SURVEY AND EXHIBIT SERIES
EDITED BY SHELBY M. HARRISON
TRAVELING PUBLICITY
CAMPAIGNS
EDUCATIONAL TOURS OF
RAILROAD TRAINS AND
MOTOR VEHICLES
BY
MARY SWAIN ROUTZAHN
DEPARTMENT OF SURVEYS AND EXHIBITS
RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION
NEW YORK
RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION
Copyright, 1920, by
THE RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION
WM. F. FELL CO • PRINTERS
PHILADELPHIA
EDITOR'S PREFACE
IN THE endeavor to spread information widely and well
a multitude of ventures have been carried on in recent
years. Interesting among these has been the combining
of educational material and activities on the one hand with
modern facilities for transportation on the other — the putting
of exhibits, demonstrations, motion pictures, and other cam-
paigning equipment on railroad trains, trolley cars, and motor
trucks so that they may tour a whole city, a county, or cross
a continent.
A glance at the appendix to this volume will show how ex-
tensive this form of educational effort has become. Begin-
ning a dozen or more years ago with trains which showed
improved methods of farming the list includes trains for teach-
ing health, sanitation, safety, and food saving; trolley cars
carrying exhibits on child welfare; and automobile trucks
equipped to give motion picture shows on health and other
subjects. Recently some of the trucks have also carried
equipment for demonstrating methods of food canning, or
for dispensary service. While the traveling campaign center-
ing in the railroad car has had the longer history, develop-
ments in the educational use of the motor truck have been of
such number and variety as to indicate, if one may venture
in probabilities, relatively greater future activity for it.
The extensive use of this method of disseminating knowl-
edge in the past, and the probable continuation and extension
of it in some form, have made it seem desirable to bring to-
gether as much as possible of the working knowledge which
has been gained in planning and conducting these campaigns,
and to put it at the disposal of those interested in popular
iii
M 4378
EDITOR S PREFACE
forms of educational work. The material here presented is
thus not so much an evaluation of the traveling campaign
method of spreading information as a review, or perhaps
better, an anthology of practical experience thus far formu-
lated, plus the observations of the author of the volume. The
practice of those who have had first-hand contact with the
problems and possibilities involved will undoubtedly have
value for future planning. It is hoped, however, that the
experience here set down, instead of forming a sole reliance
or boundary to effort, may become a stimulus to the play
of fresh ingenuity in creating new forms of illustrative ma-
terial.
But as to the question of evaluation, until more data on
these campaigns are recorded, that will still need to be done
by those responsible for each particular tour and conversant
with the particular conditions and requirements of the case.
It is a familiar and not unnatural tendency, in selecting an
avenue by which to reach the public, to adopt a method
already used by someone else without waiting to get full in-
formation on its advantages and limitations. This happens
in large part no doubt because the information desired is often
hard to get without extensive inquiry. A second purpose of
this volume is to bring together in brief compass the avail-
able data on traveling campaigns and thus to lessen the bur-
den of extended inquiry for those who will need to make
practical decisions.
In addition to a pooling of the facts gained through the
practical conduct of traveling publicity campaigns it is further
hoped that the material here assembled may provide a sort of
nucleus or center of gravity which will attract criticisms and
further data. The criticisms, in the course of time, may
lead to a fuller treatment of the subject, and afford a better
basis for determining whether the advantages of campaigns
set upon wheels outweigh their inherent disadvantages when
viewed in relation to particular projects or other campaign
possibilities.
iv
EDITOR S PREFACE
In the meantime grateful acknowledgment is made to the
many who have already been generous in answering inquiries
and furnishing information gained from their daily contact
with traveling campaigns, and to those who have furnished
photographs and offered many helpful suggestions.
SHELBY M. HARRISON.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
EDITOR'S PREFACE iii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY i
CHAPTER II
PURPOSES AND ADVANTAGES OF TRAVELING CAMPAIGNS. 3
The Train as an Event 4
A Tour as a Campaign "Feature" .... 6
Novelty and the Danger of its Wearing Off . . 6
Not a Quick Method 7
Traveling Campaigns and Results .... 8
Cost of Tours 8
As Between Trains and Trucks 10
CHAPTER III
How TRAINS HAVE BEEN USED IN CAMPAIGNING . . 13
Agricultural Trains 13
Health Trains 20
War Propaganda 21
A Government Safety First Train .... 23
Trolley Tours 23
CHAPTER IV
CAMPAIGNING WITH MOTOR VEHICLES .... 25
Motion Picture Tours 25
A Typical Motion Picture Motor Tour ... 26
Traveling Dispensaries 27
Cleveland Children's Year Special . . . .27
Motor Truck Clinics in Italy 30
A Government Child Welfare Special ... 30
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Speaking Tours by Automobile or Motorcycle . . 34
A Motorcycle Knight of Health ..... 34
Carrying the Canning Kitchen to the Food Supply 37
"Caravans" of Trucks 39
CHAPTER V
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION .... 42
Importance of Good Advance Work .... 42
General Advertising 43
Specialized Appeal 44
Arrangements for Distributing the Attendance . 44
Arrangements for Local Co-operation in Manage-
ment 45
Getting the Advance Work Done .... 46
Qualifications of the Advance Agent .... 49
The Job of the Advance Agent 50
Assignments of Advance Work for Local Committees 52
Explanatory Statement for Local Co-operating Com-
mittees Regarding the Pennsylvania Food Conser-
vation Train 54
Reception Committee . . . . . . . 55
Committee on Newspapers 56
Advertising Committee - 57
Committee on Special Delegations .... 59
Committee on Co-operation of Churches . . .61
Committee on Schools 62
Committee on Attendance of Foreign Language
Groups 63
Committee on Speaking 64
Committee on Personal Canvass .... 64
CHAPTER VI
THE MESSAGE OF THE TOUR .66
Choice of a Topic 67
What to Tell 70
Making up the Program . . . . .71
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Programs of Exhibit Trains 73
A Program Combining Demonstrations and Exhibits 76
Outdoor Speaking at Trains 77
CHAPTER VII
EXHIBIT CARS . .78
Types of Cars 78
Traveling Accommodations for Staff Members . . 80
Treatment of Car Interiors 80
Exhibits . 81
Use of the Space for Display 84
Placing Exhibits 87
Arrangement of Subject Matter 88
Some Observations from Practical Experience . . 90
Arrangement of Car for Demonstrations ... 92
CHAPTER VIII
THE TOUR OF THE TRUCK OR TRAIN 94
The Places to be Visited 95
Receiving the Visitors 97
The Rate of Progress in Exhibit Cars .' . -99
Distributing the Attendance 101
Explaining the Exhibits . . . . . .104
CHAPTER IX
FOLLOW-UP WORK 106
Getting the Subject Talked About . . . .107
Printed Matter for Distribution 109
Publicity Following the Train's Stop . . . .no
Organization of Local Forces in
Checking Up Results 113
APPENDIX: Reference Lists of Train, Truck, Trolley, and
other Traveling Campaigns . . . 117
BIBLIOGRAPHY 137
INDEX . . . 143
ix
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
OPPOSITE
PAGE
The New York State Healthmobile 10
Interior of Exhibit Car of the "Peach Special" . .14
Health Cars of the Louisiana Department of Health . 20
Cleveland Children's Year Special 28
Truck With Extension Devices 29
Traveling Dispensaries 30
I nterior of Child Welfare Special of the Federal Children's
Bureau 31
Canning Squad and Portable Kitchen .... 38
A Transcontinental Truck Tour . . . . . -39
Poster Advertising the Coming of an Exhibit Train . . 44
Group of Objects Expressing One Idea .... 70
Demonstration Car 76
An Outdoor Program 77
Flat Cars Used for Displaying Captured German Tro-
phies 80
Interior of Health Exhibit Car 84
A Well Arranged Exhibit Car 85
Food Conservation Train of New York State College of
Agriculture 86
Arrangement of Railroad Car Interior .... 87
Car Especially Designed for Cooking Demonstrations . 92
XI
INTRODUCTORY
THE tour of the peddler with a pack or cart
stocked with goods for sale and a budget of
news for free distribution, and that of the
patent medicine man with his illustrated lecture
of misinformation that sells his dubious wares are
forms of traveling publicity campaigns long familiar
in rural districts.
Of recent years many peddlers, carrying new
ideas and useful information but no goods for
sale, have been going about the country represent-
ing national and state government bureaus and
private organizations. Their wares are helps to
better crops, better houses, better health. Their
mode of traveling has progressed from wagons to
trains and from trains to motor trucks. The size
of the enterprise has varied from a single wagon
or automobile with a speaker and a batch of leaf-
lets to a train of railroad cars or trucks that carry
a traveling exhibit rivaling the "Greatest Show on
Earth." The tours extend from a jaunt through
the county or the districts of a city to a trans-
continental journey. Whatever its form, if the
purpose of the enterprise is to spread information
or ideas, or to promote a community program, it
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
is of interest from an educational and publicity
standpoint.
Although traveling campaigns have been many
and varied and the method has been in use for a
number of years, to our knowledge there has been
r<c attempt up to this time to set down/the methods
and experiences, the successes, failures, and diffi-
culties of the various campaigners.
Believing that this method of promoting social
programs will continue to be employed, whatever
the type of vehicle used to convey travelers and
their outfits, we have gathered information about
a number of campaigns and offer it here, together
with comments and suggestions for the benefit of
those who may be considering the method for the
first time or who have tried it and wish to com-
pare their experiences with those of others. The
descriptions and suggestions are drawn from ac-
counts of about seventy-five tours of trains, trucks,
trolley cars, and other vehicles, obtained from
printed reports, articles, letters, replies to ques-
tionnaires and interviews, as well as from the
observations and experience of the writer.
II
PURPOSES AND ADVANTAGES OF
TRAVELING CAMPAIGNS
THE popular educational tour on wheels is
a method of carrying news and facts from
town to town, instead of distributing this
information in wholesale manner to many towns
at the same time through newspapers, letters,
posters, and other familiar avenues for dissemi-
nating information quickly and widely. This use
of a method resembling more or less the old-time
place-to-place spreading of the news but in a
modern, up-to-the-minute dress, even under the
most favorable conditions involves a considerable
outlay in money, a great deal of hard work, care-
ful and detailed planning, and equally careful
oversight throughout the journey and the follow-
up period. Therefore the person or group con-
templating such an undertaking will naturally wish
to consider carefully its efficiency as a method of
publicity before embarking on it.
In some instances the reason for using the truck
or train is that it may be routed to remote rural
districts not well served by the more modern
methods of news distribution. Wherever it goes,
however, the train or truck has two chief advan-
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
tages as a publicity method; first, it is an econom-
ical way of bringing before scattered audiences
well-equipped speakers or graphic and otherwise
attractive illustrative material — economical be-
cause a single group of speakers or unit of exhibits
may in this way be made to serve a large terri-
tory; and, second, its visit to each town may be
made an important event, something which creates
news and which may appeal to the imagination of
people generally.
The tours that are described in the following
pages suggest just a few of the unusual and graphic
features that may be assembled in a traveling show
to attract attention and to make facts and ideas
more easily understood and remembered. The
train or truck in addition, as already suggested,
to bringing into town especially talented or well-
informed speakers and demonstrators, brings also
equipment for demonstrations that may be bulky,
expensive, or for other reasons difficult to dupli-
cate and distribute for display; also rare objects
such as the people in the communities visited
would not be likely to see at all, except as they
are brought in for this brief visit.
THE TRAIN AS AN EVENT
The visit of the train, like the revival meeting,
the fair, or the Fourth of July celebration, may be
made such a striking event in each community
that its program gets and holds the attention of
many people who would not read a newspaper
4
PURPOSES AND ADVANTAGES
article or go to an ordinary meeting to learn about
the same topic.
Such an event may be especially timely if a
new movement or plan is about to be launched
within the territory to be covered. The brief
demonstration presented before a representative
group of citizens gathered to meet the truck on
train often paves the way for the organizatipn of a
permanent activity in the community. This is
true because the method often allows for a more
concentrated educational effort than can be effected
in the same time through other types of campaigns.
For example, the occasional visit of the agricultural
special, demonstrating improved methods has, in
many instances, preceded the forming of a county
organization of farmers to devote themselves con-
tinuously to studying and experimenting in better
farming.
A train or truck campaign, well handled, will
help to give freshness to ideas which may become
stale if they continue to reach the people in the
same familiar forms. Whatever the subject matter
or purpose of a local movement for community
education or welfare, both the workers or leaders
and the people who form the audiences are re-
freshed by variations from familiar methods- of
presenting the ideas that need to be gone over
time and again in order to get the greater num-
bers to listen, to understand, and to assimilate
them. The local effectiveness of the work of the
county agricultural agent, or the tuberculosis com-
5
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
mittee, or the movement for better rural schools
may sometimes be stimulated through the visit of
traveling campaigners bringing reinforcements in
the way of enthusiasm, news gathered along the
route, or old ideas illustrated in new and striking
ways.
A TOUR AS A CAMPAIGN "FEATURE"
One occasion when a train tour may be desir-
able is when the need is felt for a unique feature
or "stunt" in a campaign that employs a great
variety of methods. The Liberty Loan trains were
expected to add "punch" to local campaigns and
to make bond selling easier. When a vigorous
effort is being concentrated on an issue or an idea,
a tour of prominent speakers, or striking exhibits,
or both, may add a spectacular element and secure
much publicity; first, by getting direct attention
for the idea, and second, by providing material
for "news" both in the press and in the everyday
talk of the people.
NOVELTY AND THE DANGER OF ITS WEARING OFF
As a novel device for attracting attention both
train and truck have a real though possibly a
short-lived value. In many sections of the country
the exhibit train has long ago become familiar,
and already those who are seeking some new form
in which to get their story over are equipping and
operating motor trucks. In a few years these, too,
may lose their power to arouse curiosity. How-
6
PURPOSES AND ADVANTAGES
ever, the fact that the novelty of a device wears
off does not necessarily destroy its value. While the
novelty of the method itself may wear off, the
contents of the train and the program of the
itinerant campaigners leave no end of possibilities
in the way of fresh attractions.
In the use of graphic methods there have been
great advances within quite recent years. So far,
only a few of the newer forms of expressing in-
formation in picturesque and dramatic forms have
been used in truck and train projects. There is
no reason why trains and trucks should not con-
tinue indefinitely to draw expectant visitors look-
ing for the new features that may be added this
year, just as a circus, a fair, or exposition is re-
peated successfully year after year. The exhibitor
who uses an attention-getting device for the first
time in any locality is to some extent responsible
for the future success of any similar traveling
shows in the places visited. People who went to
see the first train or truck are likely to visit the
second or stay away, according to the impression
made by the first. This responsibility can be met
through careful preparation and good management.
NOT A QUICK METHOD
A point sometimes urged in favor of the educa-
tional tour is its rapid method of carrying informa-
tion over a wide area. It is undoubtedly the
quickest way of displaying the same objects to a
number of communities. But if you wish the
7
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
people throughout your territory to have the same
information as nearly as possible at the same time,
any method in which the material is duplicated
and sent out to all points at once from a central
place is obviously more suitable than conveying
the message from place to place.
TRAVELING CAMPAIGNS AND RESULTS
One objection frequently raised by those who
have conducted educational tours is that they are
quickly forgotten and bring no lasting results.
This is probably a valid objection to the incom-
pleteness of a particular campaign rather than to
the method itself. If the follow-up work is not
planned just as carefully and carried out as con-
scientiously as the tour itself, there is no reason
to expect that people will remember it or that
action will follow. Every form of publicity,
whether a newspaper article, leaflet, lecture or
motion picture would be just as quickly forgotten
if it were an isolated effort and not part of a well-
rounded educational campaign. In the section on
follow-up work, page 106, methods are discussed
of fixing the impressions made on the minds of
visitors to the train and of inducing them to apply
the instructions given.
COST OF TOURS
What it costs usually plays a larger part in the
choice of a publicity method than any other single
factor. Analysis of the whole plan of the tour is
8
PURPOSES AND ADVANTAGES
needed in order to decide regarding the wisdom of
spending money on it. An advance estimate ought
to indicate whether a given expenditure on a
traveling campaign appears likely to bring larger
returns than the same amount spent on some other
method.
The cost and the scale of different enterprises
vary so greatly and prices are so different from
year to year, that it is impossible to estimate, on
the basis of one project, what another one is likely
to cost.1 By writing to the sources of information
listed in the appendix, beginning on page 1 17, the
reader will probably be able to obtain detailed in-
formation about the cost of any enterprise of a
type that may interest him. Several directors of
tours have reported that they consider the method
too expensive. It was found too expensive in one
northern state because the initial outlay was so
great in comparison with the relatively short sea-
son during which the truck could be operated. In
one southern state the expenses of an automobile
tour were found to be out of proportion to the
1 The following records of tours may prove at least suggestive:
A three-car train, which traveled through Pennsylvania for five
months in 1918, had running expenses of approximately $325 a week.
This included traveling, living expenses, and salaries of three staff
members, the initial cost of exhibits and printed matter, and repairs.
It did not include the salaries of three additional demonstrators, or the
initial cost of rebuilding the interiors of the cars, or any expenses for
hauling of the cars.
A motion picture tour with an automobile truck, traveled for
twenty-eight weeks in 1917 in Maryland at an expense of $124 a
week. This included the fuel and repairs for the car, expenses of the
field staff, rentals of films, and various miscellaneous expenses con-
nected with the operation of the tour.
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
total budget of the organization. A number have
reported the method inexpensive, but they may
not have charged against their budget items that
others have been obliged to include. Cars and
hauling may have been provided by a railroad
company; the truck may have been a gift; the
specialists and demonstrators may have been
regular members of the staff of the organization
and their salaries not charged against the budget
of the toutf. In some cases the truck drivers have
been volunteers. All of these things need to be
taken into account in making any decision on the
basis of the amount a tour has cost someone else.
It is safe to say that, under the most favorable
circumstances, a well-conducted traveling cam-
paign is not a cheap method of publicity, and the
organization considering it should be very sure
that the enterprise is timely and especially suited
to their purpose before embarking on the venture.
As BETWEEN TRAINS AND TRUCKS
The most serious drawbacks to a train are that
it must stay on a railway siding, is frequently in-
convenient to reach, and its location hot and dusty
in summer, lacking in open space where crowds can
gather comfortably, and, worst of all, is noisy.
Still another drawback is that the shape of a car
is not adapted to the effective display of exhibits
and it is difficult also to handle large numbers of
visitors.
Even with these awkward handicaps, however,
10
PURPOSES AND ADVANTAGES
the railroad car has the advantage of greater size
as a setting for exhibits and demonstrations. Ex-
hibits and equipment for demonstrating, more-
over, may be permanently set up in a train of
cars, so that everything is in readiness for visitors
at the time when the train reaches its stopping
place. But the truck is a place for storing rather
than displaying exhibits, which means that each
time a program is given, material must be un-
packed and set up in tents, in a hall, or out of
doors.
Good points for the truck are that, roads and
weather permitting, the truck campaigner may go
wherever and whenever he pleases and stay as long
as he likes, independent of the rails and schedules
that limit the freedom of a train tour. Even bad
roads have not prevented some campaigners from
reaching what had seemed to be inaccessible dis-
tricts.
While the trucks have in certain ways greater
adaptability to varied conditions than trains, the
latter will undoubtedly continue to be employed
where its own special uses are of paramount im-
portance and particularly in cases where the rail-
roads may find it possible, as in many instances
in the past, to provide transportation free or at a
nominal price. The truck, on the other hand, is
probably only at the beginning of its usefulness in
educational and publicity work. There are still
untried possibilities of contriving methods for the
carrying of materials especially adapted to a quick
1 1
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
display during a short stop in all sorts of places,
which, it would seem, might invite to a fascinating
degree the inventive genius of those interested in
the popular spread of useful information.
12
Ill
HOW TRAINS HAVE BEEN USED IN
CAMPAIGNING
FOR a number of years, with the co-operation
of the railroads, state agricultural colleges,
departments of health, and private state
organizations have carried on educational and
organization work through demonstration trains.
The war propaganda which utilized practically
every known form of publicity did not overlook
train, truck or trolley. One or more of these was
used in the campaigns for Liberty Loans, food con-
servation, and child welfare.
Descriptions of a few of these trains will illus-
trate the varied types of campaigns in which they
have been employed.
AGRICULTURAL TRAINS
A Peach Demonstration Train started on a tour
in November, 1919, for the purpose of encouraging
and stimulating the peach industry in the East
Texas Fruit Belt. The train consisted of two bag-
gage cars containing exhibits of insect pests that
menace the peach industry, life-sized models of
diseased and perfect fruit, and actual branches of
affected peach trees, and a box car containing a
13
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
tractor, orchard plows, and various other kinds of
farm machinery needed by an up-to-date orchardist.
Regarding this train Mr. P. T. Cole, Agricul-
tural Commissioner, St. Louis Southwestern Rail-
road of Texas, writes as follows :
The cars were moved on local freight trains
nearly all the time, although on a few occasions
we were moved by a through freight. The cars
were opened to the public at 9 a.m., and the farmers
were taken through in groups of about fifteen and
a thorough lecture given them with explanations
in detail regarding the various exhibits. We
usually let the school children go through, but did
not allow them to interfere with the work we were
giving the farmers. In the afternoon, at about
one o'clock, we accompanied the farmers to a
nearby orchard taking with us pruning tools,
the power sprayer, and the tractor. In the orchard
we gave lectures on pruning, and then pruned
about a dozen trees, or sometimes as many as
fifty, after which we gave them a thorough spray-
ing. This demonstration usually consumed the
greater part of the afternoon, but we would return
to the cars and discuss the different problems of
orcharding with the growers and in many cases
they remained with us until dark.
The growers in most cases were very enthusiastic
over this work, and we had some excellent demon-
strations. Some of the very best were given in
orchards where we had done the same work last
year, and where it was an easy matter to point out
the beneficial results of proper spraying and prun-
ing. We have a number of fine demonstrations to
go back to next year to show the results of the
work we have just done.
14
HOW TRAINS HAVE BEEN USED
As a result of this work a great many spray
machines have been bought, and there is more
pruning and spraying in progress now than I have
ever seen before.
The following account1 of a dairy train in Illinois
is supplied by the College of Agriculture of the
University of Illinois:
The first dairy train which we assisted in operat-
ing was on the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Rail-
road from Danville, Illinois, to Cypress. The
equipment consisted of an engine, three ordinary
coaches used for lecture work, an automobile box
car with side and end doors, and a flat car. We
had four cows in the automobile car and led them
direct from this car onto the flat car for demon-
stration purposes. We had a railing built around
the flat car and also a removable platform between
the two cars. We also had a milking machine in-
stalled in this box car which could be observed in
operation by opening its side doors. This was all
the exhibit material we had, as our stops in the
towns lasted only from one to two hours. We
had a special train crew and a definite train sched-
ule to follow. As soon as we would reach a town
we would fill up the three lecture coaches, and
three speakers would start at once to give short
talks. After talking for about fifteen minutes, the
speakers would trade cars. In this way each audi-
ence heard at least three speakers, and at the con-
clusion of these lectures the audience was con-
ducted to the rear car where a cow demonstration
was given. At the conclusion of the cow demon-
1 Letter from E. A. Clark, College of Agriculture, University of
Illinois.
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
stration the milking machine demonstration was
given in the automobile car. I might say that the
dairy train was highly successful. This was due, I
think, largely to its being well advertised previous
to its operation.
Later, another dairy train was operated in a
similar manner except that four lecture coaches
were used instead of three. On account of the
warm weather, it was found advisable to give a
large number of the lectures out-of-doors. The
coaches were used only during rainy weather or in
towns where, because of congested passenger and
freight traffic, they were not given a good location.
In some places our audiences were so large that
we could not accommodate them in four coaches.
In that case all the lecture work was given from
the flat car on the rear end of the train.
The Pure Seed and Home Power Special was
the name given to a three-car train run jointly by
the Soo Line, the Wisconsin Bankers' Association,
and the Wisconsin College of Agriculture in the
interests of -more efficient farm methods. The
pure seed car contained a display of the finest
Wisconsin grown seed grains, reinforced by expla-
nations driving home the vital facts concerning
the advantages of pure-bred seed. The home
power and home convenience car showed gasoline
engine, power churn, washing machine, separator,
home lighting plant, and other conveniences. A
lecture car and a tourist sleeper for the lecturers
and demonstrators completed the equipment. Six-
teen counties were visited and over seven thousand
people came to see the train.
16
HOW TRAINS HAVE BEEN USED
The Hessian Fly Special, as described below, is
an example of a highly specialized effort toward
accomplishing a very definite purpose:
Since its first appearance in Kansas as an im-
portant factor in wheat production, the Hessian
fly has alternately disappeared and reappeared.
During the forty-four years of its known presence
in the state it has produced seven different out-
breaks, the last and the greatest of which destroyed
not less than fifteen million bushels of wheat of
the 1915 crop. Believing that not only the atten-
tion of the farmers could best be called to the
seriousness of the infestation, but also that more
interest could be created in the control methods
and that a larger number of wheat growers could
be reached within a short time, the Kansas Agri-
cultural College decided to request the Santa Fe
Railway Company, which had a large mileage in
the infested districts, to run a Hessian fly train. . . .
A chart of the infested districts was furnished
the dean of the Extension Division who met with
the officials of the Santa Fe and prepared a schedule
consisting of sixty-two stops. It was left entirely
with the college to decide as to the best time to
run the train and it was felt that, inasmuch as
the methods of control of the fly should begin as
soon as possible after harvest, the best and most
opportune time for the train would be the week
just before the beginning of harvest.
The train consisted of a baggage car, two modern
steel day coaches, each with a seating capacity of
eighty-eight persons, which were used for lecture
cars, and a private car, consisting of parlor and
observation, dining and sleeping compartments.
It was understood at the beginning that the train
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
was to be an exclusive Hessian fly train and thus
it was advertised as the Hessian Fly Special,
operated by the Kansas State Agricultural College
in co-operation with the Santa Fe. The speakers
consisted of three entomologists of the Agricul-
tural College, one entomologist of the United
States Department of Agriculture, the head of the
Department of Agronomy, the superintendent of
Farmers' Institutes of the college, and one county
demonstration agent. In addition to the lecturers,
the company consisted of the agricultural agent
of the Santa Fe, the publicity agent of the Santa
Fe, the publicity agent of the college, and repre-
sentatives of some of the principal newspapers
and farm publications. The divisional superin-
tendents and roadmasters accompanied the train
over their respective divisions of the road.
Addresses were made at all of the sixty-two
places scheduled. In fact, at nearly all the places
the attendance was such as to require two speakers
and, on several occasions, it required a third
speaker to accommodate the large crowd. If the
attendance did not exceed two hundred, the two
speakers took care of them in the lecture cars, but
where the crowd was over two hundred the over-
flow was taken in the waiting room of the depot,
where a speaker was provided. Where there was
not an opportunity for the insect train to stop, a
lecturer was dropped off to hold a meeting at the
depot or an up-town place. Later, the man would
be picked up by one of the regular trains and left
at a station where the Hessian Fly Special was
scheduled to stop. Or a man would be sent ahead
on a regular train to hold a meeting and would
later be picked up when the Special came through.
In a few cases speakers were taken to neighboring
18
HOW TRAINS HAVE BEEN USED
towns in automobiles. During the entire trip
every speaker on the train gave practically the
same Hessian fly talk. The entomologists and the
agronomist of the college prepared the speech,
copies of which were furnished not only to the
speakers but also to all the railroad officials and
publicity men who accompanied the train. The
publicity men prepared beforehand all the articles
to be used by the newspapers in the places where
addresses were made. In other words, every ad-
dress given and every newspaper article published
had just one message and that was the seriousness
of the infestation and what should be done to pro-
tect the crop of the next year. It is the opinion
of the writer that much of the success of the
Hessian fly train and the good accomplished were
due to the fact that all departments and all persons
concerned were together, and that nothing was
said or done but what met with the approval and
recommendation of every one. The fact that the
very methods advocated for the control of the fly
were in keeping with the very methods recom-
mended by the Agronomy Department and which
the progressive and successful wheat growers
knew should be practiced for maximum yields,
appealed to the better judgment of even the most
skeptical ones. The time allowed for each stop
was about forty minutes. The speakers usually
arranged for a few minutes' discussion before
closing the meeting. Specimen cases, charts, and
illustrated material were used in nearly all lectures.
As the men left the lecture cars or the waiting room
they were given circulars on the Hessian fly and
the preparation of the seed bed for wheat. The
Hessian fly circular was printed primarily for the
occasion. It was simply a timely article empha-
19
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
sizing the methods of control and closing with a
brief life history of the fly.
In nearly all cases large crowds met the Hessian
Fly Special and the total attendance for the week
was approximately seven thousand.1
HEALTH TRAINS
In the early days of the tuberculosis movement
cars were extensively used in traveling health cam-
paigns. A pioneer in carrying the message of
health over a state on exhibit trains was Dr. Oscar
Dowling, President of the Louisiana State Board
of Health. His health train made its initial trip in
1910 and with many changes since that time has
continued in service. After the first tours, made
with cars loaned by the railroad, had demonstrated
the popularity of the train, the State Board of
Health purchased two coaches. One was fitted up
as an inspection car with a part of it given over to
living and office quarters, and the other as an
educational exhibit car, containing displays of
models, charts, and laboratory specimens. Later,
two more cars were purchased for living quarters
and the inspection car was turned into a labora-
tory car.
A practical application o£ the lessons taught on
the tour was made by inspectors who accompanied
the train. In each place visited they inspected
and scored buildings in which the sanitary condi-
tions imperilled public health, the reports of their
^Journal of Economic Entomology, Vol. 9, No. i, 1916, George A.
Dean, Entomologist, Kansas State Agricultural Experiment Station.
20
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HOW TRAINS HAVE BEEN USED
findings being given publicity while the train was
in town. This train attracted the attention of
health workers in other states and has made a
number of trips outside of Louisiana in response to
their requests.
The Board of Health of Kansas has used a Pull-
man car to carry exhibits on child welfare, tuber-
culosis, and other health topics. A woman phy-
sician and public health nurses traveled with the
car and gave health talks and explained exhibits.
Sixty-nine cities and towns were visited, the stops
varying from one to four days. The purpose was
chiefly educational, but an attempt was made to
discuss their health problems with individuals.
Another example of the Health Special was a
car sent out by the West Virginia Board of Health
during 1919, and described in letters sent in ad-
vance to the newspapers as :
A fine, yestibuled coach, equipped with elec-
trically driven models, health posters, exhibits of
living bacteria, exhibits of Red Cross work, a
moving picture machine, and a small but com-
plete chemical and bacteriological laboratory in
one end.
WAR PROPAGANDA
During the war, trains were used in several
states to carry the message of food conservation
and more especially to encourage home canning
by simple methods. The Pennsylvania Food Ad-
ministration, in co-operation with the Pennsyl-
21
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
vania State College of Agriculture and the Penn-
sylvania Railroad, ran a train of three cars during
the first and second summer of the war. The train
included an exhibit car containing posters and
graphic devices showing why food conservation
was necessary; and two cars where skilled demon-
strators illustrated methods of baking with wheat
substitutes and the canning and drying of fruits
and vegetables.
A Save the Surplus Special of two cars toured
New York State encouraging home canning and
helping practically to increase it.
During the Fourth Liberty Loan campaign ex-
hibit trains were used in some districts for dis-
playing war trophies, and during the Fifth Liberty
Loan several shiploads of war equipment and
trophies were distributed over the whole country
for display on trains which were sent into the rural
districts and cities. Each train included several
flat cars and a baggage car loaded with captured
cannon, German aeroplanes, machine guns, trench
mortars, gas warfare apparatus and gas masks,
and thousands of other interesting trophies. One
of our own tanks, dressed up in its fighting clothes,
was an interesting feature of the exhibits. Each
train was accompanied by an armed guard of
returned soldiers, sailors, and marines.
In Missouri a Women's Patriotic Special made
a two weeks' trip carrying women speakers who
gave talks on the Red Cross, food conservation,
and other war topics.
22
HOW TRAINS HAVE BEEN USED
A GOVERNMENT SAFETY FIRST TRAIN
Probably the most elaborate exhibit train that
has yet been sent out was the Safety First Train
of the Department of the Interior, which toured
sixteen states during a period of four months and
was visited by over a half million people. This
train, which was furnished by the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad, consisted of twelve steel cars, in-
cluding a sleeper and diner, and was hauled by
two powerful passenger locomotives. Six govern-
mental departments and the American Red Cross
had exhibits relating to safety work, the purpose
of the tour being "to acquaint the people with the
work that the Federal Government is doing every
day to protect its citizens against injury and death,
and with the measures it takes to promote the
health and comfort of the people."
TROLLEY TOURS
Campaigns have been conducted on interurban
lines in several states. For about three months
the Woman's Committee of the State Council of
Defense ran a Children's Year Special over much
of the interurban trackage of Michigan, in the
interests of better babies everywhere, and as a
help in saving Michigan's quota of the one hundred
thousand babies the Children's Year was to save.
The car was divided into three sections — the
first part contained an exhibit, the second a com-
partment in which babies and children brought for
23
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
tests were undressed and dressed, and the third a
model examination room where tests and exami-
nations were made by skilled physicians and
trained nurses.
The Woman's Committee of the State Council
of Defense in Massachusetts also ran a children's
welfare car. The interior of the car was given over
to exhibits of literature and posters on food con-
servation and child welfare. The front and back
platforms were enlarged and surrounded by arm
railings. On one platform a kitchen was arranged,
where a lecturer gave actual demonstrations of the
various food substitutes; on the other a trained
nurse instructed mothers upon the care and feed-
ing of children in wartime.
24
IV
CAMPAIGNING WITH MOTOR VEHICLES
TRAVELING motion picture shows, dealing
with health and other subjects, traveling
dispensaries and tours demonstrating uses
of trucks and thus advertising trucks themselves,
are the chief educational uses of motor vehicles
reported in response to an inquiry widely sent out.
MOTION PICTURE TOURS
Of these, the traveling motion picture show
seems to have been longest in the field. Many state
health departments and state tuberculosis associa-
tions have been and still are conducting a part of
their educational work by this means. Recently
the Red Cross has carried the story of its overseas
work into remote rural districts in a certain section
of the country by means of a truck equipped with
pictures and machine. A returned overseas worker
travels with the truck and gives talks about past
achievements and future plans. An organization
interested in promoting the use of commercial and
industrial films has a number of well equipped
trucks which are sent to city parks as well as
country districts to give open-air entertainments.
25
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
A TYPICAL MOTION PICTURE MOTOR TOUR
The North Carolina State Board of Health has
used a health car equipped with electric lighting
plant, motion picture machine and accessories,
together with a large selection of health and comic
films, all in charge of a lecturer and machinist.
This car was sent out in response to invitations to
give health entertainments in co-operation with
local committees, the latter sharing the expense.
The plan was to give substantially the same
program in a different place in the county each
day during one week. Each of these places then
received a return visit during each of two suc-
ceeding weeks with a complete change of program.
A single program usually consisted of five or six
reels of motion pictures, including three health
films and scenic and comedy films. A victrola
was carried with the car to provide a preliminary
musical program and a musical accompaniment
with the comic films. While the health films were
being shown, the lecturer made running comments.
Free health literature was on display at a conve-
nient place to be given out in response to requests.
The programs were given in the school house, church,
hall or outdoors. Where special illumination was
needed strings of incandescent lights were provided.
The staff carried with them a complete camp-
ing, cooking, and sleeping outfit.1 Their schedule
1 Not all of the touring campaigners have considered it an advan-
tage to carry camping outfits. Some of them say that the work is
26
CAMPAIGNING WITH MOTOR VEHICLES
usually included two programs a day and 12 visits
to as many places during a week.
TRAVELING DISPENSARIES
The use of motor trucks for dispensaries or
clinics seems to be increasing rapidly. A number
of traveling tuberculosis, dental, child welfare, and
baby clinics are reported from many parts of the
country, not only for rural districts but for large
cities. Some of these dispensaries on wheels are
intended chiefly to provide service, that is, to
examine people, rather than for the purpose of
publicity or education. In this case the truck is
simply a convenient method of extending clinical
work to districts that have no dispensaries, or to
the homes of patients who cannot or will not go
to the dispensary. But even where service is the
main purpose, these trucks are of value educa-
tionally, particularly in this early stage of their
use when their novelty attracts attention to the
clinics. Other traveling dispensaries are intended
chiefly to demonstrate to the community the need
of establishing, permanently, some such service as
the dispensary gives during its brief stop-over.
CLEVELAND CHILDREN'S YEAR SPECIAL
A traveling truck dispensary was adopted as a
feature of the Children's Year by the Children's
so strenuous that they should have good beds at night and no responsi-
bility for providing for their own comfort. On the other hand, in
some districts camping may provide more comforts than rural hotels
would
27
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
Year Committee of the Cleveland Council of De-
fense. Mr. J. Dean Halliday, Director of the
Bureau of Health Education of the Cleveland
Department of Health, who planned the construc-
tion of the truck and directed its use later, had
charge of a similar campaign for the American
Red Cross Tuberculosis Commission in Italy.
The type used both in Cleveland and in Italy1
as shown in several illustrations (see cuts op'posite
pages 28 and 30) has side tents, which, when set
up, provide fair-sized rooms. The tent on the
left was used as a waiting and dressing room for
the mothers who brought babies for examination ;
that on the right as lecture and exhibit room. \
Here posters and model outfits for the baby were
displayed and literature was given away. The
body proper built on the carriage of a large army
truck was fitted out as a model dispensary with
examining tables, scales, measuring stands, desk,
cabinet for supplies, electric lights, and hot and
cold water. The equipment included a screen and
motion picture machine which could be set up on
top of the truck for evening programs. In Cleve-
land the truck was driven by members of a volun-
teer women's motor corps organization, uniformed
for the purpose and carried a physician, a nurse,
and a sanitary patrolman, all assigned from the
Health Department.
1 After making a study of the Cleveland trucks sent to Italy, the
Chicago Tuberculosis Institute designed a lighter machine similar to
that described on page 31.
28
CLEVELAND CHILDREN'S YEAR SPECIAL
Interior of truck fitted up as a dispensary with steps let down for visitors.
See pages 27 and 28.
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CAMPAIGNING WITH MOTOR VEHICLES
The tour included sections of the city known as
"death places" because of their high infant mor-
tality rates. As the crowd gathered the physi-
cian in charge gave a short talk on the object of
Children's Year. While he was thus engaged the
district nurse circulated through the crowd and,
picking out a likely mother and child, persuaded
her to step forward with her child when the phy-
sician called for babies to be examined. It was
found necessary to do this in order to get the
remainder of the mothers to fall in line quickly.
The physician examined the child and, if normal,
it was quickly weighed and measured and the
regular Children's Year forms filled out, one for
the committee's record and a duplicate for the
mother. The mother was advised to report at
regular intervals to the city's nearest prophylactic
dispensary where she would receive instructions
as to how to keep her baby well. For the sake of
its effect, she was given a card signed by the
mayor, stating that she was entitled to this ser-
vice and urging her to avail herself of it. She
then passed on to the tent containing exhibits
where child hygiene and other posters were dis-
played and educational pamphlets distributed.
The exhibits and literature were usually presided
over by the uniformed motor corps driver, al-
though on some occasions an extra nurse was car-
ried for the purpose. In an average afternoon,
from twenty-five to thirty babies would be
examined.
29
\
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
Although city nurses were constantly carrying
on routine work in the districts visited, many
cases of contagion and sore eyes were found by
the traveling outfit which had been missed entirely
by the regular'nurses. After the truck had visited
a given section the nurses in charge of the dis-
trict dispensary were instructed to make a note of
attendance. Records showed a considerable in-
crease in visitors, a number of whom brought with
them the cards received at the traveling dispen-
sary or they said that they had been referred to
the dispensary after a preliminary examination on
the truck.
MOTOR TRUCK CLINICS IN ITALY
In Italy seven trucks were used with practically
the same equipment as in Cleveland, and three
more were equipped for dental work. They were
operated from certain centers in the region where
the American Red Cross Tuberculosis Commission
worked in co-operation with Italian tuberculosis
organizations. From these centers the trucks
radiated on one-day trips to neighboring villages
and towns carrying posters, printed matter, and
a crew consisting of an Italian physician, lecturer,
nurse, and driver.
A GOVERNMENT CHILD WELFARE SPECIAL
A big, gray automobile truck, known as the
"Child Welfare Special/' has recently been put
into the field by the Children's Bureau of the
INTERIOR OF CHILD WELFARE SPECIAL OF THE FEDERAL CHILDREN'S
BUREAU
For detailed description see page 31.
CAMPAIGNING WITH MOTOR VEHICLES
United States Department of Labor to test the
usefulness of the automobile in carrying the mes-
sage of better babies into rural communities.
The Children's Bureau has provided the follow-
ing description of the truck and its tour:
The truck is modeled very closely upon the dis-
pensary truck used by the Chicago Tuberculosis
Institute. The body of the car is constructed of
wood, painted white on the inside and battleship
gray on the outside. The words, " Child Welfare
Special" are lettered in blue and white on each
side of the car. The truck is roomy enough for a
conference room and two dressing rooms. The
conference room is nine and a half feet long, six
feet wide, and six feet four inches high in the
center. This room has four windows on each side,
high enough to be out of reach of prying eyes, yet
admitting sufficient light for day time examinations.
The driver's cab, which is entirely enclosed in glass,
can be reached from the conference room by a
sliding door; with the shades drawn it forms one
dressing room. The open-end gates of the car,
provided with double folding doors and heavy
curtains that fit into grooves, form a second dress-
ing room. When a mother enters one of the
rooms, she has the exclusive use of it until the
child has been undressed, examined, and dressed
again.
Most of the equipment of the truck is built in.
A i5-gallon water tank, tucked away over the
driver's cab, is connected by faucet with a sta-
tionary washstand in the conference room, which
in turn is connected with a drain to the outside.
The examining table and the linen lockers are
built over the wheel housing, an arrangement that
31
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
saves space and improves the appearance of the
car. A scale for babies and older children is car-
ried in an especially built trunk. There is enough
storage space for 2,000 publications, a full set of
exhibit material, a balopticon with several boxes
of slides, two rolls of moving picture film, several
dozen charts for lecture purposes, cot, bedding,
and cooking utensils for three persons, a large
supply of sheets and muslin squares, and all the
other equipment necessary for conducting a chil-
dren's health conference.
Two systems of lighting, one for a i lo-volt cur-
rent that can be taken from a nearby public build-
ing, and the other for a six-volt current taken from
the truck's own batteries, furnish excellent illumi-
nation for night work. Two electric heaters have
recently been installed for use on cool days.
Weather strips have been put on the cab to keep
out wind and rain, and a tarpaulin made to fit
over the rear doors keeps out the dust.
Arrangements have been made for the staff to
sleep on the Special — the doctor on an army cot
in the conference room, the nurse on a similar cot
in the rear dressing room, and the chauffeur on the
driver's seat, which was constructed to serve as
a bed.
A nearby public room in a school or church is
usually obtained for an exhibit and waiting room,
and here, at opportune moments, the doctor and
nurse give brief talks to waiting mothers, using
the exhibit material as a means of illustration.
The first test of the efficiency of the Special is
whether it serves its purpose. In the main the
Special has proved a success from a mechanical
point of view. The dressing rooms are adequate,
and the conference room has proved itself remark-
32
CAMPAIGNING WITH MOTOR VEHICLES
ably convenient in spite of its small space. There
are features that would be changed, however, if
another truck were to be built. A more powerful
engine is desirable. In spite of efforts to keep its
weight down, the car when completely loaded tips
the scale at 8,000 pounds. It does not seem advis-
able to reduce materially this weight as the body
must be made to withstand the jar of travel and
uncertain weather. The thirty-five horse power
engine, supplemented by the extra pulling power
provided by pneumatic tires, is adequate for most
road conditions, but sandy, steep hills are nego-
tiated with some difficulty. A heavier engine, one
and a half or two-ton unit, would easily care for
this load and at the same time carry enough re-
serve for any bad spots that are encountered.
Mechanical adjustments made recently, however,
have given greater power.
Because of its size the Special does not travel
well over muddy roads. The height of the car
could be reduced by five or six inches and still
permit easy walking within the car. This would
very considerably reduce the sway and the danger
of skidding.
A report from the physician in charge of the
Special says:
The Special has the distinct advantage of at
once gripping public interest. This may seem
spectacular from the professional standpoint, but
it gets results. It is believed that the ground can
be covered better by the Special than in any other
way, that its improved equipment will make for
more satisfactory results than any method tried to
date, and that its usefulness is directly in propor-
tion to the ability of the physician in charge to
33
TRAVELING'PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
make the public realize that she is merely demon-
strating the need of periodic examinations and a
method of providing opportunity for such exami-
nations. She must bear in mind that the examina-
tions she gives are merely an incident and not the
object of the Special — that her most important
function is to stimulate and aid in the organization
of permanent follow-up work by the community.
SPEAKING TOURS BY AUTOMOBILE OR MOTORCYCLE
One of the simplest and frequently a very effec-
tive form of traveling campaign is the speaking
tour of which examples are numerous and familiar.
Suffrage, prohibition, and many other causes have
been promoted .by traveling speakers in con-
spicuously painted or decorated automobiles. The
speakers may carry with them all sorts of atten-
tion-getting devices, from a supply of leaflets to
distribute, to a set of properties that would rival
the stock of the old-time patent medicine man.
A MOTORCYCLE KNIGHT OF HEALTH
The following picturesque description of "A
Modern Knight Errant, Carrying Health Gospel
at Fifty Miles an Hour on A Motor Cycle," is
taken from an article by Samuel Hopkins Adams,
about the work of the Wisconsin Anti-Tuberculosis
Association1:
Tie " Flying Squadron of Health "
Seven o'clock of a June evening in the lake
country to the north. Supper is over. The mail
1 Health to Sell, Samuel Hopkins Adams, La Toilette's Magazine,
December, 1914.
34
CAMPAIGNING WITH MOTOR VEHICLES
has come jolting down by stage from the nearest
railroad point, fourteen miles distant, and has
been distributed from the post office which is also
the general store and the council-house of the
locality. The population, gathered in from a con-
siderable radius, is talking a little politics, chewing
a little tobacco, speculating a bit on the likelihood
of rain, and yawning itself into readiness for home
and bed. Far up the dusty road there is an ap-
proaching commotion, perceptible both to ear and
eye. Presently the center of it materializes in the
form of a motorcycle bearing a man and a pack.
The cycle pop-pops itself into a stationary phase.
The man dismounts, gives a pleasant "good even-
ing " to the gossiping group, appraises the imme-
diate lay of the land with a practiced eye, unstraps
a pack or two, and in an incredibly short time has
a light silk tent up in a chosen spot by the road-
way, a cooking kit laid out, a Dutch oven set, and
the "makings" of a fire gathered near it.
Now, here is romance for the young of the
hamlet, Gypsying a la mode! Knight-errantry at
fifty miles an hour! The news runs amuck in the
locality and in no ,time there is a growing gather-
ing. Questions begin to fly; to each the new-
comer has his brief but courteous answer, all the
time busy with his preparations for spending the
night in the open. Presently he unfolds carefully
a case containing placards, setting them up one by
one against the stone fence. Conjecture, by this
time, is at the point of explosion.
"What are you sellin', Mister?" comes the direct
question.
"Nothing," answers the stranger, setting up
still another placard, and stepping back to esti-
mate the effect.
35
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
'Got a show?"
'Why, yes! in a way."
'Givin' out samples?"
'Not exactly."
'Patent medicine feller, I guess," surmises one.
"Seen a couple of 'em over to Humphrey's last
fall." "Naw," controverts another, "He's sellin'
pictures, can't ye see?" "Ain't goin' to preach,
be ye, young man?" queries a third.
"That too, in a way," says the motorist.
Curiosity is now at its height. The crowd
couldn't be driven away by a thunder shower.
The newcomer has nursed the situation until he
has an absorbed attentiveness when he addresses
the people in direct and simple words, explains
why he is there, and talks to them about the peril
of consumption and the ready-to-hand methods
of guarding against it, using the charts which he
has set up to fortify his telling points. It is done
with a very conversational, homely and personal
touch, so that the audience is encouraged to ask
questions about the individual symptoms, the
danger of "catching" the disease, the chances of
cure for this or that friend, what hospital will
take old Mrs. Tinkley, bedridden now for six
weeks, and so on through the roster of health and
sickness topics which make up so large a part of
the immediate interests of countryfolk.
When the talk is over the visitor asks for the
telephone, calls up a town perhaps fifty or sixty
miles away, and those who are near enough to
cock an ear hopefully (which includes as many as
can crowd into the store) hear something like this :
"Siddallville? Hello! That you, Mr. Conway?
Yes. Werle. . . . I'll be there to-morrow
night to speak. . . . No; I've got every-
36
CAMPAIGNING WITH MOTOR VEHICLES
thing. . . . What's that? No; no cost. All
you have to provide is the hall and the audience.
I'll furnish the rest. . . . Yes; seven-thirty
to-morrow. Good-bye ! "
In the morning all that remains at the cross-
roads to tell of the visitation is a little heap of
ashes, some queer marks in the dust where the
heavy-studded tires have passed — and a germi-
nating seed of education. The gospel has come to
Shucktown.
Wisconsin has since tried something believed to
be even better than the "modern knight/' Find-
ing that the motion pictures were a much greater
attraction than stereopticon slides, and having a
four-reel health film to show, the Wisconsin Anti-
Tuberculosis Association gave up its motorcycle
and substituted a motion picture truck which is
better fitted to transport the necessary machinery
for its traveling campaign work.
CARRYING THE CANNING KITCHEN TO THE FOOD
SUPPLY
An ingenious use of a truck as a first aid to
canners is illustrated in the photograph opposite
page 38. This canning truck, chiefly intended for
service to those coming to see it, but also carrying
its message of war service to many neighborhoods,
was sent out by the Women's Committee on Food
Conservation of the Pittsburgh Food Administra-
tion. The purpose of the truck is well described
in a dodger, as follows:
37
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
LET US HELP YOU
How — With our canning truck.
When — At any time you can use us.
Where — At your own home or any other con-
venient place for you.
Why — To save home products for home use
and leave for the Government the
output from commercial canneries
for our soldiers. It is a sin today to
waste surplus vegetables if they can
be canned. .
We Furnish — Canning equipment, a teacher, and
five or six helpers, who carry their
lunches with them to avoid extra
work for you. They work from 9
to 4 o'clock.
You Furnish — Stove room, a wash boiler, the veg-
etables or fruits to be canned, and
the jars.
Cost — It will cost you no money, but we
will expect some fresh vegetables or
one-fifth of the jars canned during
the day. We furnish the jars for
this share, which will later be used
for some patriotic purpose.
CANNING SQUAD AND PORTABLE KITCHEN
Canning squad of the Allegheny County Council of National De-
fense, and their portable kitchen ready to help the farmers' wives
save their food products. See page 37.
CAMPAIGNING WITH MOTOR VEHICLES
The. director of this enterprise reported that it
was not unusual for the ''crew" to can 80 or 100
quarts of vegetables or fruits in a day and that
they were kept busy every day for six weeks.
"CARAVANS" OF TRUCKS
Since the war, much publicity has been obtained
for the motor truck itself by what have been called
motor truck development tours. Several such
tours, each covering a number of states, have
demonstrated to farming communities the use of
the farm tractor, the advantages of the truck in
carrying farm products to market, and various
other uses of motor vehicles.
A spectacular transcontinental tour of a train
of eighty motor vehicles was made during the sum-
mer of 1919 by the Motor Transport Corps of the
War Department. The caravan, which spread out
over three miles of road when in motion, included
field kitchens, ambulances, repair trucks, and in
fact every sort of motor vehicle used by the trans-
port service in France. This trip was undertaken
for both recruiting and educational purposes.
The following account of its purposes and methods
is supplied by a representative of the Motor Trans-
port Corps:
The transcontinental trip has been undertaken
both for military and educational purposes, as
follows :
(i) An extended service test of the standardized
principal types of army motors.
39
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
(2) The War Department's contribution to the
Good Roads movement for the purpose of
developing through-route and transconti-
nental highways as military and economic
assets.
(3) A demonstration of the practicability of
long-distance motor post and commercial
transportation.
(4) The collection of detailed data for use in
connection with the technical training of the
commissioned and enlisted personnel of the
Motor Transport Corps.
(5) The procurement of recruits for the Motor
Transport Corps.
(6) Studies in terrain observation for certain
branches of the army, particularly the Field
Artillery, Air Service and Engineer Corps.
(7) An exhibition to the general public, either
through actual contact or resulting channels
of publicity, of the development of the motor
vehicle for military purposes.
The Lincoln Highway Association has co-oper-
ated with the Motor Transport Corps in adver-
tising the passage of the train along the Lincoln
Way, and through its subsidiary organizations it
took a large part in making advance arrangements
for the welcome to and the entertainment of the
personnel of the convoy.
In addition, all the usual channels of publicity
were employed in advertising the trip of the con-
voy, and an officer acting as advance publicity
agent, preceded the train one or more days in
order to give notice of its approach and to make
final arrangements for its entertainment. A per-
sonal letter was written to the governor of each
40
CAMPAIGNING WITH MOTOR VEHICLES
state and to the chief official of each town, village
and city and to heads of civil and commercial
organizations along the route, requesting their co-
operation in making the trip a success. A recruit-
ing officer with proper equipment accompanied the
train and often went ahead to placard towns and
arrange for meetings at which Motor Transport
moving pictures were shown and the newly
planned system of vocational training to be given
in the Motor Transport Corps schools was ex-
plained. All the cargo trucks in the train carried
signs describing the various phases of the Motor
Transport Corps activities. The Associated Press
and the Knights of Columbus had representatives
with the train and there were also several free
lance writers representing newspaper syndicates.
All the war activity organizations, especially the
War Camp Community Service, were advised of
the passage of the train and did everything pos-
sible to make the men comfortable and to enter-
tain them. As a result of all this publicity the
passage of the train was marked by a continual
succession of hearty greetings and hospitable en-
tertainments. Each community, large or small,
passed through did something to show its appre-
ciation of the visit and its interest in the purposes
of the trip. In many instances the entertainment
program and street decorations were most elab-
orate.
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND
ORGANIZATION
IMPORTANCE OF GOOD ADVANCE WORK
THE methods used in preparing the communi-
ties to receive the train are as important a
feature of the project as the visit of the
train itself. On the effectiveness with which the
advance work is done depends its opportunity to
reach as many people as can be accommodated
and to have the audiences made up of the most
hopeful "prospects," those most likely to act on
the suggestions offered. Advance information
that arouses interest will bring visitors to the train
in a receptive frame of mind that makes it easier
to present the message quickly.
One or all of the following kinds of advance
work will need to be done in each place to be
visited, according to the nature and scope of the
campaign :
1 . General publicity and advertising.
2. Specialized appeals directed to selected groups
and individuals.
3. Arrangements for distributing attendance
over the full period of 'the visit.
4. Arrangements for local co-operation in the
42
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION
above work, in taking care of visitors to the
train, and in organizing or carrying out fol-
low-up work later.
For convenience, the discussion of these matters
is given in terms of trains, although most of it
applies equally to motor tours as well.
GENERAL ADVERTISING
The appeal to the general public in a community
may be made through news items in the papers,
posters, window cards, window displays, advertise-
ments and inserts in advertisements, and slides in
motion picture theaters. Of the wide variety of
methods to advertise an event, these are probably
the ones best adapted to advance preparation for
both large and small cities and towns. It is not
the purpose here to discuss the technique of pre-
paring any of this material. Unless they have
ability and training in this field, those responsible
for getting work out should call in specialists to
do it, or at least to advise about it.
The purpose of advertising is more than merely
to get a crowd. If there is very little competition
from other events, as is often the case in small
towns, it may be fairly easy to secure a large attend-
ance. It is the business of your advertising to
attract the attention of persons not yet interested
in the subject matter and to arouse intelligent in-
terest in what the train or truck will show. To
design posters and prepare copy that will bring
these results requires skill and practise which may
43
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
sometimes be obtained as a gift but is worth pay-
ing for.
SPECIALIZED APPEAL
The special groups to whom your message is
chiefly directed may be singled out from the gen-
eral public and definite methods used to insure
their attendance. While most of the trains are of
general interest to the communities visited, the
message of the exhibits or demonstrations is prob-
ably addressed primarily to one^pr a few groups,
classified according to occupation, standing in the
community, race, age, condition of health, or
particular interests. Special efforts to reach these
groups may take the form of letters, announce-
ments, or brief talks addressed to schools, churches,
clubs, lodges, or employes of factories and places
of business. Committees on co-operation may be
formed within the groups and delegations ap-
pointed to come to the train. A personal canvass
may be made by letters, postcards, personal
visits, or telephone messages to leaders of groups
or members of special bodies.
ARRANGEMENTS FOR DISTRIBUTING THE ATTENDANCE
The tendency of the majority of the people is
to select the same period in the day as the most
convenient or desirable time for coming to the
train. When the program is to be repeated a
number of times, it is necessary to plan special
methods for distributing the attendance over the
44
ROBBERS
AT LARGE
Peach Growers of East Texas are Being Robbed by the
Insects and Diseases tha^ attack Peaches
SPECIALISTS WITH EXHIBIT CARS
COMING
3,0 —
Most complete Orcharding Exhibit Train ever carried to the farmers of the South.
Will exhibit and demonstrate all phases of peach orchard work.
Three Carloads of Equipment and Exhibits
Carload of power and hand sprayers, a tractor and other modern orchard
equipment.
Two exhibit cars electrically lighted and equipped to show by pi
models, specimens and slides of all the dangerous di
Texas orchards.
Actual field demonstrations on planting- pruning, spraying and cultivation will
be conducted in an orchard near town.
FREE-EVERYBODY INVITED
ST. LOUIS SOUTHWESTERN RAILROAD OF TEXAS
POSTER ADVERTISING THE COMING OF AN EXHIBIT TRAIN
This is the type of poster that is frequently sent out in ad-
vance of agricultural trains. The posters are usually on white
paper or card with black letters. The news value of the ma-
terial on the poster doubtless secures readers who would not be
inclined to give attention to so much reading matter if it con-
veyed only educational information.
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION
less popular hours. This may be done as a feature
of the advance appeal to particular groups by set-
ting aside periods for school children, calling con-
ferences of small bodies of people, assigning hours
when delegations will be received and personally
conducted, or having program features of interest
to particular groups at stated hours.
ARRANGEMENTS FOR LOCAL CO-OPERATION IN
MANAGEMENT
The co-operation of a local committee is needed
in advertising and running the show. The extent
of this co-operation will depend upon the size of
the staff in charge of the train, size of the com-
munity, and the nature of the program. The
duties of local committees as described in reports
of various campaigns include:
1. Co-operation in advertising the coming of
the train.
2. Making or checking up arrangements for the
proper placing of the train.
3. Arranging for a reception committee and
helpers, as described in the section on atten-
dance (pages 55 and 98).
4. Securing such additional equipment as is
called for by the program, such as a meeting
hall, motion picture or stereopticon machine.
5. Arranging such entertainment as may be
needed by the train staff in the way of living
quarters or meals, or both. The importance
of providing for the comfort of the speakers
and explainers who work under a severe
strain can hardly be overestimated.
45
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
GETTING THE ADVANCE WORK DONE
The advance work is usually carried out by
correspondence with a local committee or indi-
viduals, or by sending an advance agent to make
the arrangements. Many tours of trains have
been carried on without an advance representa-
tive, in some cases because the expenses seemed
prohibitive or because of the difficulty in securing
a suitable person for this work. When well-organ-
ized local groups in communities to be visited are
already interested in the aims of the tour, it may
be comparatively simple to handle the advance
work through correspondence. But usually it is far
more desirable to send [an advance representative.
Arranging for local co-operation by correspon-
dence is a slower method than working through a
personal representative. The headquarters staff
also have a more difficult task in preparing pub-
licity material and letters that will arouse the
same enthusiasm that the agent can instil through
his direct contact with editors and other commu-
nity leaders.
An example of the use of letters in place of an
advance agent is the following which was sent to
health officers as one of a series addressed to lead-
ing citizens by the West Virginia Public Health
Council :
My dear Dr. :
The "Health Car" now touring the state under
46
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION
the auspices of the West Virginia State Depart-
ment of Health, in the interest of health education
and child welfare, will arrive in your city at 8.30
o'clock on Saturday P.M. and
will remain till 1.20 P.M. o'clock on Tuesday.
The car is a vestibuled railway coach entirely
remodeled and contains a chemical and bacterio-
logical laboratory, a health exhibit of posters and
electrically driven models and a picture machine.
These, with the explanation given by a Health
Instructor on the car, serve to impress on the
minds of the people the principles of the promo-
tion of health and prevention of disease.
May we count on you to secure the interest and
co-operation of the medical, dental and nursing
professions in your community, for a public meet-
ing at an hour which you, in consultation with the
Superintendent of Schools and a president of an
influential woman's organization, may decide?
We are also very desirous of securing the attend-
ance of the Mayor and Town Council and any
other citizens who do, or should, feel responsibility
for community welfare and the conservation of
child life. We have also written the Superin-
tendent of Schools and your newspapers, realizing
that the medical profession, the educational people
and the press are the agencies our Government is
counting upon for co-operation in constructive,
peace-time work.
The Health Car Corps will communicate with
you immediately upon arrival in your city to learn
of your plans for the utilization of their time and
effort while with you. We are anxious to make
their stay in each community count for the highest
possible things in the interest of the public health
and welfare.
47
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
The car is supplied with a number of good Health
Films which we will be glad to show, free of charge,
to the public if arrangements can be made with
some one who has a full-sized picture machine and
a hall at his disposal.
Sincerely yours,
S. L. JEPSON, M.D.
State Health Commissioner.
The following report from the director of the
Texas Peach Demonstration Train, described on
page 1 3, is fairly typical of advance work done in
local communities without a personal representa-
tive:
Articles announcing the tour of this train have
been sent to all the large newspapers in the east
Texas territory, also to the county newspapers.
Individual letters have also been sent to the large
peach growers, urging them to attend these meet-
ings. In counties where there is a county demon-
stration agent, a great deal is being done to bring
the matter to the attention of the farmers. Large
posters have been put up a couple of weeks in
advance of the train all through the different towns
at which stops are to be made. The chambers of
commerce and business organizations have been
called upon several weeks in advance and furnished
with full data, and they are doing all they can to
make the meetings a success. The county judge
in each county has given his co-operation by de-
claring the week in which the work is being con-
ducted in his particular county as Horticultural
Week.
The chambers of commerce have, in many in-
48
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION
stances, made arrangements for special features in
connection with the visit of our train.
QUALIFICATIONS OF THE ADVANCE AGENT
The personality and previous experience of the
person needed to carry out advance work form an
important factor in the success of the whole
undertaking.
The agent should be able to work successfully
with local committees, since much valuable pub-
licity will be secured through their efforts. That
is to say, he should be adaptable, clear, definite,
and orderly in his statements and in handling a
meeting, and be able to inspire enthusiastic inter-
est in carrying out the plans he outlines.
His training and experience at best should in-
clude knowledge of publicity or advertising
methods, experience in working with volunteer
committees, and general information of the sub-
ject matter of the campaign. Of these three,
given an alert and intelligent worker who has a
moderate amount of what may be called "pub-
licity sense," an understanding of how to organize
volunteer workers is probably the most necessary
element in his or her equipment. For he may
acquire in a comparatively short time a working
knowledge of the subject, and may call in outside
assistance in preparing the news stories and ad-
vertising plans that he carries with him. But
every local committee presents new and unex-
pected problems, and no amount of coaching can
49
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
provide what is gained by experience in adapting
plans and methods to the peculiarities of a local
situation, winning over a local chairman who has
prejudices or skepticisms, or simplifying or expand-
ing plans of work to fit the resources of the town
as the agent may estimate them in the brief time
that he remains. .
THE JOB OF THE ADVANCE AGENT
The first advance work is done by the commit-
tee or individual who directs the whole enterprise
from some central point, notifying local persons
of the purpose and the date of the agent's visit.
If there is already a local representative of the
movement in the community, arrangements may
be made which will save the agent much time in
seeing the editor, minister, school superintendent,
and others on his list whose co-operation he must
secure. If there is no local representative, letters
should be sent directly to the persons upon whom
he expects to call.
The agent's visit should be timed long enough
in advance of the coming of the train to allow for
carrying out the publicity plans, and near enough
so that there will be no chance for interest to
wane in the interval. A ten-day start has been
found satisfactory, especially when the way has
been paved for his visit and publicity and adver-
tising materials are ready for use. If an agent
travels in an automobile, he is better able to adapt
his time to local needs and still keep ahead of
50
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION
the train, than if he is dependent upon railroad
schedules.
The Child Welfare Special of the Children's
Bureau was preceded by an advance agent and
the method is described in the bureau's report of
the tour as follows :
The advance agent, who travels two weeks in
advance of the car arranges the itinerary, attends
to the publicity, and organizes local communities
to take charge of the work. Her first step is to
call together a county child welfare committee.
With their aid an itinerary is mapped out, and
then local committees are organized in the com-
munities to be visited. So far as possible, the
agents work through the local child welfare com-
mittees formed during Children's Year.
These committees are asked to provide a suit-
able location for the parking of the Special — a spot
that is centrally located, well shaded, and near a
public room that can be used both as an exhibit
and waiting room. They are also asked to make a
canvass of their districts before the Special arrives,
so that everyone may understand the purpose of
the conference. Each committee member has her
field of work clearly defined. A number of women
are asked to serve as hostesses during the confer-
ence, receiving mothers and babies, giving them
numbers for examination, and explaining the ex-
hibit material.
The agent then distributes her cuts and other
publicity material for the newspapers, printed in-
structions for the child welfare committee, copies
of announcements that ministers are asked to
make from their pulpits, and posters advertising
51
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
the coming of the Special. She visits city and
county officials, social agencies, editors, physicians,
clergymen, farm advisers, county demonstrators,
business men, and other representative citizens to
explain the purpose of the visit of the car.
As a result of this work of the advance agent,
the staff finds everything is in readiness on the
arrival of the Special.
The Land Clearing Special of Georgia, a recent
enterprise of the State College of Agriculture, was
preceded by an advertising campaign designed to
make the Land Clearing Demonstration the big
event of the season in each stopping place. In
addition to the usual methods of newspaper pub-
licity, posters, and letters, twenty automobiles
carrying signs announcing the demonstration,
visited the rural districts for a week preceding
the event. Telephone owners were called up on
•the telephone and invited, and arrangements were
made to have factory and train whistles blow
when the demonstrations were about to start.
Information about this plan was widely spread.
ASSIGNMENTS OF ADVANCE WORK FOR LOCAL
COMMITTEES
With time for only a day or part of a day's stop
in a town the advance agent has little opportunity
to explain fully to the co-operating committee all
the details of advance preparation expected of its
members. To meet this situation, the directors of
the Pennsylvania Food Conservation Train with
52
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION
the co-operation of the present writer prepared
and multigraphed a set of instructions for local
committees. The agent distributed copies of these
instructions to the members of the executive com-
mittee in each town during the meeting that was
held on the day of his visit. Not all of these direc-
tions were suited to every community visited, and
frequently suggestions from the local committee
were added or substituted. This set of assign-
ments is quoted in full below. The features of the
assignments especially worth noting are:
1. That written instructions or suggestions in
addition to the agent's personal explanation
leave less to chance in getting the plans car-
ried out.
2. That the directions are exceedingly simple
and flexible.
3. That each separate assignment was printed
on a separate sheet so that it could be placed
in the hands of the person who was to carry
it out.
53
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT FOR LOCAL CO-OPERATING
COMMITTEES REGARDING THE PENNSYLVANIA
FOOD CONSERVATION TRAIN
Food Conservation Train Coming to
On Quota of Attendance
You know the old saying, " If you want to get a
thing done, do it yourself/'
But there is a new one that is much more appro-
priate in wartime when we should all be working
together to win: " If you want to get people inter-
ested, give them something to do to help."
There is something for everybody to do to make
the Food Conservation Train a success.
Dividing the Work. The following list of assign-
ments should be divided among as many depend-
able people as you can find. Try some new people
who have not had a chance to help before.
Each assignment is described on a separate
sheet, a copy of which may be given to the person
taking the assignment. If necessary, one person
may take several assignments.
Assignments Name of committee chairman
1 . Reception committee
2. Newspapers.
3. Advertising.
4. Attendance of special groups.
5. Churches.
6. Schools.
7. Attendance of foreign born.
8. Speaking.
9. Personal canvass.
10. Motor service.
1 1 . Miscellaneous.
54
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION
RECEPTION COMMITTEE
A reception committee usually of from six to
ten members should receive the visitors at the
train. It is desirable to have four members on
hand, usually from ten to twelve o'clock, and six
members from two to five o'clock to welcome dele-
gations, distribute literature, give information,
and explain exhibits.
The committee will be given a list of expected
delegations so that their leaders may be known
and introduced to the train staff.
The committee will find that the train offers an
excellent opportunity to tell visitors of local activi-
ties for food conservation and to invite their
co-operation.
It will be well to have the whole reception com-
mittee at the train a few minutes before its first
opening at ten o'clock so that they may become
familiar with exhibits and have time for a brief
conference with members of the staff.
55
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
COMMITTEE ON NEWSPAPERS
The advance agent will bring with him mate-
rial for the local paper, to which will be added
the names of committee members and of persons
who are helping the committee.
Other material that should be of interest to the
local papers includes:
1. A list of special delegations from lodges,
^ churches, business groups, and others that
will visit the train.
2. Accounts of talks given by Four Minute Men
and others about the food train and food con-
servation.
3. An account of the work that is being done for
food conservation by the local committee.
Editorials. Editors may be glad to take advan-
tage of the presence of the train as an occasion
for an editorial on some local aspect of the food
situation, as encouraging the use of home products,
regarding the food hoarders, and so forth.
Out-of-Town Papers. The newspapers in the ter-
ritory adjacent to your town will carry some news
of its coming. In addition to news sent to those
editors from state headquarters they will be inter-
ested in your local plans and the names of your
workers.
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION
ADVERTISING COMMITTEE
One of these assignments could be given to each
of several members of a committee. The more
workers there are the more enthusiasm there will
be.
Posters. There are probably several persons
who would gladly make posters announcing the
train if they were asked. Give them the facts and
let them work out their own ideas. Have these
posters shown in store windows and in public
buildings. See that all posters sent from the
Philadelphia office are placed where they will do
the most good.
Window Displays. Invite merchants to have win-
dow displays on food conservation and help them
with ideas. The sheets issued by the Retail Store
Section of the Food Administration contain pic-
tures of windows that are easy to copy. Be sure
that the window display contains an announce-
ment of the food train.
Ask every merchant who has a sign writer or
who makes his own window cards to make up in
his best style a card or sign announcing the com-
ing of the train.
Slides in Moving Picture Theaters. See that slides
are displayed in the moving picture theaters an-
nouncing the coming of the train. The following
makes a satisfactory slide:
57
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
\
SEE THE PICTURES AND WAR RELICS
AND
LEARN WARTIME COOKERY
FOOD CONSERVATION TRAIN
FREE FREE
1 2th St. SIDING, PENNSYLVANIA R.R.
10-12 A.M. 2-5 P.M. JULY 15
Mention in Advertisements of Local Merchants.
Local food dealers, especially those selling substi-
tutes, should be interested in getting their cus-
tomers to see the exhibits and demonstrations.
Ask them to mention the train in their newspaper
advertisements preceding its arrival.
In addition to the usual advertising space of
food dealers your newspaper may be able to have
a special page of food advertisements with a large
announcement of the train in the center.
Other advertisers may also be willing to mention
the food train and may find a way to work it into
their advertisement as follows:
On your way to the Food Conservation
Train on Tuesday, don't fail to drop in and
see our new assortment of men's neckwear,
etc.
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION
COMMITTEE ON SPECIAL DELEGATIONS
Since only a certain number of the people can
see the train during its brief stay and ALL the
people should receive its message, it is important
that special delegations be arranged for, with the
understanding that the delegates will pass on the
message brought by the train to members of their
organizations.
Morning attendance is lightest. As many as
possible of these special groups should be arranged
for during the morning.
The director of the train and the chairman of
the reception committee should each receive a list
of delegations that expect to attend, also the hour
when they will arrive.
If any special group promises to come at a given
hour, have a committee member meet them and
introduce them at the train. People will be more
likely to come if they feel some special attention is
being shown them.
The following groups are suggested; others may
be added or substituted as the committee may
decide:
Officials. An official delegation made up of mem-
bers of council of defense, city officials, chamber of
commerce, trades assembly, Red Cross and other
war agencies, newspaper editors, and others. This
delegation should be the first to come in the morn-
ing after the reception committee arrives.
Schools. Special arrangements for the atten-
59
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
dance of school children in the morning are sug-
gested on a separate assignment sheet, with the
heading "Schools."
Churches. See the assignment on Co-operation
of Churches for a suggestion for having delega-
tions from church societies.
Restaurants and Hotels. Managers and cooks of
hotels and restaurants should come in a body at a
special hour so that information and answers to
questions of special interest to them can be ar-
ranged.
Food Sellers. There are exhibits of special inter-
est to food sellers, and these persons can be very
helpful in passing on information to their custom-
ers. All should be asked to attend in a body if
possible. Can you arrange for the stores to be
closed at a certain hour?
Employes. Employers might be willing to excuse
some of their workers in stores and factories, espe-
cially if they are near the train, for a brief visit.
If a factory delegation can be arranged for at the
noon hour a special session may be arranged for
them.
Clubs. All fraternal orders, civic, social clubs,
and labor unions, should be especially urged to
be represented. The men's organizations will be
especially interested in the war relics and in the
maps showing important facts about food distri-
bution.
60
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION
COMMITTEE ON CO-OPERATION OF CHURCHES
The Food Conservation Train aims to teach the
message of brotherhood — of sharing our food with
those whose need is greater than ours. All the
churches will be glad to help make it a success if
you tell them what to do.
Announcements. Ask ministers to have announce-
ment of the train given at all services during the
week before it arrives. Announcement forms are
supplied.
Delegations. Invite church societies to send dele-
gations to the train. Be sure that the women who
plan church suppers, bazaars, and food sales are
appointed among delegates. They will receive
valuable suggestions.
It is important that men's classes and societies
send delegates.
Sermons. Ask ministers to preach sermons on
the Sunday before the train arrives on our obli-
gation to feed the world from our generous stores
of food. They may obtain helpful information
from (insert name of a food administration bul-
letin giving general information about the food
situation), of which copies may be had from (name
of local official or committee).
61
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
COMMITTEE ON SCHOOLS
School children can be of great assistance in
spreading the news of the train.
Invitations to Parents. The teachers may be
asked to have the children write invitations to
their parents to visit the train as an exercise in
composition.
Attendance of School Children. Groups of older
school children (attending high school) should
come with their teachers in squads of about thirty
or forty at fifteen-minute intervals during the
morning. Domestic science classes should come
in a body.
Drawing and manual training classes may be
asked to study the exhibits with a view to repro-
ducing them at a later date for the benefit of
parents and friends.
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION
COMMITTEE ON ATTENDANCE OF FOREIGN
LANGUAGE GROUPS
Remember those who do not speak English.
We particularly wish to reach them. The follow-
ing steps are necessary:
The Leaders. The committee should see and
actively interest the clergymen. If they approve,
they can do much to interest the members of
their congregations.
In the same manner, interest the chief foreign
business men. Find out what leaders among them
have been revealed by the Liberty Loan and other
campaigns, and reach them.
Workers. Let every employer having foreign
workers and every woman employing foreign
domestics advertise to and through them.
Arrange special hours for groups by languages
and be sure to have an interpreter or a speaker in
their own language.
Be Democratic! Above all else be democratic in
your dealings with these foreign-born workers.
Make them feel that they are asked to take a
part in a common experience, not that the native
born are " unloading " something upon the foreign-
ers. Keep yourselves in the attitude of being will-
ing to learn as well as to teach.
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
COMMITTEE ON SPEAKING
Use the Four Minute Men in advertising the
train. Call upon others who can speak. Tell
them what the Pennsylvania Food Administration
is trying to do with the train and ask them to
speak for you.
The director and staff of the train are willing to
address noon meetings with the object of urging
attendance at the afternoon session. Factory em-
ployes can be reached in this way. Arrange with
the manager of any local corporation, particularly
one employing girls, to have such a meeting.
Try to have a speaker at any gathering that is
held during the week or ten days before the train
arrives.
/
PERSONAL CANVASS
The Men. If your men are not as eager to con-
serve as the women, get them to come to the train
and we can help you to interest them. The exhibit
car especially contains war relics, pictures, and
maps of interest to men. Invite as many men as
you can reach personally or by telephone.
The Farmers' Wives. The best publicity to farm-
ers' wives is personal. Let the committee take the
telephone book, divide up the names of the farm-
ers, and see that each farm woman is 'phoned to
at least three days before our coming. Have let-
ters sent to farmers' wives several days before
train arrives. (Forms supplied.)
64
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION
If you know of interested women who are lame,
or otherwise shut in, send someone for them in an
automobile.
Last Minute Calls. Personal telephone calls on a
day before the train arrives are an indispensable
means of insuring attendance. Get some of the
older high school girls to divide up the telephone
directory among them and call up the numbers
systematically from their own homes. They should
simply announce that the Food Conservation
Train is going to be in town tomorrow and give
the time and place where it may be found. If the
train has been generally advertised a large atten-
dance can be insured by this method. It reminds
people.
Motor Service. In order to reach the people of
outlying districts, it is possible to organize a girls'
motor service. Have the automobiles go to an
advertised point where they will pick up all who
desire to go to the train. They can make several
trips in morning and afternoon. It would be well
to have automobiles doing this work carry banners
advertising the train and its special work.
VI
THE MESSAGE OF THE TOUR
THE message of the campaign includes the
ideas, facts, and plans to be presented to the
audiences. The choice of a topic or its scope,
what to say about it, and how much, are questions
deserving more thoughtful consideration and real
work than is usually given to them. The most
important and the most difficult thing in preparing
the message is to have constantly in mind a pic-
ture of the way in which it is to be delivered. If,
for example, the project takes the form of an
exhibit and lecture train in which visitors will
spend part of their time listening to a talk and
the remainder passing through several cars to
examine displays, we should, as we plan the mes-
sage, try to picture the train on the siding at, let
us say, Jonesville. We should also visualize the
numbers and types of people likely to come, how
they will divide their time between the talks and
the exhibits, how long they will stay, or how long
we will wish them to stay, what they know about
the subject already, and what they will want to
know, what they could do with this or that kind
of information, and how much and what part of
the message they are likely to remember. If the
66
THE MESSAGE OF THE TOUR
campaign is carried on with a truck and its pro-
gram includes a demonstration which only a few
people can see, and a motion picture and lecture
program for much larger numbers, there are two
problems; first, visualizing the small groups for
the demonstration, and second, the larger audience
for the more popular program.
Reports of topics and methods of presenting
them that have come in from many and varied
traveling campaigns indicate that much more at-
tention could be given to this question of prepar-
ing the message, and that frequently topics have
been selected and the form of presentation worked
out with only a very hazy visualization of the con-
ditions and the people to be encountered at Jones-
ville and other points along the route.
CHOICE OF A TOPIC
Experience leads most directors, sooner or later,
to choose a single topic that is definite and con-
crete, rather than a group of topics or one that is
broad in scope. This limiting of the topic is all
the more likely to be important where the subject
of the campaign is unfamiliar to the prospective
audience. The titles given to many of the agri-
cultural trains indicate that their directors have
found the concrete and single topic satisfactory.
Trains have been called the " Stump Pulling
Special/' "Wheat Special," "Better Seed Car,"
and "Dairy Train."
In the health field the topics have often been
67
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
very general, as "Child Welfare" or merely "Pub-
lic Health/' One public health car, which seemed
to be fairly typical, carried exhibits on the pre-
vention and cure of tuberculosis, care of babies, the
duties of the school nurse, food adulteration, com-
municable diseases, playgrounds, venereal dis-
eases, and a description of the functions of the State
Health Department. The more inclusive and thus
less specific the topic the more vague and general
will be the talk about it afterward by those who
visited the train.
A reason sometimes given for presenting varied
and general topics is that the purpose is not so
much to give definite information which will be
remembered and acted on, as to impress people
with the scope and importance of the subject.
For example, the visitors to a public health car in
which many phases of the subject are touched
upon may carry away a conviction that public
health work is important to the community and
should be supported although their ideas of it
were very vague. This result may satisfy the pur-
pose of some campaigns, but more often directors
who present a variety of topics hope that some-
thing about each will be remembered; and there
is reason for believing that their hope will not
come as near to realization, or at least that the
information will not be of as great utility, as it
might if the subjects were fewer and more speci-
fically treated.
Another argument frequently brought forward
68
THE MESSAGE OF THE TOUR
in favor of including several topics is that all sorts
of people will visit the train or truck, and while
one will be interested in one subject others will be
more interested in something else. When those in
charge of the program are meeting only a few
people at a time, they can talk separately to each
visitor about special problems, but the brief stops
made on most tours require the message to be
presented to a large group at one time or at least
in quick succession, so that in practice it usually
happens that all the visitors see and hear the
same things. In this case the more closely a single
and concrete topic is adhered to, the more hopeful
campaigners may be that what is said or displayed
will be remembered.
An equally important reason for limiting the
number of topics is the desirability of having your
whole audience get the same message. In connec-
tion with the Wheat Specials, for example, not
alone should the farmer and the farmer's wife and
the farmer's children be informed about the wheat
problems of the locality, but the local banker and
business man stand in need of much the same in-
formation. The preacher and the doctor will help
to spread the doctrine, and the school teacher can
make good use of what he learns. The more nearly
the entire community, young and old, understands
and is interested in the same message, the more
likely that the desired results will follow.
Occasionally two or three topics may be pre-
sented on the same train by having separate cars
69 "
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
for each topic and a separate audience for each.
Thus, on one train a car containing household
labor-saving devices was designed to interest the
wives of farmers, and a pure-seed car the farmers.
Or several topics may be combined in such a way
that they are made parts of one large idea. Health
topics might be brought together under "The
Health of the Family," and divided into instruc-
tion about the care of the baby, the child at school,
the teaching of social hygiene to older boys and
girls, and the sanitation of the household. But
even when thus closely related to the family in-
terests of the visitors, this group of topics is still
too varied to permit any one to make a strong and
lasting impression.
WHAT TO TELL
Having chosen a topic, there is sure to be so
much to tell about it that careful selection again
becomes necessary. The best guide in preparing
the subject matter of the program is the visualiza-
tion of expected audiences already referred to. It
cannot be too strongly emphasized that the rela-
tion of the subject matter to their interests, cir-
cumstances, and habits will largely determine
their response to the suggestions given. Often
this relationship exists, but is not explained clearly
enough to be readily understood. The fact that
the traveling campaigners come from a distance,
bringing new ideas expressed in an unfamiliar
way, leads an audience to look upon the whole
70
THE MESSAGE OF THE TOUR
project as something which is no doubt very inter-
esting to see and hear about, but of no immediate
concern to themselves. It is worth while to make
a very special effort to overcome this attitude of
aloofness and to make the audiences see that what
you are bringing is something that they have been
wanting all the time, without their fully realizing it.
MAKING UP THE PROGRAM
The term program is used here to include the
combined activities and displays that make up
what is presented to visitors at each stopping
point. It may consist of music, talks, demonstra-
tions, motion pictures, or displays of posters and
objects, or several of these features combined,
with varying emphasis on one or the other form.
It may be held inside of railroad cars or in an
open space, using for a stage a flat car, the rear
platform of a passenger car, or a temporary struc-
ture. Or it may be given in a hall in the town.
Sometimes the program includes both indoor and
outdoor features.
It is usually a good idea to arrange what might
be called a "unit" program that will include every-
thing that it is desirable for a given visitor or
group of visitors to do, see, and hear in order to
fully understand and enjoy the message. This
unit program has an important place in the ar-
rangement of itinerary, schedule, and the arrange-
ments made for the attendance. For example, if
the unit program lasts an hour we have a means
71
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
of deciding the number of times it needs to be
repeated in order to reach the desired number of
visitors. If it lasts two or three hours we are
likely to find that in our advance work we will
need to make a greater effort to attract a carefully
selected audience, since the longer the program in
most cases the fewer the people who could enjoy
it even once. The suggestions below have to do
with some of the factors to take into account in
selecting and combining features of this unit
program.
Features intended wholly or mainly as attrac-
tions, such as music, or dramatic or comic films,
should not be placed in competition with educa-
tional features for getting attention or holding in-
terest. They may be said to compete when they
distract attention from the main topic or take up
an undue share of the time of visitors, or are so
much more popular in form than the educational
topics as to be more talked about and remembered
afterward.
The program should be arranged so that the
one idea or set of facts which it is the purpose of
the tour to deliver holds the center of the stage
at all times, and so that it commands attention
whether it takes the form of a talk or exhibit, or
both. As has already been said, the main idea
should not be overshadowed or lost sight of through
the rivalry of other attractions. Finally, so that
there may be no doubt that it is understood and
remembered, the main idea should be repeated in
72
THE MESSAGE OF THE TOUR
different forms, in talks, demonstrations, exhibits,
and printed matter.
If the visitor is obliged to stand during all or
the greater part of the time he is not likely to
give more than an hour of interested attention to
talks and displays. Many will give much less.
The actual period that the average visitors will
remain under certain conditions is soon learned by
experimenting, and each feature should be timed
so that a satisfactory presentation of the subject
can be assured for the majority of them.
However attractively the subject is presented
through motion pictures or other displays, a good
talker is about the most important element in
getting the idea across to the visitors. Whether
the speaker accompanies his talk with slides or
objects, conducts a demonstration, explains ex-
hibits, or makes running comments on motion pic-
tures, his ability to be heard, to hold interest, and
to express himself simply, briefly, and concretely
will often be the chief factor in the success of the
program. Lecturers for traveling campaigns should
be chosen as much for their ability as speakers as for
their knowledge of the subject matter.
PROGRAMS OF EXHIBIT TRAINS
The following plan for a program was announced
for one of the Liberty Loan trains:
Aerial bombs will be sent off as train reaches
stop.
73
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
Liberty Loan representatives in charge of train
will make brief address and ask local committee of
three to come onto the platform.
Five-minute address by the local chairman or
someone selected by him.
Talk by returned soldier.
Address by experienced speaker with principal
object of urging necessity of subscribing to Loan.
Invitation by Liberty Loan representative to
inspect exhibition.
The trains for which this program was planned
made short stops and the talks were given from a
platform or from one of the flat cars. A large
crowd could be reached by a single speaking pro-
gram. In this case the speaking was the important
feature, and the exhibits of war material were an
" attraction " rather than an educational feature.
It satisfied the purpose of the tour to have most
of the time devoted to speeches, followed by a
rapid view of exhibits.
The extension division of the Texas State Col-
lege of Agriculture reports the following program
method :
Immediately upon going into a town, the people
were loaded into the lecture cars and three lec-
turers would alternate for a twenty-minute talk
on different subjects in each car. Where outdoor
meetings were held the exhibit cars were closed
upon coming into town and general lectures were
first had from the platform car, then the live
stock were led onto the platform car where special
demonstrations were given. As soon as this
74
THE MESSAGE OF THE TOUR
formal program was completed the specialists
were stationed back through the exhibition cars
and the crowds were allowed to enter the front of
the train and pass gradually through the entire
train, making such inquiries of the specialists as
they cared to while going through the exhibition car.
Here again the speaking and the outdoor demon-
strations are evidently regarded as the important
features. Such a plan should not be considered if
the exhibits are of real importance. The audience
that has been standing during the program of per-
haps half an hour or more, and has then waited
in line to go through the train, is a tired audience
and not nearly so responsive as though its mem-
bers came fresh to the exhibits. It is also true
that when the program is so arranged that the
whole crowd is ready at one time to start through
the train, there is much more difficulty in manag-
ing the people and much more dissatisfaction on
the part of those at the rear end of the line. It is
difficult to get careful attention for exhibits from
people who are being moved ahead to make way
for an impatient crowd standing in long lines be-
hind them. The managers of trains will do well
to decide in advance whether the speaking or the
exhibits constitute the really important feature of
the program. If it is the exhibits, then the speak-
ing should be made incidental, perhaps, by having
a ten-minute talk given from the platform at
regular intervals as a new group is to be started
through the train.
75
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
A PROGRAM COMBINING DEMONSTRATIONS AND
EXHIBITS
A method of dividing the time between demon-
strations in two cars and an exhibit car was worked
out satisfactorily on the Pennsylvania Food Con-
servation Train. All the audience passed through
the train in the same direction, starting at the
same point, except that at the beginning of the
session all the cars were filled at once to avoid
delays. When the first car was filled a talk on
canning started. No attempt was made to demon-
strate a complete process, but different vegetables
or fruits were in various stages of preparation con-
tinuously, so that a fifteen-minute illustrated talk
brought out the points that required emphasis.
After about five minutes of questions and looking
at displays of equipment and canned articles, this
crowd moved on to the next car, while the first
car was filled again with the next group of arrivals.
In the second car a similar program was given on
uses of wheat substitutes. In the third car two
explainers met the audience and explained the
exhibits found there. As the topics in all three
cars were closely related (the demonstrations show-
ing how to save food and the exhibits showing why
food saving was necessary), an hour spent in three
cars gave variety enough to keep interest awake
and still kept closely to the one big idea — ''Save
Food/'
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THE MESSAGE OF THE TOUR
OUTDOOR SPEAKING AT TRAINS
If speaking to a general audience is the im-
portant thing, a talk from the outside of the train
would seem better than crowding people into the
cars; but even outside speeches from the platform
or a flat car, or an especially built platform at the
train present many difficulties. The location of
the train frequently does not provide good stand-
ing room for the crowds; there is frequently dis-
traction from the noise of 'other trains and per-
sistent rainy weather must be reckoned with also.
It is very important to have speakers with good
outdoor voices, for the effect on the audience of
straining to hear a speaker is irritating and leaves
behind a bad impression.
77
VII
EXHIBIT CARS
TYPES OF CARS
PRACTICALLY every type of car from the
Pullman to the flat car can be fitted up to
suit some exhibit or demonstration purpose.
The Pullman, with its broad windows and attrac-
tively finished woodwork, makes a more pleasing
setting for displays than the day coach. The day
coach with seats removed and shelves built in for
the display of exhibits has been the most generally
used type of car. Photographs of the Pennsyl-
vania Food Conservation Train show day coaches
with interiors fitted up with counters, platforms,
and cupboards with dimensions based on a careful
calculation of the desired use of every inch of
floor and wall space.1 The baggage car is more
nearly ready for use in an emergency since it does
not need to be dismantled, but it is neither so well
lighted nor so well finished as the coach. The flat
car is well adapted to a display of large and heavy
equipment, or for demonstrations that, require a
platform to display them to an audience standing
near the track. On agricultural trains, demonstra-
tions of milking or judging live stock have been
1 See illustrations opposite pages 70, 85, and 92.
78
EXHIBIT CARS
given on flat cars. On the Liberty Loan trains flat
cars were employed to show cannon, machine guns,
tanks, and other large equipment. In the photo-
graph opposite page 80 a flat car is shown fitted
with a framework for a tarpaulin for protection
against weather. This is a necessary precaution in
using flat cars.
An experienced director of exhibit trains writes:
"An especially built and designed car for the pur-
pose is well worth its additional cost. Such cars
as I have seen provided by the railroads for tem-
porary service in exhibit lines have all been old,
small, and often broken-down baggage or pas-
senger cars, in every way unsuitable for a purpose
where the most extreme dimensions available still
leave the exhibit and circulation space contracted.
Cars should be built on the largest frames and the
most extreme dimensions that the railroads, as
governed by their tracks, bridges, and tunnels can
handle. Windows should be set high in the car
walls, giving a high source of light and maximum
wall space for exhibits, and should be larger than
those in the ordinary coach to secure better venti-
lation. The doors should be built wider than the
usual car door/' The plan calls for small and
compact living and office quarters at one end.
The director also adds that the installation of an
engine to furnish lights and power for working
models is an important item of equipment. One
engine is sufficient to run lights, fans, and models
for several cars. In these days of portable elec-
79
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
trical outfits, this item is practicable and fairly
inexpensive.
TRAVELING ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STAFF MEMBERS
The kind of living arrangements provided for
the lecturers and assistants will depend, to some
extent, upon the frequency of the stops and the
number of persons traveling with the train. Sev-
eral of the more elaborately equipped trains have
carried a Pullman sleeping coach and a diner for
the staff members. If there are frequent stops, it
would seem that at least sleeping quarters on the
train are necessary. Meals are sometimes ar-
ranged for at stopping places, and in this case the
advance agent is responsible for seeing that good
meals are assured. When stops of a full day or
more are made, the staff members sometimes find
rooms and meals in hotels en route. Whatever
the arrangements, as is stated elsewhere, they
should insure the greatest possible degree of com-
fort to the staff, in order to offset the severe strain
that this kind of campaigning inevitably involves.
TREATMENT OF CAR INTERIORS
The two chief difficulties with exhibits on trains
are keeping them clean and so securing them in
place as to withstand the jarring motion. Wash-
able surfaces on floors, shelves, and walls are
essential. Exhibits should be either of the kind
that are easily kept clean or else placed under
cover or frequently replaced. No decorations
80
EXHIBIT CARS
such as draped bunting, which collects and holds
dust, should be used. Clusters of small flags hung
straight from chandeliers are attractive and non-
dust collecting decorations. Small objects should
be either securely fastened to shelves or packed
away while the train is in motion.
EXHIBITS
Having selected the subject matter, you have a
choice of presenting it through exhibits, demon-
strations, talks, or all three.
For still exhibits the use of models, objects, car-
toons, posters, transparencies for the windows,
and brief slogans or statements on placards have
been found most suitable. As is brought out in a
later section under methods of display, the dimen-
sions of a car place severe limitations on the forms
that may be used to advantage, and the same
principle applies to the selection of these as to the
content of a train exhibit.
Just as there should be few ideas so there should
not be too many sizes, shapes, and forms of ex-
hibits which confuse the eye in the way that
variety of topics confuses the mind.
Because of the necessity of moving people
through the cars rapidly enough to make way for
others to follow, it is essential that whatever is
displayed may be quickly seen and understood.
This limitation rules out many forms that might
be shown satisfactorily in halls. Anything that is
expressed chiefly by words may better be left to
81
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
speakers and printed matter for distribution as
there is not time to read words and figures and,
indeed, visitors have little inclination to do so.
Diagrams, particularly those presenting detailed
facts, also call for close examination and delay the
progress of visitors. One train exhibitor of expe-
rience says: "One of the greatest dangers to be
avoided is an excess of charts and small type.
The exhibit should be such that the crowds can be
kept moving through the car and, nevertheless, be
able to seize the principal points intended to be
taught."
A description of a part of a single health car in
one report includes "75 wall charts illustrating
the cost in human lives of tuberculosis, typhoid
fever, and diarrhea. Each series of charts has
grouped about it from two to twelve models.
Several hundred photographs show occupational
conditions favorable to tuberculosis." Such a col-
lection as this is suited only to intensive study
and not at all to a popular traveling exhibit.
Methods used to attract attention to one thing
should not distract attention from other things.
For example, in a certain health car a bell struck
every three minutes tolling the one hundred and
seventy-five thousand deaths annually from tuber-
culosis. This is a striking and effective way of
making people heed a startling fact, but unfor-
tunately every time the bell rang in so small a
space as the car it interfered with the study of
other features being presented.
82
EXHIBIT CARS
There is little opportunity to get attention for
detailed or complex displays, no matter how at-
tractive and interesting they may be. The follow-
ing is taken from a description of a mechanical
device shown on a train through which visitors
were always moving rapidly because there was a
long waiting line: "A model block-signal system
about 25 feet in length, illustrating the protection
provided by a clock-signal system was in full opera-
tion. This model had two sidings and was de-
signed particularly to show single-track operation.
Intermediate signals were shown between the clock
signals by means of lights/' The information that
this model conveyed illustrates very well the kind
that is too complicated to be understood without
a careful examination and some explanation by an
attendant.
You must, therefore, in planning the form as in
planning the content of your exhibit, keep your
eye steadily on the picture of the Smiths and
Browns at the train as it stands on the side track
in Jonesville with many people moving through
the cars. You can test the practicability of your
devices and other displays by asking yourself these
questions concerning the probable reaction of
Brown and Smith:
Will it attract their attention?
Will it arouse their interest?
Will they remember it?
Will it bring a response from them?
These are generally recognized aims of adver-
83
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
tising, and they apply equally to exhibits which
are, after all, a form of advertising.
USE OF THE SPACE FOR DISPLAY
For displaying exhibits to moving audiences,
the use of the space should be so planned that it
is easy to keep visitors moving in a given direction
and at the same time make it possible for them
to grasp quickly the meaning of what they see.
The majority of those who have reported on
their experience with trains agree that it is very
important that visitors should move in a single
direction. This is beyond question desirable unless
small audiences are expected ; but as is stated else-
where, capacity audiences are the aim of most
enterprises.
Having agreed on a one-way movement, there
is, however, still considerable disagreement as to
the best arrangement of material — whether on two
sides of the center aisle, or along the center of
the car with an aisle on either side, or finally, with
exhibits displayed on one side only with a single
aisle.
The first method, that of displaying exhibits on
two sides of the center aisle, makes the progress
of the visitor very slow and awkward, for he must
continually turn from one side to the other as he
goes unless, of course, he violates the rule of mov-
ing in one direction only and in so doing comes
back along the same aisle. Not only is it awkward
to turn continually from side to side in viewing
84
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A car interior on the Pennsylvania Food Conservation
Train designed to overcome as many as possible of the
difficulties in train exhibiting.
The curved space, too high to attract attention easily, is
used for a symbolic frieze in colors, the design, in three
parts, being repeated five times and running the length of
the car. The same space was used less successfully, as
shown in the cut opposite page 70, for reading matter which
was read only when the explainer called attention to it.
The framed captions and the pictures below them are
approximately at eye-level. Variety combined with a sym-
metrical arrangement is obtained by placing a large poster
over every fourth window, while the transparencies on the
remaining windows allow plenty of light to enter.
Exhibits are displayed on one side of the car only.
An economical use of the 9-foot width of the car is obtained
as follows:
Raised platform for the explainer, 20 inches wide.
Counter, 28 inches wide.
Aisle for visitors, 4.5 feet wide.
The use of vertical space is also carefully planned and
is roughly:
Counter height, 40 inches.
Upright board at back of counter, 1 1 inches high.
Combined height of pictures and captions, 36 inches,
with lower edge about 48 inches from the floor.
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
exhibits but it is difficult to arrange material so
that the visitor can in this way follow an idea
logically. His attention is alternately given to
the topics on one side and the other, unless by
some elaborate system of arrangement the story
moves from one side to the other. Another diffi-
culty is that the explainer has no place to stand
except in the aisle, holding back the visitors. The
very narrow middle aisle left by counters or tables
on two sides is still another disadvantage. More-
over, favored with space at the expense of visitors,
the exhibits are less likely to be seen and their
value is thus lowered.
Displays along the center of the car with an
aisle on each side might be satisfactory in some
cases, especially if all the material is in the form
of models or objects and there is no need to use
the walls. This method allows for the movement
of visitors in single file down one aisle and back
the other, or for two parallel lines to move in a
single direction on both sides of the display. Some
who have tried this method found that visitors did
not look at the walls but gave their whole atten-
tion to the center of the car.
The third method, that of placing exhibits on
one side only, seems to have been found the most
satisfactory. In this way both wall and floor
space on one side may be used to their full advan-
tage, while the visitors looking in a single direc-
tion move fairly rapidly. A space may be left for
the explainer between the wall and the counter,
86
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tractive arrange-
ment of exhibits on
the Wisconsin Pure
Seed and Home
Power Special. The
exhibitors showed
unusually good
judgment in their
use of wall space.
The information
given is brief, to the
point, easily read,
and well displayed.
The disadvantages
of displaying the ex-
hibits on both sides
of the narrow center
aisle, discussed on
page 84, are illus-
g
EXHIBIT CARS
as shown in the picture opposite page 85. Also,
she may move the length of the car and back
without difficulty, having the counter between her
and visitors.
PLACING EXHIBITS
The first consideration in placing exhibits is
that they shall be at the right height. The best
space on walls is that on a level with the eye.
The eye will travel up and down in following a
display that has caught the visitor's attention,
but isolated placards, pictures, or objects placed
too high or too low to be within easy range have
small chance of being observed.
The wall spaces of a car are considerably broken,
as may be observed in the photographs. The
curved space is excellent for decoration or for brief
slogans, but should not be depended upon for any-
thing requiring detailed examination. The upper
part of the window space is usually most nearly
at eye level, but windows are needed for light and
it is wise not to cover with displays that shut out
the light more than a half or a third of those on
one side and none at all on the other. One needs
to reckon with the possibility of trains often being
placed close to the exhibit cars, or the cars being
placed beside buildings that cut off the light
entirely on one side. Probably the best use of
windows is for cartoons or posters made on trans-
parent paper or cloth, or on the familiar glass
transparencies. The space below the windows is
8?
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
too low for wall displays. The illustration of the
Pennsylvania Food Conservation Train opposite
page 85 shows a good use of windows and wall
space. Another photograph opposite page 87 also
shows an interesting use of space.
The counters, shelves, or tables should be so
built as to bring the objects on them as nearly as
possible on a level with the eye, at the same time
without cutting off the view of wall exhibits. The
height and dimensions of the counters shown oppo-
site page 85 were worked out carefully to meet this
condition.
It is always a good thing to have a railing sepa-
rate visitors from the exhibits as more people can
see them if all are held back from pressing too
closely.
Another important consideration in placing ex-
hibits is that they should not be crowded. When
objects or placards crowd one another it becomes
impossible to look at one thing without having
others in the margin of vision interfere with con-
centrated attention. The first impression of a
crowded car is one of bewilderment. The visitor
is obliged not only to grasp new ideas and facts
presented in an unfamiliar form, but to select
among a large number those of special interest to
him.
ARRANGEMENT OF SUBJECT MATTER
Because of the small space and necessarily quick
movements of visitors, it is especially important
EXHIBIT CARS
that exhibits should be arranged in some logical
sequence. Visitors are sometimes called upon to
perform amazing feats in mental acrobatics, leap-
ing from one topic to another with breathless
speed. For example, in the exhibit pictured oppo-
site page 84, we see a poster about baby deaths
resting on a model of a school building with a pla-
card nearby urging the use of schools as commu-
nity centers. Across the narrow aisle is a model
obviously unrelated either to community centers
or baby deaths. The sequence of ideas should be
such that each new thought is made easier to
understand and more interesting because of what
went before it, or each separate exhibit should be
clearly related to one central idea. Thus, in the
first exhibit of the Pennsylvania Food Conserva-
tion Train the series of topics was developed as
follows :
Why we must save
Small savings
Saving wheat
Saving sugar
Saving fats
Using all the milk
Using home products.
Not only the sequence of ideas but the separa-
tion between two topics is important. This can
be accomplished by a visible separation, allowing
a distance of at least six inches between exhibits
relating to different topics ; better still, by putting
89
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
up actual barriers between the exhibits, as is done
in the exhibit opposite page 70. The barrier has
the advantage of holding the eye at one spot, so
that there is no temptation to desert one exhibit
for the lure of a bright color or a curious device
farther on.
Another consideration in arranging material is
that groups relating to one subject should be so
placed that their relation to one another and to
the whole be quickly recognized. Sometimes ex-
hibits that belong together are separated because
variety of size and shape makes it inconvenient to
work out a suitable arrangement. It is worth
while to plan carefully in advance the kinds of
exhibit material that will harmoniously illustrate
a given topic; also to have the sizes and shapes
conform to the dimensions of the space reserved
for them.
SOME OBSERVATIONS FROM PRACTICAL
EXPERIENCE
In a letter describing the exhibit car of the
Canadian Forestry Association, Mr, J. R. Dickson,
who was in charge of the car, makes some inter-
esting observations regarding the arrangement of
exhibits based on his experiences. He writes in
part as follows :
The people, especially at crowded hours, all
tend to. travel through an exhibit car in one direc-
tion and this is very desirable inasmuch as the
man in charge of the car can regularly escort
90
EXHIBIT CARS
through it group after group of eager sightseers
or inquirers after knowledge and keep up a cross
between a lecture and a conversation with them,
answering their questions and drawing their atten-
tion to all the pertinent points in the exhibit which
they might otherwise overlook.
To accomplish this plan of car lecturing most
effectually, the entire exhibit should be arranged
so far as possible in a natural sequence, beginning
at one end of the car and ending at the other.
This of course is where a single aisle is provided
down one side of the car. Such a scheme makes
one's talk logical and so helps to impress the les-
sons of the exhibit in such a way that they are
remembered easily and intelligently. . . .
On entering the car the first object to attract
the visitor's eye was a large map of Canada,
showing the forestry belt of 400,000,000 acres,
over 90 per cent of this timber land being publicly
owned. When told that each citizen of Canada,
man, woman and child, owned on the average
fifty acres of this national resource, the imagina-
tion and the pocket-nerve of the visitor were at
once stimulated and he or she was thereafter taking
a personal interest in the whole exhibit.
The visitor next turned to a nursery of small
pine and spruce illustrating the essential beginning
of all our forest wealth and also suggesting the
basic importance of land classification in order
that every acre may be put to its best use. Then
our modern methods of protecting both such young
growth and the resulting mature timber were ex-
amined and explained, and the great need for good
laws and the generous expenditure of public money
in order to safeguard their forests, was readily
seen and agreed to. ...
9*
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
Before leaving, the visitor . . . was handed
a copy of the last Canadian Forestry Association
Journal, and given a brief description of the na-
tion-building work of this society, together with an
addressed card inviting him to join.
Finally he inspected a cabinet filled with highly
finished samples of Canadian woods, and the last
thing his eye rested upon and which impressed
itself on his memory as he left the car, was this
bold fire warning: "A tree will make a million
matches; a match will burn a million trees/'
ARRANGEMENT OF CAR FOR DEMONSTRATIONS
When an audience is to be gathered in a car to
witness a demonstration or hear an illustrated talk,
the first requirement is that the speaker can be
easily heard and each process plainly seen by every-
one in the car. The second is that the audience
shall be comfortably seated if the demonstration
is to last longer than fifteen or twenty minutes.
This is about the limit of time that an audience will
stand without becoming restless. The illustration
on the opposite page shows an interior especially
constructed for cooking demonstrations, or rather
for brief object lessons, as a feature of the Pennsyl-
vania Food Conservation Train. The demonstrator
stands on a platform raised a foot higher than the
floor. A counter extending the length of the car
curves out at the center to leave a space for the plat-
form and small kitchen. The maximum space for
a standing audience is provided, and all are within
easy range of the speaker's voice and near enough
92
EXHIBIT CARS
to see the objects in her hand. The space below
the counter is lined with cupboards. A similar ar-
rangement might be suitable for any demonstra-
tion or illustrated talk in which few objects are
used, provided the counter is raised high enough to
show the entire process. If the extension of the
counter along the sides were left out the space
could be used to seat an audience around a raised
central platform.
93
VIII
THE TOUR OF THE TRUCK OR TRAIN
M
'ANY factors enter into the planning of an
itinerary, a time schedule, and the man-
aging of audiences. What places to visit;
whether within a given period of time allotted to
the whole tour it is better to make a number of
short stops at many places, or long stops at fewer
places; whether a large or small audience of a
particular kind is desired; whether visitors at
train or truck should be encouraged to stay as long
as they will or to remain only through a definite
prearranged program, and then to move on in
order to make room for others. All these questions
must be answered before the tour begins, or better,
after a brief trial trip. In some instances, special
circumstances will exist that leave no room for
choice in such a matter as, for example, the num-
ber of stops to be made. But ordinarily there are
many decisions to make and they should be made
in relation to the definite purpose of the tour.
Perhaps the whole series of difficulties that arise
may be summed up in two words — " don't crowd."
As has already been suggested, the purpose itself
should be simple and limited, not crowded with
the attempt to achieve the impossible, so that
94
THE TOUR OF THE TRUCK OR TRAIN
there is no room for the definite immediate purpose
to stand out boldly where it can be seen. Don't
attempt to crowd into this brief tour the informa-
tion or activities that belongs in the follow-up
program. The same advice extends down to the
handling of audiences and every other feature.
THE PLACES TO BE VISITED
In considering the type of places to be visited,
the two main considerations are the size of the
place and whether it contains the kinds of people
who may be expected to take an interest in the
subject matter. Many of those who have con-
ducted trains report that they create more inter-
est in communities of ten thousand or less than
in larger places. The larger the town the more
varied and numerous are the rival attractions.
In the cities the train yards are often busier than
elsewhere and, therefore, the noise and confusion
as well as the difficulty of handling crowds at the
train is greater unless the train be stationed away
from the busy yards.
The towns should be selected with reference to
the relation of the community to the subject mat-
ter. To take an obvious example, it would hardly
be appropriate to send an agricultural train into a
mining town. The whole plan of campaign may
have been made in relation to one type of popu-
lation, either rural or industrial, and it is rather a
waste of time to try to make it serve a popula-
tion of a kind that it has not been prepared for.
95
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
In planning the itinerary of a tour that must be
completed in a given length of time, it is usually
necessary to decide between the importance of
visiting a small number of towns and of making a
long stop in each, or of visiting a larger number
for fewer hours or days. Some trains have made
from five to ten stops in a day, while others have
spent from several days to a week in one place.
A day to a town, however, seems to be the more
general rule.
A stop may be limited to an hour or so because
it is thought more important to cover a given
amount of territory within certain time limits
than it is to stay long enough in a place to reach
a large share of the population or give much in-
formation. Or the purpose of the tour may be
accomplished by presenting to an audience, all of
whose members arrive at the same time, a single
program lasting an hour and dealing with easily
understood facts or ideas. The Liberty Loan
trains furnish good illustrations of a purpose of
this sort. If your campaigners are not in a hurry
to get over the ground by a certain date they
will probably find it more satisfactory to spend a
full day and sometimes longer with the people of
each community visited. The program may then
be repeated for a number of audiences and the
traveling specialists will have an opportunity to
promote closer relationships with local leaders.
However, conditions that govern a decision re-
garding the length of time to spend at a place
96
THE TOUR OF THE TRUCK OR TRAIN
differ so widely for individual enterprises that gen-
eral suggestions have not much value.
The stops of a truck tour are more easily ar-
ranged than those of a train since the latter is
dependent upon the convenience of the railroad.
One gain through this greater flexibility is the pos-
sibility of return visits to the same place. In this
way the truck helps in its own advance publicity
work by making a brief stay which attracts atten-
tion and spreads the news of its return for a longer
stay a little later. In its work in the congested
districts of the city, the Cleveland Children's Year
Special followed what its director called a "skip
stop" system, visiting a neighborhood long enough
to leave a number of people sufficiently well in-
formed to talk about it, and coming back two or
three days later to find an appreciative audience
ready for the program.
/
RECEIVING THE VISITORS 1
Visitors are the real reason for the enterprise
which is undertaken solely for their instruction or
benefit if results are hoped for, and they should
not be forgotten at any stage of the planning.
We have already considered them in the choice
of subject matter, the form and quantity of the
1 The discussion in this section is handled in terms of trains for the
sake of clearness and convenience, but generally the application is to
single cars as well as to trains, and to automobiles or motor trucks or
caravans of the same. The paragraphs not applicable to trucks are
fairly obvious. However, it is urged that, maximum results from a
truck tour call for much the same carefully detailed preparation and
management as a tour with a train.
97
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
material, and its arrangement. Now, having equip-
ment and plans ready, what shall be done with
the visitors when they arrive at the train?
Obviously, their comfort and convenience should
be prepared for and every possible help provided
for them to understand and enjoy what is dis-
played. Plans for doing these things should be
based on the expectation of as large an attendance
as can be handled satisfactorily, and even on some
overcrowding, unless small groups are deliberately
sought.
As is explained in the section on advance work,
local committees should be appointed whose mem-
bers will co-operate with the regular staff of the
train.
A reception committee may welcome special
delegations and introduce them to the members of
the train staff. If there is a formal program, local
leaders are usually asked to take part in it, and
as it is important in relation to the follow-up work
that they have the opportunity to familiarize
themselves with the subject matter and the
methods demonstrated on the train, their presence
throughout the day should be secured by advance
arrangements. An added value in having them at
the train is that in the eyes of visitors they will
become identified with the movement and thus be
in a better position to lead in the local follow-up
work.
Helpers are needed to look after the safety of
the visitors, to form any waiting crowds into lines,
98
THE TOUR OF THE TRUCK OR TRAIN
direct people to the entrance, keep them moving
in a single direction, prevent unnecessary conges-
tion at any given point, and note questions and
suggestions that should be passed on to members
of the staff. If local volunteers are well prepared
to perform these services the saving of strain on
the hard-worked staff will be very great.
THE RATE OF PROGRESS IN EXHIBIT CARS
Reports show that managers of trains have been
satisfied with both extremes in the rate of progress
of visitors in moving through the train. One train
director reported with pride that by his system he
was able to "run 5,000 through in an hour." At
the other extreme are the directors who during
their stay in a town give a single demonstration
in a car that holds only about one hundred people.
The method of "running people through" very
rapidly is useful only if the exhibits are simply
curiosities or objects of interest that may be
quickly noted, and that we may risk having soon
forgotten without loss to the cause that is being
served. For example, the Liberty Loan trains
depended chiefly on their program of talks, music,
and the appearance of the returned soldiers to
arouse interest. The large guns displayed on flat
cars were visible while the talking was going on.
It did not particularly matter after that whether
visitors were passed through the trophy car so
rapidly that they had only a glimpse of the various
objects.
99
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
On the other hand, the attendance in one place
of so small a number as one hundred would hardly
justify the work of planning and carrying out a
tour unless either the small group are carefully
selected as leaders capable of passing on the in-
formation to others, or the community is so small
that this number is as many as might be expected.
It ought to be possible to estimate in advance, or
at least after the first week of the tour, the length
of time required for the average person to see all
that is important for him to see and understand.
With this period in mind it is possible to estimate
the number of people who can be handled in a
given length of time. For example, we may as-
sume the following conditions :
A train of three cars.
Number that can be accommodated comfort-
ably in each car at one time, 60.
Twenty minutes, required time to see the ex-
hibits or hear and see demonstrations in each
car, or one hour for the train.
Train on view six hours.
Maximum attendance practicable during the
stop, i ,080 people.
The attendance is, of course, never distributed so
evenly as this over the day, and all the visitors do
not stay exactly the same length of time. Prob-
ably with a fairly even distribution a train with a
maximum capacity of one thousand will handle
satisfactorily about eight hundred people. An
estimate of the rate at which visitors may be
100
THE TOUR OF THE TRUCK OR TJUIN;
passed along will be found exceedingly useful in
deciding many questions, such as the arrangement
and content of the exhibits, the length of time to
continue a demonstration, the number of times to
repeat it, the length of the stay, and the quota of
attendance to work for in the advance publicity.
For example, would you rather have fewer
people and have those who come stay longer, or
would you prefer having a larger attendance with
those who compose it spending less time with you?
The selection of exhibits and the program should
be arranged according to your decision on these
points. If you are giving a few people detailed in-
formation which it would serve your purpose better
to give to a larger number, you are throwing away
your opportunity for want of a little careful calcu-
lation. The mistake most frequently made is to
plan exhibits and programs on the expectation of
having each visitor spend a long time at the train
carefully examining each display, and then when
the people arrive, to pass crowds through quickly
without giving them a chance to see what has
been prepared for them.
DISTRIBUTING THE ATTENDANCE
Apparently not many of those who have con-
ducted trains have attempted through their ad-
vance work to prepare for arbitrary distribution
of attendance over the entire period that the ex-
hibit is open. The period from two to five o'clock
in the afternoon seems to have been found the
1 01
TRAVELTNG PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
most popular by the largest number of those re-
porting on attendance, with some falling off
reported after four o'clock. The period before
ten in the morning is agreed upon unanimously
as the poorest time to get people out. The expe-
riences reported as to the hourly attendance be-
tween ten and four o'clock varies so widely that
it would seem to indicate that under the right con-
ditions it should be possible to get people to come
throughout this period.
Good advance work can fill up many idle hours.
A description of methods of advance work to ac-
complish this is contained in another chapter, but
while we are considering the visitors it may be
well to look over the groups that could most easily
come at the least attractive hours. On a num-
ber of trains arrangements were made to have
school children attend with their teachers accord-
ing to a prearranged schedule, usually durin'g the
morning hours. This is an especially good plan
when the train is on view all day, because the chil-
dren tell their experiences when they go home at
noon and thus help to get their parents to attend
in the afternoon. ' If there are a larger number of
school children than can be handled conveniently
it is a good idea to limit attendance to the older
children, basing the lower age limit on the esti-
mated number of children that can be accommo-
dated. If they do not fill up the train completely
during the morning, it is possible to arrange for
the attendance of delegations of leading citizens
102
THE TOUR OF THE TRUCK OR TRAIN
and other representative groups who come in a
body to welcome the train when it is opened to
the public, or to be personally escorted through it
at a given time. This, of course, has news value
as well as the advantage of using the morning
hours. The Safety First Train of the government
at each stop arranged to have such a morning
delegation.
In some places the noon hour may be used for
the attendance of factory workers and other em-
ployed people who are not far from the train.
This is successful if advance preparations are made
and if the subject matter is of interest to the
workers. It is often possible to adapt the pro-
gram and some part of the displays to their inter-
ests. Using the noon hour depends, of course, on
having a large enough staff to allow each member
an hour for lunch. The period from five to eight
o'clock in the afternoon is probably of the least
value. Usually the staff members themselves need
relaxation during this time if there is to be an
evening session.1 If there is no session the train
may pull out late in the afternoon. If, however,
it is desirable to make use of this period, it may
be possible to arrange for personal conferences or
group conferences at the train or in town with per-
sons especially interested in the subject who wish
to have information that is not of interest to the
general public or to talk over plans for the future.
1 This fact, further discussed on p. 105, deserves considerable
emphasis.
103
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
Reports as to the success of evening sessions
vary greatly. Many have used the evening suc-
cessfully for outdoor motion pictures or for meet-
ings in town. The fact that many who could not
leave their work during the day can come then
seems to argue that it is possible to have a ggod
attendance if the advance work has been thor-
ough— provided also that the location of the car
or train is satisfactory and that the time schedule
will permit.
EXPLAINING THE EXHIBITS
While the exhibits should be so simple and well
arranged as to be easily understood, any exhibit
of objects, pictures, and printed words is more
enjoyed and appreciated if it is brought to life by
a personal interpretation given with enthusiasm.
The explainer calls attention to what is displayed
much as a chairman introduces a speaker. A good
introduction makes the audience more friendly
and responsive to either a speaker or an exhibit.
The explainer who travels the length of the car
with one group can take care of only a few people
at a time, and if there is a continuous movement
of people through the car only about one-third of
them have the advantage of the explanation. If,
on the outside or in another car, a lecture or demon-
stration precedes the reviewing of exhibits, the
speaker may close the talk with an explanation of
the purpose and character of the exhibits and some
suggestions as to what to look for. With this
104
THE TOUR OF THE TRUCK OR TRAIN
preparation people may pass through the car un-
attended and perhaps meet an explainer at the
far end who will answer questions and give out
literature together with an invitation to take part
in the follow-up program. Or the explainer may
meet people as they enter the car and give a brief
introduction to the exhibits.
Local people, with general information on the
subject, can give valuable help in explaining points
about particular exhibits which have to be re-
peated many times. These helpers should receive
advance material and in addition should come to
the train for coaching before it opens and be
stationed at assigned positions.
Staff members who are continually meeting
people, work under considerable strain and may
easily become tired or indifferent through over-
work. So much depends on their enthusiasm and
their readiness to offer help that this factor should
be carefully checked up, and if any member of
the staff shows signs of losing interest or failing to
get a response he should be replaced or at least
given a period of rest. By relieving staff members
of irksome details and by providing in other ways
for their comfort, as well as by arranging the
schedule of hours so that they do not work beyond
their strength in any one period, much can be done
to avoid this loss of freshness and enthusiasm.
105
IX
FOLLOW-UP WORK
IN A previous chapter it was pointed out that
the purpose of a tour may be to give informa-
tion, to create interest in a new movement that
is being launched, to revive interest that has be-
come dull, or to serve as an attention-arresting
feature of an intensive campaign that aims to
produce some immediate results. All of these
aims point to the need of planning definite follow-
up work. It will not do to let people forget what
they have learned or lose interest in it through
neglect. If the tour means simply that ideas or
facts are dropped down into each community, like
seeds scattered by the winds without provision for
later cultivating, they have a smaller chance to
take root and grow.
Psychology has demonstrated that there is a
"curve of forgetting." Hollingworth described it
as follows :
When a given appeal is addressed to me, I
straightway proceed to forget it. But I do not
forget it at a uniform rate, so much being for-
gotten on each succeeding day until all is for-
gotten. Instead, I forget the material that has
been seen or learned, according to a definite "curve
1 06
FOLLOW-UP WORK
of forgetting/' a curve which descends rapidly at
first and then more slowly. The larger proportion
of material is forgotten in the first day or so.
After that a constantly decreasing amount is for-
gotten on each succeeding day.1
How may the impression made by the program
and exhibits of the train be fixed in the minds of
its visitors promptly, so that forgetting may be de-
layed until results are obtained? Several simple
methods suggest themselves. We will take up here
mainly those things that can be done while the
train is in town or soon after its departure, as we
are concerned only with the part that the train
tour plays in the whole program of the organiza-
tion that sends it out.
GETTING THE SUBJECT TALKED ABOUT
If the visitors talk about what they saw and
heard they are likely to remember it much longer
and more accurately than if they do not. The
principles discussed elsewhere, of simplicity of
form, concentration on one main topic, orderly
arrangement, and lack of crowding in both exhibits
and programs, have a definite application to get-
ting the subject talked about. People speak
vaguely and in general terms about what they
have not clearly understood. We may imagine
that A, who saw the train, meets B, who did not,
and the following conversation takes place:
1 Hollingworth, H. L.: Advertising and Selling, New York, D.
Appleton & Co.
107
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
A: Did you see the health train yesterday?
B: No, how was it?
A: Oh, fine! great! You certainly missed it.
There was a good crowd out, too.
B: What was it all about?
A: Oh, fresh air and not letting the babies die.
You'd be surprised how many people die
that could be prevented. And they say the
town ought to have a nurse to look after
the school children, and a hospital for — let's
see, I've forgotten now about the hospital.
B: I see. Just a scheme of the politicians to
make jobs for a lot of people. I always
thought Jhis was a pretty healthy town and
I do yet.
A: No, you've got it wrong, B, but I can't
make it clear to you. I can't talk like the
fellow at the train. You ought to have
heard him. He made a great speech.
If A has no clearer idea than this to pass on to
B the next day, he himself is not likely to stay
interested and, much less, convinced for very long.
One of the best tests of the argument presented
at the train is whether the talk about it afterward
is general or particular, confused or clear and
accurate in repeating facts and reasons. It is
worth while to arrange with local co-operators as
a part of the follow-up work to sound people as
to what interested them and what they think of
the suggestions that were made. Many changes,
1 08
FOLLOW-UP WORK
sometimes small ones, but important, nevertheless,
can be made on the basis of criticisms brought out
in these interviews.
PRINTED MATTER FOR DISTRIBUTION
Another way of helping to see that the train
message is remembered is by distributing the right
kind of printed matter. Every traveling campaign
carries with it leaflets or pamphlets for visitors to
take home. Sometimes a handful of assorted
pieces of printed matter is given to each visitor
with a reckless disregard of their appropriateness
to the purpose of the campaign or the probability
of their being read. One of the most frequent
blunders made by managers of campaigns of this
sort is to assume that all that is learned at the
exhibit or meeting will be remembered, and that
the printed matter should give additional informa-
tion. In a baby saving campaign, a health depart-
ment is likely to give out in addition to printed
matter about babies, other leaflets on hookworm
or tuberculosis. Giving away printed matter on
topics in which no interest has been cultivated is
wasteful since it is not likely to be read or, if
read, distracts attention from the main topic.
In most cases, one piece of carefully prepared
printed matter on one subject is enough for general
distribution. A useful leaflet might well include a
summary of the main arguments of the teachings
contained in the exhibits, together with sketches
or photographs and a clear and appealing state-
109
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
ment of the action desired, whether it is support
of a bill in the legislature, membership in an
organization, or the forming of health habits.
This leaflet should not fail to give information as
to how and where further facts may be obtained.
If it seems desirable to interest people in a number
of additional subjects, the better way is to have
leaflets on them displayed where they can be
examined and to have a supply of addressed post-
cards listing these special publications and on
which visitors may check those they wish to have
sent to them.
PUBLICITY FOLLOWING THE TRAIN'S STOP
There should be a readable account of the train
in the first issue of the local paper following its
visit. Those who visited it will like to read the
account of what they saw and in doing so will be
reminded of a number of features of the exhibits
and talks that were rapidly slipping from their
memories. The train director would do well to
see that the local paper receives as good copy for
this follow-up story as for advance publicity.
The people who came and what they said about
it adds to the news value of the story.
Other forms of publicity may be used to ad-
vantage immediately following the visit of the
train, such as a series of special articles appearing
weekly in the local paper, printed matter mailed
to a list of people obtained at the train, or a
motion picture shown in the local picture theater,
no
FOLLOW-UP WORK
at a meeting or a contest that may reach its climax
at some later event, such as the county or state
fair.
/
ORGANIZATION OF LOCAL FORCES
Leading men and women to take some action
as the result of interest aroused at the train is
the surest way to get the message remembered
and is the aim of most educational campaigns.
This action may be something very simple and
concrete, or it may be the entering wedge of some
continuous activity. One of the simplest steps,
which has already been referred to, is the writing
of local people to headquarters for information or
for literature. This serves the purpose also of
renewing interest when the material sent for ar-
rives and it helps the central organization to make
up mailing lists. Local organizations should be
encouraged to send for reference material to use
in talks and discussions.
Launching or boosting a permanent movement
at a meeting held during the train visit is one
good way of starting follow-up work. Many an
effort that promised much because of local enthu-
siasm at the start has died a natural death, because
after the specialists from the state or national
headquarters have departed, local leaders find
themselves without any clear-cut program to begin
work on or any recognized leadership. An informal
meeting of the train staff and local leaders at
which temporary committees are formed and defi-
ii i
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
nite plans discussed may be one of the most use-
ful features of the train program. It has been
suggested elsewhere that the hour of the day least
popular with visitors may be a good time for such
a meeting. A still better method is an early visit
after the departure of the train, of an organizer or
consultant who will advise about plans.
An interesting report of the follow-up organiza-
tion work carried on in connection with its health
car, comes from the West Virginia Public Health
Council :
Wherever possible a temporary committee was
formed before leaving the community, this com-
mittee being chosen by a group of representative
people in a community meeting in the interests of
health education at which time child welfare work
was emphasized. At this meeting we made an
effort to secure the attendance of medical, dental,
and nursing professions, of the mayor and town
council, school board, and school superintendent
and teachers, ministers and Sunday school super-
intendents, fraternal organizations, women's clubs,
Red Cross, and any other organizations directly
or indirectly interested in community welfare work.
The temporary committee was appointed to secure
a permanent organization based upon the interest
and enthusiasm already created, this permanent
committee to undertake a definite health program
for the community. In addition to this we are
keeping in touch with the various communities
visited, by frequent correspondence, and the di-
rector of the Division of Child Hygiene has already
returned to a number of the communities to help
in the making of plans, to stimulate interest and
112
FOLLOW-UP WORK
enthusiasm, and in every way possible to promote
health education and public health nursing. We
are now formulating county-wide and state-wide
plans for the furtherance of this work through co-
operation with the Extension Division of the
Agricultural Department of the State University
and American Red Cross.
An incidental but important factor in promoting
continuous follow-up work is that local representa-
tives of the movement, especially the salaried
worker, if there is one, should take an active part
in the program of the train, so as to become identi-
fied with the impressions and ideas gained here in
the minds of the people who visited the train.
CHECKING UP RESULTS
As bearing upon the question of any future use
of a similar method of campaigning, ''checking
up" results is good, although it may not always
be easy or bring entirely conclusive evidence. The
method described in the account of the Cleveland
Children's Year Special, which is a dispensary
truck, is suggestive. Cards of invitation to visit
the local dispensary were given out at the truck
and the number that were turned into the dis-
pensary was noted by the nurses. Nurses also
asked new visitors during the following month
where they had learned of the dispensary, and
recorded it when the visit was directly or indi-
rectly a result of the Special.
Reports may be requested from local editors,
113
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
school superintendents, and others who meet many
people, regarding the responsiveness of the people
to ideas promulgated at the train. The number
and the nature of inquiries received at head-
quarters from places that have been visited may
also serve as an indication of the effectiveness
with which the message has been presented.
Finally on the matter of follow-up work, one
of the chief criticisms that may be made of much
educational publicity is that it is spasmodic and
unrelated. This is often due to the fact that the
planning of follow-up work is left until the cam-
paign is at its height or until it is over. By that
time the workers at headquarters and in the field
are too absorbed in the detail of running the affair,
or a new project is under way. All the resources
and energy have gone into running the campaign
and none is left for securing results. In the ad-
vance planning of the whole campaign, allowance
should be made in the budget for a definite pro-
gram of follow-up work as well as in the time of
staff members needed to carry it out.
114
APPENDIX
APPENDIX
REFERENCE LISTS OF TRAIN, TRUCK,
TROLLEY, AND OTHER TRAVELING
CAMPAIGNS
THE lists below include traveling educational
campaigns about which we have obtained reas-
onably accurate information. The two chief
sources of further information about these projects are
the state colleges of agriculture and state boards of
health. Very little information about tours is avail-
able in published form. Articles in class publications
giving brief accounts of a few of the tours and a few
special reports about tours are listed in Appendix B.
In practically all the train tours, one or more rail-
roads have co-operated at least to the extent of sup-
plying cars and free transportation, and sometimes
bearing a considerable share of the work and expenses
of the tour. Our lists, we realize, do not always give
the full credit to co-operating railroads and other par-
ticipants, but as much is given as it was possible to
ascertain and to indicate within the space limits.
We are aware, also, that the list is by no means a
complete record of educational tours. Information is
coming in continually about tours that we had not
known of before. The main purpose, however, is to give
a general idea of the purposes, forms, and extent of
traveling campaigns in recent years, together with only
117
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
a few of such details as may help the inquirer decide
where to look further for suggestions that may be of
assistance in his particular case.
The list does not include tours of trucks or trains for
service only, as, for example, library trucks or labora-
tory trains. Neither does it include "chapel cars/'
that is, railroad cars, motor vehicles, and boats, for
religious services or instruction, such as have been sent
out by various religious bodies for many years.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CONSERVATION TRAINS
Canada. Better Farming Train. Subject: assistance
in every phase of farm life. Saskatchewan De-
partment of Agriculture and the College of Agri-
culture of the Provincial University co-operated
with Canadian Pacific Railway. 1918 and 1919.
Thirteen cars with exhibits or equipment for
demonstrations and lectures. Prominent professors
and agricultural officials served as demonstrators
and lecturers.
Sheep Car. Subject: breeding and shearing of
sheep. Live Stock Branch, Department of Agri-
culture at Ottawa. 1919. One car of exhibits.
Demonstrations of shearing machine given on
farms.
Special Dairy Car. Subject: dairying. Sas-
katchewan Department of Agriculture, College of
Agriculture, and Canadian Northern Railway.
1916. Lecture coach and tourist sleeper for speak-
ers. Exhibits with stereopticon and lectures.
United States. Poultry and Egg Demonstration Car.
Subject: demonstrations of proper methods of
handling and keeping poultry and eggs. Bureau of
Chemistry, United States Department of Agricul-
ture. 1913 to 1918.
Arkansas. Peach Culture Demonstration Train. Sub-
nS
REFERENCE LISTS
ject: proper methods of peach tree pruning and
spraying. Co-operatively run by Agricultural De-
partments of Missouri Pacific and Cotton Belt
Railroads, American Refrigerator Transit Com-
pany, and State College of Agriculture. 1918.
Two baggage cars for exhibits; large automobile
freight car carried orchard machinery. Exhibits
explained by horticulturists, on the cars; lectures
and demonstrations given in nearby orchard.
California. Dairy Special. Subject: dairying and hog
raising. State College of Agriculture. 1913 and
1914. Lectures, conferences, and exhibits relative
to the industry.
Agricultural and Food Production Train. Sub-
jects: methods of stimulating growth of certain
crops, interest in increasing food production, and
particularly bean culture. State Colleges of Agri-
culture of Nevada and Utah and Salt Lake Rail-
road co-operated with California's State College of
Agriculture. 1917. Demonstrations and lectures.
Agricultural and Home Economics Train. State
College of Agriculture, co-operated with Southern
Pacific Railroad. 1908 and 1909. Ten coaches
for exhibits and lectures, a dining car, and sleeper
to accommodate demonstrators and lecturers.
Demonstrations and lectures.
Agricultural and Horticultural Train. Subject:
methods of restoring fertility and depleted soils,
plant culture, pest and disease extermination, viti-
culture, dairying, animal industry, seeding and soil
treatment. State College of Agriculture, Southern
Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads. Annually, 1908 to
1913. Several exhibit cars, lecture cars, sleeping
car, and diner.
Good Roads Special. Subject: improvement of
roads, Frisco Railway System. 1912. Four coaches
and locomotive. Exhibits, lectures and demon-
strations.
119
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
Florida. Food Production Increase Train. Florida
Seaboard Air Line. 1917. Demonstrations.
Georgia. Land Clearing Special. Subject: stump
pulling and uses of tractors and other farm machin-
ery. State College of Agriculture, stump puller
companies and tractor manufacturers, Georgia
Landowners' Association, and the Railroad Admin-
istration co-operated. 1919. Passenger coach and
four flat cars for lectures and demonstrations,
caboose and sleeper for traveling campaigners, and
two box cars for equipment and machinery trans-
portation. Motion picture shows, demonstrations,
and lectures.
Illinois. Home Economics Car. Subject: household
science. State College of Agriculture. 1916-
1918. Demonstrations and exhibits.
Dairy Trains. State College of Agriculture and
the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad. 1916,
1917, 1919. Three coaches for lectures, automo-
bile car and flat car for demonstrations and ex-
hibits, and a locomotive. Demonstrations of
milking machine, lectures and exhibits.
Dairy Train. Subject: uses of separators, ster-
ilizers, and other dairy machines. State College of
Agriculture and C. C. C. & St. L. Railroad. 1916
and 1917. Lecture coach for motion pictures, bag-
gage car for exhibits, and Arms Palace horse car
for cattle.
Dairy Train. Subject: proper use of dairy ma-
chinery. State College of Agriculture and Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad. 1916 and 1917. Pull-
man car for attendants; stock car carried cattle,
which were taken for demonstrations to some
prominent place in towns visited. Lectures in
court houses and town halls.
Dixie Jersey Special. Subject : more and better
dairy cattle. American Jersey Cattle Club, agents
of Department of Agriculture and railroad trade
120
REFERENCE LISTS
promotion bureaus. In Illinois, Louisiana, Mis-
sissippi, and Tennessee. 1920. Arms Palace horse
cars for cattle and Pullmans for personnel.
Indiana. Seed Corn Special. Subject: corn culture.
Erie Railroad and Purdue University Agricultural
Experiment Station. 1909. Lecture train.
Alfalfa Lecture 'Train. Subject: better alfalfa
production. Purdue University Agricultural Ex-
periment Station. 1912.
Corn Improvement Lecture Train. Subject:
better corn. Lake Erie and Western Railroad and
Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Sta-
tion. 1911.
Dairy Feeding Lecture Train. Subject: better
cattle feeding and care. Purdue University Agri-
cultural Experiment Station and several railroads.
1915.
Dairy Special Production Train. Subject: in-
crease of dairy production. Southern Railroad
and Purdue University Agricultural Experiment
Station. April i toy, 1913.
Dairy Special Train. Subject: dairying.
Monon Railway Company, Purdue University
Agricultural Experiment Station, and State Dairy
Association. 1907. Baggage car, two lecture
coaches, and private dining and sleeping car. Lec-
tures, exhibits, and demonstrations.
Milk Production Special Train. Subject: care
and production of milk. Purdue University Agri-
cultural Experiment Station and Erie Railroad.
1909. Seven car train. Lectures and demonstra-
tions.
Onion Improvement Lecture Train. Subject:
increase of onion crops. Chicago, Indiana and
Southern Railroad. 1911.
Seed Corn Special. Subject: corn culture.
Monon Railway Company, Purdue University
Agricultural Experiment Station, Indiana Corn
121
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
Growers' Association, Indiana Grain Dealers'
Association. 1906. Engine, baggage car, coach
for lectures, and a coach for the attendants. Lec-
tures, exhibits, and demonstrations.
Wheat Improvement Train. Subject: wheat
culture. Southern Railroad and Purdue University
Agricultural Experiment Station. 1912. Lectures
and demonstrations of culture and fertilization;
control of insects and diseases.
Iowa. Dairy Special. Subject: better dairy products.
Illinois Central Railroad. 1916. Three cars for
exhibits, demonstrations, and living quarters for
speakers.
Seed Corn Special. Iowa Grain Dealers' Asso-
ciation. 1910.
Kansas. Hessian Fly Special. Subject: control of
Hessian fly. State College of Agriculture and
Santa Fe Railroad. 1915. Baggage car for equip-
ment, two steel coaches for lectures and demonstra-
tions, and private car for attendants.
Kentucky. Agricultural Exhibit Train. Subject: gen-
eral education in matters pertaining to agriculture
and dairy improvements. State Department of
Agriculture. 1912. Four lecture cars, stock car,
sleeper, and diner. Lectures, exhibits, and demon-
strations.
Louisiana. Dixie Jersey Special. See Illinois.
Maryland. Farmers' Institute Train. Subject : dairy-
ing. State College of Agriculture. 1913. Lecture
car and stock car. Demonstrations and lectures.
Michigan. Food Demonstration Train. Michigan
Agricultural College. 1917.
Minnesota. Advertising Car. Subject: farm and fac-
tory products. State Board of Immigration. 1913.
One exhibit car.
122
REFERENCE LISTS
Mississippi. Boll Weevil Special. Subject: extermina-
tion of the pests. Illinois Central Railroad, 1908.
Dixie Jersey Special. See Illinois.
Missouri. Patriotic Special. Subject: food conserva-
tion and work of Women's Committee. Women's
Committee on Food Conservation, Council of
National Defense. August, 1917. Lecture and
demonstration car. Stereopticon lectures and
demonstrations.
Nebraska. Agricultural Train. Subject: dairying and
seed corn. State College of Agriculture. 1918.
Two cars for exhibits and demonstrations.
Conservation Special. Subject: food conserva-
tion and preservation. Union Pacific Railroad
Company co-operated with Nebraska College of
Agriculture and others. 1917. Train included
business car and living quarters for staff. Illus-
trated lectures were given in public halls.
Nevada. Agricultural and Food Production Train.
Co-operatively run with State Colleges of Cali-
fornia, Nevada, and Utah, and Salt Lake Railroad.
1916 and 1917. See California.
New Jersey. Save the Surplus Special. Subject : food
conservation and other war measures. State Col-
lege of Agriculture and Lehigh Valley Railroad.
1917. Two coaches, one for exhibits and the other
for lectures. Toured New Jersey and Pennsyl-
vania. Demonstrations, lectures, and exhibits.
New York. Victory Special. Subject: introduction of
wheat, meat, and sugar substitutes and other food
conservation methods. State College of Agricul-
ture, Food Administration and New York Central,
Lehigh Valley, D. & H., D., L. & W., and Long
Island Railroads. 1917, 1918, 1919. Demonstrations
and exhibits on train of two coaches.
Apple Packing Train. Subject: instruction in
requirements of law relating to apple grading.
123
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
State Department of Agriculture and New York
Central Railroad. 1915. Baggage car with equip-
ment, lecture car with capacity of 100 persons,
and car for living quarters.
Better Seed Special. Subject: standard types
of seeds; reliable sources; proper methods of con-
trolling common diseases. State College of Agri-
culture, New York Central, Lehigh Valley, Ontario
and Western, Erie, and Delaware and Hudson
Railroads. 1919. Exhibits and demonstrations in
two coaches.
Potato Demonstration Car. State College of
Agriculture, County Farm Bureaus, and Lehigh
Valley Railroad. 1917. Exhibits and demonstra-
tions.
Sheep Demonstration Train. Subject: breed-
ing, feeding, and care of sheep. State College of
Agriculture, New York Central and New York,
Ontario and Western Railroads. 1917. Exhibits
and demonstrations.
North Carolina. North Carolina Car. Subject: farm
machinery and dairying. State Department of
Agriculture co-operating with several railroads.
Lectures and exhibits with stereopticon slides and
moving pictures in baggage cars; demonstrations
given out of doors.
Better Farming Special. Subjects : better dairy-
ing, domestic science, food conservation, and sani-
tary methods. Agricultural and Industrial De-
partment of Norfolk and Western Railway, State
College of Agriculture of North Carolina, and Vir-
ginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. 1915-
1916. Nine cars for exhibits, demonstrations,
lectures, and living quarters for attendants.
Corn Growers' Special. Norfolk and Southern
Railway and Experiment Station of the Agricul-
tural and Mechanical College. 1908.
124
REFERENCE LISTS
Farmers' Institutes. Subject: agriculture and
domestic science. North Carolina Department
of Agriculture, Seaboard Air Line, and Southern
Railway. Two railroad cars, one a coach with
two of the seats removed and a model kitchen
substituted, and a baggage car equipped with farm
and dairy machinery. 1908-1910. Lectures and
demonstrations on the train and outdoors.
Pennsylvania. Food Conservation Train. Pennsyl-
vania Food Administration, State College of Agri-
culture, and Pennsylvania Railroad. 1917 and
1918. Two demonstration cars and one exhibit
car.
Save the Surplus Special. Toured this state and
New Jersey. 1916 and 1917. See New Jersey.
Tennessee. Agricultural Train. Subject: better farm-
ing and food production. Agricultural Department
of Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railroad.
One private car and one lecture car. Exhibits and
demonstrations.
Dixie Jersey Special. See Illinois.
Texas. Agricultural Train. Subject: dairying. Agri-
cultural and Mechanical College of Texas. Three
coaches for lectures, two exhibit cars, automobile
car for cattle, flat car with wire fence and canvas
top for lecture and demonstration platform, a
diner and a Pullman for compaigners. Lectures,
exhibits, and demonstrations. Stereopticon slides
shown at night in combination with lectures in
motion picture theater or town hall.
Peach Culture Train. Subject: proper methods
of pruning and spraying trees, and extermination
of insect pests in orchards. Agricultural Depart-
ment of St. Louis Southwestern Railroad of Texas,
assisted by Agricultural and Mechanical College
of Texas and State Department of Agriculture.
1919 and 1920. Two cars for exhibits and one
for orchard machinery. Exhibits, demonstrations,
125
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
and lectures. Similar to train run in Arkansas in
1918. See Arkansas.
Utah. Agricultural and Food Production Train. Co-
operatively run with State Colleges of California,
' Utah, and Nevada, and the Salt Lake Railroad.
\ 1916 and 1917. See California.
Virginia. Agricultural Train. Agricultural and Me-
chanical College of Virginia, and Norfolk and West-
ern Railroad. 1915. Demonstration train.
Better Farming Special. See North Carolina.
Washington. Agricultural Train. State College of
Agriculture. Lectures with stereopticon slides,
sometimes in nearby school or hall; exhibits and
demonstrations on train.
Good Roads Special. Subject : road and culvert
construction and maintenance and general high-
way improvements. Office of Public Roads of
Washington and several railroad companies co-
operated. 1912. Two coaches of exhibits and
models. Lectures, demonstrations, and exhibits.
West Virginia. Agricultural Train. Subject: better
farming. Kanawha and Michigan, Baltimore and
Ohio Railroads, and State College of Agriculture.
1 91 2 and 1913. Baggage cars for cattle and doaches
for lectures. Lectures, demonstrations, and ex-
hibits.
Wisconsin. Pure Seed and Home Power Special.
"Soo" Line, Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul
Railroad, Wisconsin Bankers Association, and
State College of Agriculture. 1917. Two cars for
demonstrations and exhibits.
Land Clearing Demonstration Train. Subject:
better farming. State College of Agriculture, sev-
eral land clearing machinery and explosive manu-
facturers, and several railroads co-operated. 1916-
1919. Six cars consisting of a flat car, two box cars
126
REFERENCE LISTS
for equipment, two bunk cars, and a boarding car
for the attendants. Demonstrations and instruction.
Stump Pulling Special. Subject: clearing cut-
over lands. State College of Agriculture, several
land clearing machinery and explosive manu-
facturers, Chicago and Northwestern, and Chicago,
Minneapolis and St. Paul Railroads. 1916. Flat
car, two box cars for equipment, two bunk cars,
and a boarding car for the attendants. Demonstra-
tions and instruction. Similar trains, with some
changes in cars used and in co-operating agencies,
were run in 1917 and 1919.
HEALTH TRAINS
United States. First Aid Train. American Red Cross.
1920. Fully equipped railroad coach to render and
teach first aid to the injured. Treatment and in-
struction.
California. Sanitation Car. Subject: protection of
water supply, disposal of sewage, and instruction
in disease prevention. State Board of Health.
1909. Continued annually. Exhibits and demon-
strations.
Florida. Sanitation and Health Train. State Board of
Health. 1916 and 1917. Two exhibit cars. Lec-
tures with motion pictures and slides.
Kansas. Health Car "Warren." Subject: health and
child welfare. State Board of Health. 1916. Ex-
hibit car.
Kentucky. Health Exhibit Car. Subject: tuberculosis
prevention and cure. 1912. Kentucky Tubercu-
losis Association and several railroads co-operated.
Louisiana. Health Train. Subjects: child welfare,
food, and disease prevention. State Board of
Health. 1910. Continuously since then. Four
cars including an exhibit car, a laboratory car with
garage compartment carrying Ford car for country
127
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
trips and quick collection of water samples, and
two cars for administrative and living quarters.
Missouri. Traveling Car Exhibit. Subject: instruction
in anti-tuberculosis measures. Missouri Associa-
tion for the Relief and Control of Tuberculosis.
1908. One exhibit coach.
West Virginia. Health Car. State Department of
Health. 1919. Vestibuled coach, equipped with
electrically driven models, posters, exhibits of
living bacteria, sanitation exhibits, a moving pic-
ture machine, and a small chemical and bacterio-
logical laboratory in one end of the car.
Tuberculosis Exhibit Car. Subject : prevention
and cure of tuberculosis. West Virginia Tubercu-
losis League and several railroads. 1913 and 1914.
Car for exhibits and lectures.
MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS — TRAINS
Canada. Made-in-Canada Train. Subject: trade ex-
tension. Canadian Manufacturers Association.
Ten cars for exhibits, demonstrations, and moving
picture lectures.
Exhibition Car. Subject: conservation of the
forests. Canadian [Forestry Association. 1918
and 1919. Train toured parts of Quebec and New
Brunswick. Exhibits of products made from wood.
Southern States. School on Wheels. Southern Pacific
Railway. 1919. Baggage car fitted up as modern
school room; accommodates teacher and 25 pupils.
United States. Safety First Train. Subject: to show
what is being done to promote safety and health.
Department of the Interior co-operating with other
governmental departments. 1916. Locomotive
and twelve exhibit and lecture cars.
Mine Rescue Car. Subject: instruction to
miners in first aid and use of oxygen breathing
apparatus. Assistance of car apparatus and crew
128
REFERENCE LISTS
given in case of mine disasters. Bureau of Mines,
Department of the Interior, 1910; continuous ser-
vice since then. Present equipment: eleven spe-
cially constructed coaches with exhibits and emer-
gency equipment.
Recruiting Cars. Bureau of Navigation, Navy
Department. 1917 and 1919. Three flat cars
fitted up respectively with a model of a battleship,
destroyer, and torpedo boat. Exhibits and lectures
to assist in recruiting and also used for promoting
Liberty Loan drives.
War Relic Trains. Subject: promotion of Lib-
erty Loan drives, etc. Federal Reserve Districts
of Treasury Department. 1918 and 1919. Flat
cars for exhibition of trophies captured from the
enemy; baggage car, sleeping car, and a locomo-
tive. Toured the United States.
New York. Safety First Car. Subject: instruction in
safety measures. New York Central lines. 1919.
Two duplicate cars for motion pictures and lectures.
Virginia. Safety First Car. Subject: instruction in
safety measures. Norfolk and Western Railroad.
1920. Motion picture and lecture car.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CONSERVATION TRUCKS
Canada. Sheep Demonstration Automobile. Sheep
and Goat Division, Live Stock Branch, Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Ottawa. 1919. Demonstra-
tions of shearing by hand and power machines,
rolling and preparing of wool for market, dipping
of sheep for vermin, and docking and castrating of
lambs.
Alabama. Movable School. Subject: agriculture and
home economics. Tuskegee Normal and Indus-
trial Institute. 1919. Instruction and demonstra-
tions.
Louisiana. Agricultural Extension Truck. Subject:
129
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
education and agriculture. Louisiana State Agri-
cultural and Mechanical College. 1919. Motion
picture and stereopticon lectures.
Massachusetts. Food Conservation and Model Kit-
chen Truck. Subject: canning, food conservation,
and substitutes; care and feeding of children in
wartime. Woman's Committee, Massachusetts
Council of Defense. 1918. Demonstrations and
instruction.
Agricultural Truck. Massachusetts Agricultural
College. Demonstrations, exhibits, and stere-
opticon slide lectures.
Food Conservation and Preservation Truck.
Bristol County Farm Bureau. In charge of county
demonstration agent at Segreganset. Exhibits.
Ohio. Poultry Demonstration Truck. Subject: in-
struction in proper methods of handling eggs, care
of fowl, and better uses of poultry equipment.
Ohio State University. 1917. Lectures and
demonstrations. Evening lectures with stereop-
ticon slides.
Pennsylvania. Canning Truck. Allegheny County
Council of Defense. 1918. Itinerant service to
farmers' wives at their homes. Demonstrations,
instruction; canning and drying of home products.
Rhode Island. Food Conservation Truck. State Food
Administration. 1918. Demonstrations and in-
struction.
Virginia. Fruit Growers' Automobile Tour. Subject:
best methods of orchard culture. Extension Divi-
sion, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Virginia
State Horticultural Society. 1918. Automobile
tour through Virginia and West Virginia by fruit
growers.
Wisconsin. Agricultural Truck. Subject: treatment
of grain for smut and a fanning mill. County
130
REFERENCE LISTS
agents of the state. 1918. Demonstrations, as-
sistance, and instruction.
HEALTH TRUCKS
Canada. Traveling Baby Clinic. University Settle-
ment of Montreal. 1919. Weighing, measuring,
and advisory service.
France. Traveling Exposition. Subject: child welfare
and tuberculosis. American Commission for the
Prevention of Tuberculosis in France, Children's
Bureau of the American Red Cross and, later, the
Tuberculosis Bureau, American Red Cross. 1917
and 1918. Trucks carried equipment for lectures,
motion pictures, and exhibits.
Italy. Tuberculosis Clinics. American Red Cross
Tuberculosis Commission. Seven trucks equipped
as clinics. Treatment and instruction.
Dental Trucks. American Red Cross. Three
trucks fitted up as dental clinics. Treatment and
instruction.
United States. Child Welfare Special. Children's
Bureau, Department of Labor. 1919. Lectures,
examinations, and well baby clinic.
Connecticut. Baby Special. Subject: infant and child
welfare, including care, feeding, measuring, and
weighing. Child Welfare Department, State
Council of Defense. 1918. Lectures and advisory
service.
Illinois. Traveling Health Clinic. Subject: tubercu-
losis. Chicago Tuberculosis Institute. 1919.
Indiana. Traveling Auto Exhibit. Subject: prevention
of tuberculosis. I ndiana Society for the Prevention
of Tuberculosis. 1917. Truck fitted with screen
and machine for moving picture shows; also lec-
tures with stereopticon and exhibits.
Louisiana. Sanitary Truck. Subject : personal hygiene
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
and disease prevention among Negroes. Louisiana
State Board of Health. 1919. Lectures, exhibits,
and motion pictures.
Maryland. Public Health Car. Subject: educational
and organization work. Maryland Tuberculosis
Association. 1916. Motion pictures, lectures, and
distribution of literature.
Massachusetts. Child Welfare Truck. Division of
Hygiene, State Department of Public Health.
Lectures, demonstrations, exhibits on all phases of
child welfare.
Mississippi. Rural Dispensary Truck. Subject : edu-
cation in general health and tuberculosis. Bureau
of Tuberculosis, State Sanatorium of the Board of
Health of Mississippi. 1919 — continuous. Motion
picture and stereopticon shows, lectures, exhibits,
examinations, and distribution of literature.
New York. Healthmobile. Subject: general health
propaganda. State Department of Health. 1919.
Lectures and motion pictures.
Dental Education Car. Subject: dental instruc-
tion and dispensary service. Nassau County
school authorities and Junior Red Cross. 1920.
Ford truck equipped with necessary dental supplies
and equipment.
North Carolina. Moving Picture Health Car. State
Board of Health. 1916. Lectures and motion
pictures.
Health Education Car. Subject: tuberculosis
and mouth hygiene. State Board of Health and
State Tuberculosis Association, 1920. Truck
equipped with lighting system and motion picture
machine. Lectures and moving picture shows in
the forty-five counties of the state.
Ohio. Cleveland Children's Year Special. Subject:
dispensary for child hygiene and welfare work.
132
REFERENCE LISTS
Children's Year Committee of Council of Defense.
1918. Exhibits, examinations of children, motion
picture shows, and distribution of literature.
Washington. Clinic and Exhibit Truck. Subject: tu-
berculosis diagnosis and education. Truck for
transportation of clinic staff and exhibit; clinic
held in public halls. Washington Tuberculosis
Association. 1919. Lectures, exhibits, and clinic.
West Virginia. Rural Tuberculosis Campaign. Sub-
ject: prevention and cure of tuberculosis, and
extermination of flies. West Virginia Tuberculosis
League. 1917. Automobile tour in charge of a
woman physician and her assistant. Stereopticon
show and lectures; also first aid demonstration.
Wisconsin. Health Wagon. Subject : health preserva-
tion and disease prevention. Wisconsin Anti-
Tuberculosis Association. 1916. Motion pictures
and lectures.
MOTOR TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT TOURS
United States. Transcontinental Tour. Subject: re-
cruiting for Motor Transport Corps, and education
regarding good roads. Motor Transport Corps,
War Department. 1919. Fleet of motor trucks
and passenger vehicles from the Capitol to San
Francisco over the Lincoln Highway. Exhibits,
demonstrations, and lectures, with moving picture
shows.
Georgia. Motor Truck Trains. Subject: quicker
transportation facilities between farms and mar-
kets. Macon Chamber of Commerce. 1919.
One hundred and four trucks were divided into
four trains; each toured the country routes for a
radius of 100 miles. Merchandise carried on out-
going trips and farm produce on return trips.
Illinois. Motor Trucks. Subject: uses of motor
vehicles on farms. National Association of Motor
133
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
Truck Sales Managers. 1919. These trucks toured
six states and covered over 3,000 miles.
Missouri. St. Louis Motor Truck Expedition. Subject :
farm uses of motor-driven vehicles. 1919. Sixteen
motor companies co-operated, and the tour covered
sections of the north central states.
New York. Rural Motor Truck Express. Subject:
uses of motor-driven vehicles on farms and for
express delivery. National Automobile Chamber
of Commerce co-operated with New York State
Department of Farms and Markets. 1919. Demon-
stration given at State Fair, Syracuse, September,
1919.
MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS — TRUCKS
England. Cine-Motor Touring Movies. Subject:
information relating to war activities shown in
rural districts. British Ministry of Information.
1918.
United States. Mine Rescue Auto Trucks. Subject:
instruction of miners in first aid and use of oxygen
breathing apparatus, and to render assistance in
case of mine disaster. Bureau of Mines, Depart-
ment of the Interior. 1913; continuous service
since then. Six such trucks used by Bureau in
mining districts. See Mine Rescue Cars.
Connecticut. Victory Conference. Subject: women's
war work. Woman's Committee, State Council of
Defense. 1918. Exhibits, demonstrations, and
lectures.
Georgia. Motion Picture Trucks. Subject : Red Cross
activities. Southern Division, American Red
Cross. Georgia and Tennessee. 1918. Lectures
with motion pictures.
Maryland. Motion Picture Truck. Subject: Red Cross
activities overseas and in America. Potomac Di-
vision, American Red Cross, Maryland, Virginia,
134
REFERENCE LISTS
West Virginia. 1919. Two lecture and exhibit
trucks.
New York. Victory Trucks. Subject : reconstruction
and post-war service. Reconstruction Commission
of the State of New York, co-operating with the
Bureau of Commercial Economics. 1919. One
motion picture truck.
Motor Trucks. Subject: go-to-church propa-
ganda. Erie Annual Conference of Methodist
Episcopal Church. Two hundred and twenty
automobiles toured the state and Pennsylvania in
an effort to get people to attend church more often.
North Carolina. Motion Picture Truck. Subject:
community welfare. 1919; continuous. State
Bureau of Community Service. Semi-monthly
tour of truck to rural districts for motion pictures
and lecture programs and community organization.
Pennsylvania. Motor Trucks. See New York.
Tennessee. Motion Picture Trucks. See Georgia.
Virginia. Motion Picture Truck. See Maryland.
West Virginia. Motion Picture Truck. See Maryland.
MISCELLANEOUS VEHICLES USED FOR TOURS
Canada — Motorcycle J Animal Treatment Cars. Sub-
ject: encouragement of humane treatment of dumb
animals. Toronto Humane Society. 1914. Con-
tinuous service since then.
California — House-boat. "The Josephine." Subject:
exhibits of animal parasites and working field
laboratory. State Board of Health. 1919.
Massachusetts— Trolley Car. Child Welfare and Food
Conservation Car. Women's Committee, Council
of National Defense. 1918. Exhibits, lectures,
and demonstrations.
Michigan — Trolley Car. Children's Year Special.
'35
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
Woman's Committee, Michigan Division of the
Council of National Defense. 1918. Car divided
into three sections for exhibits, examinations, lec-
tures, and demonstrations.
Vermont — Wagon. Health Exhibit Wagon. State
Board of Health. 1913. Horse-drawn vehicle used
for moving pictures and health exhibits.
Wisconsin — Motorcycle. "Flying Squadron of Health."
Subject: propaganda for tuberculosis prevention
and cure. Wisconsin Anti-Tuberculosis Associa-
tion. 1911-1915. Exhibits, stereopticon slides,
and lectures.
136
BIBLIOGRAPHY
THE amount of printed matter bearing on the use of
trains, trucks, and trolley cars in educational cam-
paigns is not very large. The list below is fairly repre-
sentative of the material available, most of it being in the
form of articles and illustrations in magazines and other
periodicals.
Agricultural Train. Biennial Report, 1912-13, Department of
Agriculture, Labor and Statistics, Frankfort, Kentucky,
pp. 48-56. Five illustrations of train and exhibits.
Apple Packing Train, The. F. S. Welsh. New York State
Agricultural Department Bulletin, January, 1916, vol.
79, pp. 679-83. Description of Apple Packing Train of
New York Central Railroad and State Department of
Agriculture. Two illustrations of demonstrators.
Auto-Stereopticon and Moving Picture Machine For Ex-
tension Service in Rural Schools. Louisiana State Uni-
versity Bulletin, July 1915. Nine illustrations of car for
showing motion pictures at school houses, audience at
lecture, and details of picture machine.
Better Farming Special, A. C. T. Rice. Hoard's Dairyman,
January 28, 1916, vol. 51, p. 4. Description of Norfolk
and Western Railway's Better Farming Special. One
illustration of exterior of train.
Better Farming Train, The. A. M. Shaw. Agricultural
Gazette of Canada, October, 1916, pp. 909-13. Descrip-
tion of train and tour of Canada's Better Farming Train.
Three illustrations of exterior and interior of train.
Child Welfare Special, The. Janet Geister. Institution
Quarterly, Springfield, Illinois, December 31, 1919, pp.
137
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
120-25. Description of Child Welfare Special of Chil-
dren's Bureau and its tour.
Cine-Motor Touring Movies Equipment of the British
Government. F. A. Talbot. Scientific American, Au-
gust 3, 1918, vol. 119, p. 93. Two illustrations of a truck
used for moving picture projection of films giving war
information in rural districts.
Cleaning Up a State. Henry Oyen. World's Work, March
1912, pp. 510-21. Map and several illustrations of
Health Exhibit Train of Louisiana State Board of Health.
Dairy Instruction Car. Agricultural Gazette of Canada, May,
19 1 6, p. 449. Description of Canada's Special Dairy Car.
Educating the Farmers by Rail. H. A. Crafts. Scientific
American, May 21, 1910, vol. 102, pp. 420-21. Descrip-
tion of California's Agricultural and Horticultural Train.
Egg and Poultry Demonstration Car Work in Reducing Our
$50,000,000 Waste in Eggs. W. E. Pennington, H. C.
Pierce, and H. L. Schroeder. U. S. Agricultural Depart-
ment Year Book, 1914, pp. 363-80. Two illustrations of
interior of car. See also Scientific American Supplement,
May 6, 1916, vol. 81, pp. 292-93, for illustration of a
specimen chart used in lecture work.
Farming by Special Train. Clifford V. Gregory. Outlook,
April 22, 1911, vol. 97, pp. 913-22. Eleven illustrations
of interior and exterior of cars and audiences. Several
trains mentioned.
For Better Roads. Worth C. Harder. Harper's Weekly, Sep-
tember 14, 1912, p. 15. Two illustrations of Good Roads
Special Train.
Good Seed, The Gospel of. House Beautiful, July 1913,
vol. 34, p. 49. Editorial comment on several good seed
trains in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
Gospel of Health on Wheels. World's Work, May 19 1 1 , vol.
22, pp. 14-313-14. Description of Louisiana Health
Train.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Health Exhibit Car, A Week on a. Eugene Kerner. Journal
of the Outdoor Life, September 1912, vol. 9, pp. 210-11.
Kentucky's health train.
Health on Wheels. Agnes Morris. American City, Decem-
ber 1914, vol. n, pp. 453-56. Three interior and one
double-page illustration of exterior of Health Exhibit
Train of Louisiana State Board of Health.
Health on Wheels. Louisiana State Board of Health, New
Orleans, La., Oct. 31, 1914. Thirteen illustrations of
train, exhibits, and director of tour of Health Exhibit
Train of Louisiana State Board of Health.
Health to Sell. Samuel Hopkins Adams. La Toilette's Mag-
azine, December 1914, pp. 8, 9. Mention of "Flying
Squadron of Health/' a motorcycle tour of the Wiscon-
sin Anti-Tuberculosis Association. One illustration.
Hessian Fly Train. George D. Dean. Journal of Economic
Entomology, February 1916, vol. 9, pp. 139-41. Train
to instruct farmers in ridding Kansas of insect pests. Three
illustrations of train.
Homemaking on Wheels. Country Gentleman, February 12,
1916, vol. 8 1, p. 366. Demonstration car of the House-
hold Science Department, University of Illinois. Three
illustrations of interior of car.
Instruction of the Public in Anti-Tuberculosis Measures by
a Traveling Car Exhibit. George Homan, M.D. Jour-
nal of the American Medical Association, September 24,
1910, Vol. 55, pp. 1072-73. One interior and one ex-
terior illustration.
Iowa Dairy Special, The i6th. E. S. Estel. Kimball's Dairy
Farmer, July i, 1916, vol. 14, p. 428. Description and
comparison of dairy trains run in Iowa. Two illustra-
tions of demonstrators, lecturers on rear platform of
train and of crowd attending an outdoor lecture.
Kentucky Wakes Up. Roy L. French. Journal of the Out-
139
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
door Life, February 1915, vol. 12, pp. 45-46. Tubercu-
losis exhibit car; i illustration of interior.
Land Clearing Demonstration. A. W. Hopkins. Hoard's
Dairyman, May 12, 1916, vol. 51, p. 66 1. Description
of Stump Pulling Special in Wisconsin.
Motor Trucks and Movies to Help Save Rural Children.
American City, Town and County Edition, September
1919, vol. 21, p. 227. Description of Child Welfare Special
of Children's Bureau. Two illustrations of truck.
Moving School of Food Conservation. Survey, January 5,
1918, p. 401. Brief mention of Pennsylvania Food Train.
One illustration on cover.
New Features in the Anti-Tuberculosis Campaign. Bulletin
No. 3, vol. 13, March i, 1913, pp. 71-75. Vermont
State Board of Health. Three illustrations.
On the Exhibition Car in Ontario. J. R. Dickson, B.A.,
M.S.F. Canadian Forestry Journal, November 1919,
pp. 464-65.
Poultry Demonstration Trains Are Popular. Helen Dow
Whitaker. Reliable Poultry Journal, August, 1917, vol.
24, pp. 504-05. Description of Washington's Food
Preparedness Campaign Train. One illustration of ex-
terior of train and one illustration of interior.
Public Activities of New York State to be Shown in Free
Motion'Pictures. American City, City Edition, October
1919, vol. 21, p. 318. Brief mention of trucks to be used by
Reconstruction Commission of New York State in show-
ing motion pictures of every city and town in the state.
Railroading Knowledge to the Farmer. Owen Wilson.
World's Work, November 1911, vol. 23, pp. 100-06.
Ten illustrations of various trains mentioned in article.
Railroads Co-operating with Farmers. Harper's Weekly,
February 5, 1910, p. 31. Several trains mentioned; one
illustration.
140
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Railway School for Farmers. H. A. Crafts. Scientific
American, April 30, 1910. Three illustrations of interior
and one of exterior of train without description.
Report of the Child Welfare Department, Connecticut
State Council of Defense. May i , 1919. Brief mention
on page 9, and double-page illustration of Baby Special.
Safety First. Scientific American, June 10, 1916, vol. 114,
p. 6 1 6. Description of tour of United States Government
Safety First Train. Four illustrations of train.
Safety First Special. Outlook, May 31, 1916, vol. 113,
pp. 240, 261. Description of tour of United States
Government Safety First Train. Two illustrations of
train.
Sending College to the Farmer. W. T. Clarke. Sunset,
April 1913, vol. 30, pp. 383-89. Three illustrations of
exterior of car and one of crowd attending exhibit.
Agricultural and horticultural train in California.
Special Dairy Car, The. K. G. Mackay. Hoard's Dairyman,
May 12, 1916, vol. 51, p. 666. Brief description of the
Special Dairy Car in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Special Peach Culture Train to Cover Arkansas. Arkansas
Homestead, November 25, 1918, pp. 5, 11. Special
train ran in Arkansas in 1918.
Teaching Good Roads by Special Train. Robert Franklin.
Technical World, June 1912, pp. 448-51. Five illustra-
tions^ Frisco Railway's Good Roads Special.
Teaching Health by Motion Pictures. Warren H. Brooker,
C.E. Health Bulletin, North Carolina State Board of
Health, No. 2, vol. 31, of May 1916. How Public Health
is Being Taught in Rural Districts by Means of Traveling
Motion Pictures. Two illustrations of car and one of
audience.
The University on Wheels. Agnes C. Laut. Colliers, Sep-
tember 10, 1910, vol. 45, p. 16. The Corn and Wheat
Evangelists of the Middle West and the Special Trains
141
TRAVELING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
of Instruction. Several trains mentioned, and three
illustrations of cars.
Touring a State with Motion Pictures. Arthur J . Strawson.
Journal of the Outdoor Life, October 1917, pp. 304-05.
Three illustrations of Indiana Society for Prevention of
Tuberculosis truck.
Traveling Baby Clinic. Conservation of Life, July 1919, pp.
60-62. Ottawa, Canada. Trucks used for baby welfare.
Two illustrations.
Traveling Dispensaries for Italy. The Public Health Nurse,
November 1918, pp. 261-62. Three illustrations of
trucks used for dental and baby saving purposes.
Unique Traveling Safety Exhibit. New York Central
Magazine, August 1919, p. 21. Brief mention of Safety
First Exhibit Car of New York Central Lines. Two
illustrations of interior of moving picture and exhibit car.
Western Railways and Farming. J . R. Wilson. Nation, No-
vember 10, 1910, vol. 91, p. 441. Letter commenting
on several trains run in western states.
142
INDEX
INDEX
ADAMS, S. H.: description of
health motorcycle tour by, 34-
37
ADVANCE AGENTS: qualifications,
49; preliminary work for, 50-
52. See also Committees
ADVANCE WORK: publicity and
organization, 42-65; local co-
operation, 45-54; committees,
5 5-65 , 98; follow-up program,
114
ADVANTAGES: economical, 4;
publicity, 4; of stimulating
audiences, 5, 104; of striking
features, 6; trains versus
trucks, lo-n
ADVERTISING: mediums, and
purpose of, 43; committee on
newspapers, 56; posters, 57;
window displays, 57; slides,
57, 58; through local mer-
chants, 58; Hollingworth on,
107; exhibit car, 122
AGRICULTURE: promoting inter-
est in, 5; Peach Demonstra-
tion Train, and illustration* of
exhibits, 13-14; account of
dairy train in Illinois, 15-16;
Pure Seed and Home Power
Special, 16; canning trucks, 37
-39; train titles, 67; program
for exhibit train, 74-75; list
of tours, 118-127, 129-130;
bibliography, 137-142
ALABAMA: publicity tours, train
equipment, 129
APPEALS: advance publicity
work, 42-52; to local commit-
tees, 52-65
ARKANSAS: conservation train
tour, 118; bibliography, 141
ATTENDANCE: novel devices at-
tract, 7, 34; advance work to
secure, 42-45 ; methods of dis-
tributing, 44, 75-77; outdoors,
77; ^ planning for, 94, 98; re-
ceiving visitors, 97-99; esti-
mating numbers, 100; distrib-
uting, 101-104
ATTRACTIVE EXHIBITS: advan-
tages and suggestions, 4; novel
features a stimulus, 5-7, 104;
healthmobile, opposite 10. See
also Motion Pictures
AUDIENCES: selection and visual-
ization of, 69. See also Attend-
ance
AUTOMOBILES: motion picture
tours, 9, 25-26; dispensaries
and clinics, 27-33; Child Wel-
fare Specials, 30-34; speaking
tours, 34-37; government
trucks, 37-41; motor service,
65; list of truck tours, by
states, 129-136; and go-to-
church propaganda, 135 ; bibli-
ography, 137. See also Trucks
BIBLIOGRAPHY, 137-142
CALIFORNIA: publicity tours,
equipment for, 119, 127, 135;
bibliography, 138, 141
CANADA: description of forestry
car, 90-92, 128; publicity
tours, 128, 129, 131, 135; bib-
liography, 137, 138, 140, 142
CANNING TRUCK: purpose of
portable kitchen, 37-39; truck
tour, 130
145
INDEX
CHILDREN'S YEAR SPECIAL: in
Michigan, 23; Cleveland De-
partment of Health, 27-29;
"skip stops," 97; follow-up
work, 113; publicity tour, 132,
135
CHILD WELFARE: in Michigan,
23; Massachusetts, 24; trav-
eling dispensaries and clinics,
27-34; U. S. Children's Bu-
reau truck tour, 30-33; ad-
vance publicity, 51; follow-up
work, 113-114; health tours
and publicity, 127, 131-, 132,
135; bibliography, 138, 141,
142
CHURCHES: co-operation helpful,
61; truck tours in New York
and Pennsylvania, 135
CLARK, E. A. : describes success-
ful tour of dairy train, 15-16
CLINICS: and traveling trucks,
27-31; Tuberculosis Com-
mission, 28, 30; transport
truck tour, 133
COLE, P. T.: on Peach Demon-
stration Train, 14
COMMITTEES: on co-operation,
44, 45-47; advance publicity,
52-54; reception, 55; news-
paper, 56; advertising, 57-58;
special delegations, 59-60;
church co-operation, 61;
schools, 62; foreign groups,
63; speakers, 64; personal
canvass, 64-65; reception, 98;
organizing local, 111-112
CONNECTICUT: publicity tours,
train equipment, 131, 134;
bibliography, 141
CO-OPERATION: value of, 18, 19,
117; and publicity, 40-41;
arrangements for local com-
mittees, 44, 45-65, 98, in;
churches, 61; schools, 62;
railroads, 117
COST: economical advantages of
train or truck, 4; budget esti-
mates, 9-10; record of Penn-
sylvania train tour, 9; auto-
mobile tour in Maryland, 9
DAIRY TRAINS: tour described
by E. A. Clark, of Illinois, 15-
16; list of tours, 118-125; bib-
liography, 137, 139, 141. See
also Agriculture
DEAN, GEORGE A.: describes
Hessian Fly Special, 17-20, 139
DELEGATIONS: advance plans for
special groups, 59-60, 102;
from churches, 60, 61 ; schools,
60,62; hotels and restaurants,
60; food dealers, 60; em-
ployes, 60; clubs, 60; children
and teachers, 102
DEMONSTRATIONS : effectiveness
of initial presentation, 5-7;
adaptability of trains for, 10,
1 1 ; trucks, 1 1 ; Peach Special,
14; dairy train and milking
machine, 15-16; food conser-
vation, 22, 24, 37, 52; canning
kitchens, 37-38; Land Clear-
ing Special, 52; program out-
lined, 74-76; types of cars
adapted to, 78-79; kitchen
illustrated, opposite 92; ar-
rangement of car for, 92-93;
tours, and equipment, 122,
124, 126, 129, 130, 133; pub-
lications, 140
DICKSON, J. R.: describes for-
estry car, 90-92, 140
DISPENSARIES: scope of service,
27~33J Children's Year Spe-
cial of Cleveland, 28-30; motor
trucks in Italy, 30; Children's
Bureau government truck, 30-
33; publication on, 142
BOWLING, OSCAR: health train
pioneer, 20
146
INDEX
ECONOMY: advantages of train
and truck, 4; records of tours,
9-10; war propaganda, 21-23
EDUCATION: advantages of tours,
3-8, n, 25, 27, 117; campaign
tours, 118-136; bibliography,
137-142
ENGLAND: publicity tours, 134;
bibliography, 138
ENTOMOLOGY: and Hessian fly
in Kansas, 18-19
EXHIBIT CARS: peach industry,
13-14; dairy train, 15; pure
seed, 16; health tours, 20-21;
government specials, 22-24;
opposite 70 and 77; various
types, 78-79; correct designs
for, 79; living accommoda-
tions, 80; cleaning methods,
80-8 1 ; form and content of
exhibits, 81-83; moving audi-
ences, 84, 86; correct arrange-
ment of interiors, 85, opposite
86 and 87; placing exhibits,
87-90; description of Can-
adian forestry car, 90-92;
moving people through, 99;
explainers for, 104-105; list
of, by states, 118-136
EXPENSES: See Cost
EXPLAINERS: services of, 104-
105
FLAT CARS: dairy trains, 15-16;
for conservation work, 22, 77,
79, opposite 80; Land Clear-
ing Specials, 126, 127; re-
cruiting, 129
FLORIDA: publicity tours, and
equipment, 120, 127
FOLLOW-UP WORK: and careful
planning, 8; reception com-
mittees valuable, 98; aims,
and suggestions for efficient,
106-114; fixing impressions,
107; printed matter, 109-110;
local organizations to take
part, 111-113; of West Vir-
ginia Public Health Council,
112; results, method of check-
ing, 113; criticisms, 114
FOOD CONSERVATION TRAINS :
government tours, 21-24; and
child welfare, 23, 24; canning
kitchens, 37-38; work as-
signments, 52, 54, 61, 65; il-
lustration of exhibit car, N. Y.
College of Agriculture, oppo-
site 86; demonstration kitchen
illustrated, opposite 92; list of
tours, 118, 123, 125, 130; bib-
liography, 138, 140
FRANCE: truck tours for health
purposes, 131
GEORGIA: Land Clearing Spe-
cial, advance work, 52; pub-
licity tours, train equipment,
120, 133, 134
GOOD ROADS SPECIAL: publicity
tours, train equipment, 119,
126, 133; bibliography, 138,
141
HALLIDAY, J. D.: health educa-
tion tours planned and di-
rected by, 28
HEALTH CARS: advance pub-
licity in West Virginia, 46-
48; topics and exhibits pre-
sented, 68; over-crowded ex-
hibits, 82; methods to attract
attention, 82, 83; report of
follow-up work, 112; list of
tours, 127, 128, 131-133, 136;
bibliography, 138, 139, 140,
141, 142
HEALTH EXHIBITS: motion pic-
ture truck of N. Y. State, op-
posite 10 ; health trains in
Louisiana, 20; child welfare
147
INDEX
in Kansas, 21; West Virginia
Health Special, 21 ; purpose of
government train, 23; Chil-
dren's Year Special, 23; va-
riety of topics, 68; train tours,
127-128; truck tours, 131-
133; wagon tour, 136; motor-
cycle tour, 136; bibliography,
138, 139, 140, 141, 142
HEALTHMOBILE : of N. Y. State,
opposite 10; motion picture
tour in North Carolina, 26;
publicity tour of, 132
HESSIAN FLY SPECIAL: descrip-
tion of train run in Kansas,
17-20, 139; speakers and
publicity, 18-19; train equip-
ment, 122
HOLLINGWORTH, H. L.: on Ad-
vertising and Selling, 107
HOME POWER SPECIAL: demon-
stration of conveniences, 16
ILLINOIS: tour of dairy train in,
15-16; publicity tours, train
equipment, 120, 131, 133; bib-
liography, 138, 139
ILLUSTRATIONS: opposite 10, 14,
20, 28, 29, 30, 31, 38, 39, 44,
70, 76, 77, 80, 84, 85, 86, 87, 92
INDIANA: publicity tours, train
equipment, 121, 131; bib-
liography, 142
INFORMATION SOURCES: 2,117
IOWA: publicity tours, train
equipment, 122; bibliography,
139
ITALY: health trucks, 28, 30,
131; motor clinics, 30; pub-
licity tours, 131
ITINERARY: planning, 94-97. See
also Tours
KANSAS: Hessian fly train de-
scribed, 17-20, 122; State
Agricultural College co-oper-
ates with railroad, 17, 18;
publicity tours, 127; bibliog-
raphy, 139
KENTUCKY: publicity tours,
train equipment, 122, 127;
bibliography, 137, 139, 140
LAND CLEARING: demonstra-
tion work, with automobiles,
52; publicity tours, 120, 126-
127; bibliography, 140
LINCOLN HIGHWAY ASSOCIA-
TION: and transcontinental
tour, 40-41, 133
LOUISIANA: success of health
trains, 20; publicity tours,
train equipment, 120, 127, 129,
131; bibliography, 137, 139
MARYLAND: cost of automobile
tour, 9; publicity tours, train
equipment, 122, 132, 134
MASSACHUSETTS: child welfare
tours, 24; publicity tours, 130,
132, 135
MEMORY: impressions, and fol-
low-up work, 107-109
MESSAGE, PREPARATION OF:' 66-
73; choosing a topic, 67-70;
limiting the message, 69; pro-
gram planning, 71-77
MICHIGAN: Children's Year Spe-
cial, 23; publicity tours, train
equipment, 122, 135
MINNESOTA: publicity tours,
train equipment, 122
MISSISSIPPI: publicity tours,
train equipment, 123, 132
MISSOURI: Women's Patriotic
Special, 22; publicity tours,
train equipment, 123, 128, 134
148
INDEX
MOTION PICTURES: cost of auto-
mobile tour, 9; N. Y. State
healthmobile, opposite 10;
truck tours, 25-41; North
Carolina health campaign, 26;
Children's Special of Cleve-
land, 28; Wisconsin Anti-Tu-
berculosis Association, 37; ad-
vance publicity, and slides, 57-
58; state tours using, 124, 128,
129, 130, 131-135; bibliog-
raphy, 137, 138, 140, 141, 142
MOTORCYCLES: description of a
"Knight of Health," 34-37,
139; tours in Canada and Wis-
consin, 135, 136
MOTOR TRANSPORT CORPS : pur-
pose and description of trans-
continental train, 39-41 ; pub-
licity tours, 133
MOTOR VEHICLES: See Trucks
MOVING AUDIENCES: displaying
exhibits to, 84, 86
NEBRASKA: publicity tours,
train equipment, 1 23
NEVADA: publicity tours, train
equipment, 123
NEW JERSEY: publicity tours,
train equipment, 1 23
NEWSPAPERS: advance publicity
for, 56, 58. See also Publicity
NEW YORK: healthmobile, op-
posite 10 ; food conservation
train, 22; publicity tours, and
equipment, 123, 129, 132, 134,
135; bibliography, 137, 140
NORTH CAROLINA: Board of
Health motion picture tour,
26; publicity tours, train
equipment, 124, 132, 135; bib-
liography, 141
NOVEL PRESENTATION: advan-
tages of, 4-7; secures pub-
licity, 6; motion picture trucks
25-28; "Motorcycle Knight
of Health," 34-37; along Lin-
coln Highway, 40-41
OHIO: Children's Year Special of
Cleveland, 27-30; illustrations
and trucks, 28-29; publicity
tours, 130, 132
ORGANIZATION : advance , pub-
licity important, 42-65; as-
signments for committees, 52-
65; report of follow-up work,
112-113
OUTDOOR SPEAKING, 16, 34, 75,
77
PEACH DEMONSTRATION TRAIN:
description, and illustration of
exhibit car, 13-14; advance
publicity, 48; state tours, 118,
125
PENNSYLVANIA: cost of tour in,
9; food conservation train, 22;
canning kitchen of Allegheny
County Council, 37-39; ad-
vance assignments for com-
mittees, 53; publicity tours,
125, 130; bibliography, 140
PERMANENCE: of activities, 5;
organization and follow-up
work, 111-114
PLACES VISITED: planning an
itinerary, 94-96
POSTERS: type of agricultural,
43 ; advertising committees, 5 7
PROGRAMS: choice of a topic, 66,
67-70; form of presentation,
67-71; unit programs, 71-72;
of exhibit trains, 73-75; of
demonstration and exhibit, 76;
advice in planning, 94-96, 101-
104
149
INDEX
PUBLICITY: advantages of tours,
4; first impression valuable, 7;
and successful co-operation,
19; advance work important,
40,42-65; advertisements, 43 ;
specialized appeal, 44; com-
mittees, co-operation of, 45;
preparation of letters, and ex-
ample, 46-48; advance agents,
duties of, 49-52; assignments,
features of, 53, 54; reception
committee, 55; committee on
newspapers, 56; advertising
committee, 57; committee on
special delegations, 59-60;
church co-operation, 61;
schools, 62; foreign language
groups, 63; speakers, 64;
committee on personal can-
vass, 65; and follow-up work,
109-114. See also Advertising
PURE SEED SPECIAL: home
power equipment, 16; ar-
rangement of exhibits, op-
posite 87; exhibit trains, 124,
126; " Gospel of Good Seed,"
138
PURPOSE: and advantages, 3-4,
117; of Motor Transport
Corps tour, 39-40
RAILROADS : co-operation of, and
list of educational tours, 117-
129; bibliography, 137-140,
142. See also Trains
RECEPTION COMMITTEES: ad-
vance assignments for, 55, 98
RELAXATION: staff members
need, 103, 105
RHODE ISLAND: publicity tours,
train equipment, 130
SAFETY FIRST TRAINS: publicity
tours, 128, 129; bibliography,
141, 142
SCHEDULE : train stops discussed,
94, ^ 96-97; work and rest
periods, 103-105
SCHOOLS: co-operation, 62; at-
tendance of children, and
management, 102; car as
model school room, 128, 129;
and dental education, 132; of
conservation, 140
" SKIP STOPS," 97
SPEAKERS: attraction of promi-
nent, 6; short talks in lecture
coaches, 15; outdoor lectures,
16, 77; Hessian Fly Special,
18-19; health talks and cjiild
welfare, 21, 24; advance work
for committees on, 64; chief
factors of success, 73, 74, 75;
explainers, 104
STAFF MEMBERS: traveling ac-
commodations, 80; provision
for rest and comfort, 103, 105
TENNESSEE: publicity tours,
train equipment, 125
TEXAS: Peach Special, 13-14;
agricultural train program, 74-
75; publicity tours, 1 25
THEATERS. See Motion Pictures
TOPICS: selection of, 67-68; pre-
sentation, 68-71
TOURS: factors in planning, 94-
105; time stops, 96-97; "skip-
stops," 97; list of traveling
campaigns, 117-136
TRAINS: advantages of tours by,
4-8, ii ; campaign costs, 9;
agricultural campaigns, 13-19;
health tours, 20-21; trolleys,
23; child welfare, 24; planning
an itinerary, 94-97; moving
visitors through, 99; list of
agricultural, 118-127; list of
food conservation, 123, 125;
150
INDEX
list of health specials, 127-1 28;
safety first trains, 128, 129;
safety first tours, 128, 129;
bibliography, 137-141
TRANSCONTINENTAL TOURS: pur-
poses, 39-40; Lincoln High-
way Association co-operates,
40-41 ; train equipment, 133
TROLLEY TOURS: child welfare,
23-24, 135
TRUCKS : advantages of tours by,
4, 5, 6-8, n; cost of tours, 9;
adaptability, n, 25; North
Carolina health car, 26; trav-
eling dispensaries, 27-34; Chil-
dren's Year Special, 27-29;
clinics in Italy, 30; Child Wei-
fare Special, 30-34; speaking
tours, 34-37; canning truck
and portable kitchen, 37-39;
transcontinental tour, War De-
partment, 39-40; and Lincoln
Highway Association, 40-41;
planning an itinerary, 94-97;
list of agricultural, 129-130;
list of food conservation, 130;
list of health specials, 131-133;
motor transport tours, 133-134;
motion picture tours, 134-135;
bibliography, 138, 140, 142.
See also Automobiles
TUBERCULOSIS : motor truck
clinics in Italy, 30; Wisconsin
Anti-Tuberculosis Association,
34, 37; attention getting de-
vice, 82; health tours, and
publicity, 127, 128, 131, 132,
133, 136; bibliography, 139,
140, 141, 142
TYPES OF CARS: for exhibit or
demonstration, 78-79
UNITED STATES: Safety First
Train, 23; Child Welfare Spe-
cial, 30-33; food conservation
truck, 37-39; transcontinental
motor tour, 39-41; Lincoln
Highway and Transport Corps,
40-41, 133; publicity tours,
train equipment, n 8, 127, 128,
I3i, 133, 134; bibliography,
141
UNIT PROGRAMS: features in-
cluded, 71-73
UTAH: publicity tours, train
equipment, 126
VERMONT: publicity tours,
health wagon, 136; bibliogra-
phy, 140
VIRGINIA: publicity tours, train
equipment, 126, 129, 130, 134
VISUALIZATION: essential in pre-
paring message and program,
66-72
WASHINGTON: publicity tours,
train equipment, 126, 133; bib-
liography, 140
WEST VIRGINIA: example of
health publicity letter, 46-48;
report on follow-up organiza-
tion work, 112-113; publicity
tours, 126, 128, 133, 135
WINDOW DISPLAYS: announce-
ments and signs, 5 7
WISCONSIN: farm methods pro-
moted by College of Agricul-
ture, 16; Anti-Tuberculosis
Association work, 34, 37; pub-
licity tours, 126, 130, 133, 136;
bibliography, 139, 140
SURVEY AND E X H I B I T S E R I ES
EDITED BY SHELBY M. HARRISON
IT is recognized in both surveys and exhibits that a
standardized technique has not been fully worked out.
Still a beginning has been made. Enough experience
has been accumulated to justify recording it and put-
ting it at the disposal of those interested. With a view
therefore to increasing the use of investigation in dealing
with current community problems and to making such
investigations more effective, and with a view also to
the widespread employment of better methods of dis-
seminating helpful information, the Survey and Exhibit
Series has been planned.
The A B C of Exhibit Planning. By Evart G. and Mary Swain
Routzahn. Price, Cloth, $2.00 net.
Traveling Publicity Campaigns. By Mary Swain Routzahn.
Price, Cloth, $1.50 net.
»
Other volumes in preparation
Subscriptions may be entered for the series, new
volumes to be sent when issued. Or upon request an-
nouncements of new books in the series will be sent as
books are issued.
PUBLICATION DEPARTMENT
RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION
130 E. 22D STREET, NEW YORK CITY
BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE
STAMPED BELOW
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WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN
THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY
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OVERDUE.
FE3 24 1945
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