ested in all efforts of pubHc exploitation in various cities 
 in which I have lived. For the same reason I have stud- 
 ied the efforts being made in the same direction by other 
 cities, and I have collected all the data o^l the subject that 
 I could find. From these data certain of my friends and 
 myself have endeavored to evolve a plan which we think 
 possesses the best features of the experiments tried else- 
 where and some new ideas or new applications of old 
 ideas that may be of benefit to other communities, which 
 are seeking information along these lines. 
 
MUNICIPAL ADVERTISING. 311 
 
 "Without further elaborating the general principles 
 involved, I will outline briefly the practical plan, which 
 we think embodies the most up-to-date ideas on the sub- 
 ject. 
 
 "We will suppose that a few of the most progressive 
 citizens of the community have come together and deter- 
 mined to put the plan into effect. The first thing to do 
 is to raise a sufficient fund. They must convince the pub- 
 lic, and this is a very difficult undertaking. It usually 
 fails because the pubUc mind is not usually properly pre- 
 pared for the reception of the ideas, and because the plan 
 is not usually wide enough in its scope. 
 
 Combine All Publicity Plans. 
 
 "Our idea has been to combine into one movement all 
 the forces engaged; first, in securing certain kinds of 
 conventions ; second, in locating new industries ; third, in 
 increasing the wholesale and retail trade of the city, and, 
 fourth, all the advertising for the purpose of promoting 
 these ends and for the exploitation of the city in general. 
 
 "We propose one subscription once a year to cover all 
 these objects. When a citizen has subscribed to this gen- 
 eral fund, therefore, he is exempt for the remaining 
 twelve months from any contributions to any other fund 
 embodying any of these purposes. He has a certificate 
 of immunity and can refer all independent solicitors to 
 the managers of the general fund. It not only relieves 
 him of a great amount of annoyance, but it saves him 
 money as well, for he will give more to a number of in- 
 dividual solicitors from time to time during the year than 
 he would give in one subscription at the beginning of the 
 year. Moreover, it relieves the pubUc spirited citizens, 
 
312 MUNICIPAL ADVEKTISING. 
 
 who are nearly always called upon to pass around the 
 subscription list, from a most irksome task. 
 
 "Instead of passing around the hat every few weeks, 
 they can get through with all the trouble of the twelve 
 months in a few days at the beginning of the year. An- 
 other advantage about the plan, it is very much more far- 
 reaching than the ordinary separate efforts of a small 
 coterie of individuals. A system is worked out by which 
 everybody in the community is asked to contribute. This 
 can easily be done by getting Dun's and Bradstreet's Usts 
 and supplementing them with the names of citizens who 
 are not in active business, but who are vitally interested 
 in the growth of the community. 
 
 Newspaper Help Essential. 
 
 "A great many people are brought in by this means 
 who are never soUcited at all in the ordinary subscrip- 
 tion plan, and the burden is thus lightened on the pubhc 
 spirited citizens who are always called upon for subscrip- 
 tions. It ought to be possible to secure two or three times 
 as many subscriptions to a yearly fund of this kind as 
 under the old methods. Before going out after tlie sub- 
 scriptions, however, it is necessarj'' that a great deal of 
 preliminary work should be done. The pubUc must be 
 thoroughly educated and the ground thoroughly pre- 
 pared if you expect to get proper results. In this prep- 
 aration the newspapers are the most essential factors. 
 Their hearty, enthusiastic, persistent co-operation insures 
 the success of the plan in any community. 
 
 ** After they have agitated the subject sufficiently, 
 forty or fifty citizens are brought together and can easily 
 be persuaded to undertake the campaign. These men 
 
MUNICIPAL ADVERTISING, 313 
 
 should be those who are the leaders in every prominent 
 line of business. A properly selected body like this can 
 easily accomplish anything they determine to do in any 
 city, because they are the most vital forces in the commu- 
 nity. Their fellow citizens have confidence in the suc- 
 cess of anything they may undertake. Because they are 
 successful in the management of their own affairs, the 
 average citizen will readily conclude that they would 
 not get behind any public movement that did not have 
 merit and which would not be a success. 
 
 Committee Organization. 
 
 "The task of raising the fund is rendered doubly easy 
 when these men are willing to assess themselves liberally. 
 This assessment is one of the crucial points of the cam- 
 paign. The fifty leaders should organize themselves into 
 a committee with proper officers and proper rules and 
 regulations setting forth just how the fund is to be raised 
 and how it is to be expended. They should then call in 
 experts and proceed in a systematic way to apportion to 
 each individual or business concern his equitable share of 
 the burden, beginning, of course, by assessing themselves 
 quite liberally. 
 
 "They should prepare the public for the reception of 
 the subscription committee by sending out literature con- 
 cerning the plan in detail, the objects of the movement 
 and exactly how the funds are to be raised and expended. 
 This should be followed up with a letter asking each man 
 for the subscription that has been assessed against him. 
 When the people have been properly prepared for this 
 letter beforehand, a very large part of the total amount 
 will come back through the mails. It will always be nee- 
 
314, MUNICIPAL ADVERTISING. 
 
 essary, perhaps, to send out committees to complete the 
 fund, but the work of the committee is lessened just that 
 much by subscriptions received through the mails. The 
 fund may be more easily raised by making it payable 
 monthly or quarterly than to require the whole subscrip- 
 tion at one time. 
 
 Expenditure and Accounting. 
 
 "After the desired amount has been raised the same 
 committee should expend it and render an accounting to 
 the public of their work. A part of it should be spent in 
 advertising in newspapers and magazines which will 
 bring the best results. The choice of mediums should be 
 determined by the special needs of the city, and a con- 
 siderable appropriation should be made for letters and 
 circulars following up the inquiries which the advertising 
 will bring. A certain amount should be set aside to pay 
 the expenses of personal representatives who shall go in 
 person to secure final action on the part of a prospective 
 investor. Another expenditure, and a very considerable 
 one, is for the purpose of securing conventions which 
 will benefit the city and of providing part of the ex- 
 penses of entertainment, such as halls, badges, etc. Such 
 conventions are the best means of advertising that the 
 city can have in many instances. 
 
 "This can be done in various ways. One of the most 
 effective plans in use is to issiie an industrial paper or to 
 make an arrangement with a daily newspaper to issue a 
 trade supplement once a month, boosting the advantages 
 of the city as a wholesale market, advertising special 
 rates or excursions and special entertainment for out-of- 
 town merchants and others that wholesale merchants and 
 
MUNICIPAL ADVERTISING. 315 
 
 manufacturers may offer. In most cities the wholesale 
 merchants are willing to pay the fare of out-of-town 
 merchants who may buy a certain amount of goods. 
 This fact should be emphasized in all literature sent out. 
 Such events as fairs, concerts, visits of noted men and 
 great events of all sorts should also be advertised liberally 
 by the Publicity Bureau, thus assisting all along the line, 
 and especially the retail merchants. 
 
 Systematize the Work. 
 
 "Every drummer who travels out of the city should be 
 constantly informed of every movement advertising his 
 trade center. In short, all the activities of the commu- 
 nity in the matter of commerce and industry should be 
 concentrated in the Publicity Bureau, and every move- 
 ment which it makes should have reference to some well 
 thought out, systematized, correlated plan. It should be 
 just as thoroughly organized as the advertising cam- 
 paign of a private merchant. It should be followed up 
 with just as much intelligence and persistence as obtains 
 among the great advertising houses of the country. The 
 city that puts this plan into operation and carries it on 
 to the end will have just as great advantages over its 
 competitors as the United States Steel Corporation had 
 over its separate competitors with their desultory meth- 
 ods. 
 
 "I have given a somewhat succinct description of the 
 practical plan proposed because I beheve this is what you 
 desire, rather than general theorizing. We do not pretend 
 to have evolved a perfect plan in Memphis, but we be- 
 lieve we have profited by the experience of others and 
 that we are working along the most advanced lines." 
 
816 MUNICIPAL ADVERTISING. 
 
 Municipalities are also advertised in many effective 
 ways by standing local organizations of business men, 
 variously called boards of trade, commercial clubs, cham- 
 bers of commerce, merchants' associations, or associa- 
 tions of commerce. All such associations have as their 
 main object the advertising of their respective cities in 
 every way possible and many of them organize and crys- 
 tallize their efforts by the employment of paid secretaries 
 or other officers who make it their life work to advertise 
 the municipality whose merchants employ them. Many 
 able men have become widely known through their suc- 
 cesses in this line of advertising. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 ADVERTISING RATES. 
 
 BY NATHANIEL C. FOWLER^ JR. 
 
 "A good thing is worth a good price in any market.'* 
 
 It is not so much how much you pay, it is what you get 
 for what you pay. 
 
 Five cents a hne may be five times as high as fifty 
 cents a line. 
 
 There is no arbitrary rule for regulating advertising 
 rates. 
 
 Each publication gets all it can. It would be un- 
 businesshke for it to ask less than it can conveniently 
 obtain. 
 
 The successful publisher has originally experimented 
 with his rates, and by that means has reached an estab- 
 lished rate. 
 
 No publisher can set the rate for another. 
 
 Advertising rates cannot be determined by circulation 
 alone. 
 
 Advertising rates cannot be maintained by quality 
 alone. 
 
 The publisher gets all he can, and the advertiser wants 
 all he can get. 
 
 It is the advertiser's business not to consider how high 
 the rate is but how much the advertising space is worth 
 to him. 
 
 If one periodical asks four times as much as another, 
 the rate may be only apparently exorbitant, and very 
 likely is low, conditions considered, as compared with 
 
 317 
 
318 ADVERTISING BATES. 
 
 the apparently very small price asked by mediums of 
 very small circulation and mediums of doubt. 
 
 A Merchandise Price. 
 
 The advertising rate is a merchandise price, and must 
 be so considered. If that merchandise is worth its price 
 to the advertiser, the advertiser should buy it, and if it 
 is not worth its price the advertiser is f ooUsh to buy it, 
 no matter how low its price may be. 
 
 If the medium is not a good medium, any rate is too 
 high. 
 
 It is necessary for the advertiser to buy an amount of 
 space merchandise, and it is his business to buy as much 
 as he needs, and pay for it at a price consistent with profit 
 to himself. 
 
 If two papers of equal value have different rates, the 
 advertiser, if he can get along with one, buys the cheaper. 
 
 Advertising rates have been considered in an unbusi- 
 nesslike way and not as prices of merchandise. 
 
 If it is necessary for a business man to buy a thousand 
 organs a day, he will buy those organs at one place if the 
 price is right, and that place has a sufficient supply. He 
 will buy at several places if it is necessary. If he can 
 buy all the space he needs in one pubHcation, and save 
 money by doing so, he will do so. If he finds it better to 
 buy the space in several publications, because he cannot 
 cover the ground with any one periodical, he will buy 
 space in as many publications as he needs. 
 
 If the advertising space in a certain publication is es- 
 sential to the making of the advertiser's profit, the adver- 
 tiser must buy that space no matter what the rate may 
 
ADVERTISING RATES. 819 
 
 be, if the rate is not so high that the space is not worth 
 its price to the advertiser. The rate may seem exorbitant 
 and it may be out of proportion, but that makes no 
 difference to the advertiser, so long as it is worth it to 
 him and he cannot get it for less. 
 
 Price Based on Intrinsic Value. 
 
 Space in any periodical is a sort of patented commod- 
 ity, and if it is good for anything it cannot be purchased 
 for less than the patentee's price, and that price may be 
 based on intrinsic value and it may have added to it the 
 royalty of exclusiveness. It is simply worth buying if 
 it is worth buying, and it is not worth buying if it is 
 not worth buying. 
 
 The publication without circulation bases its advertis- 
 ing rates on its conservative quality. The publisher has 
 very little to sell and therefore is unwilling to pass an 
 examination, and as what he has for sale is worth very 
 little, he tries to make people believe it is worth a great 
 deal, by charging a great deal for it. 
 
 Ninety per cent, of the conservative and dignified talk 
 and the exalted uncompetitive positions taken by publish- 
 ers as a basis for fixing their advertising rates is the most 
 contemptible and dishonest species of business bluff. 
 
 What Gives Advertising Value. 
 
 Quality of circulation and quantity of circulation give 
 advertising value, and equable advertising rates are 
 based upon both of these conditions. 
 
 The paper with circulation may not be a good advertis- 
 ing medium, but the paper without circulation, even if 
 printed on parchment, has no basis of advertising rate, 
 for it has nothing to sell. 
 
320 ADVERTISING RATES. 
 
 The advertising price, from the advertiser's standpoint 
 must be regulated wholly by the value of the space to the 
 advertiser. 
 
 The value of the space to some other advertiser has 
 nothing to do with the question. 
 
 The fact that the advertising solicitor or the publisher 
 is the advertiser's friend should never be considered. The 
 publisher of any publication worth advertising in is never 
 an object of charity, and consideration for his person- 
 ahty is a personal insult to him. 
 
 High-Priced Space Worth Most. 
 
 There may be no safe rule to follow, but generally the 
 publication that charges the most for its space has the 
 space that is worth the most. 
 
 It is unbusinesslike as well as unprofitable to purchase 
 unnecessary material because it is cheap, and he who does 
 so is as foolish as the woman who bought a second hand 
 doorplate in anticipation of her marriage with a not yet 
 selected man on the assumption that her may-be-born 
 child would be a daughter who would marry a man 
 named after the plate, and yet half the first-class busi- 
 ness men buy half their advertising space because they 
 can get it at half price. 
 
 Half price advertising space may cost ten times a 
 profitable price. 
 
 The advertising solicitor sometimes sells a certain num- 
 ber of cubic inches of wind, simply because the wind has 
 a bigger circulation than the medium he represents. 
 
 Many an advertiser refuses to pay fifty dollars for an 
 advertisement in a great pubKcation of circulation and 
 
ADVERTISING RATES. 321 
 
 yet distributes fifty dollars among ten publications of 
 little circulation. 
 
 A ton of coal is a ton of coal, but a ton of brick is not 
 worth as much as a ton of gold, and yet it would seem 
 that a large proportion of the advertisers reckon the 
 value of their advertising space on the basis that a ton 
 is a ton no matter what it is a ton of. 
 
 The reader of this page very likely is guilty, but he 
 thinks the man next door is the fellow, and he goes on 
 paying a fair price and refusing to pay a good price for 
 something. 
 
 Some Low Advertising Rates. 
 
 Some daily papers, and some publications of general 
 circulation, have brought the advertising rate down as 
 low as one-sixth of a cent per line per thousand. Their 
 space, if the papers are of decent character, is worth 
 more than that, but so long as they will sell it at that rate 
 the advertiser has no reason to find fault. 
 
 The advertising space in a conservative daily of solid 
 circulation is worth more per copy than space in any 
 publication of a cheap sensational character, but there 
 is no sense in paying a conservative daily with limited cir- 
 culation six times as much proportionately as that asked 
 by a popular newspaper. 
 
 The fair rate for advertising in local weekly papers 
 ranges from three to six cents per line per time for tran- 
 sient advertisements, and considerably less on yearly con- 
 tracts. 
 
 A column is an indefinite article. It may stand for 
 fifteen inches of space, and it may mean thirty. 
 
 A column of twenty inches in a country weekly is 
 
 I.B.L. Vol. 3—21 
 
822 ADVERTISING BATES. 
 
 worth from one hundred to three hundred dollars a year 
 on regular yearly column contracts, and less space is 
 worth a little more proportionately. 
 
 Their rate rule of a cent a hne per thousand circulation 
 can only be applied to papers of large circulation and 
 cannot be accepted by the local publisher except on long- 
 time contracts. The space in a local country daily news- 
 paper is worth about four times as much per week as is 
 the same space in a local weekly ; circulation and quahty 
 of conditions corresponding. 
 
 Publications of general circulation seldom ask more 
 than one cent a line per thousand circulation, and if it 
 were possible to establish a rate, this rate would be about 
 right, although papers of enormous circulation frequent- 
 ly sell their space for a very much lower price. 
 
 Rates Should Be Fixed. 
 
 Advertising space is merchandise, and its rate should 
 be as much established as that of other commodities, sub- 
 ject to the same fluctuation and discounts of trade. 
 
 Because a few publishers have no respect for advertis- 
 ing space, and are willing to sell it for anything they can 
 get, does not justify the advertiser in considering all 
 advertising as an indefinite article to be purchased by 
 horse jockey barter. 
 
 The publisher who sticks to his rates is generally the 
 publisher who has something to stick to. 
 
 The publisher who knows his advertising space is 
 worth what he asks for it never sells it for less than its 
 price. 
 
ADVERTISING RATES. 323^ 
 
 An Absurd Popular Idea. 
 
 The popular idea that every publisher is glad to fill 
 up his space at almost any price, even though advertising 
 may be dull, is as absurd as the assumption that the cloth- 
 ing man will give away overcoats because he overstocked 
 with them, or because they sell hard. 
 
 There is little excuse for cutting advertising rates 
 when it is difficult to obtain advertising, because adver- 
 tising space is not like overstock, and therefore is not sub- 
 ject to bargain counter discount. 
 
 The publisher who does not consider his advertising 
 space a part of his merchandise, and does not so respect 
 it, and does not protect it, is either a fool or knows his 
 space is not worth protecting, and in either case the ad- 
 vertiser had better have nothing to do with him. 
 
 Beware of the rate-cutting publisher. 
 
 Points to Be Considered* 
 
 The advertiser must consider how many people he de- 
 sires to reach, how many people the medium will reach, 
 and how much it is worth to reach these people, and if the 
 price is right, he buys the space. 
 
 The periodical from an advertising point of view is 
 simply a messenger carrying the announcement of the 
 advertiser into the homes of the readers and buyers. For 
 this service the publisher charges so much money, and it 
 is the business of the advertiser to determine whether or 
 not he can get his money's worth. 
 
 It is simply a question of how many are going to be 
 circulated, and to whom are they going, the one con- 
 dition being worthless without the other, and the price 
 consistent with profit. 
 
824 ADYERTISINO BATES. 
 
 Quality of circulation acts as a governor for keeping 
 quantity of circulation from making the rate too high, 
 and quantity of circulation prevents quality from obtain- 
 ing an exorbitant price. 
 
 All advertising rates must be founded upon quantity 
 and quality of circulation, and the advertiser must con- 
 sider these two conditions of equal importance, and buy 
 the advertising space that he needs, and refuse to buy 
 the advertising space that he does not need, considering 
 price of consequence, but not considering price all-im- 
 portant. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 FOLLOW-UP SYSTEMS. 
 
 BY TEUMAN A. DE WEESE.* 
 
 The so-called "follow-up systems" in modem advertis- 
 ing are a development of the increasing desire on the 
 part of the advertiser to get all possible returns from the 
 expenditure involved in a publicity campaign. It is the 
 natural outgrowth of the idea that when a man spends 
 $300 for a page advertisement in a magazine or in any 
 other medium, he should follow up every inquiry elicited 
 by this advertising, until all possible returns from the 
 investment have been realized. 
 
 Follow-up Letters for Every Inquiry. 
 Time was when the direct orders from a piece of ad- 
 vertising constituted the net results of the investment 
 and the advertiser was doubtless satisfied. Through 
 modem follow-up systems, however, the person who 
 evinces the slightest bit of postal-card curiosity is certain 
 to be bombarded with epistolary literature until he 
 throws up his hands and capitulates with an order for the 
 goods. Just how quickly he surrenders depends very 
 largely upon the sort of follow-up warfare that is waged. 
 The first follow-up letter may make little impression. If 
 ingeniously, tactfully and cleverly pursued, however, he 
 may wave the white flag of truce after about the third 
 follow-up letter. 
 
 •Director of Publicity, The Shredded Wheat Co., Niagara Falls, N. 
 Y.; author of ** Practical Publicity" (George W. Jacobs & Co., Phila- 
 delphia). 
 
 825 
 
326 FOLLOW-UP SYSTEMS. 
 
 Advertising That Pulls no Letters May Be Valuable. 
 
 Human curiosity is a great thing to work upon. A 
 person will buy an article that is advertised in a maga- 
 zine or newspaper quite often when he would not seri- 
 ously consider the idea of purchasing it if he saw it and 
 could handle it in a store. Such is the fascinating mys- 
 tery of printers' ink and it is this weakness of human na- 
 ture which the follow-up man must turn to his own profit. 
 Women will even buy dress goods by mail in response 
 to an advertisement in a woman's magazine where they 
 would scornfully reject the same goods if sho^vn to them 
 on a counter of a dry goods store. 
 
 Just what kind of a follow-up system should be 
 adopted and when it should be put into operation de- 
 pends, of course, upon the product and method of adver- 
 tising used to market the product. In this connection it 
 is well to keep in mind the two kinds of advertising — 
 general pubUcity and direct publicity. 
 
 Inquiries from General Publicity. 
 
 General Publicity is that kind of advertising which 
 merely seeks to create a demand upon wholesalers and 
 retailers for the goods advertised. There are no direct 
 results from this kind of advertising and the man who 
 pretends to trace or show definite results from it is mani- 
 festly a fraud. It is true that much of this kind of ad- 
 vertising offers to send booklets and other literature and 
 hence it brings a certain number of inquiries every week 
 or month in the year, but such inquiries cannot be fairly 
 regarded as an index of the value of the advertising. 
 
FOLLOW-UP SYSTEMS. 327 
 
 The advertising under the head of general publicity 
 which secures the least number of inquiries, indeed, may- 
 be after all the most valuable medium for it may go to a 
 well-to-do class of thinkers, instead of a class of curious- 
 minded people who like to write letters. To imagine that 
 all advertising that brings in a lot of letters is valuable 
 pubKcity is a very common mistake. 
 
 A general publicity advertisement may be pregnant 
 with forceful and convincing argument or it may merely 
 seek to make the public familiar with the name of the 
 product, trade mark or the style of package. 
 
 Forms of Direct Publicity. 
 
 Direct Publicity is the kind of advertising which seeks 
 direct results. The commonest forms of direct publicity, 
 of course, are mail order advertising and classified adver- 
 tising. When you offer to send a safety razor of a par- 
 ticular style and pattern for $2.50 post paid, you are do- 
 ing direct advertising and are engaged in a mail order 
 business. 
 
 When a manufacturer finds that "general publicity" 
 appears to aid him in building up a large business with 
 the wholesalers and retailers who handle his goods, he is 
 naturally satisfied and is not inclined to discontinue it al- 
 though if asked to trace definite results he would confess 
 his inability to do so. All he can say is that there is a 
 steady and increasing demand upon the retailers and job- 
 bers for his goods. Whether he gives much of the credit 
 for this to general publicity or not, it is not an easy mat- 
 ter to persuade him to cut out the annual appropriation 
 for advertising. He merely charges up the appropria- 
 
828 FOLLOW-UP SYSTEMS. 
 
 tion against the cost of production and goes steadily 
 along in the even tenor of his way. 
 
 The Follow-up System Should Get All There Is. 
 
 Obviously, then, the most fruitful field for the follow- 
 up man to expend his genius and energies, is in some 
 form of direct pubhcity, particularly mail order adver- 
 tising. In this kind of advertising the follow-up sys- 
 tem should be a fine-tooth comb, but it should not 
 scratch; it should get all there is without irritating the 
 scalp of the possible consumer; it should "pull" without 
 giving pain. 
 
 Of course there are all kinds of follow-up systems — 
 the kind that "work while you sleep" — the kind that 
 bring "the smile that won't come oflP" and the kind that 
 produce a steel-gray corrugated kind of profanity that 
 can never be ironed out by the most suave and tactful 
 agent. 
 
 In the first place, it is just as well to understand there 
 is a point beyond which the follow-up system becomes a 
 "nagging" system, even though the letters and hterature 
 are of the strongest and most convincing kind. Indeed, 
 I am not quite certain that the follow-up system should 
 not consist entirely of separate pieces of printed matter 
 instead of fake typewritten "personal letters." 
 
 Should Read Like Personal Letters. 
 
 But that is a matter for experimentation. In any 
 event I don't believe that a follow-up system should 
 reach beyond four letters. More than this are apt to im- 
 press the possible purchaser too deeply with the fact that 
 he is being passed through the same old stereotyped ma- 
 
FOLLOW-UP SYSTEMS. 329 
 
 chine that is gotten up for all inquiries and that there is 
 nothing "personal" about the correspondence. Certainly 
 this is not the purpose of the follow-up letters. If they 
 do not give the idea of personal dictation, why not use 
 ordinary, printed Uterature instead? Moreover, if a cus- 
 tomer cannot be landed with the fourth letter, the follow- 
 up system, so far as that possible purchaser is concerned 
 is a failure. It is useless to annoy him further. 
 
 Details Are Important in Follow-up System. 
 
 And now about the quality and subject matter of the 
 follow-up letters. The phraseology of many follow-up 
 letters is of the kind that tempts a peaceably disposed 
 man to punch the bumptious clerk in a department store. 
 They do not give the reader credit enough for common 
 intelligence. As a matter of fact, not one reader in ten, 
 in the country or city, can be flim-flammed by an imita- 
 tion, poorly printed "type- written" letter, so rapid has 
 been the spread of popular commercial intelligence dur- 
 ing the last two decades. Many letters reveal an irrita- 
 ting willingness to take the whole problem off our hands 
 and tell us just what we want and why we w^.ut it. The 
 letters are replete with trite statements of hackneyed tru- 
 isms, such as, "The best is the cheapest," "the best is none 
 too good for you;" and similar platitudinous observa- 
 tions regarding "the health of your family" and the 
 "dangers of procrastination" when it comes to settling 
 the great question. 
 
 Moreover, it does not require a close scrutiny of the 
 letters to see that the name and address at the top are 
 written with a typewriter, while the body of the letter is 
 either printed or written with a different typewriter, in- 
 
330 FOLLOW-UP SYSTEMS. 
 
 dicating that the letters are "stock letters." An interest- 
 ing feature of many series of letters is the fact that the 
 name of the secretary and treasurer is signed to all of 
 them, but by different persons, in different handwriting, 
 indicating that the secretary and treasurer did not write 
 them. Another series are not signed at all, having 
 merely the firm name type-written at the bottom. Some 
 of the letters are too long, with no space between the 
 lines and too few paragraphs. These may strike the 
 reader as unimportant or trifling details in a follow-up 
 system, but why waste time and money and energy in a 
 follow-up system that is weak in a dozen or more spots? 
 The best laid plan of publicity that can be conceived 
 may fall down because of some neglect or weakness at an 
 apparently unimportant point. The order for a fifty- 
 dollar refrigerator may turn upon a sentence or an hon- 
 est signature. 
 
 Best Form of Letters. 
 
 In my opinion the time has gone by when a really suc- 
 cessful follow-up system can consist of anything but 
 personally dictated letters, signed, not with a rubber 
 stamp, but in ink, by the person who is the responsible 
 head of the firm, and these letters should never run over 
 a page and should consist of short, crisp sentences, ar- 
 ranged in five or six paragraphs, well spaced so as not 
 to repel the reader. 
 
 And in every letter there should be a booklet different 
 from the booklet that preceded it and small enough to 
 keep the letter within the two cents' postage. And the 
 letter should merely call attention in a tactful and candid 
 
FOLLOW-UP SYSTEMS. 331 
 
 way to the points in the booklet which are best calculated 
 to impress or convince the possible purchaser. 
 
 Follow-up letters, to be carefully, tactfully and skill- 
 fully written, must be carefully timed, must be individ- 
 ual and personal, and the man who writes them or sends 
 them out must know when to quit. 
 
 Knowing "when to quit," indeed, is a rare and valuable 
 faculty possessed by few men who plan advertising cam- 
 paigns. This is true of copy as well as of a follow-up 
 system. Getting too many words into a follow-up let- 
 ter is just as dangerous as too many words in copy for a 
 magazine advertisement. 
 
 Faulty Follow-up Letters. 
 
 Nearly all follow-up letters are too long. They are 
 full of redundancies. They are verbose and prolix. 
 They are replete with superfluous sentences which mean 
 nothing and if they did mean anything are mere repe- 
 titions. They do not go directly at the meat of the mat- 
 ter. Tons of these letters find their way to waste bas- 
 kets. 
 
 Other follow-up letters are impudently audacious in 
 tone, sloppy in diction and wearisome in their presump- 
 tion of ignorance on the part of the reader. The first 
 sentence is quite often an impudent insinuation that the 
 recipient of the letter does not know his own business and 
 that he ought to be sharply reprimanded for his blind- 
 ness to his own opportunities. Other letters are flippant 
 and frivolous in tone and give the impression of a design 
 on the part of the writer to jolly the reader with pleasant 
 persiflage. Of course this is disgusting and tiresome to 
 a man who looks upon business as a serious matter. 
 
882 FOLLOW-UP SYSTEMS. 
 
 I might say right here that in my opinion flippancy 
 and tomfoolery have no place in the publicity for any 
 legitimate product. I am not a believer in buffoonery in 
 advertising. There are very few places in it for jingles 
 and jests. The jingle style of advertising might answer 
 the purpose of drawing public attention for the 
 time being to a new kind of taffy -tolu chewing gum, or a 
 new brand of sparkling champagne, but for any legiti- 
 mate product which appeals to the inteUigent people it 
 could have no permanent value. 
 
 An J!xample of Folly. 
 Here is an illustration of follow-up folly: 
 
 "I find it hard to understand your attitude. 
 
 "If I were offering you gold dollars for sixty-nine 
 cents I should expect you to sidestep, get a firmer grip 
 on your wallet and regard me with a suspicious eye. 
 
 **If I were even advising you to try some theoretical 
 scheme, based entirely on my own imagination, your 
 present indifference would be perfectly comprehensible. 
 
 "But as the matter stands, I confess I am puzzled. 
 
 "I have asserted that my special business-getting 
 methods will positively increase your sales. 
 
 "If I could make that statement stronger, I would do 
 so. 
 
 "It is not a question of what I think or of what I say. 
 I have absolute definite knowledge of results secured for 
 others — results so big that my cHents have frequently 
 doubled their appropriations. Yet all the enthusiasm 
 still remains on my side. 
 
 "Let me give you a few exact figures." 
 
 I could give hundreds of such samples but they do not 
 differ in any essential details. I might add that this one, 
 as usual, was signed with a rubber stamp and that the 
 
FOLLOW-UP SYSTEMS. 333 
 
 address at the top of the letter was very clearly written 
 in a type and ink which did not match the type of the 
 printed matter. I am unable to understand why those 
 who use such follow-up letters can expect they will re- 
 ceive serious attention. Having written a strong, terse 
 and convincing letter, full of meat and directly to the 
 point, why should the advertiser throw away time and 
 postage by making it mechanically imperfect and then 
 attaching to it a rubber stamp signature? In these days 
 of wide dissemination of public intelligence you cannot 
 fool even the countrjonen with such letters. To be ef- 
 fective and convincing the letters should be typographi- 
 cally perfect, addressed to the name of the recipient and 
 should be signed with pen and ink. It will pay in most 
 instances to hire a cheap clerk to sign the firm's name to 
 every letter. 
 
 Some Model Follow-np Letters. 
 
 Here are specimens of what I regard as model follow- 
 up letters which I have selected at random from the mail: 
 
 "Gentlemen: 
 
 "On May 22d I submitted for your consideration the 
 plan of a weekly Magazine that we have in preparation 
 for publication in November next. If you are prepared 
 to take up this proposition, I will be pleased to meet you 
 and go over the matter in detail. If the proposition as it 
 stands does not fill the requirements in all particulars 
 that make it attractive to you, it undoubtedly can be 
 modified in essential points. 
 
 "If the combination as a whole is larger than is ac- 
 ceptable, we are prepared to divide the responsibility and 
 advertising, and allow you one-half, one-fourth, or such 
 portion as you may decide upon. 
 
834 FOLLOW-UP SYSTEMS. 
 
 "It is quite necessary that we receive your decision at 
 an early date, as we are prepared to make our newspaper 
 contracts, and desire to do so. 
 
 "Very respectfully," 
 
 (Signed) . 
 
 "Gentlemen : 
 
 "A paper that is subscribed for at $2.50 per year is 
 evidently one that is valued in the home. Doesn't the 
 fact that fifty thousand of the best families in the Meth- 
 odist denomination pay this price for their family mag- 
 azine appeal to you, and warrant you in using space 
 for your advertisement? We have some of the most pro- 
 gressive and high-class advertisers as our regular 
 patrons. Why not you? The Christian Advocate ac- 
 cepts no other class. 
 
 "Very truly yours," 
 (Signed) . 
 
 One more sample of a good "follow-up;" 
 
 "Dear Sir: 
 
 "Sometime ago we had a request from you for a cat- 
 alogue, which was complied with. 
 
 "A few days later we wrote you again offering any 
 information on marine engines and motor boats, apply- 
 ing specifically to your requirements. 
 
 "If you expect to purchase a power equipment or a 
 boat permit us to suggest that it would be advisable to 
 arrange the matter at once, before the season becomes 
 more advanced. 
 
 "We do not wish to burden you with unnecessary cor- 
 respondence, nor do we wish to lose sight of your in- 
 quiry ; accordingly, it would be much appreciated if you 
 
FOLLOW-UP SYSTEMS. 385 
 
 should find it convenient to let us have a reply as to 
 whether you are prepared to take up the matter more 
 definitely. 
 
 "Yours respectfully," 
 
 (Signed) . 
 
 Follow-Ups Generally Desirable. 
 
 While the follow-up system is not such an important 
 factor in general publicity plans as it is in the advertis- 
 ing campaigns of the mail order houses, at the same time 
 it may be stated as a general proposition that there is a 
 place for the follow-up system in nearly every scheme of 
 general publicity. Just how the follow-up system is to 
 be applied of course depends upon the nature of the busi- 
 ness organization and the method employed for market- 
 ing the products. 
 
 It is well to admonish the advertiser that there are two 
 distinct classes of people who make up the public — those 
 who will write to advertisers and those who seldom do, 
 and it must be remembered, that those who never write 
 to advertisers are sometimes the "best buyers" and that 
 the advertiser who orders his advertising stopped because 
 he does not get letters "is going against the kind of hu- 
 man nature to which he sells, and misses the most valu- 
 able asset of general pubhcity — prestige and cumula- 
 tive results." 
 
 Keeping Track of Inquiries. 
 
 It may be well at this point to suggest the importance 
 of devising a systematic tabulated plan for keeping track 
 of inquiries. What sort of a tabulated scheme should be 
 devised for registering inquiries will depend, of course, 
 
836 FOLLOW-UP SYSTEMS. 
 
 upon the commodity that is being sold through mail- 
 order advertising; but no matter what the conmiodity 
 may be, it is not possible to get any appreciable results 
 out of inquiries that are elicited by this kind of advertis- 
 ing unless a record of inquiries is kept which shows ac- 
 curately at any moment the sort of inquiries that have 
 been made and the kind of answers that have been given 
 to the inquiries. This tabulated record should afford an 
 index so far as possible of the mental attitude of each in- 
 quirer. It should show just what pieces of literature have 
 been sent to him, the date on which they have been made 
 and his possible purchasing power or inclination. The 
 expert who has had much experience in follow-up sys- 
 tems should be able to tell from the tone and chirography 
 of a letter exactly to what extent it will pay the firm to 
 follow up an inquiry and just how much literature and 
 how much postage it is advisable to expend upon it. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 PRESENT AND FUTURE RESULTS. 
 
 BY WILLIAM D. MC JUNKIN. 
 
 There are men today in large business operations and 
 employing advertising as motive power in the conduct 
 of these operations, who have yet no adequate conception 
 of the real character of advertising. Its vital relation to 
 the well-being of their business is imperfectly understood 
 by them. Some of them, if the truth were told, have no 
 real faith in advertising. They advertise because not to 
 do so would be taking chances, inasmuch as their com- 
 petitors all advertise. But they never think of the possi- 
 bility of making their advertising a broad and stable 
 foundation for the future prosperity of their business. 
 "Sufficient for the day is the advertising thereof," seems 
 to be their motto. "I don't care anjrthing for future re- 
 sults," a large advertiser is quoted as saying: "let today's 
 advertising pay and I'm satisfied." 
 
 The author of that gem of 2^?iwisdom was the head of 
 a house which had been in existence for many years, and 
 expected to be in existence for many years to come. Had 
 the words been uttered by a catch-penny schemer, here 
 today and dodging the postal authorities tomorrow, they 
 would have been natural and just. But in the mouth of 
 a merchant operating on a large scale, and spending 
 many thousands of dollars annually on advertising, they 
 are a signal proof that the "little school-master" is not 
 so much "abroad" as is desirable. 
 
 887 
 
 I.B.L. Vol. 3—22 
 
888 PRESENT AND FUTURE RESULTS. 
 
 Advertising Is a Business-keeper. 
 
 It is not sufficient to advertise liberally ; one must ad- 
 vertise intelligently; and how can advertising be intelli- 
 gently directed if one of its two great functions is not 
 comprehended? Advertising is not a mere business- 
 getter, it is a business-keeper. It begets present trade, 
 and it ought to beget prestige, which means future trade. 
 It brings dollars, and it ought to bring credit, which 
 means future dollars. 
 
 One does not benefit by the "cumulative force of ad- 
 vertising" simply by keeping on advertising; one must 
 keep on advertising in the right way. What will it avail 
 to win new customers by advertising, if old ones are 
 dropping off through your store-management? 
 
 Here we get to the root of the matter. Advertising 
 is an essential factor of a business, part and parcel of its 
 general policy. It cannot rise any higher than the level 
 of the business methods that are practised. If these 
 methods look to the future as well as the present, and the 
 advertising is illuminated by high ideals, the force of ev- 
 ery single advertisement adds to the force of every sub- 
 sequent one. 
 
 Your Advertising Word Is a Bond. 
 
 It is important to win new trade ; it is equally impor- 
 tant to hold old trade, and fair dealing is the only thing 
 that will hold it. The public memory is short for benefits 
 but long for injuries. Deceive or disappoint a customer 
 once, and you will have no second opportunity to do it. 
 
 Shrewd advertisers are aware that for future results 
 a man's word in an advertisement must be as good as his 
 bond; that no sacrifice is too great in the effort to acquire 
 a reputation for fair-dealing and truth-telling; that sat- 
 
PRESENT AND FUTURE RESULTS. 339 
 
 isfied customers work like "A sneaping frost" on a seem- 
 ingly flourishing business. 
 
 Generosity Pays. 
 
 A little story told of an intelligent and successful Chi- 
 cago advertiser is in point here. A woman visited his 
 store one day and demanded "money back" for goods 
 that she declared were unsatisfactory. She received it 
 promptly. Now this might appear a Quixotic act on the 
 part of the merchant, for the goods had been purchased 
 several years before, and not from this merchant hut 
 from his predecessor in business. But the proceeding 
 really was in line with a definite and a very wise policy — 
 to avoid, if possible, all argument with customers ; rather 
 to take a loss than be suspected of going back on one's 
 advertised word ; to "avoid even the appearance of evil." 
 
 While an advertiser must give incessant heed to the 
 "pulling" power of his advertising, he must never forget 
 that the only force which will draw trade continuously 
 and increasingly is the public conviction that when he 
 says that a thing is so, it is so. 
 
**If advertising does not pay, it is simply because it 
 is misdirected.'' 
 
 **The colossal fortunes of trade have been made, and 
 are to day being made, with advertising recognized as 
 one of the important and essential factors of their suc- 
 
 cess." 
 
 "Generally speaking, spasmodic advertising is as silly 
 as spasmodic eating." 
 
 ''To expect a single advertisement to pay is as foolish 
 as to hope to grow fat from the effect of one dinner." 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 ''KEYING'' MAIL ORDER ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 BY TRUMAN A. DE WEESE. 
 
 In most mail-order advertising it is possible to key the 
 advertisements in such a way as to tell what medimns 
 bring the most inquiries and to measure the actual re- 
 turns from the investment. The usual method of keying 
 advertising is to change the form of the address for each 
 advertisement. If the firm name and address, for in- 
 stance, is J. Walter Jones Company, 213-215-217-219 
 Duane Street, New York, the plan would be to use a 
 number of variations in the printed form of this address. 
 In one medium the name and address would be J. W. 
 Jones Company, 213-219 Duane Street, New York; in 
 another J. W. Jones & Company, 213 Duane Street, 
 New York; in another, J. Walter Jones, 219 Duane 
 Street, and so on through an inconceivable number of 
 variations. 
 
 Value of "Keyed" Advertisement. 
 
 By a keying system of this kind an advertiser may 
 keep a record of inquiries from month to month that will 
 enable him to get a line on the mediums that are the best 
 pullers for his particular product. But I have never 
 been a believer in the keyed advertisement as a reliable 
 index to the advertising value of any particular mediums. 
 To the new advertiser it is always wise to sound the fa- 
 miliar admonition, "Beware of the keyed advertisement." 
 It is full of worry, vexation and disappointment. It is 
 
 341 
 
842 '*^KEYING^' MAIL ORDER ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 a seductive deceiver, full of promises unfilled and hopes 
 unrealized. It leads the publicity pilot out upon seas of 
 uncertainty. It leads, in fact, to erroneous conclusions 
 as to the value of advertising in general, for it is a fact 
 well known to most experienced advertisers that the me- 
 dium which brings the most inquiries is not always the 
 one which results in the most sales. Some mediums go 
 to what is sometimes characterized by advertisers as "a 
 mail-order community" and the more replies that are 
 pulled by them the more they are discounted as advertis- 
 ing mediums. It is a matter of ascertained knowledge 
 that certain mediums go to a class of people that write 
 for free booklets, calendars or maps merely as a sort of 
 habit. Their purchasing power is not great enough to 
 warrant any heavy expenditure in mediums which reach 
 this particular class. It quite often happens also that the 
 medium which brings the fewest inquiries for booklets or 
 catalogs pays the largest returns on an advertising in- 
 vestment, for the small number of persons who answer 
 its advertisements contain the greater number of possible 
 purchasers, hence the unreliability of the keying system 
 as a universal measure of the value of the advertising 
 medium. A fair estimate of the value of such a medium 
 to the advertiser, indeed, should be based upon the record 
 of sales at the end of the year rather than upon the num- 
 ber of inquiries or requests for advertising literature. 
 **Keyed Advertising'* is a Publicity Will-o' -the- Wisp. 
 The keyed ad might be called the will-o'-the-wisp in 
 the misty and foggy lowlands of mail-order publicity. 
 It quite often decoys the advertiser away from the medi- 
 ums which actually reach the largest number of possible 
 purchasers of a particular commodity. No matter what 
 
''^keying'^ mail order advertisements. 343 
 
 may be the consensus of opinion regarding the keyed ad- 
 vertisement, it will be generally conceded that in the ad- 
 vertising for a commodity that is suppHed through the 
 trade it is worthless so far as its ability to measure adver- 
 tising value is concerned. There is certainly no place for 
 the keyed advertisement outside of mail-order adver- 
 tising. 
 
 ** Coupon" Style of Mail-Order Advertising. 
 
 If it is possible to measure the value of advertising 
 space through keyed advertising at all, the most accu- 
 rate results are arrived at through what is known as cou- 
 pon advertising. In this form of advertising a coupon, 
 which is practically a request for booklet or catalog, is 
 printed in one corner or at the bottom of the advertise- 
 ing page. The reader is asked to fill out this coupon, cut 
 it off of the advertising page and mail it to the adver- 
 tiser. Each coupon which runs through a particular 
 magazine or other publication contains a distinct mark of 
 some kind which will enable the advertiser to tell exactly 
 from what publication it was cut and in this way inquiries 
 may be credited up to the particular publication which 
 drew them out. The character on each coupon may be a 
 certain number combined with a certain letter or some 
 other mark that is unnoticed by the reader. 
 
 The argument behind the coupon advertisement is 
 based on the belief that the coupon increases the facilities 
 for answering the advertisement. The contention is that 
 it makes it easier for the reader to send for a booklet 
 than under the plan which compels him to hunt up his 
 stationery and write or dictate a letter. It also simplifies 
 the matter by putting all the addresses and requests in 
 one form where they may be quickly and easily arranged 
 
844 KEYING MAIL ORDER ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 in alphabetical order to be used in the follow-up systeDi 
 which goes with all mail-order advertising. 
 
 Objections to Coupon Advertising. 
 The objection to this form of advertising, however, 
 lies in the increasing disinclination of magazine readers 
 to mutilate their magazines in this way. The advertis- 
 ing pages of the modern magazine are to many people 
 the most attractive features of the pubhcation. This is 
 shown by the increasing tendency of magazine sub- 
 scribers to have all the pages of the magazines bound in 
 book form at the end of the year, whereas it was formerly 
 the practice to discard advertising pages when it came to 
 binding up the volumes of the magazines. 
 
 Subscribers Hesitate to Mutilate Magazines. 
 
 The modem magazine reader, indeed, is quite reluc- 
 tant to cut the corners of the magazine pages, a fact 
 which can hardly fail to militate against the value of cou- 
 pon advertising. Another objection to this form of ad- 
 vertising comes from the typographical difficulties pre- 
 sented by the corner coupon. It is often impossible 
 for any reader of the magazine to write his name and ad- 
 dress legibly and distinctly in the limited space provided 
 in these coupons for that purpose. Very many of the 
 inquiries which come on coupons, indeed, are not de- 
 cipherable. My own opinion is that the coupon style of 
 advertising is the most unsatisfactory form of mail-order 
 publicity. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 GOOD DICTION IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 Somebody has remarked that the modern advertise- 
 ment is literature. He probably intended to convey his 
 belief that there has been a vast improvement of late 
 years in the literary style of advertising copy; that care 
 and attention to the principles of correct diction are now 
 bestowed upon the advertisement, and that the advertis- 
 ing writer takes sufficient pride in his work to stamp it 
 with the character of a literary product. 
 
 An old writer once said: "Literature is a very bad 
 crutch, but a very good walking stick." He referred, of 
 course, to its possibilities as a means of gaining a liveli- 
 hood, but his remark is equally applicable to the con- 
 nection between literature and advertising. The adver- 
 tising writer, who depends solely upon the literary 
 character of his copy to give it its value, would in many 
 instances be doomed to disappointment. It would not 
 do to rely solely upon literary style in the preparation 
 of an ad. It would make a bad crutch, as the old writer 
 said; but a good literary style is nevertheless a valuable 
 adjunct in the preparation of commercial copy. It 
 helps. 
 
 A Better Educated Audience. 
 
 The advertising writer of to-day addresses an audience 
 not only larger but better educated than that of yore. 
 A sUpshod manner of writing copy is no more acceptable 
 
 345 
 
346 GOOD DICTION IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 nowadays than a slipshod manner of speech in polite 
 society. The model advertisement must be couched in 
 correct language or it will repel the reader instead of 
 attracting him. The question for us to consider then is, 
 what is correct diction? By what standards shall we 
 judge? 
 
 Regarding the use of words, Pope in his * 'Essay on 
 Criticism" laid down a rule in rhyme which says: 
 
 "In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold, 
 
 Ahke fantastic if too new or old, 
 
 Be not the first by whom the new are tried, 
 
 Nor yet the last to lay the old aside." 
 The Use of Slang. 
 Our modern colloquial English, and particularly our 
 American-English, is so full of vigorous slang that it 
 often creeps into our advertising copy, and sometimes 
 is not at all out of place. Some of the most expressive 
 words in the English language have originated as slang. 
 And while slang is cultivated by a considerable portion of 
 our people to the point of abuse, there is a certain 
 legitimate use of slang. 
 
 The leading authority on English at Yale University 
 has well said: "In the exuberance of mental activity and 
 the delight of language-making, slang is a necessary evil 
 and there are grades and uses of slang whose charm no 
 one need be ashamed to feel and confess. It is like read- 
 ing a narrative in a series of rude but telling pictures in- 
 stead of in words." 
 
 To the sailor, all the world is a ship, and he talks as 
 if the deep blue sea were ever beneath his feet. To him 
 the government is ever "the ship of state" and the Presi- 
 dent "the man at the helm" or "the skipper on the 
 
GOOD DICTION IN ADVERTISING. 347 
 
 bridge." In a financial crisis the sailor would "shorten 
 sail and try to weather the gale." We all know just 
 what he means. His slang is technical and expressive 
 and much of it has been embodied in the language as 
 idiomatic English, after being sanctioned by the com- 
 munity, which is the final tribunal ; but there is also slang 
 which is absolutely inadmissible in the writing of adver- 
 tisements, as in parlor speech, and the use of such slang 
 should always be avoided by the conscientious advertis- 
 ing writer. 
 
 An advertisement clipped from a Southern newspaper 
 lately says: "Many of our stock dologers do not ap- 
 pear in print for the want of space." The writer, of 
 course, intended to use the slang term "sockdologer," 
 which is a perversion of the word "doxology," used in 
 the sense of something final ; but even the compositors re- 
 belled at his use of this term. It is a slang word better 
 fitted for use in the gutter than in reputable print, and 
 is a good representative of the class of slang which the 
 advertising writer can well do without. 
 
 The Use of Intensives. 
 
 We may refer to a single other pitfall to be avoided. 
 Let us not gush ! Let us be careful in the use of super- 
 latives and of intensives like "very." 
 
 A writer in the Cincinnati Commercial once discussed 
 the common misuse of the adverb "very." He said: '"This 
 Uttle word is often used in the Enghsh language when a 
 sentence would be much stronger and the meaning much 
 more forcible without it. If a man has not much hair on 
 the top of his head, it is not enough for people to say 
 simply that he is bald; he is very bald. A man is not 
 
348 GOOD DICTION IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 stingy; he is very stingy — when the one good strong 
 word stingy would put the whole point forcibly. The 
 qualifier has become so common that it is weakening to 
 the word it is joined to. In nine cases out of ten where 
 "very" is used to intensify human speech, a single bold 
 word without the "very" would hit the meaning hke a 
 hammer, and drive it home with a directness unknown to 
 clogged and hampered expression. 
 
 "Very" seems to be a word designed by Providence 
 for young ladies to express their feelings with. It 
 creeps into our literature as insidiously as the measles 
 into a family of fifteen, and once there, it stays like an 
 office-seeker. 
 
 A fine example of the redundant "very" is the reply 
 of the old tar who was blown overboard at Trafalgar, 
 and long afterward, being asked by a sympathetic lady 
 how he felt on that occasion, answered, "Wet, madam, 
 very wet." 
 
 Use Simple, Direct Language. 
 
 We can fully agree with the dictum laid down recently, 
 that the simple, direct, unmistakably plain language in- 
 variably used by Abraham Lincoln is the ideal language 
 for the advertisement. It is the English of the cultured 
 and not the English of the street. It is correct diction. 
 The difference between correct diction and faulty 
 diction is simply the difference between good English 
 and bad English. The man who writes good English 
 commands the respect of his readers. He makes his mes- 
 sage to them plain and convincing. Bad English on the 
 other hand sticks out in an advertisement like a red vest 
 on a crowded street. It lessens the force of the adver- 
 
GOOD DICTION IN ADVERTISING. 349 
 
 tisement and distracts the mind of the reader from the 
 message it is intended to convey. 
 
 What is Good Diction? 
 
 To speak and write good English it is necessary, first, 
 to have some acquaintance with the principles and rules 
 of grammar and of rhetoric, and, second, to apply that 
 knowledge with conscientious care and unceasing 
 vigilance. 
 
 "In all the ranks, degrees and situations of life," says 
 Cobbett wisely, "a knowledge of the principles and rules 
 of grammar must be useful; in some situations it must 
 be necessary to the avoiding of really injurious errors; 
 and in no situation which calls on man to place his 
 thoughts upon paper can the possession of it fail to be a 
 source of self-gratulation, or the want of it a cause of 
 mortification and sorrow." 
 
 We need not set down here in full the principles and 
 rules to which Cobbett refers. They are to be found in 
 the textbooks, and are properly studied in the schools. 
 
 Classification of Errors, 
 To classify all the errors into which speakers and 
 writers of the EngHsh language frequently fall would 
 be difficult; but it may be said broadly that examples of 
 faulty diction are divisible into the following groups: 
 
 I. Errors of grammar. 
 
 II. Errors of construction, or faulty rhetoric. 
 
 III. Unauthorized words. 
 
 Errors of grammar include all infractions of the 
 principles and rules that govern the correct use of words; 
 including errors of spelUng, pronunciation, inflection and 
 syntax. 
 
350 GOOD DICTION IN ADVEETISING. 
 
 Errors of construction are offenses against the canons 
 of expression and the rules of rhetoric. They include 
 irregular forms that hamper style, as by interference 
 with clearness or by weakening the sentence. Of such 
 irregularities a noted rhetorician says: "Whenever 
 language is irregular there is some cause for the irregu- 
 larity. The three principal causes of irregularity are: 
 1, desire of brevity; 2, confusion of two constructions; 3, 
 desire to avoid harshness of construction or of sound." 
 
 Unauthorized words. Diction is accounted faulty 
 when words are used which have not the sanction of us- 
 age, or when they ai'e employed in unauthorized senses. 
 New words and new senses are constantly coming into the 
 language, but to be admissible they should fill an 
 antecedent void, like the words cablegram, radium and 
 trust; should obey some analogy in form (though "cable- 
 gram" did not) , and should be euphonious and prefer- 
 ably short. 
 
 In respect to new words and phrases, it must be re- 
 membered that the "living vocabulary" of the English 
 language is not permanent. It is not what it was a 
 hundred years ago, nor what it will be a hundred years 
 hence. "Its constituent elements are in a state of slow 
 but incessant dissolution and renovation." 
 
 How Language is Perverted. 
 
 Persons who lack education, and to whom the language 
 of literature is an unknown tongue, use almost ex- 
 clusively in their conversation the simple, strong terms of 
 Saxon origin, while persons who read supply the place 
 of many of these terms by others derived from books. 
 In preparing advertising copy, we usually address both 
 
GOOD DICTION IN ADVERTISING. 351 
 
 classes, and the safest plan, therefore, is to employ the 
 simplest language compatible with dignity and a clear 
 expression of our exact meaning. We must not, on the 
 one hand, hold our audience too cheaply and try to 
 write down to its understanding, as it were, nor must we, 
 on the other hand, write over the heads of our readers in 
 language that they will fail to comprehend. 
 
 Let us avoid vulgarisms and slang of the lower kind, 
 without being afraid to use a vigorous expression when 
 it will help our case. 
 
 Let us avoid reckless exaggeration of statement lest 
 we offend the intelligence of our readers. 
 
 Let us do our share in making the language of the ad- 
 vertisement a model of pure, undefiled English. If we do 
 this, we shall undoubtedljT^ attain the best results with our 
 copy. Our assertions and arguments will attract favor- 
 able attention and not repel by either crudeness or in- 
 congruity. Our copy will be more likely to get results 
 if its language commands respect. Then, if the genius 
 of the advertising writer adds to it the essential "pulling" 
 quality, we shall produce the ideal advertisement, and 
 may, perhaps, with considerable equanimity regard our 
 product as the latest form of literature. 
 Word Coinage in Ads. 
 
 We may here discuss briefly the general subject of 
 word coinage in advertising. How far is it permissible 
 or advisable? To what lengths shall we go, and where 
 shall we set our bounds? 
 
 The development of our modern methods of advertis- 
 ing has opened wide the door to the word-coiner, or at 
 any rate, has set it slightly ajar. There is a constant 
 and growing demand for forceful and striking words 
 
352 GOOD DICTION IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 and phrases for use in advertising. Business men of 
 every city are sometimes in search of a slogan. They 
 want a battle cry to shout aloud in the fierce competition 
 for factories and business. They seek a motto to inscribe 
 upon their banners and want to be proud of it. We may 
 venture the assertion that when they have chosen it, it 
 will usually be found to consist of good, forcible Eng- 
 lish words, probably of sturdy Saxon origin, and not of 
 newly-coined terms, no matter how clever the coiner. 
 Our rich and fertile language affords plenty of material 
 for all ordinary purposes, if we will but take the trouble 
 to extend our vocabularies and dig up the words we re- 
 quire. This does not mean that we should use the com- 
 monplace words only, or the set phrases only — we may 
 even call to our aid a little clean and vigorous slang of 
 the day, but let us coin words with care. 
 
 A Limited Mintage Advisable. 
 
 There are several good reasons for such caution. In 
 the first place, there are those who argue that the coined 
 word is weak because its meaning may be a mystery to 
 ordinary intelligence — no matter how clear it is to the 
 coiner. 
 
 Remember, that when we coin words it is often neces- 
 sary to add explanatory words in order to make our 
 meaning perfectly clear to the man in the street. 
 
 Also it is often argued that the coinage of unnecessary 
 words denotes a limited acquaintance with the English 
 vocabulary. When we remember that the vocabulary of 
 the average business man is estimated to include less than 
 2,500 words, or about one-sixth of the vocabulary of 
 Shakspere, we realize that there is a vast wealth of 
 
GOOD DICTION IN ADVERTISING. 353 
 
 language ready to be pressed into the service of the busi- 
 ness world without the necessity of new coinage. With 
 his fifteen thousand words Shakspere was enabled to 
 express all the varying emotions of life and human 
 nature, to deal in tragedy and comedy, and to surprise us 
 with a seeming fertility of language. Had he been a 
 modern advertising writer he might, perhaps, have con- 
 descended to ring the changes on "Uneeda" and 
 "Uwanta," but let us pause before coining new words 
 and remember that with all of Shakspere's fertility of 
 expression the modem dictionaries of the English 
 language contain twenty, nay thirty times as many 
 words as Shakspere used in all his works, and we are 
 therefore surely able to supply our verbal requirement 
 without coining. Let us do so, if possible, if only for 
 the sake of Dr. Johnson's "harmless drudge" — the 
 dictionary maker. 
 
 The legitimate free coinage of words in the English 
 language, however, is going on continuously, and new 
 uses for the old words are ever arising, the latter being 
 almost equivalent to coinage. In modern life, too, we are 
 favored with so many kinds of breakfast food and other 
 commodities that the advertising word coiner is kept 
 busy supplying names for them, and, of course, none 
 but victims of the breakfast food habit will find fault 
 with such additions to the language. 
 
 Wealth of the English Tongue. 
 
 But limits must be set, and we can lay down the gen- 
 eral rule that the coined word is unnecessary and will be 
 of short life, when we already possess vigorous and force- 
 ful terms to express the same idea. Advertisement 
 
 I.B.I,. Vol. 3—23 
 
354 GOOD DICTION IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 writers have at their command good modern works of 
 reference to supply all their deficiencies of language, and 
 the progressive advertising writer, like his friend the 
 editor, is usually well equipped with such invaluable aids. 
 Let us then be careful in the coinage and use of un- 
 authorized words, remembering that though the meaning 
 they are intended to convey may be perfectly clear to us, 
 it does not necessarily follow that the reader will under- 
 stand them, and it is tantamount to a confession of weak- 
 ness in our vocabulary if we cannot find in the English 
 language words sufficient to express our thoughts clearly 
 without going out of. our way to manufacture words. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 PRICE ADVERTISING. 
 
 The advisability of advertising prices was long a 
 matter of argument in the advertising field during the 
 evolutionary period. Some believed it was unwise to 
 mention prices at all; others advocated limited mention, 
 while a brave few contended that to advertise prices 
 properly was good salesmanship and would pay. 
 
 The subject being important to the business man, we 
 present below the views of two acknowledged experts in 
 advertising; Nathaniel C. Fowler, Jr., author of 
 "Fowler's Publicity;" and J. Angus MacDonald, author 
 of "Successful Advertising: How to Accomplish It." 
 Fowler on Price Advertising. 
 
 Mr. Fowler's observations on the subject are as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 Out of 90,000,000 people in the United States 89,500,- 
 000 are interested in the price of everything wanted. 
 
 There never was a man or woman with money to bum, 
 because those who say they have money to burn have not 
 money to bum, and, therefore, everybody except the 
 infant is constantly reminded of price as characterized 
 with necessity or luxury. 
 
 What it costs, as much as what it is, is a part both of 
 the economy and of the extravagance of buying. 
 
 Prices count, and will count as long as money is 
 counted. 
 
 855 
 
356 
 
 PRICE ADVEETISING. 
 
 A poor thing at a low price may not sell as well as a 
 good thing at a good price, but the sale of each article 
 is limited by the harmony of its quality and price as well 
 as by the necessity for it and the demand for it. 
 
 It is not always necessary to advertise prices, but stat- 
 ing the price is an essential to success that is frequently 
 not appreciated. 
 
 I Practical | 
 
 I Christmas Gifts I 
 
 4 V|ANYu«ttM|oodlliiotitlwtiMy to«i4lalmi«l»lM.ii«lMtMi^^k, # 
 I Ut* dw cri W< t MbW tl «i 
 
 A Seasonable Ad. With Prices. 
 
 Frequently the better plan is to talk quality and in- 
 trinsic value, or economy, or beauty, or luxury, or con- 
 venience, than to pubhcly proclaim the price, as it may 
 be advisable for the salesman to be the first price-teller; 
 but there are cases where prices must be advertised, and 
 often as prominently as the goods themselves. 
 
PRICE ADVERTISING. 
 
 857 
 
 The price in a bargain sale advertisement needs to be 
 as conspicuous, if not more prominent than the de- 
 scriptive matter. 
 
 In a clearance sale the price should be one of the two 
 important points advertised. 
 
 The reduction advertisement should have the price in 
 the largest possible type near or at the head of the an- 
 nouncement. 
 
 FERN BALLS 
 
 Imported direct from the "Flower Kingdom' — 
 SOc REBDHH met — to those clipping out and 
 presenting the accompanying coup^on tomorrow. 
 
 Ttu co»tna ■.)• o< iKrAKsat rout nu-ta mii eammi'* •«. 
 
 THJS COUPON 
 
 THIS COUPON IS WORTH 2l'cENTS 
 
 NESK PTRN BALU I 
 
 KRAMER ^^ XnXw^er^ 
 
 916 F STREET 722 NINTH STREET CENTER MARKET 
 
 A Six-Column Coupon Ad. That Paid. 
 
 While general principles indicate that it is better to 
 advertise one thing at a time, there is no objection to an- 
 nouncing any number of articles at the same time, if 
 under a special price or bargain heading, for such ad- 
 vertising proclaims a single fact, and therefore it is of the 
 one-point-at-a-time order. 
 
 When prices are advertised it is best to announce them 
 boldly, frankly, and most conspicuously. 
 
858 PEICE ADVERTISING. 
 
 ^ The price advertisement must be honest, and its argu- 
 ments should attempt to prove that the cut is in the price 
 not in the quality. 
 
 The reduction advertisement had better give the 
 former price as well as the cut price, but reputation is 
 ruined if one marks up the former figures that he may 
 create a false difference. 
 
 The public will not buy anjrthing at five dollars if it is 
 said to have been formerly listed at twelve, because the 
 cut, honest though it may be, is not believed to be honest, 
 and there is no good in unrecognized honesty. 
 
 The public will buy a twelve-dollar article at eight, 
 nine or ten dollars and beheve it to be a bargain, but as 
 long as the public maintains its present intelligence, it 
 will not believe that anyone is fool enough to cut fifty per 
 cent, unless the cut is to the buyer's disadvantage. The 
 public mind is a commercial water pail, and the advertise- 
 ment is the water. If the advertiser attempts to fill the 
 pail by turning a barrel into it at one time, he will waste 
 nearly all of the water and not fill the bucket to its carry- 
 ing capacity, while if he pours in the water gradually 
 he will waste none of it and will make the public hold all 
 it can hold. The public will not hold more than it can 
 hold. 
 
 Dishonest bargain sales, with false cutting statements, 
 have brought inmiense business, but the chances are that 
 it is only transient, and is of the boomerang character 
 that will return to the advertiser to crush him. 
 
 When prices are advertised they must be right prices, 
 and when reductions are announced, they must be backed 
 with reasonable proof. 
 
PRICE ADVERTISING. 
 
 359 
 
 The public cannot be continuously fooled. 
 He who tries to fool the public all of the time will find 
 that he, not the public is fooled. 
 
 OUR GROCERY BULLETIN. 
 
 AIXENTOWN, PA.. NOVEMBER 1»-S0. tOOS.' 
 
 The Time of Good Cheer* 
 
 HERB i* «l«an *b« utmott satisfaction In buylnf "* Dcpe^aSlff OnctfiH" ^kV^lhef &SSrtif «o«C 
 
 especially «< ThanloKivifix time when evcryoac waaU to be ttue tbst be ts seiYinK the best that ca» 
 
 be Kcured. The fact that your froccries, fruits, etc ,. come from Harned-Earley Co^ reassures yoa ab 
 
 ■a to iu absolute and unquestioned high quality. The "square deal" policy which we (oUow In every 
 
 rtnwnt of this cn>ccry, by f narantceinf tvtry artidc to be perfectly satisfactory or nu 
 
 ains our populurity as "Dependable Grocers." Are we serving you f 
 
 fiome-made 
 Mince 
 Meat. 
 
 V.tlcloa.. matefai. 
 4i»K Ulchn .ad at on- 
 
 «2tc- f'mmd. 
 
 ff For the ^ 
 P Fruit Cake. -1^^ 
 
 ^J Dtrii Brow. S<«v. '• *tJ^S 
 H|a FUvorlBt EilrKtt. **"* ^Z 
 
 Plum 
 Pudding. 
 
 U m.dc of tht choic.f* 
 m.i<n<U.. ud i. mr ri<4» 
 .Id bUck. 
 
 IJb. tin, tSc 
 
 Layer 
 Rattin*. 
 
 L.ri<. f.«cy. IU.. 
 ■ki>n«llruh;|ml.phioi»- 
 fooad Mioarfn t>bic iM. ' 
 
 liidlvlda.l.lM.'lOe!. 
 
 Cranberries. 
 
 ..«< for th* lurkey. 
 
 Mixed' 
 Nuts. 
 
 Golden RnsMi 
 Cider. 
 
 MdmuHi. 
 
 ••cvMnd. 
 
 thejiik<olMl«:t«d.ppl<ft, 
 
 Front Page of a Grocer's 7"xl0" Bulletin, Mailed to 16,000 
 
 Housewives. 
 
 Figures must be printed in plain type. There are too 
 many fancy types on the market with nines that have 
 so short a tail as to make them look like cyphers, and v^^ith 
 ones that appear like little i's. 
 
 Have the figures distinct, plain and strong. 
 
 There is nothing artistic about figures, and no attempt 
 should be made to make them artistic. 
 
860 PRICE ADVEETISING. 
 
 Never cut the price, nor advertise the cut, until reason- 
 able effort is made to sell at full price. Cut prices bring 
 trade — and sometimes shake public confidence. 
 
 The house that can maintain regular prices for every- 
 thing makes more money because it gets more money for 
 each article sold and holds a regular hne of custom with- 
 out an influx of unprofitable people who go a-shopping, 
 but not a-buying. 
 
 MacDonald on Price Advertising. 
 
 The following are the views of J. Angus Mac- 
 Donald : 
 
 "Promises are good, but performances knock promises 
 sky high, and a good performance in advertising is the 
 attempt to prove the promise by a hard, cold, naked 
 price. This price alone stands in its eloquence as a sort 
 of type demonstration that no amount of argument can 
 get around. 
 
 "In general advertising is to sell goods; to do so, ad- 
 vertising must answer all questions liable to come into the 
 mind of the reader, and you may be sure that PRICE 
 is always a big question. Do not forget this I 
 
 "In retail advertising I consider prices absolutely 
 necessary. They are specific and vital. Every reader of 
 a retail ad, whether man, woman, or child, wants at the 
 first blush to learn the price of the goods in which she or 
 he is interested. 
 
 "Interest them by the brightness and sense of your 
 introduction and talk concerning your goods ; then, when 
 you think you have their interest aroused to the proper 
 pitch, let them have your price or several prices. Do not 
 forget to give the prices. What touches the pocket-book 
 
PRICE ADVERTISING. 361 
 
 touches the most dehcate nerve, and a possible buyer's 
 first consideration is how much that delicate nerve is to 
 be touched in the transaction. 
 
 "Apply this to yourself. When you see a necktie, an 
 overcoat, a suit of clothes that strikes your fancy, your 
 first question is, *How much?' It is the first thought that 
 follows in the wake of desire. When this thought is met 
 to your satisfaction you invest immediately to your own 
 and the dealer's benefit — perhaps. 
 
 "The most progressive retailers everywhere under- 
 stand the eloquence of printed prices. They stare at the 
 shopper from all sides of the store; from the windows, 
 the showcases, and the ads. They save the necessity of 
 questions ; they help to make shopping easy. 
 
 "A man walking down Broadway is attracted by a 
 clothier's window. Several garments are there, taste- 
 fully displayed. This man needs a Spring overcoat. He 
 sees one that strikes his fancy. The cut, material, and 
 everything about the overcoat strikes him right. There 
 are no price cards in the window, and although he 
 wonders what this overcoat's price might be, yet his in- 
 terest in the coat is not violent enough to induce him to 
 enter the store and inquire. He is like the average man 
 who knows he can see the duplicate of that coat farther 
 along in his saunter, in some other window, with the price 
 displayed. He does, and he thinks the price about right. 
 He enters, and the dealer who advertised prices won a 
 customer, while the other who was dignified, lost a trade. 
 
 "Money talks. It makes the loudest noise in the com- 
 mercial world. It is the most eloquent of all arguments 
 and inducements used. For this reason prices should be 
 given with every retail ad that aims to sell goods. 
 
862 PEICE ADVEETISINQ. 
 
 "An ad that simply says, * John Smith's stock is the 
 largest and best selected in town, and his prices are way 
 down,' says nothing. It is meaningless. Almost every 
 retailer tries to give that impression in his ads, but no 
 impression is made unless something specific is said — un- 
 less items and prices are given. 
 
 "There is such an error as running in too many prices 
 in an ad. Too many prices not only tend to beget con- 
 fusion, but also overcrowd the ad. One or two good 
 items and prices rightly put are worth a dozen indiffer- 
 ently given, 
 
 "When you speak of a stove, of neckwear, a suit, an 
 overcoat, or what not, give a clear, detailed description 
 of the article and a suggestion as to its use; then give 
 your price. 
 
 "The woman of the family, who, by the way, does most 
 of the family shopping, is nearly always occupied with 
 the ways and means question, and a retail ad addressed 
 to her is pointless without prices. She considers prices 
 closely. She makes mental memoranda as to how far her 
 dollars can stretch before she starts on a shopping ex- 
 pedition. The advertised prices help her in this. 
 
 "Take the ads of the best advertisers in New York and 
 elsewhere, and you will always notiee they give great 
 consideration to prices. 
 
 "I have noticed in my advertising experience with 
 various concerns, that buyers of departments, the real 
 powers in the store, are always anxious to run in a whole 
 lot of figures. They know that figures are the greatest 
 factors in swinging trade, and they usually want these 
 figures set in the largest sort of type, under the mistaken 
 
PRICE ADVERTISING. 363 
 
 impression that the larger the type the more attractive 
 the price. 
 
 "Ordinary display type for figures brings in as much 
 trade as the tremendously large type. Why? Because 
 the ordinary reader notes the average size type — ^the type 
 this page is printed in, for instance, as it can be easily 
 read, and that is all that type is for, anyway. Large 
 type makes me think of Coney Island barkers or Bowery 
 pullers-in. They try by main noise and gesticulation to 
 influence people. Advertising should be sensible and 
 convincing; large type alone doesn't make it so, and large 
 type alone for figures doesn't add any alarming force to 
 their value. When in conversation with another man you 
 do not care to have him shout at you as though you were 
 deaf. You much prefer to have him speak in an easy, 
 cultivated tone. 
 
 "And that is how advertising should be given — ^in an 
 easy, cultivated tone. The arguments, items, and prices 
 will make better and more lasting impression when de- 
 livered thus. 
 
 "Give clever, pointed headlines, good, strong argu- 
 ments, clear and satisfactory details in items — ^never for- 
 get your best prices ; have the whole properly typo- 
 graphed in the right sort of mediums, and then you can 
 rest easy that your advertising is about right." 
 
364 
 
 PRICE ADYERTISINO. 
 
 Old-Timer 
 Talks No. 4 
 
 1 remember a new engine 
 we got once the very hrsi 
 day she ran so hot she wa» 
 laid up Well. I had an 
 idea I could run that engine 
 and so I got the master me 
 chanic to let me take her out 
 
 Before starting 1 care 
 fuiljf worked sopie ol Dixon * 
 Flake Graphite in on bei 
 pins and boxes Then I 
 look her out on the express 
 and when I brought her back 
 •he was as cool as a cucum 
 ber I ran her regular after 
 that and was glad tn get 
 a ne\» engine — she was 
 certainl> a dandy 
 
 I tell vou there s nothing 
 like Dixon s Flake Graphite 
 for new or old engines But 
 dont take m> word for it 
 get a free sample and »ee 
 for yourself 
 
 Joseph Dixon CracibleCo. 
 Jersey City, N. J 
 
 ne TliulLS^Tliig DiDoer 
 
 
 SllS BKOADWAY. 
 
 'Uutrviae lo'Jdok il flfcr*^ 
 
 Ads. With a Salesmanship Appeal. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 TESTING ADVERTISING. 
 
 BY NATHANIEL C. FOWLER^ JR. 
 
 **That which seems so may not be so." 
 
 Does advertising pay? So asks every advertiser. 
 
 The local advertiser, living in the field of his advertis- 
 ing, where neighbor knows neighbor, and where the local 
 mediums confine their circulation to the town and its out- 
 skirts, can easily determine, by judgment alone, whether 
 his advertising pays or does not pay. The local advertiser 
 knows the character of every local advertising medium. 
 He sees the papers at his house; he reads them, and he 
 knows whether his friends and the people read them 
 also. The local advertiser measures his advertising in a 
 measure of his own and gauges it with local gauge. 
 
 The general advertiser knows whether or not his ad- 
 vertising pays generally; and apparent fact and judg- 
 ment tell him that certain mediums do not pay. He can- 
 not travel all over the field of his advertising, and he can- 
 not see the circulation of his mediums. 
 
 There is not much trouble in determining the value of 
 the few great advertising mediums, for the advertiser 
 sees enough of them in circulation to intelligently esti- 
 mate their effectiveness. It is not at all difficult for the 
 advertiser to determine that the poorest mediums are 
 worthless, because if he or his men circulate fairly well, 
 and visit several cities and towns, and see them nowhere, 
 there is the best circumstantial evidence that these 
 mediums are worthless. The trouble is in determining 
 whether the mediums which are neither best nor worst 
 are worth using at all. 
 
 365 
 
366 TESTING ADVERTISING. 
 
 The advertiser may say that he can afford to drop all 
 but the best. He cannot afford to do this, for some of 
 those which he is in doubt about may pay him better than 
 those he thinks he is sure about. 
 
 The Old-Time Number Test. 
 
 Many advertisers have made use of the time-worn 
 number test, which consists of using a different street 
 number in each advertisement, and carefully checking the 
 returns, keeping a record book containing the numbers 
 and the publications corresponding to them. 
 
 Other advertisers most carefully read the letters which 
 come in answer to their advertisements, and credit the 
 paper with a good mark when the writer mentions it. 
 
 In the advertising of some cheap line of goods, and in 
 offering to send free catalogues, this method has given a 
 fairly good idea of pubhcation value, but it is by no 
 means conclusive, and no advertiser has a right to en- 
 tirely bar out a publication because either of these 
 methods of testing has resulted to its disadvantage. Not 
 one in a hundred of the answerers of advertisements will 
 take the pains to mention the pubhcation they saw the 
 advertisement in, even though the advertisers ask them 
 to do so. The better class of buyers seldom comply with 
 this request, simply because there is no reason why they 
 should. 
 
 A proportion of those who answer advertisements first 
 see the advertisement in one pubhcation, and, perhaps, 
 do not answer it until they have seen it in a good many 
 others; and if the street number test is used, it is possible 
 that the pubhcation which does not deserve mention of 
 the credit will get the credit. 
 
TESTING ADVERTISING. 867 
 
 A proportion of advertisement answerers frequently 
 answer the advertisement from memory, and even if the 
 street number is given, they will not write it upon the 
 envelope. 
 
 Cutting Out the Ad. 
 
 Some advertisers request the answerer to cut out the 
 advertisement and return it, making the advertisement 
 a sort of coupon. This is an old trick, and may not do 
 any harm in the advertising of cheap goods, but is one 
 which does not appeal to the better class of readers. 
 
 There is not any sure method for testing the value of 
 general publications. The value of any advertising 
 medium is due wholly to its adaptability to the goods ad- 
 vertised. 
 
 The medium which may pay one advertiser may be 
 absolutely useless to another. 
 
 The general advertiser must use his judgment. He 
 must study the contents of the medium carefully, and by 
 making inquiries among his friends and the public, ob- 
 tain information which will enable him to judge as to 
 whether or not the publication reaches the people he is 
 after. 
 
 His own individual test, and the opinion of his partner 
 and wife and legal adviser, may have no weight what- 
 ever because they may judge a medium by their own in- 
 dividual ideas. Public opinion is the only opinion worth 
 anything in determining the value of an advertising 
 medium. 
 
 Satisfactory Evidence. 
 
 If the advertiser desires to reach the middle-class 
 woman, and the publisher of a certain publication states 
 that the circulation of his publication is so much, and ap- 
 
868 TESTING ADVERTISING. 
 
 pearances corroborate the statement, and the advertiser 
 finds that women everywhere read the pubUcation, he 
 has all the evidence that he can obtain and all he ought to 
 have to convince him that the medium is adapted to his 
 purpose. 
 
 If the publication states that there are a certain num- 
 ber of thousands of his papers sold in a town, and the 
 advertiser finds that not one family out of a dozen he has 
 visited reads the paper, there is something the matter 
 somewhere. 
 
 If the careful examination of the publication ap- 
 parently justifies the publishers' claim, and reasonable 
 inquiry further proves the correctness of it, and the 
 publication reaches the desired people, it is altogether 
 likely that it is a desirable medium for the advertiser. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 SELECTION OF MEDIUMS. 
 
 The question of the selection of suitable mediums is 
 one of the most important that confronts the manufac- 
 turer or merchant who wishes to advertise. With more 
 than 24,000 publications open to his choice in the United 
 States alone, he has a wide field for the exercise of the 
 wise discrimination required for success. With the ad- 
 vance of the art of advertising, however, reputable and 
 reliable agents and agencies have so classified the pub- 
 lications of every English-speaking country that the ad- 
 vertiser who avails himself of their services may elimin- 
 ate the personal worry and trouble of making the choice 
 of mediums. 
 
 The American Newspaper Directory and other guides 
 of lesser magnitude provide means whereby an adver- 
 tiser may himself, if he choose, select a list of mediums 
 to cover any given territory, or trade, or class of the 
 community. These lists of mediums also contain in- 
 formation of a more or less reliable character regarding 
 the circulation of the papers listed; and for local ad- 
 vertising campaigns they are often extremely useful to 
 a new advertiser. 
 
 National Advertising Mediums. 
 
 The field of choice as respects mediums for national 
 advertisers is wide indeed and there are many other med- 
 iums whereby they may make their products known to 
 the general public besides the pubHcations listed in any 
 directory. 
 
 I.B.L. Vol.a-34 ^^ 
 
370 SELECTION OF MEDIUMS. 
 
 Advertising is advertising, whether it be done in a 
 magazine of national circulation, a great daily paper, a 
 local weekly, or in street cars, on billboards, or by means 
 of catalogues and other printed matter for general dis- 
 tribution. 
 
 The following is a partial list of the advertising med- 
 iums open to national advertisers: 
 
 1. High-grade Magazines. 
 
 2. Family Magazines. 
 
 3. Great Weeklies. 
 
 4. Great Dailies. 
 
 5. Sunday Papers. 
 
 6. Class Papers. 
 
 7. Trade Papers. 
 
 8. Lithographs. 
 
 9. Circulars. 
 
 10. Catalogues. 
 
 11. Calendars. 
 
 12. Advertising Novelties. 
 
 13. Billboards. 
 
 14. Street Cars. 
 
 15. Local DaiUes. 
 
 16. Local Weekhes. 
 
 There are other ways besides these in which advertis- 
 ing may be successfully carried on, but inasmuch as the 
 great bulk of advertising is done by means of the printed 
 ad appearing in publications of established periodicity, 
 we speak here particularly of the selection of such pub- 
 lications as advertising mediums. In this connection we 
 may quote an article on "How to Select Advertising 
 Mediums" which appeared recently (February, 1910) 
 in "Advertising and Selling," of New York. This art- 
 
SELECTION OF MEDIUMS. 371 
 
 icle is from the pen of Mr. Jefferson Thomas, an adver- 
 tising agent of national reputation who has successfully 
 handled the accounts of many well-known advertisers. 
 Speaking from a wide experience of many classes of 
 mediums, Mr. Thomas says : 
 
 "It *gets on my nerves' to recommend an advertising 
 medium that doesn't make good. When a publication 
 falls down on one of my accounts, I feel its failure as 
 a direct reflection on the service rendered the advertiser. 
 It is very natural, therefore, that I should want to know 
 the intimate details as to the character of the circula- 
 tion of any periodical which is under consideration in 
 connection with the advertising of any of my clients. 
 
 "In every case, of course, my first effort is to become 
 thoroughly familiar with the product of the advertiser 
 for whom the campaign is to be conducted, especially 
 as regards the character of its appeal to the pubhc, 
 where it should be most in demand, among what class of 
 people, etc. 
 
 "Upon the information obtainable in this connection 
 is based an analysis of the kind of circulation best 
 adapted to the purpose of the advertiser. For instance, 
 if the trade directory of the advertiser is necessarily 
 Hmited, the endeavor is to secure for him publications 
 with a large proportion of circulation in that territory — 
 provided this circulation is among the right class of 
 people. 
 
 How to Begin Selection. 
 
 "The first preliminary to the making up of the list is 
 to ascertain as far as possible the average amount of 
 desirable orders in the particular advertiser's line of busi- 
 ness. Where only one article of fixed price is sold, the 
 
372 SELECTION OF MEDIUMS. 
 
 problem is one of easy solution. If the advertiser offers 
 a number of articles and at different prices, however, the 
 situation is immensely more difficult of analysis. 
 
 "The next step is to make proper inquiry as to the 
 territory from which trade may be profitably sought. 
 If the products to be advertised are sold through dealers 
 this problem is one of trade distribution, but in a mail 
 order business the geographical limitations are largely 
 controlled by carriage charges. Whether paid by ad- 
 vertiser or the purchaser, these become a barrier to the 
 extension of business beyond certain limits in almost 
 every case. 
 
 "It is usually possible to work out a calculation which 
 gives the average amount of the order that is required 
 by the advertiser to place the handUng of his goods on 
 a fairly profitable basis as well as territorial analysis 
 that defines the states from which this business must 
 come to be desirable. With this data available, it would 
 seem that the effort to find mediums with sufficient pro- 
 portion of circulation in these states and sufficient dis- 
 tribution among people of the required buying capacity 
 should be a comparatively simple matter. 
 
 "It is, in some instances — on an account that is con- 
 fined to agricultural papers, for example, of which there 
 is such a large number circulating in a single state or in 
 a small group of states. Nor is it a very difficult thing 
 to make a proper selection of mediums when the adver- 
 tiser's product appeals to the average home and has a 
 national distribution. The trouble comes with the spec- 
 ialized advertiser, who must have a well-defined class of 
 circulation or a circulation in definite territorial limits. 
 
SELECTION OF MEDIUMS. 878 
 
 Facts Hard to Get. 
 
 To get the necessary facts in reference to the character 
 of a medium's circulation is much more difficult, in most 
 cases, than to satisfactorily analyze the advertiser's prop- 
 osition and ascertain the kind of circulation he needs. 
 There are certain publishers who know what is the nature 
 of the circulation of their periodicals and take pleasure 
 in placing data in reference thereto before an interested 
 advertiser or agent. As a general thing, however, the 
 advertising representatives of a medium live on in bliss- 
 ful ignorance of the vital facts in regard to the character 
 of the distribution of their publications and can give no 
 aid. I have therefore been forced to get the necessary 
 data by direct investigations in most cases — investiga- 
 tions made in all sorts of ways, yet all tending to develop 
 a connected set of facts. The task would be an im- 
 mensely easier one and the results more satisfactory, 
 all around, of course, were all the publishers concerned 
 to give their cooperation. I contend that the time has 
 arrived when publishers should put their solicitation of 
 advertising on a sane and business-like basis — and by do- 
 ing so not only reduce in large degree the expenses of 
 getting business but render a real service to every pur- 
 chaser of space. 
 
 "Of course, I mean publishers of mediums which have 
 some reason for existence and which can show that their 
 columns will produce business for certain classes of ad- 
 vertisers — ^it is hardly to be expected that the medium 
 which has no inherent strength will adopt methods that 
 must inevitably disclose its lack of merit. There has 
 been tremendous progress along this line in the past 
 few years and a comparison of the methods now em- 
 
874 SELECTION OF MEDIUMS. 
 
 ployed by the leading periodicals to secure business with 
 those in vogue a short dozen years ago encourages one 
 to believe that a further revolution in conditions may 
 reasonably be hoped for as a development of the next 
 decade. We have seen the passing of the non-service 
 agency, with its directory and other schemes through 
 which it built up a preferred list of mediums, the use of 
 which by its customers filled the coffers of the agency but 
 mulcted the then unsophisticated advertiser. There has 
 largely gone into the limbo of discarded methods, also, 
 the "good fellow" basis of making up lists — nowadays 
 the solicitor must have something more than his personal- 
 ity to offer. 
 
 Encouraging Progress. 
 
 "Within the past two or three years there has been 
 decided progress in the education of advertisers as to the 
 significance of circulation. More big buyers of space 
 have been considering quality as well as quantity than 
 ever before. Any list of 'business carried" published 
 in the past thirty months has been noticeable, to the dis- 
 cerning, by reason of the volume of advertising in special 
 mediums of comparatively small circulation. No longer 
 is the specialized publication a stringer to the appropri- 
 ations of big national advertisers. But with all this 
 pleasing progress, there has not been reached a firm 
 commercial basis on which space may be bought. The 
 fallacy of "per line per thousand" as the foundation of 
 negotiations between publishers and advertisers has long 
 been apparent, though it is still too often the case that the 
 contracting parties lose themselves to the vital issues of 
 the trade in their controversies on this point. Equally 
 unreliable as a guide are editorial features, considered 
 
SELECTION OF MEDIUMS. 375 
 
 without relation to the character of circulation they build. 
 Yet "volume of circulation" and "tables of contents" 
 constitute the soliciting equipment of far too many pub- 
 lishers' representatives. 
 
 A Lesson from a Railroad. 
 
 "I propose that the publishers of the country take a 
 lesson from the greatest of all transportation institu- 
 tions, the Pennsylvania Railroad, The business solici- 
 tors of the Pennsylvania emphasize strongly the mileage 
 of their hues, but they do it in such a way as to show 
 the number and importance of the places reached. Cir- 
 culation claims are all right, but they should be only 
 the means to definite demonstration as to distribution and 
 buying importance of the persons reached by the maga- 
 zine on whose behalf they are made. The Pennsylvania 
 railroad man who's "on to his job" and follows the in- 
 structions of his superiors wastes mighty little time talk- 
 ing "aggregate mileage" when you approach him for 
 information about a ticket. He finds out where you 
 want to go and, whether your destination be Chicago or 
 Milroy, he's ready to show you just how much more 
 quickly and comfortably his connections can land you 
 there than those of any other road. It's the great good 
 fortune of the Pennsylvania that it can offer direct serv- 
 ice to a maximum number of points, and it is the equally 
 great good fortune of certain periodicals that they can 
 route an advertiser into some homes in practically every 
 community of the United States. But even the great 
 
876 SELECTION OF MEDIUMS. 
 
 Pennsylvania system has its territorial limitations and 
 offers only inferior service to certain points. 
 
 Directness of Route. 
 "The experienced traveler who needs to go from New 
 York to Battle Creek doesn't waste his time with the 
 Pennsylvania people, therefore, but gets transportation 
 on the Michigan Central. When he finds it necessary 
 to go from Detroit to Cincinnati he again leaves the 
 Pennsylvania severely alone. The Boston man when in 
 New York would hardly go over to Jersey City to take 
 a day train home, notwithstanding the splendid terminal 
 facilities at that point or the magnificent opportunities 
 there offered for quick passage to the south and west. 
 Yet the glamour of big circulations so affects the best 
 of advertising men at times as to cause them to forget 
 the quicker and more satisfactory means afforded by 
 special mediums for carrying a particular line of pub- 
 licity to the class of people most directly interested. 
 
 ''The true test of a publication's value is the buying 
 capacity of its readers for the line of goods to be adver- 
 tised. 
 
 "A secondary test is the buying habits of its constit- 
 uency. The principle first stated has been recognized 
 for many years in certain applications. Few adver- 
 tisers of heavy agricultural machinery will buy space in 
 a needlework magazine. I contend that it has much 
 broader applications, however, and that these important 
 but neglected applications should be recognized by pub- 
 lishers in their methods of soliciting business. The qual- 
 ifying secondary element of buying habit can be over- 
 come to a greater or less degree by the proper kind of 
 
SELECTION OF MEDIUMS. 377 
 
 educational copy but if the basic buying capacity for his 
 goods is not had by the readers of a publication the ad- 
 vertiser should keep away from it. 
 
 Some Illustrations. 
 
 "To more clearly explain my meaning, a few illustra- 
 tions may be excusable — even if they are quite primer- 
 like. The manufacturer of fur coats can't sell his goods 
 to the residents of Florida. Of what value to him is 
 the Florida circulation of any magazine? A banker or 
 broker in New York city is mighty poor material for 
 an advertiser of celluloid collars. Roses can't be grown 
 out-of-doors in certain states— what service can a paper 
 chiefly circulating in these states render to the mail order 
 florist ? I have seen over 500 copies of a popular weekly 
 bought from boys in a single afternoon by the miners of 
 a neighboring town — yet every copy was waste circula- 
 tion to the advertiser of a $3500 automobile who had a 
 two-page spread in that issue. One advertiser whose 
 proposition is such that he had never had an order from 
 a man with less than $25,000 a year income was per- 
 suaded to take space in a medium that cannot show a 
 single subscriber with such income — ^naturally, the order 
 was canceled after a few insertions. Of course the 
 matter becomes one of proportions, in its final analysis, 
 and herein lies the publisher's duty and opportunity. 
 If the class of circulation offered by every publication 
 could be readily ascertained, the problem would be an 
 easy one. The celluloid collar advertiser can keep out 
 of the Wall Street Journal and the fur manufacturer is 
 simply foolish if he uses the Florida Agriculturist. 
 Automobile manufacturers are not inclined to take space 
 
378 SELECTION OF MEDIUMS. 
 
 in the mine- worker's journals and the mail-order plant 
 man fights shy of the papers which circulate exclusively 
 in the territory that is closed to him by reason of soil and 
 climate conditions. The value to them of any medium 
 of national or general circulation, however, can be deter- 
 mined only by the proportion of its circulation which 
 reaches the class of people they can appeal to with rea- 
 sonable expectation of selHng. 
 
 "Circulation reaches its level just as certainly and as 
 speedily as does water. The ablest editor may tear his 
 hair in planning features to attract certain classes of 
 people, but only the circulation manager's records, under 
 proper analysis, can tell you whether or not the features 
 serve their purpose. In the old days at Springfield, Ohio, 
 an editor of the Woman's Home Companion would be- 
 come almost a mental wreck watching the news-stands 
 to ascertain the kind of folks who bought his magazine 
 as a results of certain articles. The talk of the adver- 
 tising solicitor, based on the monthly bulletin of features, 
 becomes mighty ridiculous, sometimes, when taken in 
 connection with a house- to-house investigation as to what 
 persons buy the magazine which employs him. 
 One Dependable Rule. 
 
 "There's just one dependable rule on the subject — 
 the policy and contents of a magazine will appeal to 
 relatively the same class of persons in one community as 
 another, so long as they do not cover sectional or polit- 
 ical subjects. And in this rule lies the key to the whole 
 puzzle. Let pubHshers soft pedal on circulation claims 
 and editorial features talk. Let them reduce their solici- 
 ting staffs to about one-third the present number of men, 
 and give the ones retained some vital facts to present 
 
SELECTION OF MEDIUMS. 379 
 
 agents and advertisers. Let them employ the other two- 
 thirds getting these vital facts, and keeping them always 
 up to date. Let them so equip the remaining solicitors 
 that where one of them approaches a buyer of space he 
 can not only offer proofs of circulation, and give some in- 
 formation as to the editorial policy and business methods 
 which have built this circulation, but also present con- 
 vincing data as to the buying power and tendencies of 
 the people reached by his publication. The money 
 wasted by the average publisher in sending out poorly- 
 printed statements of aggregate circulation and poorly- 
 written arguments as to the value of his medium, to say 
 nothing of the worse than waste expense of personal 
 solicitation based on the same sort of thing, would secure 
 an array of facts, if properly expended, that could be 
 depended upon to secure for his medium every line of 
 business to which it is legitimately entitled. 
 How to Go About It. 
 "There are any number of ways of doing the thing — 
 and the live publisher will think up an equal number of 
 ways of doing it differently and better. A national ag- 
 ricultural paper has gone to the head of its class of 
 mediums by a personally-conducted investigation of its 
 subscription list in typical communities — giving the re- 
 sults to the public in a series of handsome booklets, 
 which show pictorially the homes and farms of its people 
 and in cold figures what they earn in a year, what ad- 
 vertised goods they buy, etc. Several large magazines 
 with a large subscription circulation, assuming that the 
 details of the same are very much the business of the 
 advertiser and the agent, will supply on demand proofs 
 of their mailing lists at any points. At least one very 
 
880 SELECTION OF MEDIUMS. 
 
 progressive publisher will furnish a special commercial 
 agency report on his subscribers in any town or city that 
 the space buyer may select. 
 
 "To get this kind of data from the average publisher 
 is as yet a moral impossibility, however, and the adver- 
 tiser or his agent must secure it from other sources in 
 the great majority of instances. Ten times as many in- 
 vestigations to get the facts were made this year as last, 
 I have every reason to believe, and the lists now going out 
 from more than one agency show the results. 
 
 "Every advertiser must determine for himself, with 
 the aid of his agent, how much waste circulation he can 
 afford to buy. That is, if he sells fur coats, he must 
 figure out the percentage of fur coat buyers before he 
 buys space in it. This principle is certain to become the 
 standard basis on which advertising is placed — aggre- 
 gate circulation in proportion to net buying possibiHties. 
 The publisher who anticipates the unusual demand for 
 data on which the proportions may be determined by 
 offering it, naturally will advance his own interests and 
 put his medium in a position of strength with all con- 
 cerned. The producer of space who assumes that it is 
 none of the buyer's business what this space represents 
 is certain to be forced into the open — and when forced 
 to show down will generally get just a little less busi- 
 ness than his medium is really entitled to. No better 
 resolve can be made by any publisher than to get ac- 
 quainted with his subscribers and introduce them, in a 
 way that means something, to the advertising men of the 
 country." 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 COLOR IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 The growing use of color in advertising is recognized 
 as one of the signs of evolution. In the following article 
 an advocate of the value of color presented his views so 
 clearly and comprehensively that it is reproduced from 
 "Advertising and Selling" (New York: February, 
 1910) as a model argument for the employment of the 
 color artist in advertising: 
 
 When advertisers begin to figure on how much money 
 they can spend on printing instead of how little, it seems 
 as if the use of color would be well-nigh universal. The 
 printing question, as the advertiser now sees it, is, How 
 Httle can I spend and make a fairly creditable showing? 
 whereas the real question should be. How much can I 
 spend and still practise true economy by increasing the 
 percentage of results out of proportion to the additional 
 expenditure involved? 
 
 For example: If a booklet, illustrated by black half- 
 tone pictures of the goods advertised, cost $1,000, it will 
 bring, let us estimate, orders the profit upon which is 
 $1,800. It does this on the basis of probably 80 per 
 cent waste — that is to say, the commonplace appearance 
 of the book has caused four out of five to be thrown away 
 or disregarded. Working on this ratio, if the book were 
 capable of exerting 100 per cent attention- value, instead 
 of only 20, orders would have shown a gross profit of 
 $9,000 instead of only $1,800. 
 
 381 
 
882 COLOE IN ADVERTISING. 
 
 The production of the same book, illustrated by the 
 three-color process, would have cost perhaps $4,000. If 
 it were 100 per cent good it would thus have shown a 
 net profit of $5,000 instead of the $800 profit of the 
 cheaper book. Of course, no book can be 100 per cent 
 good in pulling results, and the question thus becomes, 
 Will the book in color come near enough to the 100 per 
 cent mark to make it a profitable purchase? 
 Will It Increase Sales? 
 
 Does it possess four times the attention-value and sales 
 power of the book illustrated in black only? If it does, 
 it is 80 per cent good, and will bring results to the 
 amount of $7,200, earning a net profit of $3,200 instead 
 of only $800. 
 
 While it may be said that the use of color cannot pro- 
 duce orders from 80 per cent of its recipients, and thus is 
 not 80 per cent good, the fact remains that the color book 
 may be comparatively 80 per cent good, in that it brings 
 four times the business of the book illustrated only in 
 black. It does this, not only by tremendously increasing 
 attention-value and thus gaining many times more read- 
 ers, but by increasing the size of orders as well as their 
 number, from the fact that it shows the goods as they are, 
 in their true colors and characteristics, thus convincing 
 the customer that they are what he wants and bringing 
 a full-sized order instead of a tentative, experimental one. 
 
 There is some difference between a profit of $800 and 
 one of $3,200 on a piece of printed matter. 
 
 Proof of Color Value. 
 
 The only question is, therefore. Can color make good 
 in anything like these proportions? 
 
COLOR IN ADVERTISING. 388 
 
 The answer is that it does. Excellent proof of this 
 lies in the fact that the big mail order houses, which 
 figure costs and results down to the fraction of a penny, 
 pay the four-fold cost of color process work without a 
 murmur, use more of it every year, and have found by 
 comparative tests that a cut in color will sometimes sell 
 as high as 15 times as many goods as a black cut. The 
 advertiser who wants to show his goods as they really are, 
 never goes back to black after he has given color a trial. 
 
 There are some articles, it is true, that may be shown 
 with sufficient clearness and attractiveness without the use 
 of color. Pianos, for example. A good halftone of a 
 piano shows it as it is — the mere statement that the case 
 is of mahogany or ebony is sufficient aid to the imagina- 
 tion. But piano manufacturers, long traveling sleepily 
 in a rut, are beginning to awaken to the desirability of 
 creating an attractive and alluring atmosphere in their 
 pictures, and they will doubtless find that this may be 
 most effectively done by the use of color in the surround- 
 ings in which their instruments are shown. 
 Calendar Advertising. 
 
 One branch of color advertising has attained, of late 
 years, the proportions of a great business in itself. That 
 is the making of calendars and store hangers. Less than 
 twenty years ago the best that was done in the way of a 
 calender was a chromo that would be a joke today. Now, 
 the makers of calendars of the best grades scour this 
 country and Europe for paintings of the most artistic 
 nature, paying hundreds, and often thousands, of dol- 
 lars for them. These paintings are reproduced by the 
 faithful camera, which not only preserves the colors, but 
 the feeling and spirit of the original — every fine shade 
 
384 COLOE IN ADtEETISING. 
 
 of treatment which the painting possesses, much of which 
 is lost if the work of a middleman intervenes in the re- 
 production. Stock calendars so produced in quantities 
 are sold to the advertiser at a price which is small indeed 
 when the original cost of the painting is considered. 
 
 Value of Calendars. 
 Calendars, of course, rank as publicity rather than 
 pure advertising, yet they have a strong value. They 
 are a necessity in the business office and the home — next 
 to knowing the time of day it is essential to know the 
 day. Thus a calendar which is worthy of a place on 
 the wall stays on the wall. Every day, for an entire 
 year, it keeps the name of the advertiser and his goods 
 before the people in the business office, and those who 
 come in to do business. Obviously, its value depends 
 upon its beauty, and nothing can be more beautiful than 
 a true reproduction of a work of art from the hand of a 
 master. 
 
 Store Hangers. 
 Store hangers in color come pretty near being an 
 absolute necessity — provided store hangers are to be 
 used at all. A hanger without color would be lost in 
 the store — bright colors are necessary to make it stand 
 out and catch the eye. Lithography is used largely for 
 hangers, but here, too, process work shows its superiority 
 when it is desired to show accurate reproductions of the 
 goods. 
 
 Beproductions of Paintings. 
 An interesting offshoot of the calendar business is the 
 use of reproductions of paintings by newspapers as stim- 
 ulators of circulation. They have been used by the mil- 
 
COLOR IN ADYEETISING. 385 
 
 lion, and there is no diminution in the demand. News- 
 papers are unable to find anything that fills their place — 
 those who use them almost invariably return to them 
 again and again. As a rule, they are less artistically 
 reproduced than calendars — due to the fact that the 
 newspaper is always in a great hurry and seldom does 
 anything until the last moment. 
 
 The Public Demands Color. 
 
 Why is it that the public demand is always so strong 
 for calendars in color, reproductions of paintings, etc? 
 The answer is that people never tire of color. They 
 want it — ^look for it everywhere. Universally, we turn 
 to the bright tints of the evening sky — the pleasure they 
 give never grows stale. Our eyes are attracted and our 
 senses pleased by color just as long as we live if sight 
 is spared us, and our education in art only increases 
 our appreciation of and love for color. The work of the 
 camera, interpreted by the three and four-color process, 
 is a delight to the cultured as well as the most humble 
 and unschooled, for it is faithful and true to the original. 
 
 The hold which color has upon all classes of people 
 is illustrated in an interesting way by artists themselves. 
 No matter how proficient they may be in black and 
 white, they yearn for color. Their highest ambition is 
 to learn to paint well in oils. Witness Gibson, for ex- 
 ample, who practically left behind him a reputation of 
 the highest order and an extremely satisfactory income 
 in order to study color. 
 
 The Psychology of Color. 
 
 The psychology of color has not as yet been fully 
 interpreted to us, speaking from a commercial stand- 
 point. We know how to use it, but we don't clearljr 
 
 I.B.I,. Vol. 3—25 
 
886 COLOE IN ADVEETISING. 
 
 understand why. We know it is powerful, but have no 
 accurate measure of its strength. 
 
 Its value is acknowledged by the growing use of color 
 in typography, and even in the illustrations of maga- 
 zine advertising. This, however, is merely the use of 
 color for color's sake — taking advantage of its powers 
 of attraction only, which is but a fractional part of its 
 real value. So used, it is like a brush in the hand of a 
 child — crude markings which arrest the eye but mean 
 nothing are the only result. 
 
 Color Sustains Interest. 
 
 An interesting thing for the advertiser to remember 
 is that color is the one thing which sustains the interest. 
 The eye and the mind both grow weary of page after 
 page of advertisements set in plain type, or illustrated 
 by line cuts or halftones having more points of similar- 
 ity than of difference. Not so with color. Pictures of 
 the most familiar articles of everyday use become im- 
 bued with a really remarkable interest when reproduced 
 in their natural colors. We look them over with a most 
 appreciative eye — we wade through page after page of 
 them, as pleased as a child ^vith a big picture book — the 
 more there are of them the better we are pleased. The 
 best thing about color, commercially considered, is that 
 the more people see of it the more they want. 
 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Early Forms of Advertising. 
 
 1. Was there any form of advertising before the in- 
 vention of movable type ? 
 
 2. From what period does advertising date as an or- 
 ganized form of business enterprise ? 
 
 3. What was the condition in the business world as 
 regards advertising in the middle of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury? 
 
 4. When does the history of advertising note the ap- 
 pearance of the earhest newspaper ad? 
 
 5. When was the first authentic English periodical 
 newspaper published and what was its character? 
 
 6. What developments were noted after the conclu- 
 sion of the English Civil War in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury? 
 
 7. How did booksellers first recognize the value of 
 the newspaper as a means of advertisement? 
 
 8. When did advertisements of proprietary medi- 
 cines begin to appear in the British newspapers? 
 
 9. When was the appearance of the first trade ads 
 noted? 
 
 10. What was the condition of the art of advertising 
 in England at the time of the Restoration? 
 
 887 
 
888 QUESTIONS FOE REVIEW. 
 
 11. When did the true value of advertising begin to 
 dawn upon the public mind? 
 
 12. Cite a historical instance of a newspaper pub- 
 lished to contain only advertisements. 
 
 13. When was it recognized that the publication of 
 news and the dissemination of advertisements are insep- 
 arably connected? 
 
 14. When was the first newspaper published in 
 America, and what was its character as regards adver- 
 tising? 
 
 15. What great -service has the art of advertising 
 rendered to English-speaking nations? 
 
 16. What effect did the British taxes on advertise- 
 ments have upon advertising up to 1833? 
 
 17. What was the effect of the abolition of the Stamp 
 Tax on newspapers in 1855 ? 
 
 18. What advantage was claimed for the Stamp 
 Tax? 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Modem Progress in Advertising. 
 
 1. To what industrial condition may we trace the de- 
 velopment of modern methods of advertising? 
 
 2. Show how the old method of selling manufactured 
 goods by personal effort was an expensive system of dis- 
 tribution. 
 
 3. What changes have been wrought by advertising 
 in modern times in the distribution of goods on both sides 
 of the Atlantic? 
 
 4. From what period does the modern era of adver- 
 tising date in the United States and Canada? 
 
 5. Who were the most conspicuous advertisers in the 
 early days of the new era? 
 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 389 
 
 6. What was the largest single advertisement pub- 
 lished by any newspaper prior to the Civil War in the 
 United States? 
 
 7. When did the advertising agency enter the field as 
 a factor in advertising? 
 
 8. When did the growth and the development of the 
 magazine as a medium of advertising begin? 
 
 9. Give an instance of the introduction of character 
 figures in advertising. 
 
 10. What effect has progress in the art of advertis- 
 ing had upon British newspapers in recent years? 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Commercial Value of Advertising. 
 
 1. Why does modern commerce require the wonder- 
 ful new power of advertising? 
 
 2. Is advertising a positive force to be relied upon in 
 calculating the possible requirements of a business? 
 
 3. What does advertising require for its existence 
 and development ? 
 
 4. How can advertising create habits among the peo- 
 ple, to be used in building up a business? 
 
 5. What two sharp distinctions appear when we at- 
 tempt to consider whether an article may be profitably 
 advertised or not? 
 
 6. In what respect have modern methods of adver- 
 tising reached the highest development? 
 
 7. What classes of merchandise afford examples of 
 the largest successes in advertising? 
 
 8. How must the advertiser broadly discriminate in 
 the choice of a medium for advertising? 
 
890 QUESTIONS FOE REVIEW. 
 
 9. How do space, type, words, and pictures figure as 
 factors in the art of advertising? 
 
 10. In what way may the power of Alexander, 
 Washington and Napoleon be compared to that of mod- 
 ern successful advertising? 
 
 11. Does advertising consist of merely attracting at- 
 tention? 
 
 12. Can the element of luck be said to enter into 
 successful advertising? 
 
 13. Has advertising made a secure place for itself in 
 modern business? 
 
 14. What effect has advertising in a field where there 
 is keen competition? 
 
 15. Show how advertising may be made to save ex- 
 pense in a wholesale and in a retail business. 
 
 16. How does advertising enable the advertising 
 manager of a large retail store to classify the customers 
 of the house and appeal to them separately ? 
 
 17. How do the great family journals of national 
 circulation deal in a practical manner with the problems 
 that come up constantly in the average home? 
 
 18. What effect has advertising upon the circulation 
 of periodicals and newspapers? 
 
 19. What peculiar influence upon the public is ex- 
 erted by some of the great magazines? 
 
 20. What is the relative value of street car advertis- 
 ing, of painted sign boards and bill boards? 
 
 21. What changes in the tone of the advertising busi- 
 ness have been noted in the last few years? 
 
 22. What conditions have produced the evolution of 
 the advertising agency? 
 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW, 391 
 
 23. What are the functions of an advertising agent 
 and the work of an agency? 
 
 24. How can it be proved that advertising has posi- 
 tive commercial value? 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Essontials of Successful Advertising. 
 
 1. What is the first essential of successful advertis- 
 ing? 
 
 2. Why is it not good business to advertise bad or in- 
 different articles? 
 
 3. What is necessary to make advertising pay in the 
 long run? 
 
 4. What is the second secret of remunerative adver- 
 tising? 
 
 5. Why should special emphasis be laid upon the 
 need of wide knowledge and experience in all branches 
 of advertising? 
 
 6. What two valuable maxims in advertising result 
 from the general experience of advertisers? 
 
 7. Why is an intricate or confused advertisement 
 usually a bad advertisement? 
 
 8. What should be the chief aim of the writer of an 
 advertisement? 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Science of Advertising. 
 
 1. What is meant by the science of advertising? 
 
 2. How long has scientific advertising in its advanced 
 form been in use? 
 
 3.. Give an instance of a recent discovery in regard 
 to the use of type in advertising. 
 
892 QUESTIONS FOE REVIEW. 
 
 4. What has been learned about the use of open and 
 closed circulars in advertising? 
 
 5. What are the basic principles by which an adver- 
 tisement may be analyzed? 
 
 6. How is the value of Attention rated in an adver- 
 tisement, and how can it be secured ? 
 
 7. How must public opinion be molded in success- 
 ful advertising? 
 
 8. What is the difference between an old-fashioned 
 advertisement of a bank and an ad based on modern 
 ideas? 
 
 9. How can advertising be compared to ancient and 
 modern methods of farming? 
 
 10. How many kinds of publicity are there as ap- 
 plied to advertising? 
 
 11. What is meant by "direct pubhcity?" 
 
 12. What is necessary in advertising when it is de- 
 sired to get people to take up a new article of food or a 
 new method of hving? 
 
 13. What is the first thing necessary in a general 
 publicity campaign? 
 
 14. What must be done in an advertisement besides 
 attracting attention, to make it pay? 
 
 15. Give an example of successful magazine adver- 
 tising and state why it was successful. 
 
 16. What is the most difficult to handle of all gen- 
 eral publicity campaigns? 
 
 17. What is the distinction between an old-fashioned 
 bargain ad and a scientific bargain ad? 
 
QUESTIONS FOE REVIEW. 393 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Advertising a Regular Line. 
 
 1. What is the main object of advertising a regular 
 line of goods? 
 
 2. What facts must be taken into consideration by a 
 merchant advertising a regular line against competi- 
 tion? 
 
 8. Name the various ways by which an advertisement 
 may get the reader's attention. 
 
 4. How is type used to secure attention? 
 
 5. What is meant by the use of "strong statements?" 
 
 6. What is the effect of continuously advertising 
 bargain sales? 
 
 7. What should be done in every advertisement that 
 oflPers bargains? 
 
 8. Why is the use of stock cuts undesirable and 
 often ineffective in attracting attention? 
 
 9. What are the characteristics of a good illustration 
 for an advertisement? 
 
 10. Why is it important to make the advertising of 
 a regular line continuous? 
 
 11. Name some instances of advertising enterprises 
 that failed for lack of continuity. 
 
 12. Why should a business man realize that advertis- 
 ing is something besides using space in a paper? 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Advertising a Specialty. 
 1. Does advertising a specialty require better adver- 
 tising than a regular line, and why? 
 
894 QUESTIONS FOR BEVIEW. 
 
 2. How does it benefit mail order houses to pay con- 
 siderably more to secure a new customer than the profit 
 on his order amounts to? 
 
 3. Is it usually profitable to advertise a low-priced 
 specialty? 
 
 4. What are the exceptions to the rule in this case? 
 
 5. Name two ways in which a specialty may be adver- 
 tised in a newspaper or magazine. 
 
 6. What is the usual method? 
 
 7. What is the advantage of having the customer 
 write for literature after seeing the ad? 
 
 8. Are follow-up letters generally valuable in secur- 
 ing business after advertising? 
 
 9. How many times should a possible customer be 
 followed up by correspondence after answering an ad? 
 
 10. What is a necessary feature of a specialty ad 
 where it is intended to get direct returns ? 
 
 11. What should be the characteristics of every fol- 
 low-up letter? 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Tests of Advertising. 
 
 1. What great benefit is to be derived by the use of 
 fundamental tests in advertising? 
 
 2. Name some of the fundamental tests of advertis- 
 ing formulated by Mr. John Lee Mahin. 
 
 3. Why should an advertisement in a newspaper re- 
 flect the advertiser's personality, or be natural? 
 
 4. Why is it necessary to bring out the individual 
 features of the store or of the article advertised, that is 
 to be specific? 
 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 395 
 
 5. Why is it necessary to make sure that a newspaper 
 advertisement is timely? 
 
 6. How can we decide whether or not an advertise- 
 ment is pertinent? 
 
 7. Why should the advertiser be consistent and em- 
 body the quahty in his advertising copy? 
 
 8. How can a single advertisement reflect the qual- 
 ity of persistency in advertising on the part of the house? 
 
 9. Why must an authoritative tone be assumed and 
 maintained by the advertiser? 
 
 10. What is meant by the institutional character of 
 an advertisement and how can it be secured? 
 
 11. How can an advertisement be made plausible in 
 telling the truth? 
 
 12. In what way can the advertiser test whether his 
 advertisement is sincere or not? 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Advertising Agent. 
 
 1. What is necessary to bring the phrase "advertis- 
 ing expert" into good repute among advertisers? 
 
 2. What kind of advertising agent is entitled to the 
 name of expert in advertising? 
 
 3. Does the work of an ad-writer cover the whole 
 field of advertising? 
 
 4. What should an advertising expert, properly so- 
 called, have at his fingers' ends? 
 
 5. Why is it necessary for an expert in advertising 
 to understand business conditions? 
 
 6. What is the relation held by the advertising agent 
 to the advertiser and to the publisher? 
 
896 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 7. Is it necessary for a small local advertiser to in- 
 trust his business to an advertising agency? 
 
 8. Is the employment of an advertising agent de- 
 sirable in any form of purely local advertising? 
 
 9. What need is felt by the advertiser when his 
 market widens beyond the local field, and the selection 
 of mediums becomes a problem in itself? 
 
 10. What is the position of publishers with regard to 
 the employment of advertising agents? 
 
 11. What is the primary function of the advertising 
 agent? 
 
 12. Need he be anything more than a broker in ad- 
 vertising space? 
 
 13. Are the interests of the advertiser and the agent 
 identical ? 
 
 14. What effect upon the advertising field would fol- 
 low if the advertising agent's duties and responsibilities 
 were confined to buying space? 
 
 15. How many classes of advertisers may be noted, 
 and how is the advertising agency useful to them? 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 What is Good Copy? 
 
 1. What is the answer usually made to the query, 
 "what is good copy?" 
 
 2. Does this answer explain the nature of good copy ? 
 
 3. What is a more enlightening answer to the ques- 
 tion? 
 
 4. What factors determine the qualities of an adver- 
 tising campaign? 
 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 397 
 
 5. What is the advantage and also the danger of in- 
 dividuahty in advertising? 
 
 6. What often results from regarding ad-writing as 
 a kind of hterary occupation? 
 
 7. What quality should go hand in hand with origin- 
 ality in ad writing? 
 
 8. Why should the ad writer always keep in mind 
 the character of his audience and shape his diction ac- 
 cordingly? 
 
 9. What is meant by "strong" copy? 
 
 10. Is brevity an essential of successful ad writing? 
 
 11. What about the use of humor and witticisms in 
 advertising? 
 
 12. What relation does the headline usually bear to 
 the advertisement? 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Relation of Salesmanship to Advertising. 
 
 1. Does a close relation exist between advertising and 
 salesmanship ? 
 
 2. In what respect are they alike? 
 
 3. What is the foundation upon which both advertis- 
 ing and salesmanship rest in common with the whole 
 fabric of business? 
 
 4. What is the greatest foe of ignorance? 
 
 5. What is the identical object of advertising and 
 salesmanship ? 
 
 6. What is the relative value of "campaigns of 
 education" in advertising? 
 
 7. Why should an ad writer always have an object 
 in mind in order to turn out a successful ad? 
 
398 QUESTIONS FOR EEVEEW. 
 
 8. Show how advertising and salesmanship form the 
 connecting link between invention and the use of new 
 articles? 
 
 9. How may advertising be made to be an insurance 
 on the continuance of trade? 
 
 10. Why should the ad writer be even more careful 
 to say the right thing in his ads than the salesman is in 
 direct personal selling? 
 
 11. What is the value of the use of small words in 
 advertising? 
 
 12. How can the set-up of an advertisement be com- 
 pared to the address of a salesman? 
 
 13. Why should self-evident things be omitted from 
 advertising copy? 
 
 14. What is the advantage of advertising by means 
 of direct statements in a straightforward way? 
 
 15. What ten qualities of salesmanship are noted by 
 Mr. Hugh Chalmers? 
 
 16. Give an instance of the great value of complete 
 knowledge of the goods in salesmanship. 
 
 17. Why should a scientific salesman or advertiser 
 be willing to take suggestions and cultivate open minded- 
 ness? 
 
 18. Why is advertising the greatest business in the 
 world, viewed from many standpoints? 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Advertisement Writing. 
 
 1. Can any invariable rule or arbitrary principle be 
 laid down to govern the writing of advertisements? 
 
 2. How does advertisement writing depend entirely 
 upon surrounding conditions? 
 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 399 
 
 3. What is the only kind of originality that is market- 
 able? 
 
 4. Give Nathaniel C. Fowler, Jr.'s definition of an 
 advertisement. 
 
 5. What is the great criticism that applies to most 
 advertising? 
 
 6. Do newspapers as a rule object to resetting ad- 
 vertisements ? 
 
 7. What can be done by an advertiser when he has 
 nothing new to say about his article? 
 
 8. What does experience teach regarding the change 
 of style in advertising? 
 
 9. What is the psychic effect upon the public of a 
 constant change in the business man's ads ? 
 
 10. When is it advisable to make radical changes in 
 methods of advertising any article? 
 
 11. What should the advertiser do when he finds that 
 advertising is not "pulling?" 
 
 12. What kind of advertisement is read by the great- 
 est number as a rule, a large or a small ad? 
 
 13. What are the exceptions to the rule, that the 
 goods should be advertised and not the men who sell 
 them? 
 
 14. How can a business man learn to write a good 
 advertisement? 
 
 15. What rule should be observed with regard to the 
 use of long descriptions of goods? 
 
 16. Is there any objection to using large display iype 
 for strong statements in an ad? 
 
 17. What broad rule should be followed in the use of 
 large type? 
 
400 QUESTIONS FOE REVIEW. 
 
 18. When does small type become conspicuous in an 
 ad? 
 
 19. Is the personal letter form of advertising to be 
 recommended? 
 
 20. What is the best style of type to use in setting up 
 such an ad? 
 
 21. What rule should be followed with regard to the 
 use of humor in advertising if it is used at all? 
 
 22. What is the certain effect of falsehood in an ad- 
 vertisement? 
 
 23. Does the fact that an advertisement pleases the 
 advertiser carry any weight? 
 
 24. What is the "golden rule of advertising?" 
 
 25. How often should the same newspaper advertise- 
 ment be run without change? 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Pictures in Advertising. 
 
 1. What consideration should govern an advertising 
 man in the use of illustrations? 
 
 2. Does an illustration always operate to arrest at- 
 tention? 
 
 3. When may an advertisement without an illustra- 
 tion attract special attention? 
 
 4. Should an illustration be used merely for the 
 purpose of arousing attention? 
 
 5. How can an advertiser decide what will make an 
 illustration effective, a real advertising help? 
 
 6. Is the use of cheap illustrations advisable ? 
 
 7. What is the object of the frequent use of a trade- 
 mark? 
 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW, 401 
 
 8. Give an instance of a part-fanciful illustration 
 with a powerful effect. 
 
 9. Give an example of the inefficient use of a part- 
 fanciful illustration. 
 
 10. What is the object and aim of illustrations that 
 are purely fanciful, and how are they generally used? 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 A Decade of Publicity. 
 
 1. Name some peculiarities of classified ads of a few 
 years ago. 
 
 2. What was the theory of the former use of micro- 
 photographic advertising? 
 
 3. When was the era of ads having cuts as mere eye- 
 catchers succeeded by the modern school of advertising? 
 
 4. What must the advertising of today contain to be 
 successful? 
 
 5. Give an exai;nple of advertising that does not con- 
 tain salesmanship. 
 
 6. Give an example of an advertising illustration 
 that does contain salesmanship. 
 
 7. How may suggestion be successfully used in con- 
 nection with a picture ? 
 
 8. Give some examples of the successful use of sug- 
 gestion in well-known advertising pictures and phrases. 
 
 9. Give an example of the forceful use of words 
 without pictures in an ad. 
 
 10. Trace the steps in the evolution of advertising in 
 the past decade. 
 
 11. How may the personality of an advertiser be suc- 
 cessfully played up in the ad? 
 
 I.B.L. Vol. 3—26 
 
402 QUESTIONS FOR BEVIEW. 
 
 12. Why is it necessary to put enthusiasm into every 
 ad? 
 
 13. Why do the mail order advertisers as a rule do 
 better advertising than publicity advertisers? 
 
 14. Show how honesty and sincerity must be observed 
 in all advertising to be successful. 
 
 15. How do publishers protect themselves and their 
 subscribers against dishonest advertisers ? 
 
 16. What improved conditions have been brought 
 about in the last few years with regard to the seUing of 
 space by publishers? 
 
 17. Show how it is necessary for advertisers to study 
 their customers as well as their goods. 
 
 18. How has advertising in its modern development 
 magnified the power of good salesmanship? 
 
 19. Give an instance of the power of advertising in 
 settling a new country. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Psychology of Advertising. 
 
 1. What is meant by the psychology of advertising? 
 
 2. Is it desirable for an advertiser to study the sub- 
 ject? 
 
 3. Why is the whole subject of suggestion often 
 passed by with less consideration than it should receive ? 
 
 4. Is every normal individual subject to the influence 
 of suggestion? 
 
 5. What fact is demonstrated by the so-called mind 
 reading exhibitions? 
 
 6. Where is the most perfect working of suggestion 
 to be seen? 
 
QUESTIONS FOR EEVIEW. 403 
 
 7. What is the effect of a crowd upon an individual? 
 
 8. Is suggestion of universal application to all per- 
 sons? 
 
 9. Show how the actual effect of modern advertising 
 is not so much to convince as to suggest. 
 
 10. Do we always perform a deliberate act when we 
 purchase an advertised commodity? 
 
 11. Give an instance of the self-conscious influence of 
 advertising. 
 
 12. Should an advertisement encourage comparison 
 of the goods advertised with those of competitors? 
 
 13. What can an advertiser do to facilitate the 
 reader's decision in favor of his goods? 
 
 14. How is psychology of assistance to every ad- 
 vertiser? 
 
 15. What are the characteristics of the most success- 
 ful advertisers? 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Mail Order Advertising. 
 
 1. What kind of advertising is called mail order ad- 
 vertising? 
 
 2. In what sense is all advertising mail order ad- 
 vertising? 
 
 3. How many kinds of mail order houses are there? 
 
 4. Why must advertising for the first kind of mail 
 order houses be real "salesmanship on paper?" 
 
 5. What is the object of mail order advertising of 
 the second class? 
 
 6. To what classes of people does mail order adver- 
 tising appeal most strongly? . 
 
404 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 7. How does the absence of a credit system work to 
 the advantage of the mail order business? 
 
 8. Can any form of merchandising be converted 
 into a mail order business? 
 
 9. What are the three essential features of success- 
 ful mail order advertising? 
 
 10. What is the relative importance of these three 
 features? 
 
 11. What fact constitutes the importance of the illus- 
 trated booklet or catalogue in selling by mail? 
 
 12. The mail order advertisement must be so con- 
 structed as to effect a certain definite purpose. What is 
 that purpose? 
 
 13. What should be the characteristics of a good mail 
 order advertisement writer? 
 
 14. Why must the mail order advertisement usually 
 be a "puller" in short space? 
 
 15. Is it a good plan in mail order advertising to 
 leave out the price of the commodity? 
 
 16. Should the advertisement include a picture of 
 the commodity ? 
 
 17. Should the head line or caption of the advertise- 
 ment tell what the article is? 
 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 Advertising by Mail. 
 
 1. What is understood by mail advertisers? 
 
 2. Why are they some times called the wasters of 
 advertising money? 
 
 3. What is the reason for the failure of much ad- 
 vertising through the mail? 
 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 405 
 
 4. What is the prime objection to the ordinary mail 
 circular? 
 
 5. Does this objection apply to circular advertis- 
 ing of unique character? 
 
 6. Is the right kind of a circular mailed under seal 
 likely to be read? 
 
 7. Is it cheaper in the long run to send circulars 
 through the mail sealed, and why? 
 
 8. Why should a letter always accompany a circular 
 sent through the mail? 
 
 9. Why need catalogues not be sealed? 
 
 10. Is there any advantage in mailing circulars in 
 odd-sized envelopes? 
 
 11. What is the advantage of using the ordinary 
 commercial envelope? 
 
 12. What is the objection to using envelopes that are 
 larger than ordinary commercial size? 
 
 13. Is it advisable to advertise by means of post cards 
 having the address on one side and printed matter on the 
 other? 
 
 14. What is the advantage of using the regular 
 postal cards? 
 
 15. How can advertising through the mail be made 
 profitable? 
 
 16. Is it advisable to send more than one circular at 
 a time by mail? 
 
 17. Is it profitable to use envelopes for advertising 
 purposes? 
 
406 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Advertising as a Creative Force. 
 
 1. Is a name exploited in advertising equivalent to 
 a trade-mark? 
 
 2. Can the expenditures of a political campaign be 
 called pure advertising? 
 
 3. How has the change in forms and methods of ad- 
 vertising during the last few years come about? 
 
 4. Do members of the learned professions now rec- 
 ognize the value of advertising? 
 
 5. What is the present attitude of public utihty 
 corporations toward advertising? 
 
 6. What was their attitude ten years ago? 
 
 7. What has been the general trend of advertising 
 of late years? 
 
 8. How does advertising become a kind of bulletin 
 of human activities? 
 
 9. How was the field of magazine advertising first 
 opened up, and by whom? 
 
 10. Name a few articles that have ceased to be re- 
 garded as luxuries and have become necessities, through 
 the power of advertising. 
 
 11. In what way can advertising be made to assist a 
 political party? 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 What Advertising Has Done. 
 
 1. Does advertising as a rule help the manufac- 
 turer? 
 
 2. Name some instances in which advertising has 
 gone beyond specialties into staple goods. 
 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 407 
 
 8. What effect has advertising had in creating new 
 wants to be supplied by manufacturers? 
 
 4. Show what effect advertising has had upon the 
 automobile industry. 
 
 5. How has advertising helped the health and com- 
 fort of the nation? 
 
 6. What has been accomplished by advertising in 
 the world of music? 
 
 7. How has advertising helped the sale of safety 
 razors, fountain pens, package goods, and toilet articles? 
 
 8. What effect has advertising had upon the watch- 
 making industry? 
 
 9. What three dangers have to be fought by na- 
 tional advertisers? 
 
 10. In what way does national advertising by big 
 firms sometimes help competitors? 
 
 11. Show how unfair competition sometimes takes 
 advantage of national advertising campaigns. 
 
 12. What is the remedy for this state of affairs? 
 
 13. Into how many classes may ad men be divided ? 
 
 14. What is the distinction between **filling space" 
 and writing a good ad? 
 
 15. What is meant by "copy with actual selling force 
 in it"? 
 
 16. Is "freak" advertising of any kind likely to be 
 permanently successful? 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Waste in Advertising. 
 1. Is it true that there is a great net loss in the 
 money annually expended for advertising? 
 
408 QUESTIONS FOE REVIEW. 
 
 2. What kind of advertising is it that wastes the 
 money? 
 
 8. To what condition is a large proportion of the 
 inefficiency of advertising due? 
 
 4. What is the most serious drawback in the ad- 
 vertising business at this time? 
 
 5. Would it be advisable to adopt standards of ef- 
 ficiency for advertising service? 
 
 6. What must be added to the advertiser's ordinary 
 equipment in order to secure satisfactory results in adver- 
 tising? 
 
 7. What is the first thing an agent should do for a 
 new advertiser? 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 How Type Tells in Advertising. 
 
 1. Is it generally conceded that good type display 
 sells goods ? 
 
 2. What is meant by a good-looking ad? 
 
 3. Can an advertisement present a harmonious ap- 
 pearance and yet task the understanding of the reader 
 unduly? 
 
 4. Why is an unbroken column or page unpleasing 
 to the eye? 
 
 5. What two factors constitute a really good dis- 
 play of type? 
 
 6. Has advertising display shown any marked im- 
 provement in late years? 
 
 7. Can the arrangement of type be made to 
 strengthen an argument? 
 
 8. Should good type display be made an object of 
 itself? 
 
QtJESTIONS FOE REVIEW. 409 
 
 9. What consideration should guide the advertiser 
 in all selection and arrangement of type? 
 
 10. Is an advertising man or a compositor the best 
 judge of what constitutes the right display? 
 
 11. What are the four cards which every advertiser 
 holds in his hand? 
 
 12. Is it good business policy to stake the whole result 
 of advertising on one of these cards? 
 
 18. What is the ideal combination for an adver- 
 tisement? 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Municipal Advertising. 
 
 1. Do governments ever advertise, and if so, for 
 what purpose? 
 
 2. What is the object of advertising by municipali- 
 ties? 
 
 8. Is organized municipal advertising of recent 
 origin or has it been long established? 
 
 4. Has any progress been made toward perfecting 
 the ideal plan of advertising a municipality? 
 
 5. Sketch the outlines of the plan which has been 
 adopted by the city of Memphis, Tennessee, to exploit 
 its advantages and invite new industries, etc. 
 
 6. What four principal objects may be obtained by 
 organized municipal publicity? 
 
 7. Is newspaper help essential to the success of the 
 plan? 
 
 8. Is it advisable to make the public acquainted 
 with the work of a publicity committee? 
 
410 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 9. In what way should the choice of mediums for 
 advertising a municipality be determined? 
 
 10. Can the wholesale and retail trade of a city be 
 largely increased by municipal pubhcity advertising, and 
 how? 
 
 11. How do merchants* associations in many cities 
 crystallize their work? 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 Advertising Rates. 
 
 1. Should an advertiser refuse to advertise in a me- 
 dium simply because its rate is high? 
 
 2. Is an advertising rate to be regarded as a mer- 
 chandise price? 
 
 8. What is the basis of advertising rates in a repu- 
 table publication ? 
 
 4. What is the basis for the rates in a publication 
 without circulation ? 
 
 5. How must the advertising price be regulated 
 from the advertiser's standpoint? 
 
 6. Is it a rule that the publication charging the 
 most for its space offers the best value? 
 
 7. Is it profitable to buy advertising space simply 
 because it is cheap? 
 
 8. Is advertising space ever offered at less than it 
 is really worth? 
 
 9. What is a fair rate for advertising in local weekly 
 papers? 
 
 10. What is about the rate per thousand that would 
 be established by publications of general circulation if 
 an agreement could be reached? 
 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 411 
 
 11. Should advertising rates be fixed? 
 
 12. Is it right to assume that every publisher is glad 
 to fill up his space at almost any price? 
 
 18. What points must be considered by the adver- 
 tiser before buying space? 
 
 14. What effect has quality of circulation upon ad- 
 vertising rates? 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 PoUow-up Systems. 
 
 1. What condition has resulted in the development 
 of so-called follow-up systems in modern advertising? 
 
 2. What is the definition of "general publicity"? 
 
 3. May advertising that pulls no letters from read- 
 ers be valuable nevertheless ? 
 
 4. What is meant by "direct publicity" ? 
 
 5. What are the commonest forms of direct public- 
 ity? 
 
 6. What is the test of the success of a general pub- 
 licity campaign? 
 
 7. In which kind of advertising is the follow-up 
 system most fruitful? 
 
 8. How many follow-up letters should as a rule be 
 sent to an inquirer? 
 
 9. Why do many follow-up letters fail of their ob- 
 ject? 
 
 10. What is the best form of follow-up letters? 
 
 11. Should printed matter be inclosed with follow-up 
 correspondence ? 
 
 12. What is the fault in nearly all follow-up letters 
 with regard to length and style? 
 
412 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 13. What IS necessary to make a follow-up letter 
 effective and convincing? 
 
 14. Are follow-ups desirable in general publicity 
 campaigns? 
 
 15. Is it important to have a systematic tabulated 
 plan for keeping track of inquiries? 
 
 16. What should this tabulated record show? 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Keying Mail Order Advertisements. 
 
 1. Is it possible to key mail order advertisements so 
 as to tell what mediums bring the most inquiries? 
 
 2. What is the very common method of keying ad- 
 vertising? 
 
 8. What is the value of a keyed advertisement? 
 
 4. Is the keyed advertisement a reliable index to the 
 advertising value of any particular medium? 
 
 5. Does a medium which brings few inquiries for 
 booklets or catalogues ever pay the largest returns on 
 advertising investment? 
 
 6. What is the nature of the circulation of such a 
 medium? 
 
 7. What is meant by the * 'coupon" style of mail order 
 advertising? 
 
 8. What secret mark is placed on coupons in order 
 that they may be identified? 
 
 9. What is the argument behind the coupon style of 
 advertisement? 
 
 10. What is the great objection to this form of ad- 
 vertising? 
 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 418 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Grood Diction in Advertising. 
 
 1. It is practicable to rely solely on literary style in 
 the preparation of an ad? 
 
 2. Is the use of slang in ad-writing always out of 
 place? 
 
 3. What kind of slang should never be used? 
 
 4. Is the free use of superlatives and of intensive 
 terms advisable ? 
 
 5. What style of language is generally regarded as 
 ideal for an advertisement? 
 
 6. What is meant by "good diction" in advertising? 
 7- How may we classify the errors into which ad- 
 writers and others frequently fall? 
 
 8. Is it advisable to coin words for use in advertising ? 
 
 9. What is the objection to the coinage of words for 
 advertising purposes? 
 
 10. Is the vocabulary of the English language suffi- 
 cient for the expression of all modern ideas in forceful 
 terms? 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 Price Advertising. 
 
 1. Is it advisable as a rule to advertise prices of com- 
 modities ? 
 
 2. Name instances in which it may be advisable for 
 the salesman to be the first price-teller. 
 
 3. Name cases in which the prices need to be adver- 
 tised as prominently as the goods themselves. 
 
 4. What is the chief requisite of a price advertise- 
 ment and what should its argument attempt to prove? 
 
414 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 5. Why are prices regarded as absolutely necessary 
 in retail advertising? 
 
 6. Do the most progressive retailers usually quote 
 prices freely? 
 
 7. Can too many prices be included in an ad ? 
 
 8. Why is a retail ad addressed to women usually in- 
 effective without prices ? 
 
 9. What is the best kind of type to use in advertising 
 prices? 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Testing Advertising. 
 
 1. Is there any trouble in determining the value of 
 great advertising mediums? 
 
 2. Can the local advertiser easily determine whether 
 his advertising pays or not? 
 
 3. What methods have become time-worn in use as 
 tests of advertising? 
 
 4. What are the weak points of such tests? 
 
 5. Is there any sure method for testing the value of 
 general publications? 
 
 6. Upon what does the value of any advertising me- 
 dium principally depend? 
 
 7. What may be regarded as satisfactory^ evidence of 
 the value of a medium? 
 
 8. Name some of the principal abbreviations used in 
 checking and keeping track of advertising accounts. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Selection of Mediums. 
 1. What are the main considerations to be taken into 
 account in selecting an advertising medium? 
 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 415 
 
 2. Should the question of high rates affect the choice 
 of a medium, if it is found desirable in every other way? 
 
 3. Name some advertising mediums that may be used 
 by national advertisers besides great periodicals. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Color in Advertising. 
 
 1. What is the great object of the use of color in ad- 
 vertising? 
 
 2. In what way has color been successfully used by 
 great newspapers to advertise themselves? 
 
 3. Is the use of color in advertising on the increase? 
 
 4. Does it pay as a rule to spend money for artistic 
 color work? 
 
ABBREVIATIONS FOR RECORDS. 
 
 The following abbreviations may be found of use in 
 attending to the checking and entry of advertising: 
 
 d Daily. 
 
 w Weekly. 
 
 s Sunday. 
 
 s. m Semi-Monthly. 
 
 m . . ., Monthly. 
 
 q Quarterly. 
 
 e. i Every issue. 
 
 e. d Every day. 
 
 e. w Every week. 
 
 e. m ; Every month. 
 
 e. o. i Every other issue. 
 
 e. o. d Every other day. 
 
 e. o. w Every other week. 
 
 e. o. m , Every other month. 
 
 1 t a. w One time a week. 
 
 2 t. a. w Two times a week. 
 
 3 t. a. w Three times a week. 
 
 4 t. a. w Four times a week. 
 
 5 t. a. w. . ., Five times a week. 
 
 t. f Till forbidden, that is, the ad- 
 vertisement is to run under the conditions of the contract, until 
 ordered discontinued. 
 
 n. r J Next reading matter. 
 
 t. c Top of column. 
 
 1 First page. 
 
 2 Second page. 
 
 8 Third page. 
 
 4, 6, 6, etc., Fourth page, etc 
 
 adv Advertisement. 
 
 416 
 
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