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SUCEE^FUL
ADVERTISING

TO ACCOMPLISH

5^riTt^@

Mac DONALD

SItbrartpH

•t

Dr.

Slljr (Sift of
Grace Weiant

in memory of
W# A» Carpenter

Successful EtJbertising

I i

tow to Bccomplisb ITt

138 J. ^ngus glacBonaltr

SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING

HOW TO ACCOMPLISH IT

A PRACTICAL WORK FOR ADVERTISERS AND BUSINESS
MEN. WITH A MOST COMPLETE INDEX OF SUBJECTS

Philadelphia, 1902

®|)£ J^tnxolit ^utlist'itij Compans

C'W

S^'M,.

PREFACE.

Publicity— a force in the world's affairs
almost incalculable in its scope and effect— is
constantly and unmistakably moving to higher
and loider planes of usefulness, through surer
and more systematic methods of advertising.

Advancement, to-day, in every line of ef-
fort, necessarily demands a most progressive
spirit, which is best reflected in twentieth cen-
tury publicity. To stand stiU, even for a mo-
ment, is fatal.

As the business-man is a busy man, tvhat
he wants is the subject-matter— not the intro-
ductory.

The ideas, suggestions, help and advice
set forth in this work aim to be clear and con-
cise, so that " he who runs may read," and he
who reads may profit. One thing the reader
can rely on, and that is that they are practical.
They are the fruits, not of theory, but of over
ten years' busy actual experience and observa-
tion.

A great number of these articles are abso-
lutely new. Many were written for such lead-
ing publications as "Brains," (noW'The Re-
tailer and Advertiser"), "Printer's Ink,"
"Profitable Advertising," "Fame," "The Ad-
vertising World," "Gibson's Clothing Ga-
zette," etc. Interviews from the first three
papers, as well as from "The Dry Goods
Economist," are also quoted.

Proper credit is hereby acknowledged the
above publications for the reproduction of
such articles as may have appeared in their
columns.

J. ANGUS MacDONALD,
December, 1902. 115 Nassau St., N. Y.

CONTENTS.

DIVISION ONE.
HD 3Bun&{ng i

DIVISION TWO.
TRetaU BD\7ertl0ing BU tbe
13eac BrounD 27

DIVISION THREE.
Special ^features in TRetall
BDvertising 89

DIVISION FOUR.
asMl ©rfier BDvectisinfl . 215

DIVISION FIVE.
Ubiscellancons B&vertisfng 238

INTRODUCTORY.

If experience with large advertising af-
fairs and a remarkai>le aptitude for the ad-
vertising profession qualify a man to write a
book on advertising, then J. Angus MacDon-
ald is the man.

For several years I have known Mr. Mac-
Donald personally, through his work and by
reputation. He is one of the old members of
the Sphinx Club, and is held in high esteem by
all who know him. His knowledge of adver-
tising subjects is almost encyclopedic, which
is due to the fact that Mr. MacDonald has
travelled extensively, is a keen observer, an
omnivorous reader and an untiring worker
in the advertising field -a field in which he
constantly jm-ts through large advertising
operations.

He entered the advertising field a number
of years ago, and at an early age received an
insight into advertising that few veterans of
to-day can equal.

His insight into the advertising business
is practical, therefore the statements in his
book have the added charm and greed element
of experience behind them.

I predict that "Successful Advertising
and How to Accomplish It," like it's author,
will be a marked success.

F. JAMES GIBSON,
Business Manager "New York Daily News,"
Secretary and Founder of the Sphinx Club,
{the famous advertising club).

September, 1902.

DIVISION ONE.
AD BUILDING.

The Foundation.

Ideas. — Ideas mean the basis of ad v/riting, of advertising,
for without ideas nothing can be stated — the better the ideas
the better the statements and the stronger the advertising.

Study, absorb, think out ideas by all means. Words are
but the vehicles of ideas, types the vehicles of words and ideas
are the prime and primaeval requisites of ads. Ideas may con-
sist of : —

First. Simply facts connected with business.

Second. Facts connected with business, together with out-
side thoughts.

Third. Outside thoughts, i. e., thoughts having but an
indirect bearing upon the business.

All are valuable. Probably the least valuable are the
latter, as in the hurry and stress of to-day's progress people
have little or no time to consider non-essentials.

The creative mind commands a premium in ad writing —
the commonplace mind had better stick to commonplace sub-
jects— and the sterile mind is valueless. Every mind interested
should be clear, receptive, analytical and above all creative.

The growth of ideas is a marvellous matter. How some
ideas arise in the human mind is an impenetrable mystery.
The impression comes, grows stronger and bursts into full life.
Which of the five senses received the impression ? When was
the impression received ? How long did the thought lie
dormant, awaiting the silent, yet powerful mental call, to arouse
it into fullest expression? Possibly the suggestion originally

2 Successful Advertising

came from generations back — received only at birth — traceable
(if we could trace its invisible path) to hereditary influences
and reaching its full-fledged development and expression only
at the critical moment when circumstances called for just that
particular idea. It may be that the mind received the impres-
sion during childhood — the impression was pigeon-holed with
thousands of other impressions stored away in brain cells and
never used until memory reaches out and resurrects them in
response to a demand by the entire mentality.

In the life of Honore de Balzac by his sister appears this
interesting passage on ideas : —

"Louis Lambert asks himself whether the constituent
principle of electricity does not enter as a basis into the par-
ticular fluid from which Ideas spring. He saw in Thought a
complete system, like one of Nature's kingdoms, a celestial
flora, as it were, the development of which by some man of
genius would be taken for the work of a lunatic, * Yes, all
things within us and without us,' said Louis Lambert, ' bear evi-
dence to the life of Ideas, — those regarding creations which,
obeying some mysterious revelation of their nature, I compare
to flowers. '

" My brother returns in several of his works to this subject
of meditation. In the Peau de Chagrin^ among others, he
analyzes the birth, life, or death of certain thoughts, — one of
the most fascinating pages of that book.

" Louis Lambert found in the moral nature, phenomena of
motion and gravity, similar to those of the physical nature, and
demonstrated his opinion by certain examples.

" ' The emotion of expectant attention^'' he said, ' is painful
through the effect of a law in virtue of which the weight of a
body is multiplied by its swiftness. Does not the weight of
sentiment, the moral gravity, which waiting produces, increase
by the constant addition of past pains to present pain ? To
that if not to some electric substance can we attribute that
magic by force of which the Will sits majestically enthroned in
the eye, to blast all obstacles at the command of genius, or
breaks forth in the voice, or filters visibly, in defiance of
hypocrisy, through the human cuticle ? The current of this

How To Accomplish It. 3

king of fluids which, under the high pressure of Thought or
Sentiment, flows forth in waves, lessens to a thread, or gathers
to a volume and gushes out in lightning jets, is the occult min-
ister to whom we owe the efforts (be they fatal or beneficent) of
the arts and the passions, — the intonations of the voice, rough,
sweet, terrifying, lascivious, horrible, seductive, which vibrate
in the heart, in the bowels, in the brain, at the call of our
wishes, — the spell of touch, from which proceed the mental
transfusions of the artist, whose creative hand, made perfect
through passionate study, can evoke nature, — the endless grada-
tions of the eye, passing from sluggish atony to the discharge
of lightning-flashes full of menace. God loses none of his
rights in this system. Thought, material thought, tells me of
new and undiscovered grandeurs in the Divine.' "

Ideas come from all sources. Pick up a newspaper and the
brain receives a score or more ideas — evanescent 'tis true — but
sufficiently tableted upon the memory to jump into instant
significance when the mind calls. Pick up a book and presently
the author's ideas are tincturing the reader's mind. Come in
contact with other people — particularly forceful people — and you
are at once inoculated with their suggestions.

This is based upon the presumption that the mind is open
and receptive — the only mind of value in ad writing or any
other up-to-date business. The prejudiced mind — the "shut
in " mind — the undeveloped mind and the ignorant mind should
be altogether left out of consideration. Such minds neither
give nor receive impressions — in commonplace matters they
may perform prefunctionary duties — but in ad writing when so
much is at stake upon what is said and how it is said they cer-
tainly have no place.

A mind trained in ad writing, i. e.^ a mind creative, recep-
tive and analytical, can study a business in its many phases and
rarely does this mind make a mistake in picking out the best
advertising phase — the best set of ideas.

Why?

This is the result of hereditary influences, later of school
and college life, and still later of the business education which
comes to the man of affairs. Here are three distinct sets of

4 Successful Advertising

influences and every advertising man with a reputation bows his
acknowledgments to each.

The advertising man should study his readers with great
consideration. Advertising, in a sense, may be defined as the
influence of mind over mind, therefore the psychological ele-
ment in advertising is a most important one.

So much for the birth and growth of ideas, which is but
very little indeed ! This great subject is beyond any writer —
beyond any human conception.

Now for the application of ideas.

Supposing we were to advertise — say a pen. All right. At
once the mental machinery resolves itself into a series of ques-
tions and answers :

What is the pen for ? To write. To write how ? To write
smoothly. Anything else? To write clearly. Anything else ?
To write with a perfect flow of ink. Anything else? It is a
durable pen. Anything else? It is a strong, yielding pen.
And so on until all information regarding the pen is extracted.

With this information before the ad writer he or she (for
there are quite a number of young ladies now in the pub-
licity field) selects the most important and there we have a
series of facts — and facts only.

So far so good.

At this juncture fancy steps in and lends an idea or two to
heighten up prosaic facts. Contrary to many opinions I believe
in taking the rough edges off cold facts — sugar-coating them as
it were — with happy, brief expressions that have but an indirect
bearing upon the subject in hand.

Get the ideas right from facts regarding the pen. Then
get the ideas right from fancies conjured up regarding the pen.
See that these ideas make a distinct, positive and pleasant
impression.

After which hunt up the right words to express these ideas,
which brings us along to the next subject — the treatment of
words.

How To Accomplish It.

The Superstructure,

Words. — Words are powerful, although but the expression of
ideas. The shortest words are best. The briefest sentences are
best. The ad writer finds that a clean-cut, distinct impression is
best conveyed by short words and short sentences.

Long words and long sentences are only permissible when
the subject is so exhausted by brief expressions that for the sake
of novelty elongated expressions are a relief. (This occurs
more often than the neophyte appreciates. Any old dyed-in-the-
wool advertising man, constantly writing upon a subject, will
bear me out in this).

The old, tried and constantly used words are best. Yet for
the sake of novelty the writer should occasionally use new
words. The best writers are those with the widest vocabularies.
Such writers are wide readers— not only of modern and old
English but also of French, German, Italian and other foreign
tongues.

Any one style — like anything else — becomes wearisome if
given the reader in large doses.

If the writer has versatility — and the advertising writer
worthy the name exercises it — he can speak effectively to his
audience in several styles.

Emerson has often been held up as a master of pure, pur-
poseful English. His clear, cold and crystal style serves as a
guide to an army of ambitious young writers. Yet, Emerson
often lapses (or takes flights) into a style bright with metaphors,
sometimes slightly involved, at times highly imaginative and
occasionally humorous. When writing his famous essays he
doubtless appreciated the importance of diversified forms of
expression, as no reader — no matter how sedate — keeps his mind
on a dead level all the time. It has moods and tenses. The
mentality would not be human — be a part of the human organ-
ism— were it not so.

Take any other great writer and you will be struck by two

6 Successful Advertising

impressive facts, viz.: (i) That he possesses versatility; (2)
That he is absolute master of each style.

To instance : —

Kipling wrote " Gunga Din." What could be more force-
ful— with uncut edges — than "Gunga Din?" Contrast the
robust "Gunga Din" with the exquisitely finished, haunting,
swinging " Mandalay."

Dickens wrote Alfred Jingle's expressions. What could
be more jerky and suggestive — with great gaps between the
suggestions — than Jingle's jingle ? On the other hand, Dickens
wrote most feelingly on the death of Little Nell, and if there is
a more exquisitely finished sketch of its nature in existence,
where is it? Why, the name of Dickens is synonymous with
versatility — a versatility that touched every emotion of the most
cultured and every feeling of the most illiterate !

As a supreme instance, take Tennyson. I call Tennyson a
supreme instance, as a pure and lofty style sustained almost
thoughout. Yet, if you wish to appreciate Tennyson's versa-
tility read "The Brook," after a perusal of "In Memoriam."

It is self-evident that all famous writers are masters of more
than one style — probably in obedience to the great natural law
that the human mind demands variety.

A constant use of cold water begets, in the course of time,
a desire for some other beverage. A constant use of some other
beverage (perhaps more ardent) induces a thirst which only cold
water can satisfy. Cofiee is all right at times. Milk is all right
at times. Beer is relished when the appetite is ready for it.
These observations are made to illustrate the fact that, as the
physical system demands a variety of beverages, so does the
mental system demand a variety of ideas, expressed in varied
styles.

Thus, should the advertising writer be versatile.

Ideas should be expressed with force yet with grace.

Force is the first essential.

Business represents progress, viz. : force — advertising mir-
rors business, /. e. , force — and as a logical consequence
advertising should be forceful. An expression cannot make an
impression unless it possesses force.

How To Accomplish It. 7

After force comes grace.

Force alone in an expression — no matter how closely it
conforms to the laws of grammar — gives that expression a dis-
tasteful crudeness. It may be a rough diamond, but diamonds
are all the more valuable after having been cut and polished.
So is too much grace distasteful. To express it perhaps better,
too much grace is nauseating. In a sentence, give force a
slightly greater consideration than grace. Were I pinned down
to a mathematical point, I would say, give force two-thirds of
the sentence and grace one-third.

Study grasp.

In other words, know your subject.

Grasp is a quality that every ad writer should have. If he
knows his subject thoroughly, and is not afraid to express him-
self (this confidence is a matter of time and getting acquainted
with his own ability) he instantly instills confidence and
impresses the reader with the force of his convictions. If he
lacks ideas, or the ability to express ideas, or is minus both
essentials, the world that reads his advertising considers it con-
temptuously— if at all. Grasp — another name for strength — in
itself alone never fails to command a respectful hearing.

Let me institute a short comparison between the salesman
and the ad. The good salesman and the good ad both show an
appreciation of words and their effect. Neither says too little,
neither slops over ; both are pointed, interesting and business-
like in their remarks.

Take the most successful salesman or business man of your
acquaintance. Stop for a moment to analyze his style of deal-
ing with men — his delivery — his "way of putting things."
After subjecting him to a five minutes' analysis, you will
conclude :

That he is natural in his utterances.

That he is spontaneous in his utterances.

That he is easy in his utterances.

That he is business-like in his utterances.

That he is devoid of frills, foibles and fakerism, that he
gives you the impression, in short order, of knowing what he is
talking about, and that the great charm of naturalness and ofi"-

8 Successful Advertising

handedness accompanies his remarks. He is specific, intelligent
and satisfactory.

Now the language of your advertising should be so. It
should be specific to the degree that it gives necessary informa-
tion in a business-like style.

The good salesman is original because his fund of
experience and observation gives his conversation a charm
peculiarly its own. He can invest his tale of samples with the
pulse-quickening details of their superiority, their low-priced-
ness, and their success with other houses, in an original manner,
because these details are peculiar to the lines of goods he carries.

The good ad is original because it tells the tale of your
values in a manner peculiar to itself. If you have a real, hearty
interest in your goods and can write exactly as you feel regard-
ing their merits, you'll find no difiSculty in investing your ads
with sufficient originality to be interesting.

Originality for originality's sake does not amount to so
much in advertising as is generally supposed. It is secondary
to clearness, brevity, and naturalness. The good advertising
writer cannot help giving his matter a tinge of originality,
because he gives his subject the touch of naturalness which
alone makes it different from any other ad.

Then, in your choice of words, remember the good sales-
man or the good business man.

Give the imagination rein.

A vivid imagination instantly sees several ways of stating a
truth, yet keeping truth undefiled in its virgin purity. Such
an imagination, assisted by a wide vocabulary, can astonish
readers by the many different methods of expressing the same
idea. To illustrate : —

"These suits are perfect fitting, extremely stylish and
decidedly low priced." The truth or sense of which is not in
the least impaired by the following : —

" These suits fit perfectly, are very fashionable and decidedly
economical."

Or, "These suits are stylish, will fit to perfection and are
pleasantly priced."

How To Accomplish It. 9

Or, "These suits so stylish and perfect fitting are priced
extremely moderate."

Or, "These stylish and perfect fitting suits are indeed lowly
priced."

Or, "These easy priced suits are stylish and will fit to
perfection."

Or, "These stylish suits will fit perfectly and are great
values. ' '

Or, ' ' These fashionable suits are gems of perfection, fit and
economy." Etc., etc.

Prices. — Promises are good, but performances knock promises
sky high, and the next best to the performance in advertising is
the attempt to prove the performance by a hard, cold, naked price.
This price alone stands in its eloquence as a sort of type demon-
stration that no amount of argument can get around.

The power of words has been treated of in a previous paper,
the typographical arrangement will receive due consideration,
and now that very important feature of ad building, price, will
be attempted.

In general advertising prices are very important. Experi-
enced general advertisers will bear me out in this. The great
aim of advertising is to sell goods, to do so, advertising must
answer all questions liable to come in the mind of the reader,
and you may be sure that price is always a big question. Do
not forget this !

In retail advertising I consider prices absolutely necessary.
They are specific and vital. Every reader of a retail ad, whether
man, woman, or child, wants at the first blush to learn the price
of the goods in which he or she may be interested.

Interest them by the brightness and sense of your intro-
duction and talk concerning your goods ; then, when you think
you have their interest aroused to the proper pitch, let them
have your price or several prices. Do not forget to give the
prices. What touches the pocket-book touches the most delicate
nerve, and a possible buyer's first consideration is how much
that delicate nerve is to be touched in the transaction.

Apply this to yourself. When you see a necktie, an over-

10 Successful Advertising

coat, a suit of clothes that strikes your fancy, your first question
is, "How much?" It is the first thought that follows in the
wake of desire. When this thought is met to your satisfaction
you invest immediately to your own and the dealer's benefit —
perhaps.

The most progressive retailers everywhere understand the
eloquence of printed prices. They stare at the shopper from all
sides of the store ; from the windows, show-cases, and the ads.
They save the necessity of questions ; they help to make shop-
ping easy.

A man walking down Broadway is attracted by a clothier's
window. Several garments are there, tastefully displayed. This
man needs a Spring overcoat. He sees one that strikes his
fancy. The cut, material, and everything about the overcoat
strikes him about right. There are no price cards in the
window, and although he wonders what this overcoat's price
might be, yet his interest in the coat is not violent enough to
induce him to enter that store and inquire. He is like the
average man who knows he can see the duplicate of that coat
farther along in his saunter, in some other window, with the
price displayed. He does, and he thinks the price about right.
He enters, and the dealer who advertised prices won a customer,
while the other, who was dignified, lost a trade.

Money talks. It makes the loudest noise in the commercial
world. It is the most eloquent of all arguments and induce-
ments. For this reason prices should be given with every retail
ad that aims to sell goods.

An ad that simply says "John Smith's stock is the largest
and best selected in town, and his prices are way down," says
nothing. It is meaningless. Almost every retailer tries to give
that impression in his ads, but no impression is made unless
something specific is said — unless items and prices are given.

There is such an error as running in too many prices in an
ad. Too many prices not only tend to beget confusion, but also
overcrowd the ad. One or two good items and prices rightly
put are worth a dozen indifferently given.

When you speak of a line of neckwear, a suit, an overcoat,
or what not, give a clear, detailed description of the article and

How To Accomplish It. 11

a suggestion as to its use ; then give your price. Give the price
every time. Most masculine minds are logical ; they like to get
all the main facts about goods they are likely to buy, and price
is frequently the most important consideration.

The woman of the family who, by the way, does most of
the family shopping, and nearly always influences her husband
and brother when she does not do the direct buying for them,
is always occupied with the ways and means question, and a
retail ad addressed to her is pointless without prices. She con-
siders prices closely. She makes mental memoranda as to how
far her dollars can stretch before she starts on a shopping
expedition. The advertised prices help her in this.

Take the ads of the best advertisers in New York and else-
where, and you will always notice they give great consideration
to prices.

I have noticed in my advertising experience with various
concerns, that buyers of departments, the real powers in a store,
are always anxious to run in a whole lot of figures. They
know that figures are the greatest factors in swinging trade, and
they usually want these figures set in the largest sort of type,
under the mistaken impression that the larger the type the more
attractive is the price.

Ordinary display type for figures brings in as much trade
as the tremendously large type. Why ? Because the ordinary
reader notes the average size type — the type this article is
printed in, for instance, as it can be easily read, and when read
is read, and that is all that type is for, anyway. I^arge type
makes me think of Coney Island barkers or Bowery pullers-in.
They try by main noise and gesticulation to influence people.
Advertising should be sensible and convincing ; large type alone
doesn't make it so, and large type alone for figures doesn't add
any alarming force to their value. When in conversation with
another man you do not care to have him shout at you as though
you were deaf You much prefer to have him speak in an easy,
cultivated tone.

And that is how advertising should be given — in an easy,
cultivated tone. The arguments, items, and prices will make
the better and more lasting impression when delivered thus.

Successful Advertising

Give clever, pointed headlines, good, strong arguments,
clear and satisfactory details in items — never forget your best
prices; have the whole properly typographed in the right sort
of mediums, and then you can rest easy that your advertising is
about right.

The Essentials.

Displaying Items and Prices — Here is a subject that should
be seriously studied by every advertiser. Small things count in
advertising as well as in everything else, and although this is
apparently a small point in a big subject, yet it is a point that
assumes enormous proportions when you come to figure up it's
results in the course of a year.

Lying on my desk are perhaps a score of clipped paragraphs
relating to items and prices. They represent various styles of
set-ups, and occasionally, in the course of this article, I will lay
aside my pen for the mucilage brush and paste the said para-
graphs on my copy to illustrate this
talk. First comes an old friend —
one of those styles of set-ups which
flourished in 1871, and which is still
found in evidence with some adver-
tisers even to-day.

This type arrangement is anti-
quated, and it wastes a lot of very
valuable space. It, however, has the
saving merit of bringing out the price
in a conspicuous manner,' although the name of the article is
not so conspicuous. The name, however, is plain enough to

be easily read.

The second specimen shows
another old acquaintance to which
the same criticism could be applied,
with the added suggestion that a
heavier-faced type, such as How-
land, De Vinne or Gothic could be
used for the price.

25 Pieces of Extra Heavy 2

ply Ingrains, in lengths

of 15 yards each.

$3.50.

100 Pieces of Extra 5 Frame

Body Brussels, in lengths

of 20 and 25 yards, at

$12.00.

A f y^r> Lemonade Straws,

r\.L i(JC per bundle, best
imported quality ;
regularly 19c.

A <- T/-^/-. Beautiful Ameri-

l±l 19c. can Crystal Glass

Cut-Flower Hold-
ers, 12 inches high ;
regularly 29c. each.

How To Accomplish It.

Alillinerv Pretty little velvet

i>iiiimery jj^^g_ ^^^^^ ribbon,

wings, birds, or ornaments, at
S5. Philadelphia hasn't had such
a treat in millinery ! We've
artistic workers and they're busy

With many price is first consideration, and the housewife
running an economical eye down the price list of crockery
values would have no special comment to make on the above
set-up, excepting making a possible grimace at the small type
in which the item is set.

Here is an example of the Wanamaker idea of set-up. It
gives first consideration to a display of the article advertised.
The price in this instance is found
in the body of the " talk," set in
the usual type.

This makes a very neat arrange-
ment, and to my mind is very sat-
isfactory in such advertising as this
house puts forth. In certain sec-
tions of this country, where money is a rarer article than it is in
Philadelphia and New York, it would be a very important point
to display the price better.

Now we have another style.
Again the price is given foremost
consideration in the display — the
name being lost in the "talk."

This is a very fair style of set-up,
little space being lost in the ar-
rangement. A further perusal of
this article will show an improve-
ment.
Here is a very handsome spe-
cimen clipped from a Chicago pa-
per :

It has the merits of a handsome
set-up — the type is neat and pleas-
ing. The article advertised, how-
ever, is not displayed — probably
the advertising man thought the
symmetry ofthe ad would be affect-
ed if he displayed the shoe names.
The architect of the attempt
at the top of the next page evident-

He is giving us some
air. Let us prepare
sudden changes.
Our medium weight
Cassimere Suits and
Tweeds are just the
correct weight for
the present. They
are all stylishly
made, elegantly
trimmed, perfect in
fit. Pretty nearly
every size too.
Come in.

cool, crisp,
for tties^e
SPECIAL
PRICES:

$6.25

$7.50

And

$9.00

Any suit
ia worth
double.

Superb $5 and $6 shoes —
drss^y and durable— con-
structed on correct prin-
ciples—new, drawn-out,
shapely toes — genteel ef-
fects — new browns or
black— very finest im-
ported uppers — perfect
slioemaking — only here '2.75

and only Saturday. '^

Faultless $4 and S5 shoes

— the most fashionable
footwear — finest chrome
and Parisian kid— lace or
button— newest toes and
tips — exquisite effects— "^.o^
Saturday. ^^£.
Esquisite $1 Oxford ties
—new browns, black and
tans — hand-turned soles

— cloth and kid top —
easy, elegant — the latest
midsummer modes— '7. OS
Saturday. -^—If

Successful Advertising

Here is ac^^bargain
such as you ^^C seldom see,
even a t '^'*^^''^ t h e great
"Plymouth." Sixty dozen fancy
colored percale blouses, made in
the Fanntleroy style, with large
collar, turn back cuffs, all with a
deep rutfle. Forty different pat-
terns to choose from. These
goods are worth 50c to any one at
any season of the year. For this
two days' sale they will be sold
for only

25c

Cbiffonniers

Thoroughly well made
to our special order, of
solid. Oak, highly
polished, 6.00

ly scratched his head for a typo-
graphical arrangement before it was
brought forth.

The reader can make his own
comment upon the arrangement
given. As there is a large jump in
the first sentence, and it is likely
to bewilder the reader, it violates
one of the first principles of adver-
tising— viz., clearness.
The following is a neat style of set-up :
Both the name of the article
and price are well displayed. If
the price were in the same type
as is the name, the result would be
more harmonious and the rule could
be well eliminated. Yet a page or
half page of items all set up in this
style under a suitable general head would make a very effective
typographical showing.

This is a pleasing example :
The two small black rules with
the prices help an effect. The ap-
pearance is neat and clean, and
clothiers could apply it to their ad-
vertising with advantage.
The following style is also very commendable :
The items and prices are well
displayed. The em indention in the
" talk " helps the display line stand
out. Yet it is possible to study econ-
omy even on such an excellent ex-
ample. Follow this article and I
will tell you how, as it is a matter
of deepest importance to the up-to-
date advertiser that these details be
given full consideration. The exam-
ple on next page shows the "how."

Spring Business Suit
of Cheviot, in fancy
mixtures of plaids,
at

Have you seen those 1 $

Bicycle
we sell at

Breeches J-

1 SO

1 •jj^

Men's Serge
Coats

In black and blue, skele-
ton lined, sewed with
silk throughout, strap
or plain seams, suit-
able for street or office
wear. The equal of
any shown at (h -» -^ _•
.t'5 ; our price 4^ y • -^ ^

How To Accomplish It.

Men's Serge

WUcllb blue, skeleton
lined, sewed with silk
throughout, strap or plain
seams suitable for street
or office wear. The equal
of any shown at ^ ^ '-t^ p"
$5.00 ; our price *PO*^D

Serge....

Suits of several
shades of Clay
Woratered Mater-
ial, stylish and
cool, as any well-
person
would ask for and
selling at a price
that will enable
the most eco-
nomical buyer
to select from.

to-do person III I II I

If you study the example given
opposite you will find no waste what-
ever of valuable newspaper space.
The item and the price stick out in
display type — the body of the ad is
easily read and the appearance of the
whole is satisfactory. Such efiective
advertising as this illustrates the
beneficial work of a good ad writer.

Still another example and I will come to a close :

Quite a bit of space wasted here,
eh ? and the display a little bit ec-
centric ? Yet it is an eye-catcher,
and the man who arranged it very
likely treated himself to an extra
cigar after he contemplated its ap-
pearance. But he ought to remem-
ber a very important advertising
adage that " while good is good,
something better beats it," and if he
would stop to think that a little study would improve the arrange-
ment and save his employer a five dollar bill on that one item
in newspaper space alone, to say nothing of pulling double or
treble that amount in trade, he would accomplish a little some-
thing in the direction of good advertising.

For general retail advertising I consider the next to the last
specimen the best type arrangement for items and price. It
displays what is necessary to be displayed and does not waste
space.

Occasionally, for the sake of variety, it would be well to
try a different set-up, but before you do anything you should
study economy in space and effectiveness in display. If you
hit upon a good economical typographical arrangement for your
items, stick to it. This is a good general rule to follow.

Preparing Advertising Copy for the Printer.— a friend of

mine— a business manager for an out of town daily paper —
asked me to write an article on this subject. He says what only
too many newspaper men in his position say, that the way in

16 Successful Advertising

which the advertising copy comes to his printers is enough to
make the judicious grieve.

When a man is going to furnish a room he takes a good
look at it before putting furniture in it. Why can't he do the
same before filling up his advertising space — take a look at his
space then run in words and illustrations accordingly.

If he crowds in too much matter the ad is overcrowded,
therefore unsightly— if he runs in too little matter the ad looks
skimpy, extravagant and unbusiness like.

The point is to fill the space with just enough matter to
make a striking, meaty ad.

With amateur ad men the best method is to measure a space
on a blank sheet of paper about three times the size of the ad
and lay out the display lines and body as they should appear in
print. The printer can grasp the salient points very quickly
from such a layout. The average advertising manuscript is
about three times the size of the ad in print. Some are much
more — some much less. Of course this depends upon the idio-
syncracies of the writer.

As a general proposition two styles of type are quite sufii-
cient for an ad. When I say two styles I do not mean two
sizes, but two styles in all the sizes that uniformity and good
taste may demand.

Thus for the principal display line thirty-six point DeVinne
may answer, for sub displays eighteen or twenty-four point
DeVinne would be necessary. When DeVinne is used for the
leading display line use it throughout for all display. When
Gothic is used for the leading display line use it in its various
point sizes for all the other display lines.

Any printer can subject this to all sorts of changes, but it
will be noted that, when the same style of type is used through-
out for display lines, the result is neat and uniform.

There should also be uniformity in body type. When an
item is set in Nonpareil, its neighbor item set in pica, and
another near item set in Brevier, the result is displeasing to any
eye. As a rule, all items in a retail ad should be set in the same
style of type. Nonpareil is a favorite type with metropolitan
advertisers.

How To Accomplish It.

Small Pica for body of headings or introductories is a type
much used.

Here's a case where the displays are in one style of type,
various sizes. The introductory body is in Small Pica and body
of the items in Nonpareil. Note the uniform and business like
effect :

Men's and Boys' Clothing.

After Stocktaking, Clearance Prices.

Stocktaking finds us with too many men's
and boys' Outer Garments. It is our policy
when M^e recognize an error to correct it in the
quickest way possible, that is why these prices
insure quadruple our usual sales on Saturday.

Men's $4 Tousers, $1.75, made of
good quality worsteds and
chevoits, neat, medium and
dark effects, extra well made,
wear well, perfect fitting, price,
!pi-75-

Men's $13.00 and $15.00 Suits, $7.50,
in black clay, vicuna and fancy
worsteds and chevoits, strictly
all wool, nobby patterns, heavy
and medium weights, best
quality of linings, equal to mer-
chant tailoring, price, $7.50.

Boy's $3.50 Suits, $1.75, made of
all wool navy blue and mixed
chevoits double breasted,
good, desirable patterns, made
with double seat and knees,
will wear like Iron, 7 to 15
years, price, $1.75.

Men's $12.00 and $15.00 Ulsters and
Overcoats, $7.50, in Oxford
grays, all wool, extra long cut,
best quality lining, good value,
price, $7.50.

Men's $2.00 Alpine Hats, 69c., in
brown, tan, pearl and cedar,
good grade, sizes 65i to 7 only,
price, 69c.

Boys' $4.50 Suits, $2.65, three piece
cutaway sack coat, neat mixed
cheviots in checks, stripes and
plain colors, 11 to 15 years,
worth S4.50, now $2.65.

Boys' 75c. Flannel Waists, 39c., iu
navy blue and red, small collar,
plaited front and back, fast
colors, 6 to 12 years, worth 75c. ,
at, 39c.

I believe in borders. They are to most ads what frames are
to pictures. At any rate they throw the ads into bolder relief.
I believe in illustrations. Apart from their practical value in
picturing the articles and so creating a stronger demand for
them, they help to make the advertising more artistic. I believe
in rules. Two light rules between departments, either short or
long, two dark rules or a dark and a light rule, serve to set
ofif the ad.

I believe in boxes. A box of four rules about a price or an
article makes it stick out better.

If you see a style of set-up that strikes your fancv and you

18 Successful Advertising

wish your ad set up in the same style do not bother marking
each line of type. Simply clip that set up — paste it on the
margin of your copy and mark ' ' follow copy.' ' This saves you
and the printer time and fuss. The advertiser who studies dis-
play, studies a very important feature of advertising. Unless
advertising catches the eye it is not of much use. Unless the
advertiser works in harmony with the printer so as to bring out
the right display effects he cannot expect to get striking ads.
Talk is all right, but this talk has to be well dressed.

Advertising space is valuable enough to be filled up rightly.
To the advertiser who takes a genuine interest in his work the
matter of display is always interesting. Display can take a
thousand forms. The fertility of ideas that a study of display
can cause is wonderful. The oldest and wisest advertiser will
find in his display work alone a constant source of inspiration
and enthusiasm.

The advertiser— not the printer — is responsible for the dis-
play. The advertiser is supposed to furnish the ideas — the
printer to carry them out, but the latter cannot do it unless the
former expresses them clearly.

That is why the advertiser should study the advertising
space at his disposal, and in his mind's eye have a good idea of
how the ad will appear in print even before he touches his ink
to paper.

The Embellishments.

Types. — As words are but the vehicles of ideas, so are
types the vehicles of words. As certain words are bizzare, so
are certain types bizzare. As certain words are commonplace,
so are certain types commonplace. Types alone wield a psycho-
logical influence, but not to the degree that ideas and words do.

Even the most casual student of advertising is aware of
the importance of certain types at certain times.

An opening announcement of say millinery is seen to best
advantage in Script type. Plain type proves all right in
every day advertising but there are state occasions — as it were —
in business when Script type and Script only satisfies taste and
judgment. There are several styles of Script type, but here

How To Accomplish It. 19

it is not necessary to wander into a maze of details regarding
them. When you are in doubt as to this point, leave it to the
judgment of a good printer.

Referring to the plain type — which as a general pro-
position should be the type in which all ads should be set
— there are, of course, several kinds, and this matter is important
enough to detail.

Details. — Small Pica makes excellent body type for ads of
clothing for men, women and children, furniture, upholstery, car-
pets, rugs, real estate and such material merchandise as yield a
good percentage of profit on their sales. This fair percentage of
profit implies that a fair degree of liberality could be used in
the advertising. With other lines of goods in which the margin
of profit is smaller, a smaller type like Brevier or Nonpareil
should be used.

Agate or even Pearl is used by a great many advertisers,
frequently because of the idea that the sale of their goods show
but a small profit and often from a mistaken idea of economy.
For it is not true economy to set up an ad in type so small as to
strain the eyes.

A barrier to business is put up right there. In making up a
page ad use a uniform body type throughout. Nonpareil
answers this purpose with a great many good advertisers. It is
a fair size, is easily read, does not strain the eyes, and one can say
a lot with Nonpareil type.

Display type in a large ad should also be uniform. There
may be occasions when it is as well to emphasize a certain
ofi'ering with different display of body type, but this is at the
expense of uniformity. Hence, as a general rule, it is not advis-
able. Regarding display type, if there is anything that answers
the canons of art, dignity and business better than De Vinne, I
have yet to learn it. Rowland is also a very sightly type and
Jensen is popular— deservedly so — for it is an eye catcher, and at
the same time business-like. Jensen Condensed is another
modern type that has recently grown very popular, for it is
extremely economical. Roman display is antiquated, so is
Gothic. Gothic is a plain, blunt letter that suggests the
amenities of trade about as elegantly as a burly night watchman.

20 Successful Advertising

Ideas are the reflex of the master-mind behind the business
words. As the expression of these ideas and types are the expres-
sions of these words, so it will be seen that types alone help to
indicate the motives of the business and the men connected
with it.

Some advertisers have so pronounced an individuality that
they insist upon an individual type, purchased for their own
exclusive use. As individuality has a certain commercial value,
so is this individuality in type of distinct business value. At
any rate their ads are dressed different to other ads, which alone
forces recognition.

Some kinds of business are associated with ease, luxury,
richness and grace — ^jewelry for instance ; art goods for instance ;
silverware for instance. The advertising of such businesses —
in conformity with popular impressions of high grade trades —
should be in type that reflects these qualities. Here is where
the exclusive Old English, the high class Script or the superb
and shapely De Vinne is seen to advantage. Other lines of
trade stand for downright utility, with accompaniments of fads
and fashions — clothing for instance ; furnishings for instance ;
interior decorations for instance. Such lines are well advertised
by De Vinne or Jensen for display or Small Pica for body. And
to carry the analogy still further, look in the trade papers
advertising such heavy necessary merchandise as steel rails,
spikes, machinery, etc., and you will notice how much the
blunt, business-like Gothic is in evidence. So, taking it all
in all, there is an intimate connection between the business
advertised and the type to advertise it.

Now for the psychological influence of type. Have you
often in opening an evening paper been shocked by the
tremendous and outrageous type on the first page ? That is, it
may shock you, gentle reader, working all day in anofl&ce where
business runs on a quiet, systematic basis, and living in a
house where order is always observed. But stop and think of
the thousands it does not shock. The paper appeals to that
class, not to you. That class may work all day in a boiler
factory ; in a sweat shop, where the whir of machinery is only
drowned by the shrieking of taskmasters ; on the dock where

How To Accomplish It. 21

the trundle of barrows, the clanking of chains, and the hissing
of steam is constant ; or in the tunnel where the drip, drip, drip
of water is lost in the eternal picking, shovelling, blasting and
noise overhead of vehicles. They do a day's work under such
conditions. They then go home — to the tenement house region
— where the noise of surface and elevated trains pursue them,
and the influences of corner saloons are felt in tenement house
fights, which are every night occurrences. Such readers demand
excitement, and excitement must be kept up, even to the type.

On the other hand there is the exquisitely sensitive, the
highly cultured — the " hot-house variety" — who are best appealed
to by type neat, artistic, refined and dignified. If you will look
over the pages of high class society papers you will see this
point well illustrated.

The connection between types and the various minds
influenced by printer's ink is so subtle that many advertisers
may not recognize it. But this connection however exists, its
influence is evident to those who study it, and no matter how
subtle and evanescent it may seem, yet it is sufiiciently impor-
tant to be studied.

Borders can be used to advantage. White spaces should
be studied. White spaces throw the printed matter into greater
relief, and when used judiciously are all right.

It is a good plan once in a while to use either a single or
double set of heavy or light rules to box in a portion or whole
of your ad. Such a rule box made about a paragraph or item
makes it stand out. When a box rule or several are used in an
ad, always run a border about the whole ad.

If you are in the habit of using borders, and it is a good
habit, change them every once in a while. If you can afford it
get a set of borders for your own exclusive use. Acting on the
same thought, it is a splendid idea to have your own type.
There is an exclusiveness and richness about such ads which
only the possession of a particular font of type can give.

If you can afford to own your own types and borders you
possess a distinct advantage over your competitors, from the
fact that your ads possess an individuality which their' s do not.

22 Successful Advertising

Illustrations. — Illustrations have been part and parcel of
advertising a long time — they will always remain an impor-
tant factor for the advertiser to consider. For they have proven
their practical, money-bringing worth and whatever does that
is certain of the advertiser's distinguished consideration.

An illustration in an ad bears about the same relation to
the article advertised as does the text. Whether to simply pic-
ture the article or to illustrate its purpose is a matter for the
artist and advertiser to consider and decide.

Cut and dried rules are out of the question. Sometimes
the articles should be pictured with photographic fidelity;
sometimes the article should be simply suggested ; sometimes
the article with its purpose should be illustrated ; sometimes
the purpose alone is all-sufl5cient in a picture, and sometimes the
illustration that serves simply as a decorative border, panel or
decoration is all that may be necessary.

One thing is sure. You cannot get the same efifect with a
cut in a newspaper that you can in a magazine, book or book-
let. The paper, printing and ink, cause this difference — a differ-
ence that has surprised and pained many an embryo advertiser.

" Line cuts " or outline cuts are best for newspaper work.
Shaded cuts are apt to smudge. All newspaper cuts should
be engraved deep and drawn with bold, clean and sharp lines.

Wood cuts are excellent for magazine and booklet work, as
well as for the higher grade of newspapers. For cheap publi-
cations, i. e.y publications that use cheap paper and ink, wood
cuts should be cut extra deep. Wood cuts — good ones — are
rather expensive, and for this reason many advertisers do not use
them.

Half-tones produce beautiful pictures, especially when
advertising articles of feminine wear in magazines and high grade
booklets, catalogues, etc. Speaking about catalogues, I saw the
other day a shoe catalogue in which all the shoes were illus-
trated with half-tones. The paper was superfine, the press-
work admirable, and you could fairly see the polish reflected
from the shoes. The morning sun shining on the bootblack
stand in front of the Tribune building, and smiling at the best
eflforts of the bootblack, never shone with a brighter patent

How To Accomplish It. 23

leather reflection than did the lustre from these half-tone shoes.
Each illustration had a light rule square about it, and it was
surprising how well this frame set oflf the picture.

Which suggests a good idea !

The next time you use an illustration in your ad have a
light rule about it. It makes no matter whether the cut be large
or small you will notice a neater, smarter and more business
like air to it.

As outline cuts are the cuts most used, a little talk regarding
them may not be out of place. An outline cut goes through
three hands, viz. :

The artist's.

The engraver's.

The electrotyper's.

It is unnecessary to go into details, as it is presumed that
the artist, engraver and electrotyper know their various duties
to perfection. But it may be here remarked that the first
impression of a cut is the clearest and best — that succeeding
impressions grow more and more indistinct. An engraving
prints clearer than an electrotype, and the first dozen electro-
types print better than the next dozen, and so on.

If you give a cut to a big daily newspaper and wish impres-
sions of that cut for several newspapers, you can get papier-
mache impressions technically known as matrices. Advertisers
find these matrices very handy, as they can be wrapped up in
small packages and mailed from point to point at little cost.
Again it may be here remarked that each succeeding impression
from a matrix grows fainter until it is possible to arrive at a
point when matrix impressions grow so indistinct and blurred
as to be worthless. Before concluding these remarks it may be
well to say a little something about the connection between the
text and its illustration. One helps the other. The illustration
pictures the merchandise and arouses interest — the text with its
good argument, clever talk and price quotation clinches this
interest.

The relation between the illustration and the text is inti-
mate. Both are there for a business purpose — to sell goods.

24 Successful Advertising

There may be art in advertising, but first there is business in
advertising.

Art for art's sake is distinctly out of place in advertising, but
art for business's sake is eminently fit and proper. Business in
its coldest and most forbidding aspects recognizes art and when
one considers that business when selling goods puts on its most
benign and pleasant aspect, then is understood why art is
heartily welcomed. In fact, art enters into about every human
relation, emotion, viewpoint and consideration, and as advertis-
ing plays a leading part in human affairs, so does art play a lead-
ing part in advertising. But the centre of the advertising stage is
business — cold business reaching out for more business !

The Completion.

Merchandise and Audience There is a very thin line

between knowing too much and knowing too little about the
merchandise to be advertised. The right kind of an advertising
writer by reason of his viewpoint alone is very valuable to the
advertiser.

He sees the goods through the eyes of the public. Seeing
the goods thus he speaks the arguments best calculated to influ-
ence the public.

The advertiser, saturated with technical information, is liable
to make his advertising so full of information that the reader
finds it heavy — indigestible, — repellent. The writer who knows
too little about the goods will also make his advertising unattrac-
tive, for the reader wants information. The point is to give this
information in such form that it will win the reader's attention,
then hold it until the story is told.

All of which goes to show that the advertising writer is the
intermediary between the business man and the public. The
public may not be moved for one instant by the arguments
that are irresistible to the business man. The business man
may scorn to listen to arguments that are influential with the
public. The point of view of the man behind the business is
usually remote from the viewpoints of the minds outside the
business, and the business man by reason of his too intimate

How To Accomplish It. 25

knowledge of perhaps his life's work, finds it hard to get away
from his atmosphere long enough to step in the atmosphere of
others, i. e.^ to think their thoughts, to see with their eyes and
to voice the logic and emotions which they have been accus-
tomed to. It is an invisible harness, but nevertheless it is
thrown around every individual, and the inability to lay aside
this invisible, yet masterful harness, is undoubtedly one of the
greatest barriers to success in life. To lay it aside, even for a
short time, requires incessant mental activity, which shows how
inexorable is nature's great law — that all must work. To
illustrate this point more clearly I will instance a name that
stands for a colossal success. J. Pierpont Morgan, according to
a recent magazine article, was said to have a " leaping mind."
In other words, he has a mind that leaps beyond the bounds of
his office, above the details of his business, and away from the
consideration of men and matters in his immediate vicinity ; to
study out affairs in the Orient, financial fluctuations in Paris or
Vienna,, shipping operations across the Atlantic, transportation
problems in the northwest, or to contemplate art treasures in
sunny Italy. Such a mind is Shakesperian in its wide con-
ception of human activities.

Very few minds are. The usual business man is so bound
up in his business that he rarely, if ever, enters into the thoughts
of others, who care as little for his ideas.

When such a man begins to advertise he will find the
advertising writer indispensable. The writer will study the
public to be reached, then prepare matter that will influence
this public. If it is whiskey to be advertised, something on the
style of "Billy Burgunday's Letters" may answer. If it is
clothing, the points of fit, fashion, wear and workmanship are to
be emphasized. If it is groceries, the purity, nutritive qualities
and economy can be touched upon. If it is a patent medicine,
the efficacy and promptness of the remedy in producing benefi-
cial results will not be overlooked. If the ad appears in a
religious paper, beware of flippancy. If the ad appears in a
comic paper, do not forget that the reader picks up that paper
for humor. If the ad appears in a " yellow journal,'' sensational
headlines are not out of place If the ad appears in a high-class

26 Successful Advertising

family paper, a clear cut logical argument is the thing. And
so on.

Apart from all these considerations, the advertising man is
invaluable to the business man, for the simple reason that one
can write and the other cannot. One has a mind trained in
writing, trained in creating copy, trained in producing argu-
ments, trained in analyzing audiences, and trained in picking
out the salient points to be advertised. The other's mind is
not so trained. Which difference may not seem important at
first, but time and practice — to say nothing of results — will
accentuate this difference to a startling degree.

DIVISION TWO.

RETAIL ADVERTISING ALL THE YEAR AROUND.

New Year Resolutions.

The holiday rush was over.

John Smith, the leading merchant of Smithtown, now had
time to think.

And his thoughts — like the ruminations of all good mer-
chants at New Year's — wandered in the direction of what he
had accomplished in the last year of the nineteenth century,
and what he ought to accomplish during the first of the twen-
tieth century.

He saw where clever bits of enterprise pushed along his
business — where stupid mistakes did damage to his pocket and
reputation.

From the mistakes of the past he determined to gather
knowledge for the future and opening a new blank book he
inserted on its virgin pages the following :

New Year Resolution^ No. i. To get rid of all the left-
overs from the Fall and holiday trade right quick ! Profits and
past prices must be forgotten — whenever there is a legitimate
bargain chance give people bargains and they will appreciate
them — such a sale advertises my store and accumulations of old
stock or dead stock are eyesores to the eyes of all good merchants.

New Year Resolution., No. 2. To make this year as far
superior to last as is in the power of my ability to make it.
To pay cash for my goods, thereby making my standing stronger
in the wholesale world and thus getting all advantages of dis-
counts. As a consequence I can sell goods a shade lower than

28 Successful Advertising

my competitors. As far as possible I will sell for cash and by
buying for cash and selling for cash, I will have a clean, quick
business that will aSbrd me pleasure as well as an income.

New Year Resolution^ No. j. To turn my stocks over
quickly — never to let goods accumulate — if an article does not
sell at a price, to make a price that sells. Goods were bought to
sell, not to show, and being sold were sold to satisfy.

New Year Resolution^ No. 4. To master the science of
advertising as far as possible — to express in a concise, business-
like manner the merits of my offerings — to offer only goods
worth talking about — to fulfill every printed promise so that
when people see my story in print they will say " that's so ! " —
to discuss in an easy, entertaining way the fashions when they
are new and forcibly put facts when prices are at their lowest —
to use the proper amount of advertising space (no more, no less)
and to give every department in my store and every paper on
my list due consideration in my advertising scheme.

New Year Resolutiojt^ No. 3. To remember that there is
trade to be reached by mail as well as trade that comes to the
counter and to perfect my mail order department accordingly.
To mention my mail order department occasionally in my ads
and from time to time to send my mail order customers circulars
and booklets just to show that such a department is very much
alive to their interests. And to fill all mail orders promptly
and carefully.

Nczv Year Resoluiio7i^ No. 6. To get people in my employ
who know — to see that they will give me their full service in
return for which I will give them liberal salaries and a just
treatment — to have them about my establishment as a constant
advertisement of neatness, enterprise, honesty and politeness.

New Year Resolution^ No. 7. To back up my advertising
in every conceivable way — to have a good store system — to have
liberal varieties of the right goods at the right prices — to have
artistic and striking show windows and plenty price tickets — to
have styles up to the minute — to —

At this moment Mr. Smith was interrupted by the arrival
of a New York drummer.

How To Accomplish It. 29

Begin the New Year — How?

The heading of this was intended to be : " Begin the New
Year Right."

Which is perfectly proper.

But

Ah ! here is where we draw a long breath and think.

For we all wish to begin the New Year right, and have
every intention of beginning the New Year right and keeping
to the straight and narrow path until the year dies out ; but
how? So in the heading goes the word : How ?

So here are a dozen specific rules for a year's guidance, rashly
committed to paper.

(Of course this refers to advertisers.)

Rule No. i. — To say nothing in advertising talk except
when you have something to say.

Rule No. 2. — When you say something in advertising talk
to say it as quickly and clearly as possible.

Rule No. 3. — To say the newest of your best mercantile
information in your advertising talk.

Rule No. 4. — To remember that advertising is only plain
common sense put in print.

Rule No. 5. — To remember that he who juggles with truth
in his advertising talk monkeys with the buzz-saw.

Rule No. 6. — To remember that pictures tell the story
quicker than type and the two make the winning combination.

And to also remember :

Rule No. 7. — That the printer is a pretty good judge of
type, and the more you give him "your ideas" the more he
may get "mixed."

Rule No. 8. — That the artist is a pretty good judge of
illustrations, and the more you throw in your "suggestions"
the more "rattled'' is he likely to become.

Rule No. 9. — That the buyers are pretty good judges of
values and the more you fiddle with their "stories" the more
trouble you may have.

30 Successful Advertising

Rule No. io. — That the boss is a pretty good judge as to
the money making abilities of his business and that on the more
(or less) trade brought in by advertising depends your raise (or
drop) in salary.

Rule No. ii. — That advertising space is valuable and
should be bought and used like any other commodity — that is,
wisely.

Rule No. 12. — That advertising is as high as the heavens
and as deep as the sea, and there are more points in it than ever
dreamed of in your philosophy, and it is well to keep a sharp
lookout for all these points when you are not asleep.

The Great January Mark- Down Sale.

A thousand or more department stores throughout America
make preparations for "The Great January Mark-Down Sale."
In many respects this big annual sale is the most important
merchandise movement of the year, as it means, when success-
fully carried out, the riddance of several months' accumulations of
stocks and the clearing of the decks for the incoming spring
stocks. It also means a very important addition to the ex-
chequer of the firm who can, at the close, look about and see
"where it is at."

Profits must in a very great measure be lost sight of during
this sale. People have been educated to look for genuine bar-
gains at this particular sale, and they should not be disap-
pointed in securing values of the strongest order. In fact,
"The Great January Mark-Down Sale" means the acme of
bargain giving.

Usually the first announcement of the sale is made through
the Sunday papers in the shape of a page or more of items and
prices under glaring headlines. While this time-honored
method is generally effective, I might here .suggest a few ideas
which experience has taught me can add to the effectiveness of
the sale.

Monday is usually the opening day of the sale. Sunday,
as a rule, is the day when the story is first told. This is too
short a notice. A space of a hundred or a couple of hundred

How To Accomplish It.

IT OPENS MONDAY MORNING !

Promptly at eisht o'clock will
the great sale of the year begin.
We've been planning and pre-
paring for many weeks for this
event-

in which a little money plays
a heavy part— as you all know
from past experience. This
sale will be the most ambi-
tious we've yet attempted-
ambitious in the direction of
bargain giving— ambitious in
bigness of scope, and ambitious
in our attempt to please you.

lines should be taken in your local papers on Friday, referring
solely to the important event which begins the following Mon-
day. Hundreds of families in your territory — shrewd matrons,
economically inclined young ladies, and even thrifty husbands
and fathers — will thus be given three days in which to plan the
best disposal of their week's earnings.

Friday's announcement may run thus :
Set this card boldly and run
a border about it. Speaking
about borders, a very good rule
to follow is : In all announce-
ments in which prices do not
appear use borders. Such an-
nouncements are not more than
two half columns deep, and fre-
quently not more than one hun-
dred lines single column, and
to make them stand out on a
page wherein a mass of other
ads appear, borders are of great assistance. Borders can be used
to advantage in all sorts of ads, but especially so with announce-
ments.

Now, in regard to the main ad itself Take a good size
space — do not be squeamish on this point, as this is the most
important sale of the year, and it pays to come out good and
strong upon this occasion. On general principles it pays a live
concern to come out with a page or a couple of pages three or
four times a year, as it impresses the public not only with the
wealth and vitality of the house, but it also demonstrates the
fact that there is a tremendous stock of bargains in which the
bargain seeker can mouse and rummage to her heart's content.
Bigness and generosity always attract humankind, especially
when that humankind is womankind.

Well, let us suppose you take a page ad. Of course the
great point is to impress the fact upon your constituency that
this is your Great January Mark-Down Sale, which all the ladies
have been waiting for so many weeks, and that you are amply
prepared to meet their most sanguine expectations. Have

Successful Advertising

plenty of items, prices and illustrations. They are to the
heading what the passenger train is to the engine — the engine
makes a lot of noise and smoke and swings the train into the
station, but the train is full of treasure in the shape of friends
and valuables that you come to meet. The heading might start
in thus :

Run a small square on each

side of the heading. One square

ouRGREAT JANUARY MARK- II may contalu tlie iuformatiou

DOWN SALE ! Vk ■'

" You know the meaning )j that
of the above headline. You
know It means the banner bar-
gain event of the year, in which
the nimble six-pence and the
mighty dollar travel long dis-
tances. Weeks— yes, months,
— of study— of effort— have been
given to make this sale the
greatest of them all. Have we
been successful? Read the
answer in the following elo-
quent paragraphs of items and
prices, then come round to our
store to-morrow and investi-
gate to your heart's content."

+ " We have secured for this sale +

t extra salespeople and delivery t

t wagons, so that customers will t

4. experience no delay in being \

J- waited upon." j.

The other square might say

Mail orders will be carefully

t Out-of-town customers can par- ,
I ticipate in this sale as well as T
4- their city cousins." j.

-l-H-i--l-H-H-l"l-H-H"t-f -l-f ■!■ ■! I- -I ■!■ ■!

Here's an idea for the department sub-headings :

A suitable cut could with
much advantage be run in with
every introductory talk under
the department headings. By
so doing the eye could be cen-
tered more quickly on the sub-
ject in hand and the page be
made more symmetrical. Of
course a lot of small cuts ought to be run with the items and
prices.

In most papers there are seven columns to the page, and
the best typographical arrangement of this space is a constant
puzzle to the ad constructor. Here's a type arrangement which
I have frequently used with satisfaction :

Let the first column (under the heading, which should run
across top of page) start off with a story on handkerchiefs or
embroideries, or one of the unimportant departments. Let the

" OvTT Great .January Mark-Down
Sale of
China and Glassivare
reveals many rare values
which shrewd householders
will be quick to appreciate.
These lots will travel fast— they
can't help it— the prices are too
special."

How To Accomplish It. 33

second and third be made into a double column arrangement of
colored and black dress goods, the fourth singly to hosiery, the
fifth and sixth double column to the suit and cloak department,
and the seventh to rugs and carpets. It is possible by a nice
calculation of items, clipping one here and adding another
there, with the assistance of the department head, to have the
first top series of squares the same depth.

Having secured the uniformity of the first series of squares,
start in on the second series, giving the first and second columns
to a double column affair on domestics, the third column singly
to buttons, the fourth singly to dress trimmings, the fifth singly
to veilings, and the last two columns to a double column ad on
men's furnishings.

The third series could be made up after the style of the
first, the fourth in the style of the second, and the total result,
provided you have a good printer, an intelligent type display,
a liberal use of cuts and clever arguments, would be an adver-
tisement attractive to the eye and satisfactory in results.

In regard to display type. I have a weakness for De Vinne,
Rowland, Hammond and Jensen — the first preferred. It is
clean-cut, artistic and legible, and every printer should have
a supply. For items and prices, small pica answers very well.

" The Great January Mark-Do wn Sale " can be kept up for
three weeks. A constant hammering away with ads should be
kept up all this time, and when the sale is concluded, much
room for the display of spring goods and advertising space for
the exploiting of the same will be in order.

In connection with this big sale other minor special events,
such as " The Semi- Annual Sale of Muslin Underwear," " Our
Great Linen Sale," and "The Annual Sale of Men's Furnish-
ings," can be well exploited.

Various Other January Sales.

New York clothiers are quite lively after the holidays in
the matter of advertising, and, as a consequence, in the matter of
trade. Pick up W\^ Journal, Worlds Sun, or any of the metro-
politan dailies, and you'll be sure to find several big clothing

34 Successful Advertising

ads, each one clamoring for recognition, as representing the best
values.

The window dressers of these concerns are very active at
present, and many artistic clothing and men's furnishings win-
dows can be noted in a Broadway saunter.

The same motive that induces the department stores to
hold great sales through the year's first two months causes big
movements in the clothing and almost every line of retaildom.

I had quite an interesting talk, recently, with the manager
of one of the big Broadway clothing concerns. Said he :

"Immediately after the holidays, business slackened fright-
fully. We had splendid stocks — splendid values — and every
inducement that any man desiring a suit of clothes or an over-
coat could want. But trade walked right by our door, and,
unless I am much mistaken, into the store of a concern down
the street, which was advertising at a great rate. Well, sir,
after four or five days of this sort of thing I woke up to the fact
that a little strong advertising wouldn't hurt. So I began to
advertise a certain line of suits and overcoats at certain prices.
I dressed up a couple of windows with these same suits and
prices, and trade jumped — yes, sir — jumped right in the store.
I've kept up this sort of thing, and as a result we are doing quite
a fair business just now."

His experience is a fair sample of many others. The retail
clothing business should be advertised — and well advertised —
through the dull January and February months. Pushing busi-
ness thus reminds men of the need of an ulster for the big
storms yet to come — of a business suit to replace the one which
is a little seedy — of a pair of trousers — a coat and vest — a suit of
underclothes — or any of the many requisites to a man's winter
wardrobe, which he may never think of until he sees that par-
ticular article staring at him from the advertising columns of a
paper — rendered doubly attractive by a small price.

Price cuts, of course, prevail in the January stocks, and a
man ought to be able to get a suit of clothes or an overcoat at a
very material reduction from the figures of the early winter or
fall. This is a point that should be everlastingly jabbed into
the advertising.

How To Accomplish It. 35

Now a few remarks about the ads for a lively mid-winter
campaign — clotliingdizing — if I may coin such a word.

Saturday is a good day to start a big clothing sale, as most
male workers get their weekly salary that day, and with many
Saturday is a short business day, allowing them time to come
around to the store and select their bargains.

Let us suppose, then, that Saturday is the day selected for
the big clothing sale.

Thursday should see at least a preparatory announcement
of the event. Friday should see the ad in all its glory. Have
the ad well illustrated, as men always admire brevity and point,
and illustrations help wonderfully in this regard. Thursday's
preparatory announcement might read thus :

It wouldn't be a half-bad idea
to run in a cut of a well-dressed ^^^^■^^^■^^^■^^^^^■^^^%
man in the attitude of watching g ™e year's great cloth- »
forsomething-say presumably for | Z^e: IZn^^eVnffL.f^ur'J'e |
The Year's Great Clothing Event. ®
Set the introduction in lower-case De ^
Vinne,with the headlines, of course, "^

A STRIKING SERIES
OF RECORD BREAK-
ING SALES IN EVERY
LINE.

Sale begins
Saturday
morning

at 8 sharp.

■:^:-§-:§-§:^@?9!9;§i§:-§§§§§^S:^a

several sizes larger than the body.
Run a neat border about the ad. Write about four stickfuls of
"story " about your forthcoming sale, and perhaps the business
manager of your local paper may find room for it in his columns.
Then the Friday ad might start in something like this :

"The Year's Great Clothing Event"

begins to-morrow at our store. This is our great yearly eflfort
to rid ourselves of fall and winter stocks, and prices have been
cut deep and mercilessly. Every line of masculine wearables
is now offered at prices that are by all odds the lowest we've
ever quoted."

In the heading of this and future ads relating to this sale
harp upon your reliability — your age in business — " your money
back if you want it" — your ability to back every printed state-
ment with the goods "exactly as advertised" — and all those
sayings which make pleasant reading to possible customers.

36 Successful Advertising

Overcoats, ulsters, reefers, and mackintoslies should occupy
at least half the space in the ads. The certainty of big rain,
wind, and snowstorms before gentle spring again conies around,
and the knowledge that suitable apparel for such exigencies at
bargain prices can be had at your store, will send many men in
your direction.

Furniture sales can be pushed about this time — providing
the prices are low enough. Of course we all know that the fall
and spring are the best seasons for furniture selling, but a well
directed splurge in furniture advertising for three or four weeks
in January and February can be made to produce surprisingly
satisfactory results.

In a big furniture sale, which might be christened "A Mid-
Winter Sale of Furniture," or "Our Mid-Winter Furniture
Movement," or some such name, two or three full columns
should be given to the first ad. This ad might be preceded by
a short announcement, as in the clothing case.

The ad proper should have about lOO lines of display head-
ing and argument — a score or more of small cuts to illustrate
the items, of which there could be several hundred — all set in
agate or nonpareil lower-case, with the former price and the
present price. The present price should be brought out in dis-
play. This will give you an idea of how the items should
be set:

Our Mid-Winter
Formerly. Sale Price.

37 Ladies' Writing Desks . . . 22.50 18.75

14 Oak Chamber Suits .... 30.00 21.25

Some January Merchandise Movements.

This is the month when the linen man scratches his head
for bright ideas to help along the advertising man in exploiting
that "Semi-Annual Sale of Linens." The head of the men's
furnishings also does some tall thinking on the same line — the
subject uppermost in his brain being "Our Big Sale of Men's
Furnishings." And the individual in charge of the muslin
underwear may be pardoned if he suffers slightly from insomnia
in his efforts to make the "Annual Sale of Muslin Underwear "
a gorgeous and glittering success.

How To Accomplish It.

January newspapers are filled with many examples of good
and bad clothing ads, and a desperate effort is being made by
clothiers in every city and town in America to dispose of winter
stocks at remarkable price reductions. The furniture retailers
are also much in printed evidence — in fact, every branch of retail-
dom is distributing generous bargains to an appreciative public.

Taking everything into consideration, the advertising pen
is pushed at a lively gait through the year's first month.

Let us first take the big sales of the department or general
stores, and see how they can be best pushed before the public view.

We are assuming that "The Great January Mark Down
Sale " is in full swing, and the intention is to make it last about
three weeks. The minor sales can be run in conjunction with
this big sale, and at certain stages of the game overshadow it.
Everything is in readiness for the "Semi-Annual Sale of
Linens" which opens Monday morning. The "Annual Sale of
Muslin Underwear" is also set in motion the same date.

On Thursday and Friday preceding these sales run in two
squares in the main ad, which, of course, is given to "The
Great January Sales." Have these squares of pretty good size —
large enough to fill a column width on both sides of the main
heading. They should be of the depth of the heading.

Have one square read thus : The other square read :

!■ ■!■ I- ■! !■ ■! !■ ■! !■ ■!■ ^■ ■!■

I ANOTHEH BIG SALE ON
t TAP !

t It opens Monday morning,

J We refer to

t
t

X
X

t pleasurable anticipations. Our t
+ Linen Department has seen a j
T score of similar successful sales i

T" l^.-i* +Ui^ ^,.^11 V^^ .1-.^ .»«^« + .^L.. **"

+ \vhicb every prudent house^

keeper loolis forward to withi

Our

J. —but this will be the greatest .

4 of 'em all. 4.

■i- IT OPENS MONDAY MORNING ! +

-I- +
!■ I I I i 1 I I I H

STILL ANOTHER GREAT +

SALE ! t

Ladies ! you'll all be inter- +

ested In this— T

OUK ANNUAL SALE OF MUSLIN I
UNDEKWEAK, 4-

which will be set in motion +
next Monday morning. Prom- 4-
ises are good, but performances +
are better, and while we'll +
promise much in our Sunday t
ad yet— well— wait for our per- T
formances 4.

NEXT MONDAY MORNING ! i

■ I II II 11 II 11 II II I !■ •!■

At the bottom of every column in the main ad on Friday
and Saturday run something like this, within a small, neat
square of light rules :

Monday Starts Two Big Sales :
—Our Seml-Annual Linen Sale.
—Our Annual Sale of Muslin
Underwear.

38 Successful Advertising

Then, by the time the Sunday papers are ready to be assim-
ilated with the Sunday breakfasts, your fair customers are full
of expectancy regarding your ad on linens and muslin under-
wear. If they pick up the paper and read your ad patterned
after the following arrangement, the chances are that they will
come around to your store next day.

Let us assume you take a page ad. Divide the upper por-
tion of the page into three sections of equal size — giving the
first section to the linens, the second to the general store items
which would naturally come under "The Great January Mark-
Down Sale," and the third section to muslin underwear. Have
a general heading over the whole three sections, something after
this order :

" A Triple Alliance Awaits To-morrow's Buyers !
An alliance of great sales — an alliance of matchless values — an
alliance of low prices and desirable stocks — awaits you in our
store to-morrow. Consider for a moment our attractions ! The
Great January Mark-Down Sale opens its second week with a
magnificent bargain arrangement. Our Semi-Annual Linen
Sale is set in operation to-morrow, as is also Our Annual Sale
of Muslin Underwear. Any one of these events is a star attrac-
tion in itself."

Each section should be boldly headed with the name of
sale, with a short argument following the headline. Thus, the
linen section could start off after this style :

The middle section could well say:

"Our SBMi-ANNTJAii Linen
Sale

■will attract an army of thrifty
householders to-morrow and
all the week. Past experience
has taught our patrons the im-
portance of this sale — the high
quality of our linens and the
remarkable lowness in price.
Exceptional market condi-
tions this season make prices
very— very low. Witness the
following items."

" Our Great January Mark-
DowN Sale

enters upon Its second week
with greater zest than ever.
Prices have been clipped to the
vanishing point, and many
stocks have been brought for-
ward so that to-morrow's visi-
tors may find a plethora of
bargains from which to select."

" Our Annual Sale of Mus-
lin Underwear
makes Its bow to-morrow
morning. This Is one of our
most important sales, and we
are determined that this par-
ticular effort will be the most
successful ever seen in our
Muslin Underwear Depart-
ment. Read and study a few
prices, then pay us a call to-
morrow."

How To Accomplish It. 39

And in the section given to muslin underwear give as head-
ing something like this :

Have these three headlines, with
their following talks, set alike. They
should be of the same depth. The
headlines could be set in 6 or 7 point
De Vinne, and the reading matter
following 3-line light Script, lower
case. If you had a good cut of a
table girl holding some napkins to

run on the left side of the linen talk, and a woman in negligee
attire to appear on the right of the muslin underwear talk, so
much the better, as these two figures could balance each other.
Have no cut in the center section.

If possible, have the first and third sections of equal depth,
and if they do not run clean down to the bottom of the page,
fill up with items of the other sale.

Run light neat borders completely about first and third
sections.

The muslin underwear and linen sales may be kept up for
two weeks. In about that time "The Great January Mark-
Down Sale " has died a natural death, with a life full of honors
and results full of cash, providing the advertising was good, the
weather decent, and general conditions anywhere near propitious.

Having given the linen and the underwear departments a
good start on the high road to success, let us turn our attention to
the head of the men's furnishings, who is on pins and needles
about his " Big Sale of Men's Furnishings." One good thing
about his sale, and that is, you can start in almost any day in
the week on a sale in men's wear, for the reason that a man is
supposed to have — and generally does have — money enough in
his pocket any day that he chooses to attend a sale ; but a
woman generally spends her shopping money Monday. She
gets it on Saturday night from her liege lord and master, and,
with the aid of a pencil and paper and half a dozen Sunday ads,
she disposes of this amount — in her mind — before she goes to
Sunday evening services. I am speaking of the great middle
classes, who are the mainstay of all retail businesses.

40 Successful Advertising

Well, let us start this men's furnishings sale on Thursday.
A small announcement may be made in Wednesday's ad about
this sale, and when Thursday comes around "The Big Sale of
Men's Furnishings " should have a space at least as large as the
linen sale the Sunday previous.

The typographical arrangement, etc., could be of the same
order as with the other sales.

The Great Mid=Winter Sale.

Along in the early or middle part of February comes " The
Great Mid-Winter Sale." It is the last supreme effort to get rid
of winter stocks, and is a sale that under some name or other is
pushed yearly by almost every retail concern that advertises.

The shoe dealer, Vv'ith accumulations of fall and winter
styles of footwear — the clothier, with hundreds of heavy v^inter
overcoats and suits on his tables — the hatter, with a surplus of
present styles on hand — the dry-goods house, with many dol-
lars' worth of winter goods on hand — all realize the necessity
for quick transformation of the same into ready cash before the
arrival and display of spring stocks.

The reasons for the sale are very obvious and should be
made as obvious as is possible for the English language and
printer's ink to make them. Give the great American public to
understand, not only in your printed statements, but by the
actual power of bed-rock prices, that "The Great Mid-Winter
Sale " is the last final effort of each department in your store to
rid itself of every item of fall and winter stocks — that the left-
overs from the great sales of muslin underwear, linens, men's
furnishings, etc., are now marked at prices which ought to
make the bargain seeker's eye glisten with keen enjoyment.

The boot and shoe dealers harp on the daily arrivals of
spring and summer stocks, and the necessity of closing out
all winter assortment in order to make room for the new arrivals.
Most shoe concerns satisfy themselves with a space of about
sixty lines every other day. This space could be well utilized
in a two-weeks' series of ads with such pointed talk and display
that they would not fail to attract attention.

How To Accomplish It.

A shoe ad something after this style should produce excellent
results in the way of increased sales :

Or, if the shoe concern _
wishes to do a little splurging,
it may well take a double half-
column three times a week,
and under a suitable double-
column heading run in a dozen
items — with the first two illus-
trated. Here's an idea on such
a headinsr :

A Stray Straw

—just to show how the
bargain wind is blowing
in shoes— we mention . .

Meo's Patent Leathers

in Congress, Button and
Lace. Many styles in
heavy weight ....

pair.

Ordinarily they sell at $6 and
$7 per pair — but during Our Great
Mid-Winter Sale they'll go at $4.

Plenty other values equally good
in our shoe stock— quickly waning
under the influence of Our Great
Mid- Winter Sale prices. We must
make room for Spring stocks —
they're trooping in daily to the

SMITH SHOE CO.

"Our Great Mid- Winter
Shoe Sale,

which annually brings in train
hundreds of splendid shoe val-
ues, is now on. Plenty of items
now to select from — but at the
present rate they cannot last
long. Better come around to-
day and select a pair of stylish
and serviceable shoes from such values as are here."

It has been my experience in advertising for an exclusive
boot and shoe house that the first idea is the best. Give one
good value with every ad — show a cut of the shoe — give its
description and price — have a catch line that catches — and
speak generally of the bargains that "The Mid-Winter Sale"
is creating in your stock, in small type at the bottom of the ad.

Run a border about these ads.

With a department store the several items idea is the best,
for the reason that the shoe ad must appear in a general ad
with other departments — all of which give a number of items.
Still, for a change, the exclusive shoe house could come out
once a week — say on Sunday — with a double half-column ad
of a dozen items.

A retail clothier, anxious to dispose of several hundred
heavy-weight winter suits and overcoats, ought to make them
move rapidly with the shoe man's method — subject to slight

42 Successful Advertising

variations. The clothier should speak of at least two items —
they should be illustrated — and, if he is taking liberal spaces,
he ought to mention at least three bargains in suits, the same
in overcoats, and a couple more in trousers and ulsters.

One thing about such a sale that should not be overlooked,
and that is, always give prominence to its name. Let every ad
you prepare during the life of the sale say something about
" The Great Mid-Winter Clothing Sale," either amain headline
or as a sub-headline in the middle of your heading. This head-
ing attempt will convey my idea more clearly :

"Our Great Mid-Winter Clothing Sale

is now in full swing. Prices have dropped with a
dull thud in heavy-weight Suits, Overcoats, Ulsters
and Trousers, as your investigation will speedily
prove. Delay means disappointment in this case —
as purchasers are very numerous at present — and
if you delay you may miss the bargain you were
looking for."

Or something like this :

"Keen Public Appreciation Is Shown

in response to our ads — and no wonder. We must
— and will — have the room now occupied by Winter
Stocks for the incoming Spring Goods — hence the
remarkable buying opportunities oflfered by

Our Great Mid-Winter Clothing Sale."

The same general idea that applies to shoe and clothing
advertising may well be applied to the other retail lines that
advertise extensively.

The department store can proceed with the same method
it applied to "The Great January Mark-Down Sale," with such
variations as may occur to the advertising man in charge.

These variations would apply principally in the typograph-
ical arrangement and arguments. Assuming that the text of

How To Accomplish It. 43

the department store ad is all that can be desired, I may here
suggest a typographical arrangement which has the merits of
neatness, simplicity and general pleasing effect.

Have all the departments boxed in with four rules — two
light and two heavy rules. Have the light rules on left and
top and the heavy on right and bottom. Arrange the boxes so
the top row will be of an even measurement across the page —
try and have the next series of an equal depth, and if it is not
possible to have every row of the same depth let the odd boxes
fill up at the bottom of the page.

If the printer has not enough rules to go around, and if he
prefers to use a border, let him use a light border about each
box in place of the light and dark rules. Then run a heavy,
fancy border about the name and heading, and a border about
the whole page, and the result will be very pleasing from an
artistic point of view.

In most instances the heading should run across entire top
of page, but occasionally, for the sake of variety, it could be
well made to occupy four columns across with a slighter depth
than the across page heading. Or the heading could fill up a
double-column space running down about one-third of the page.
In this case the border might be run about the heading, and the
firm name appear at the top of each column.

In the meantime you ought to speak occasionally of your
spring stocks — what beautiful organdies and muslins are being
opened — how handsome and stylish your new spring capes ap-
pear, and similar conversations on the other lines, and as soon
as "The Great Mid- Winter Sale" is over you can then begin to
advertise spring stocks.

Other Mid-Winter Sales.

Immediately after New Year's comes a lapse of business — a
tired feeling that begins with the customer's hard hit holiday
pocketbook, then spreads quickly until retail channels are
infected to a degree that causes the enterprising merchant to
look about for a remedy for torpid trade.

" The Mid-Winter Mark-Down Sale " is a panacea that prop-

44 Successful Advertising

erly applied lias never failed to produce results. Thousands of.
American retailers are unanimous in this.

"The Mid-Winter Mark-Down Sale" sometimes masquer-
ades under other names. It can be recognized under the name
" Big Clearance Sale," it may be noted under the cognomen
"Special After-Holiday Sale," and it sometimes exists under
the caption, " Mid-Winter Merchandise Movement."

But whatever may be its heading, its purpose is the same.
Its purpose is to pull in purchasers. It disposes of the left-
overs from the holiday stocks— the slow sellers of the fall and
winter supplies, and incidentally whatever regular goods that
can be moved by a big sale and small prices.

The main point to keep ever in view while preparing for a
big sale like this is to see that everybody — from the head of the
house down to the most humble employee — is well injected
with the event's enthusiasm. Even a cash boy can be so keyed
up that extra quick returns of change. and parcels will delight
customers. The delivery force should be added to — the clerks
should be ready to do a little more than usual and the managers
of departments should see that the inside displays, window
exhibits and price tickets are such that the advertising produces
not only promises but performances.

Ah ! promises and performances. What a world of meaning
is there only too often between the two ! Give the public a
page of print and promises and a quarter page of performances,
and there you have some " merchants' " idea of advertising.

How long should the sale last ? That depends on a number
of matters. Bad weather may spoil a sale — an insufficient quan-
tity of goods may cause it to die — at all events the best judge is
the merchant himself, who knows his trade and resources better
than anyone else and is good enough judge to tell whether he is
or not making money.

A man squeezes a lemon as long as the juice lasts. The
business man carries on a sale as long as it pays.

Assuming that all the details of marking down prices,
bringing goods forward, arranging show windows and making
counters, shelves and aisles magnetic with price tickets and dis-
plays have been attended to let us see what the advertising
department is doing to swing success.

How To Accomplish It. 45

The chances are that arrangements are being made to begin
the sale on Monday with a bargain broadside in the Sunday-
papers. Friday's or Saturday's papers had a small card bidding
everybody with an e}e for the main chance to watch the Sunday
papers for full particulars.

For the week prior to the big Sunday ad the advertising
manager and artist are busy in their respective lines of effort —
the first going through the store and observing the price drops
in the various departments, conferring with buyers as to the
relative cost of spaces and the amount of space to be apportioned
to each department, making arrangements with newspapers con-
cerning positions, write ups, etc. — the latter applying all his
artistic ingenuity in producing illustrations that will assist the
text and enthuse possible customers.

Monday comes, and if the weather is propitious the first
day's business is a fair criterion of the trade to follow "The
Mid-Winter Mark-Down Sale."

Many houses supplement their newspaper advertising with
poster advertising, street car advertising, card advertising, etc.,
etc. As to the relative merits of these various forms of adver-
tising I will not here attempt to discuss; simply remarking that
were I advertising the sale the newspapers would get practically
all the appropriation.

A successful mid-winter sale is a great business tonic. It
purges the business system (to use a patent medicine metaphor)
and pvits every pore, every sinew, every artery and every nerve
in shape for the soon-to-be-spring trade.

•'The Winter Sale of Blankets "—" The Annual Sale of
Shirts" — "The Semi-Annual Sale of Muslin Underwear" —
"The January Sale of Office Furniture" are some of the mid-
winter mercantile movements you see from time to time adver-
tised throughout January and February.

Every one of these sales is the result of well studied plans.
Nothing is snap-shot. Weeks in advance of the exploitation in
print arrangements were made in the wholesale market whereby
certain lines of goods could be had at certain prices. Manu-
facturers had to produce quantities of specialties — have them
ready for delivery at a specified time and make a net wholesale

46 Successful Advertising

price so as to help making "The Great Sale" the success it
generally proves to be.

Mid=Winter Advertising.

January and February are months when the advertising
pen is kept moving in double-quick order. The desire on the
part of the department managers to clean out accumulated
stocks is accentuated by the head of the house, and the adver-
tising manager finds it necessary to keep his mental machinery
moving at a lively gait, in order to devise all sorts of sales to
move merchandise.

Immediately after the holidays comes the " Clearing-Out
Sale of Holiday Remnants," which usually lasts one week.
This is frequently followed by a "Before Stock -Taking Sale."
After these sales are disposed of comes " The Great January
Mark-Down Sale," which is supposed by the outside world — by
the feminine portion, at least — to represent the climax of bar-
gain-giving. During this sale the cold, calculating matron,
who, as the late Bill Nye once put it, " comes down-town on a
street car, mentally figuring how she can chisel some dry-goods
emporium out of ^1.97 worth of dress goods,'' generally carries
out her pet ideas on the chiselling question. During "The
Great January Mark-Down Sale " the bargain-seeker can rum-
mage to her heart's content in the big department store, know-
ing full well that a yard of wool serges with mohair figures can
be secured for 49c. that ordinarily costs 99c. ; that a serviceable
jacket can be bought for $T-7'J that usually would require
$14.98, and other interesting and attractive data.

"The Great January Mark-Down Sale" can be stretched
along for three weeks. With it — in a sort of double or triple
harness, as it were — can be run " The Annual Linen Sale " and
"The Semi-Annual Muslin Underwear Sale," and some houses
make a big lot of noise about this time on " The Big Sale of
Men's Furnishings."

All of the above sales fill out the month of January, and if
they are well pushed and rightly written up there is no reason
why they cannot make January a fairly lively month in
business.

How To Accomplish It. 47

February, of course, should not be devoid of "Great Sales."
It's a pity that the word "great" is abused so much in the
retail world. Same way with "bargain." Yet both are good
words — so good, so expressive, so excellent — that the brightest
advertising writers have not been able to displace them with
better words. And, in all probability, for ages to come will the
word " great " stare you from the headlines of nearly every retail
ad, and the word "bargain" appear a score of times in the
arguments of the same.

February — to return to the point left a moment ago —
should have its " Great Sales," and the greatest of all February
sales is " The Great Mid-Winter Sale." This sale can be made,
by skillful advertising work, to last three or four weeks. As it
begins to wane, talk — and very interesting talk, too — could be
introduced about incoming spring stocks and minor special
sales in the store. In fact all the advertising stories of the retail
concern for the year's first two months could be made mighty
interesting to the feminine readers of the daily press. Of course,
we all know that men read ads, but the great audience is
women.

Some people speak harshly of " Great Sales " and "Special
Sales." They say such sales are fakes — that they are not what
they seem, that they are merely names given to the regular
order of business for a week or two, and — well, they say a
whole lot of things neither charitable nor complimentary about
these sales. While such criticism may be partly right in some
instances, yet it is an undeniable fact that the great majority of
department stores issue rigid orders to their various buyers to
have the "bargains" correspond with the ads — to make honest
attempts to bring prices down to the lowest points possible dur-
ing certain sales — and where this harmony exists between the
buyers and the advertising department increased business is the
result.

In the newspaper world it is necessary to have a fresh lot of
interesting news — sensational headlines, daily. Without such,
newspapers would soon pall. Just so with the advertising of a
dry-goods house. It's news — it's live, readable, money-saving
news that the concern daily puts before its constituents. And

48 Successful Advertising

that concern is pleasing the public and doing itself a service
when it dishes this news in the most readable and attractive
form daily. When the news of the store's doings is daily spread
before the public gaze under the title of " Great January Sales,"
"Great Mid-Winter Sales," "The Annual Linen Sale," or'
whatever name it may be, and the same clearly presented with
the twin attractions of typographical beauty and brilliant
text — as well as the goods and prices to back the printed
talk — it stands to reason that such special sales are an
advantage.

They stimulate trade, they provoke discussions among the
store's patrons, they increase the flow of shekels to the firm's
exchequer. With the great department stores of Gotham,
the Quaker City, the Hub and the Woolly West you will
always see special sales of all sorts being indulged in, and
although some concerns overdo it, yet the majority proceed on
a systematic, clear-headed basis by having *'A Great" some
kind of sale on tap and so keeping the ball of business rolling.

Pushing Winter Business.

Winter a dull season ?

Not at all !

The great wheel of winter business can be made to revolve
rapidly upon the hub of special sales — the whole attached to the
electric dynamo of good advertising.

Keep it whirling — keep it going and you centre upon it
public interest and draw to it the public's dollars. First it is
one special sale — then another and still another until the first
thing we know spring goods with spring announcements and
openings come along to claim a hearing.

Throughout Januaiy there is the special sale of holiday
goods — the special sale previous to stock taking — the special
sale after stock taking — the special sale of muslin underwear —
the special sale of winter underwear — the special sale of men's
and boy's shirts — the special markdown sale for January — the
special sale of dress goods and silks and special sales enough to
keep the entire establishment busy.

How To Accomplish It. 49

Throughout February there are more special sales, every-
one of which has a good excuse for its existence, as the public —
the feminine public in particular — know full well that prices
are sadly broken on all lines of fall and winter goods, and that
manufacturers are willing to turn their stocks into cash at sacri-
fice prices, for is not spring with spring assortments near at
hand ?

There are two ways of doing a thing — one is the right way
and the other is the wrong way — and while one is carrying on a
special sale he might as well do it the right way as not.

I know some merchants and heads of departments who start
a special sale in a sort of a-flash-in-the-pan system, that is, they
make a fuss, but nothing comes of it, for there was little or no
thought given to the general scheme.

A special sale does not consist in simply advertising it — it
consists in : First, in getting all the goods advertised. Second,
in making judicious displays of these goods on counters and
in windows. Third, in being ready to supply goods whenever
stocks run short. Fourth, in having plenty of price tickets and
display cards. Fifth, in getting the entire force to appreciate the
importance of this sale. Sixth, in advertising it properly.

The advertising, above all other details, should be thought
out well in advance. There are such details as arranging for
certain spaces and write-ups in the local papers, the printing of
circulars or circular letters, the securing of cuts, etc., etc, and
when all this is thrown upon the advertising man at the last
moment, the result is anything but satisfactory.

And the window dresser? He is a very important man
around special sale time and he should not be rushed. He
ought to be given time to clear out his windows and get dum-
mies, fixtures and whatever his artistic and business-like con-
ceptions of the window displays demand.

He and the advertising man usually work in harmony — in
many establishments the advertising manager has control of the
window dressing as well as of the advertising and printing.

When the head of the house, the advertising man, the win-
dow dresser, the buyers and all concerned get their heads
together and work in absolute harmony to make a special sale a

50 Successful Advertising

success, what is to prevent its being a great success? Echo
answers with much reverberation : " what ?"

Speed the Parting — Welcome the Coming.

Zero prices on winter goods — clear decks for the incoming
spring stocks — such in brief is the March text of the progres-
sive retailer.

In spite of blizzards and impassable streets there is a touch
of spring. Back of the white garment of winter we can see
the beauty and verdure of the next season and if nothing else
the incoming new stocks are evidences enough.

Weeks ago clever buyers in the great markets bought the
goods which are now trooping in and the only bother is, the
laggards in winter merchandise which stand in the way of the
proper disposition of the new arrivals.

Where is the remedy? What will make winter stocks
go at this present moment ? Is there not some power that will
push old goods into the hands of purchasers?

There is a power that never fails — the power of PRICE.
Alone it is mighty but backed by Good Advertising it is irresisti-
ble. Ivike an Alpine avalanche sweeping everything before its
path the power of PRICE backed by Good Advertising will
move stocks mountains high.

The trouble is that many retailers are afraid to use it. They
are squeamish on the point of a present small loss, but if they
took a broad view of the situation they would find that a small
loss now taken is better by far than the inevitable big loss later
on that comes from shop-worn goods, disgruntled customers and
a damaged reputation.

John Wanamaker, Henry Siegel, Marshall Field, Eben
Jordan — all merchant princes, who rose by sheer force of ability
— never hesitated to take the bull by the horns and sweep out
slow sellers with prices cut to the core.

Many retailers have recently written me about the heavy
stocks such as cloaks and suits for feminine wear and overcoats
and winter suits for men. These stocks are hard to move. Cut
prices — advertise — cut prices — advertise — cut prices — advertise —

How To Accomplish It. 51

keep at it everlastingly. This is the only thing to do. If the
season has been anyway decent you have reaped a fair profit
from the heavy winter wearables, so you can afford to be satis-
fied with a less profit to quickly move the balance. Yes ! if
you are a merchant of nerve and judgment you will be satisfied
with no profit at all on some lines, for you have made a profit of
what you already sold this winter — you see a fair profit in sight
on the spring goods and you add another strong link in the
chain that binds customers to your store by giving them values
that throw competition completely in the shade.

How to advertise ? Advertise forcibly — directly — pointedly
— like a man telling something that should be heard by every
man, woman and child within reaching distance. Use cuts to
illustrate your story but remember that the telling is the great
point. Display, position and tricks of type are minor considera-
tions compared with what you say.

As to space ? Well, that is a matter of individual judg-
ment. Generally speaking, I would advise liberal spaces at
present, as you have something exceptional in the bargain line to
talk about. There are no cut and dried rules about using
advertising space. About all the advice on this subject can be
said in the following paragraph :

Use space according to your offerings and weather condi-
ditions. The best copy is the latest of the best store news.
When you have something to say, say it ; when you have noth-
ing to say, do not use up space in saying it.

If there is only a weekly in your town do not hesitate to
supplement the newspaper advertising with good circulars or
poster advertising. Circular advertising in country towns is by
no means the poor advertising it is in cities, and good mercan-
tile poster advertising is yet a novelty in many localities.

Window displays and interior exhibits are vital features!
Use plenty of price cards and from the front door to the back
yard try and give an air of intense earnestness on your part to
say a quick good-bye to the slow moving winter merchandise.

52 Successful Advertising

Advertising Spring Stocks.

The new spring and summer styles are beginning to blos-
som in many show windows of the great metropolis, and plans
for pushing the new arrivals are now in evidence.

The hotels are now filled with buyers from the West and
South — hotel people say they never saw so many out-of-town
merchants or their representatives a February before — and as a
result the latest conceptions of American and European design-
ers are scurrying West and South, to be exploited in the many
ads of many houses.

There is a suggestion of the poetry of spring and the sun-
shine of summer about these goods that contrasts strongly with
the present bleak February weather, and it is therefore wise to
tinge dull, prosaic retail advertising with a little of this warmth
of poetry.

For human nature is ever ready to respond to the sugges-
tiveness of spring and sunshine, whether it appears in the
humble effort of the aspiring amateur in spring poetry, or is
more deftly spun into business literature by the clever advertis-
ing writer.

The masculine eye in glancing over a newspaper column
lightens up at the advance spring announcements, speaking of
the latest shapes in men's hats; and the feminine optic gleams
with anticipation as it learns from the advertising columns that
the latest effects in silks are the Navel Eccoisee, Illuminated
Broche Grenadines and Bengaline Soyeaux.

In advance spring advertising the retailer has ample oppor-
tunities to inject information and novelty into his store news.
He is no longer obliged to thrum the well-beaten note of bar-
gains and bargain sales. He can give the livest, freshest sort
of news in speaking of his new spring arrivals in the silks and
dress goods — in ladies' capes and garments — in clothing and
furnishings.

In general store or department store advertising it is well
to take one or two departments at a time in speaking of their

How To Accomplish It. 53

spring openings. Thus, Sunday's ad might contain an
announcement of the initial exhibit of ladies' jackets, capes and
garments. Tuesday's might speak of dress goods and silks, and
later on in the week the announcement regarding spring
millinery could be made.

In the course of a week or two all the principal departments
could be thus given the prominence they deserve, in connection
with the usual digest of special sales. Then a whole Sunday
ad could be given to the entire new arrivals. Have the head-
ing speak of spring styles — have every department speak only
of the spring styles — and the whole ad thus given to spring
styles would be a culminating general spring announcement to
the series of spring ads previously given.

Clothiers and furnishers have ample opportunities to give
their patrons the latest news in male wearables. This can be
done in a variety of ways. One is by tlie regular newspaper
advertising, which shows the proper idea in spring overcoats
and neckwear. This is always illustrated with a cut, which is
accompanied with a brief description of the garment and its
price. Another way is to issue a handsome booklet, showing
the new arrangements in spring and summer suits, overcoats,
shoes, head wear and furnishings. Still another is to use posters
showing two or more faultlessly dressed men promenading in
Central Park or some other equally interesting place with the
name of the concern attached to the poster. Still another
method is to use circular announcements, which are sent by
mail to possible customers. They are all good, although some
are better than others. Advertising is like the Kentucky man's
whiskey in most people's estimation.

The Kentucky man — the inevitable colonel, of course —
was once asked his opinion of whiskey — which was good and
which was bad.

" Well, suh," he responded, "all whiskey is good, but some
whiskies are better than other whiskies."

Just so with advertising. All advertising is good, because
it is better than no advertising — but there are varying degrees
of goodness in advertising. And one can use advertising to
excess as he can whiskey.

54 Successful Advertising

I believe newspaper advertising to be the best for a retailer
in advertising his spring stocks. Then comes booklet advertis-
ing. A well written, well illustrated booklet, judiciously dis-
tributed, can do a whole lot of good. The average man will
keep it and occasionally glance in it for the proper pointers as
to his wardrobe. After that comes poster advertising, which is
good for houses that cater to the popular trade. A good poster
is a work of art nowadays, and it detracts neither from the
dignity or standing of the average clothing house to issue it.
On the contrary — quite.

I cannot say I am lost in ecstacy over the possible benefit
to be derived from circular or card advertising sent by mail.
I have done quite a lot of it, however, for people who were
attracted to it by its apparent cheapness, but it certainly
has its drawbacks, especially in a large city. I know a friend
of mine living up in Harlem, who almost every day in the year
finds his letter-box — he lives in a flat — filled with all sorts of cir-
culars and cards from dentists, grocers, real estate men, etc.,
stufied in with his regular mail. He tells me he promptly
throws them away, and often wishes he could give the senders
of these communications a term in the penitentiar}^

When the circular form of advertising was new it was good.
Circularizing in small towns is more effective than in cities. Cir-
culars antagonize my Harlem friend in a moment — they never
win his trade — and he is only one of many others who are
heartily disgusted with circular advertising.

Again Spring Advertising.

The winter stocks have had their fling — they have been
advertised and re-advertised — they have impressed customers
and with the assumption that they have well done their mercan-
tile duty the next and natural thought is —

Advertising the new spring stocks!

They are legion! There are new silks, suits, shoes, stock-
ings and shirts — magnetic millinery and models from the
modistes' workrooms — dainty dresses, dress stuffs and laces —
clothing conceits and haberdasher hints innumerable — in fact,

How To Accomplish It.

spring novelties in everything for personal wear and frequently
for household use.

In spring advertising please remember that while the public
likes novelty it also appreciates information, if not given in too
dry a form. In spring advertising information concerning the
stocks, store and prices can be so run in the advertising that it
relieves the mixture of facts, figures and prose poetry.

The retailer picks out his winning cards in suits, over-
coats, millinery and dress goods, and after due deliberation over
the advertising campaign produces a series of ads of which the
following may stand as an example:

Stunning Suits.
Stylish Overcoats.

Whatever wrinkle
Fashion says is so, is
here. Whatever worth
that fabric and work-
manship can give is
here. Whatever econ-
omy that a thorough
knowledge of the busi-
ness can ofifer is here.
We suit the most crit-
ical taste — we satisfy
the most practical
sense with a spring
stock larger by far
than our best past
showings.

Overcoat
Item
Here

Suit
item
Here

New Millinery In
All Its Freshness.

Redolent with the
breath of Paris,
charming with the
touch of London and
perfect with a profu-
sion of American ideas,
the new millinery in-
vites your inspection.

It is an exhibit that
will give you an idea
with every glance.
Novelty is triumphant !
Not only is the newest
here but the best is here
and not only all that
but prices are so reason-
able as to cause wonder.

See all on the open-
ing day.

Wednesday,
the 15th.

Morgan & Co.

Successful Advertising:

You are cordially invited to inspect

Our Spring Dress Goods Exhibit!

The newest, the best, the latest, the cream of the market,
is here. With an eye single to your purse and taste we have
made a selection the peer of any in this section. The fabrics,
the weaves, the color combinations and (let us say right here)
the price will delight you and every connoisseur of dress fabrics.
Come to-day, to-morrow or this week and see our list of new
fabrics.

Among the American Fabrics are

Ice Wool Ettemain something

new but
which Fashion decreed is going to
be all the rage this season. Every
desirable color combination Is in
our assortment, and the w(;!nan
who sees it will fall in love with it,
for when it is draped againt another
color fabric it makes a dress ex-
ceedingly stylish and one that will
give wear in plenty.

Silk Sublime for a recherche
waist or dress will
he in great demand this season.
And why not? Its wearing quali-
ties are unsurpassed, Its apoearance
is rich and fashionable and'the most
stylish dresser would be glad to
wear a garment from it. See our
very attractive varieties and learn
our very low prices.

SMITH, 5MITH & CO.

Introducing Spring Millinery, etc.

When the advertising writer spins from the point of his pen
a smooth, saccharine string of soft somethings after this order :

" The New Millinery blooms and blossoms with the genius
of Paris, Berlin, Vienna, London and New York — giving forth
ideas by the score, to be quickly absorbed by wise feminine
heads upon which the new head wear will gracefully sit."

By such token will the gentle t)ublic know that gentle
spring is in evidence, ready to shower her new merchandise up«.
on those with the wherewithal to pay for the privilege.

And as there is a goodly number waiting with cash in hand
to invest in the new spring merchandise, it is well to discuss
ways and means of making the right advertising impression.

Let us take millinery. Where is the woman in this broad
land (or any other broad land) who does not desire an Easter
bonnet or hat ? Before she buys this head-covering she must

How To Accomplish It.

compare — criticise — conform — talk it over with her friends.
The millinery openings help her in this.

One of the greatest helps to a successful millinery season is
a good opening. Start the spring and summer season right and
the battle is half won. But how to start it right ?

Invitation cards — dainty, delicate, fashionable in script or
slender type — means a time-honored but still effective method.
These cards should be mailed in envelopes addressed by hand to
a select list of names. Many patrons of a store have a favorite
saleslady. With such, it is politic for the saleslady to indicate,
by placing her name on the card, her desire to give personal
attention to the recipient at the opening. Floral displays — not
alone the usual displays of artificial flowers — but arrangements
of plants, roses, etc., heighten the effect at an opening to a
degree foolish to neglect. Assuming that the window and de-
partment displays were everything to be desired, the next point
is the newspaper advertising. A millinery opening is usually
advertised for three days. The first ad is the largest— frequently
as large as a double half column. New York's big department
stores feature the millinery at the top of their large ads. Cuts
are used that not only give an idea of new styles, but suggest
their uses as shown by street, theatre or hotel scenes. Here is
an idea for a heading:

Fresh from the World's Fashion Centres

Where the brightest brains and nimblest fingers have
been at work come the new styles which will be on view.

TUESDAY,

WEDNESDAY,

THURSDAY.

To say it is our best showing expresses but feebly
the attempt. It means a harvest of ideas from which
our customers can garner to their hearts' content. Come
and attend our

Spring Opening of Hats, Bonnets and Toques.

68 Successful Advertising

The second day's ad is not as large as the previous day-
It touches upon the success of the first day. (Between the
gentle reader, this piece of paper and the writer did you —
honor bright — did you ever know of an opening or sale that
was not a shining success the first day, even if it snowed
mountain high or rained oceans deep? That the elements
never interfere with mercantile plans is a phenomenon as cer-
tain as it is inscrutable.) The third day's ad is still smaller,
then the millinery advertising fades into occasional mentions
in the general ad, unless there are — as there should be — fre-
quent special sales.

The dress goods — the silks — the ready-to-wear garments
for women and children — the clothing and furnishings for men
and boys generally have separate opening ads. On Sundays,
when the large general ad appears each of these departments
will be represented in a manner befitting the new stocks.

Try and give information in your ads. When you speak of
new silks, tell whether they are silks from Lyons, Japan or
New Jersey. American ideas have so progressed in Japan that
Japanese silk making is practically Americanized — much to the
improvement of these fabrics. Silk manufacturers in New
Jersey are as wide awake — if not more so — than their rivals
across the water. The manufacturer in New Jersey is not
alone prolific in ideas, but he also improves upon the foreigner's
best. Not only that, but he can produce silks cheaper. Then
sing another tune about the shimmering silks from sunny
Southern France, where silk making is an heirloom that stays
in families for generations, etc.

There is not an article of new spring merchandise about
which an interesting bit of information cannot be twisted into
the ads.

April Advertising,

The Taz'lor, Clothier and Furnisher has his new spring ideas
in makes, weaves, colorings and effects which he is anxious to
properly introduce before prospective customers. He will find
that a series of interesting newspaper ads — covering the ground
as to price, style and workmanship— judiciously placed in the

How To Accomplish It. 59

right mediums will give him the greatest amount of advertising
good. A booklet of eight or twelve pages — if interestingly-
gotten up — can be sent with profit to a select list of names.
Even a two-page circular — such as came to my hands a few days
ago showing swatches of popular priced suits and overcoats —
can be sent out with good returns.

The Dry Goods Retailer has plenty to talk about. His new
silks, satins, dress goods, wash goods, etc., show hundreds of
new suggestions and it is a poor pen that cannot gather inspira-
tion from the charming color combinations and textures. News-
paper advertising is the best advertising for him — he has
probably found that out ere this — and with the aid of eye
catching illustrations and typography he gets up advertising
that thrills every feminine mind in his vicinity.

The Boot and Shoe Man is not at a loss for something to
say. Even the single but important fact that low cut patent
leathers will be distinctly in vogue with dressy men all summer
is enough to add a spice of interesting information to a dozen
ads. By giving out information people are interested, provided
this information is given in a clever manner. (How much more
interesting is the ad that gives some of the meat of information
skillfully interwoven with the tapioca of glittering generalities
instead of the ad made up wholly of g. g?) In advertising foot-
wear many good advertisers speak of but a single item at a time
and with window displays and inside exhibits hope to push along
the sale of the shoe advertised. Next day or next week (according
to the frequency of appearance of the local paper or the enter-
prise of the merchant) another strong item assisted by striking
displays is on tap, and so on until every normal shoe desire is
catered to.

The Hatter with his ' ' spring shapes ' ' is ready to interest
and cover young and old heads. He can tell all about the
Knox, Dunlap and Youman shapes — how the crowns and brims
are slightly different from last season's. Occasionally, you will
find a hatter enterprising enough to put out a booklet concern-
ing his line, which piece of enterprise — as is every business
enterprise — is guided by the amount of business being done
compared with what might be done with additional advertising.

60 Successful Advertising

The Ladies^ Costumer will find April an ideal month to talk
about the novel spring capes, cloaks, dresses and skirts — surpass-
ing subjects for the advertiser to enthuse over. ("The brains
of New York and Paris conceived these elegant garments — a
knowledge of the market made the prices easy on the purchaser's
pocketbook and a wise selection for our constituents' popular
needs enabled us to offer the most tempting spring assortment
ever seen in this section of the State, etc.," until the words
pulled out of the writer's ink bottle sink deep into every
woman's mind.)

The Hardware Dealer with his rakes, hoes, spades and the
list of garden and farm implements is now sharpening his lead
pencil to grind out good advertising copy. In many cases he
carries seeds, bulbs, and whatever the average suburbanite or
farmer may desire to make Mother Earth bloom and blossom
with natural products, and he has a variety of absorbing subjects
to speak about. (To see this form of advertising at its height
in catalogue shape, look at some of the gorgeous catalogues
put forth by the New York and Chicago wholesale houses.)

The Grocer and Butcher can give their ads a springtime
twitch by reason of recent supplies of seasonable edibles. Fresh-
ness and purity of products together with price inducements are
the keys to play upon by this advertiser, and as the business
music strikes wise feminine ears the ads are always sure of a
musical, clinking cash response.

Taking everything into consideration the springtime adver-
tiser's lot is not such an unhappy one, as he has something new
to talk about — a wide latitude for his pen — plenty prices to put
to paper — eager eyes to read his stories, and as the times gen-
erally are very good, quite a bit of money waiting to jump into
his till.

Movements in May Merchandising.

There were a couple of suggestions that reminded me one
afternoon that spring had come. One was a trip across Madison
Square Park, where I saw that philosopher, Citizen George
Francis Train, sitting on a bench, surrounded by a lot of children
— his thoughts presumably keeping time in " a sort of Runic

How To Accomplish It. 61

Rhyme" to the twitterino^ of birds in the bright green foliage.
The park looked like an oasis in a desert of bricks, of streets,
of cable cars and of people, and its bright verdure looked exceed-
ingly restful. The other hint was while I was in a Broadway
cigar store selecting a cigar, when I noticed a circular announc-
ing the initial trips of the Coney Island steamers.

I came back to my office with the intention of making this
talk appropriate to May advertising — so here goes :

May is the month when householders are thinking of fur-
nishing and refitting their homes. They need a dozen pictures,
a carpet, a rug, some chairs and several other things, and the
wise house-furnishing dealer, by a series of well directed ads
can catch a very nice portion of spring trade.

Mr. Furniture or Carpet Dealer^ are you ready for this?

May is the month when the joyous golfer and cyclist invest
in a suit, cap, or pair of shoes — to say nothing of a wheel and
its sundries. Men and boys are looking about for summer suits
and personal furnishings of every sort for vacation and summer
resort purposes.

Mr. Clothier and Furnisher^ are you ready for this ?

May is the month when the tourist and even the common-
place, every-day individual is looking for a trunk, bag, valise or
some article for traveling purposes.

Mr. Trunk man^ are you ready for this?

May is the month when many a suburbanite tries to tickle
his little patch of earth with a hoe to bring him a wealth of
flowers and vegetables. He needs a hose — a lawn mower — a
rake and other things to help him cultivate that little patch of
ground and the farmer with a large patch needs quite a number
of tools to help him with his work.

Mr. Hardware Dealer., are you ready for this ?

May is the month when many a lady is seriously consider-
ing her summer suit and outer wearables. She needs a whole
lot of " fixins " for her personal use, and she appreciates the ads
that will help her in her selections.

Mr. Cloak Man and Dry Goods Dealer^ are you ready for
this?

In fact, May is a month that may well be improved by every

62 Successful Advertising

retailer, as tlie bright, warm days suggest many needs that the
wide awake dealer ought to further elucidate by a series of sea-
sonable May ads.

May is a good month to do a little splurging in clothing
and furnishings. Price cutting could be made in spring cloth-
ing, especially overcoats. Lots of men who have not invested
in a spring overcoat could be now induced to by a cut of from
fifteen to forty per cent, from regular prices. Light spring
overcoats are handy for vacation purposes and the occasional
cool evenings that we will yet see before autumn. Spring suits
at a slight reduction will find favor for all summer wear. Then
the multi-colored summer shirts and fashionable neckwear
should be well advertised at present and in every line of men's,
youths' and boys' furnishings, lively May movements can be
occasioned by good advertising.

May is certainly the trunk dealers' month to advertise.

And the dealer in cameras and photographic supplies ought
to take advantage of the month and bring his goods into news-
paper publicity.

The papers are full of bicycle ads and the dealers in suits for
bicycle and other sporting and outing purposes should put in
their best efibrts all through this month.

The shoe dealer should utilize his four and six-inch spaces
with helpful suggestions on Oxfords and tans and the other sorts
of summer footwear.

If the hardware man will take, say a four-inch single
column space, right along through the month of May and the
first two weeks of June, he can do his business a whole lot of
good. The ads should appear daily, if possible — if not daily
then every other day, or at least tri-weekly, and, if nothing bet-
ter, right through the months of May and June in his weekly
paper. Each hardware ad should speak of one, two or three
specials — each of which should be illustrated with a clean
outline cut. A small cut answers as well as a large one, pro-
vided it is clear and well drawn. I have always found, in my
experience in advertising hardware departments, that cuts were
very necessary.

Of course the department and dry goods stores will pound

How To Accomplish It. 63

right along through May and early June with " alarming cuts in
dress goods, " and "marvelous reductions in ladies' outer gar-
ments," as well as special sales in which price cuts on the
regular spring and summer goods are the themes to harp on.

A very good plan for the retailer desiring to " make the
most of things" at present, is to closely study the ads of
live houses in his lines in larger cities. For instance, the dry
goods dealer in a central New York town could study the ads of
Wanamaker, Siegel-Cooper, and The Adams Dry Goods Co., in
New York — the trunk man in New Hampshire or some othef
state, should note what the leading trunk houses in New York
are saying — the furniture and house-furnishing man in Illinois
and Indiana may well study the present ads of Tobey or Mandel
of Chicago, and so on. Every retailer can get a few points
by studying the methods of the big fish in his line in larger
cities.

But the best plan of all, after studying the ads and move-
ments of the big metropolitan concerns, is for the retailer to
consider his local conditions, and if he thinks metropolitan
methods won't exactly fit in his own town, to evolve strong
advertising methods of his own that will exactly suit his case.
In most cases, however, he can get valuable pointers from the
big fellows.

Early Summer Advertising.

This is the season of the year when the thrifty housewife
looks about her for a chair or two, or maybe a dozen, for her
summer residence. She is also likely to need some window
curtains and screens, some rugs, carpets, pictures and a whole
lot of other household needs that almost every general store
keeps, and her thoughts in this direction should be met by
vigorous, sensible advertising of her needs.

Summer silks and dress goods also occupy quite a bit of her
attention. All the details of her summer wardrobe — and they
are many, ranging from ribbons to outing suits — should be
further impressed upon her memory by a series of special
sales of these goods.

64 Successful Advertising

This is a season of special sales. The bloom of freshness
has worn off the spring and summer stocks, and following in
natural sequence come price reductions with their attendant
advertising.

The wide-awake advertiser at all times adjusts himself to
seasons and conditions. He keeps his eyes well peeled upon
his neighbors' movements and he aims to anticipate the imme-
diate wants of his customers. Advertising is a mighty factor
in this. It tells the tales of his store happenings from day to
day, from week to week, and just now it should be interesting
with details of mark-downs in the spring and summer stocks.

Inaugurate a special sale of dress goods and silks. Add to
this your semi-annual sale of notions and a drive in ribbons.
Keep this up for a week or two and you will be sure to cap-
ture considerable custom from the women of your vicinity
who are thinking of summer dresses. And where is the
woman who is not at present thinking of that important
subject?

This is also a good time to boom your suit department,
especially those handsome outing and cycling suits which
recently arrived. Give them a good show in your local papers.

Get up a rousing sale of shirt and silk waists. Have a
series of them for the next six weeks, anyway. Shirt waists
are more in demand this season than ever before, and you
ought to be able to meet this demand, not only in your stocks,
but by letting the public know the stories of these stocks.

Oxford tan and all the various styles of summer shoes
should be well advertised now. Advertise your summer hosiery.

Use cuts in your ads. I have always preaclied cuts, but
this afternoon, after looking over a full-page ad of a Southern
dry goods concern, wherein not a single cut was used, I am again
tempted to emphasize the necessity of cuts. A half-dozen cuts
run through the page would lighten it up wonderfully ; a
dozen would not only make the page attractive, but would
be a most potent factor in selling goods.

Another thing in early summer and all-summer advertis-
ing. If possible, let your ads take on a vein of lightness and
brightness. Remember the summer novel on this. The sum-

How To Accomplish It. 65

mer novel does not flourish mucli through the long winter,
because people are full of business and are intent on capturing
the almighty dollar, but in summer their thoughts take a
lighter turn. They turn to leisure and light literature, and the
advertising that is crisp and bright and pleasing stands a
much better show in summer than does the heavy, solid kind.

Here is one point where many advertisers are lame, and
that is they stop advertising the moment warm weather sets in.
I do not consider this good policy. I believe in pounding
right along — blow hot, blow cold — and if you notice the meth-
ods of the greatest dry-goods advertisers in this country you
will observe how persistent they are all the year round.

Keep the ball of special sales rolling all the time, even
through the dullest summer months. If your competitor is
napping on this, so much the better for you, as you then have a
clearer field in which to work.

Warm Weather Sales.

This morning, while in a Broadway clothing store, selecting
a straw hat and some light weight summer needs, I noticed that
all the trading in the store was being done in the department
given to straw hats, crash suits, light coats and vests, light
weight underwear and other dog-day wearables.

The departments given to regular summer suits and the
usual lines vv^ere deserted.

The hot weather of the last few days has accentuated the
demand for goods to fit weather conditions, and I thought it a
waste of good powder and shot for the retailer — as he did — to
pay much attention to advertising the staple lines of goods. In
my opinion it would be better policy for him to give the greater
part of his nev/spaper space to straw hats, crash suits, etc. — such
goods as people are now looking for. The staples could be
mentioned in a short footnote.

It is easier to sell smaller priced articles than the higher
priced. This is an axiom generally accepted in the retail
world.

Warm weather wearables are lower priced than the regular
needs in clothing and furnishings. Considering this fact and

66 Successful Advertising

the further fact that there is a strong demand for light, cool gar-
ments at present, isn't it advisable that the principal advertising
space should be given to these goods ?

During the entire month of July the clothier and furnisher
should study special sales in negligee shirts, straw hats, crash
suits, thin coats and vests, summer russets and similar needs.

The ads ought to be well illustrated — bright, animated, crisp,
and full of suggestiveness as to the timeliness and usefulness of
these goods.

A letter came to me the other day from a clothier, asking
the average life of the special sale. Answer : a week. Of course
it depends upon the importance of the sale. Some are worth
pushing a fortnight — others die an easy and natural death in
two days. Use a special sale as you would a lemon ; when yon
have squeezed the worth out of it, let it drop — but before you
drop it be sure you have squeezed the juice of Mammon well
out of it.

To sustain summer interest the dry goods and general store
ought to study through July special sales in summer silks, wash
fabrics, white goods, shirt waists, sailor hats, bathing suits and
so on through the long list of articles most likely to meet the
desires of Her Royal Highness, The AmericaTi Woman. She
may not have any pressing need for these articles — in most
instances she has done the bulk of her summer buying earlier —
but she has a keen eye for bargains in such lines, and if anything
"good" captures her fancy and she has the spare change on
hand she will surely invest.

A great number of retailers stop, or almost stop, advertising
through dog-day weather. This is a mistake — a very great mis-
take. There are always some dollars floating about — not so
many to be sure as during the regular buying season — but
enough to justify special efforts to capture them.

The furniture dealer can easily do a fair July business by
good advertising of reed and rattan furniture, hammocks, lawn
seats, etc. There are plenty small nick-nacks in the house-
furnishing line which will appeal to any housewife's heart if
rightly priced and rightly advertised. If you will notice the
movements of the most successful carpet, rug, upholstery and

How To Accomplish It. 67

furniture retailers you will notice that they keep up the game
of good advertising right along.

In this article I could ran the whole gamut of retail lines
and advise the grocer, the shoe dealer, the suit man, the haber-
dasher, and the entire list to specialize certain lines for the
month of July. But such a detail would be wearisome — if this
screed will jog the understanding of the reader in the direction
of advertising timely goods by timely sales, or maybe jibe with
some ideas which have already been laying in his own brain,
then it will have accomplished its purpose.

For your advertising always study the seasons and weather
conditions — it is simply a matter of a little forethought — and
you can save and make many good dollars by so doing.

The Mid=Sunimer Clearance Sale.

Twice a year almost every retail establishment has a grand
clearance sale in which all the odds and ends of a six months'
accumulation of business must be swept away by the mighty
brooms of little prices and good advertising.

One occurs in January or February — if you remember I
treated of it in a previous article — the second occurs in July or
August, and a few remarks regarding it are now in order.

The advance guards of the fall stocks will soon be troop-
ing in — they need tlie shelf and counter room now taken up by
the fag ends of summer and spring stocks. The latter must
be rid of — there is one way to do it and that is by a well-aimed
advertising splurge and with prices so small that they will
induce every bargain-loving man, woman and child within a rea-
sonable radius of your store to visit you.

Department stores, shoe stores, clothing stores, haber-
dashers, hatters and many more of the retail stores will find
this summer clearance sale, if well directed, a strong impetus
to their trade.

Let us first take general dry goods and department stores.
Newspaper advertising is the best advertising, of course, but it
may be supplemented by effective bill-board advertising, with
window and interior store display.

68 Successful Advertising

A very excellent method is to take a four or five incli sin-
gle or double column space — according to your advertising
appropriation — and announce the sale two or three days in
advance. This will tend to put people in a receptive mind for
your big half or full page ad which comes out in all its
glory, generally on a Sunday.

Give a good display to the top headlines and headings. I
would advise that this top piece run clear across top of ad.
Have the items set in uniform style beneath. Have two double
columns squares with items and prices on the two most impor-
tant departments on extreme right and left sides, directly under
main heading, thus giving the centre columns, single columns
each, to less important departments. If you take a full page
try to carry out this arrangement throughout. Now after this
short talk about grouping the items and prices, allow me to
make a few other general suggestions.

Tell clearly and pointedly in your general headline that
this is your " Great Mid-Summer Clearance Sale" or "Semi-
Annual Clearance Sale " and give your reasons for holding this
sale. It is a good rule to never advertise a sale of consequence
without giving a reason for that sale. People are unconscious
analyzers of sales — they like to look for reasons — superficial or
profound. Give them reasons when 3'ou can.

Do not overcrowd the ad. Have the whole arranged sym-
metrically and effectively. I wish I could insert in the body of
this article a good half page or page example of some of the
good clearing sale ads which I have in mind, so as to illustrate
this point.

Keep this sale up for one week anyway. Fire your great
shot oif with the first big ad — the succeeding ads need not be
so large. If the first week's sale panned out all right, and you
think you can give it another week's whirl, go ahead and do it.
You are the best judge. Every advertiser — every merchant —
every business man must in a measure be a law unto himself.
Just the same he can pick up important points on special sub-
jects by specialists. As a rule this mid-summer clearance sale
lasts two v;eeks. I have known extreme instances where it has
been stretched as lomr as a month.

How To Accomplish It. 69

Use cuts — good, strong, clear talk — pay nice attention to
type, rules and borders — back up your ads with attractive win-
dow displays — get up special department exhibits — have plenty
of plain black and white price tags, paste proof of your ads in
conspicuous points in your establishment where the clerks,
customers and floor managers can easily refer to them, and if
your goods are demandable and dependable, you ought to be
able, after the sale is over to have your decks cleared for fall
assortments and have some more ready cash in your bank.

Three or four good double half column or two full col-
umn ads on a clothing sale would do lots of clothiers good just
now. Or, better still, if you can afford it — come out with a
half page clothing clearance sale and supplement it with three
or four good ads to follow the first big ad. The life of the
clothing special sale depends upon individual conditions as in
other sales. In the matter of items be clear and satisfactory —
it is better to slop over a little ou the details of the garment
advertised than to say too little. In no line of advertising are
cuts more necessary than in clothing.

The summer season is not over yet by any means — and
many an impecunious young man who has not secured a sum-
mer suit by reason of "the stringency of the money market,"
will be very likely to grasp a good opportunity to get this suit
when properly presented in a good live ad.

Before starting in on your "Great Clearance Sale " or any
other sale it always pays to sit dovv'n and do some thinking.
Call in your various buyers, after you have given the subject
some consideration — they will give you many good points.
Never fly off on a tangent or go off before your gun is quite
loaded. Have all the details of your sale well mapped out in
your mind — then when you are ready to act you can act so that
results cannot escape.

70 Successful Advertising

Mid=Summer Bombardment.

The following appeared iu PrzM^^r'j /nkin September, 1895 — conditions are now naturally
changed.

When I joined forces with Hayden Bros., Omaha, Neb.,
about a year ago, I thought I saw a glorious opportunity to
hypnotize the ordinary dead summer trade into something then
unknown to Nebraska merchants.

And the result somewhat astonished tlie natives of this
prairie-swept State, as well as the tenderfoot from the classic
advertising fields of the Hub. From handling the advertising
of the mighty house of Jordan, Marsh & Co., of Boston, to writ-
ing and placing Hayden Bros.' bargain stories, was quite a leap.
But health conditions and physicians' orders sometimes turn our
lives topsy-turvy, and, well, at any rate, 1 found myself one
June morning of last year out in Omaha, under contract to do
Hayden Bros.' advertising.

But how was I to start in ? Where was I to begin ?

This, the biggest department house in Omaha, never had
an advertising manager. And I was the first one to come along
and try to evolve a well oiled advertising department out of
what appeared to me to be dismal chaos.

A most peculiar order of things existed at the time of my
arrival, and I was told the same conditions were to be found in
the other Omaha stores. This was the situation. As they had
never had an advertising head, the various heads of depart-
ments (about forty in all) would each get up whatever he saw
fit to advertise his special department, and personally take or
send down his contribution to the newspaper offices. This con-
tribution was left to the tender mercies of a foreman in the
composing room, to be dovetailed somewhere in the general
Sunday or other ad belonging to Hayden Bros. Thus the
Omaha Sjinday Bee would be a couple or three days gathering
in the bargain announcements of this house, and when the
whole thing was brought tog-ether it was a weird and wonderful
mosaic of forty diflferent individualities. It is proverbial that
the smartest department heads — tlie men who are keenest in

How To Accomplish It. 71

driving bargains and making dollars appear on the right side
of the department ledgers — are frequently the poorest ad writers.

The situation was quickly realized. In the first place, I
picked up the Omaha Bee and studied it. I noticed that the
display advertising of the local houses for this particular day (it
liappened to be on a Monday) did not amount to a row of pins.
The Nebraska Clothing Company's ad was about the only dis-
play one. On the last page was an eruption of poorly written,
poorly arranged and very loose-jointed " locals," or in other words,
a lot of items and prices arranged in single column, in ordinary
type, without regard to display. An old-fashioned head-line or
two, after "the tremendous bargain " order, headedthese attempts.

The other daily. The World-Herald^ told about the sr/.ne
story. The Boston Store, Ferguson's, the Morse D:y Goods
Co., in fact, all the dry goods stores in town, seemed to be
satisfied with these "locals."

The suggestion occurred to me, why wouldn't it be a good
idea for some department house to take advantage of this
general business lassitude and begin a bombardment of mid-
summer advertising. Such a house would have a clear field to
itself. I thought the scheme worthy of trial, and so started in
to carry out this idea.

A contract was soon made with the Omaha Bee and World-
Herald wherewith one-half a page space was to be taken Mon-
days, Wednesdays and Fridays and one-third page space Tues-
days, Thursdays and Saturdays, while on Sundays full page
spaces would be taken. These spaces were to be occupied by
regular display advertisements. In the display line, at any rate,
they certainly had the whole field to themselves.

Newspaper space out there is quite reasonable. The annual
summer languor had crept over trade and the Omaha merchants
were doing as they always did at that season of the year,
namely : resting on their oars.

I started in to work on a Monday morning. The next day
Hayden Bros, had a third page display announcement in the
morning and evening papers; Wednesday saw a half page;
Thursday, a third page ; Friday, a half page ; Saturday, one-
third page, and — and — Sunday a full page !

72 Successful Advertising

Great Christopher ! The other merchants didn't know what
came over Hayden Bros.

Had that heretofore eminently sensible house suddenly
developed a streak of insanity ? Were they buying up news-
paper space simply for the sake of filling the newspapers and
seeing their name in print ?

A visit to their store showed considerable method in their
madness. Yardsticks w^ere flying in the dress goods and calicoes.
The head of the silk department said he never saw anything
like it before. Scales were busy in the groceries. Household
goods were melting away in the furniture, carpet, crockery and
kitchen departments, while in the other stores there was the
usual mid-summer, graveyard silence. The Bee^ the World-
Herald^ Hayden Bros., and MacDonald — as well as a variety of
other interested ones — were feeling quite happy at this remark-
able increase of business all around.

The success of this dog- day advertising was most pro-
nounced. It aroused torpid trade — it stimulated general interest
amongst Omaha's female population as to Hayden's wonderful
bargains — and it "set the other fellows a-guessing." The other
merchants thought it wise to imitate Hayden Bros.' method,
but that enterprising house had all the wind in its sails and the
proprietors were well pleased with this unlooked for trade at
this season of the year.

In Omaha, or any of these far Western cities, the advertiser
should blow his horn long and loud. The concern that makes
the most noise out there (other things in proportion) is the one
that "gets there." Modesty there is a drug in the advertising
market. It is the general character of the climate and people
not to be over-aflElicted with a sense of their small importance.
When the pioneer real estate and general business men began
to advertise some score or more years ago in the West, they
spoke with such emphasis that they were heard all over the
world, and as aggressive, progressive advance-guards, they
understood their business and built the West up to be the point
where she is to-day ; consequently, as the West is to-day
aggressive, her advertising should be so, to be successful.

How To Accomplish It. 73

Warm Weather Wooing of Business.

"Oh! this is the dull season — guess I'll let matters rest,"
says the old-time merchant.

"What's the use of forcing matters when nothing can be
forced? Good plan is to go fishing— the clerks can run the
store. Nobody is buying these days." So remarks one type of
many storekeepers, whose conventional ideas of pushing busi-
ness during the busy seasons and letting it rest upon its oars
during the dull seasons, begets perhaps a pleasant and phil-
osophical existence for himself and his assistants, but which is
hardly living up to the best modern methods in business
bringing.

Everybody has not gone out of town ! There are any
number of professional and business men, as well as workers
generally, whose noses are kept down to the grindstone of effort,
month in and month out, for a dozen months in the year. These
men and such portions of their families as are in town need
good things to eat, good things to wear — articles of use and
luxury — in July as well as in January.

The highest type of retailer remembers this. He does not
relax his efforts to bring trade during dog-day weather. Drop in
his store and see how he is still pegging at it. The electric fans
dissipate sultry atmosphere — a frequent and judicious use of
the sprinkling pot is also cooling and grateful — the windows
are as clean as a new silver dollar — the window displays are
bright and well considered — the ads are summery and interest-
ing— the goods are seasonable — in short an air of invitation " to
come and be comfortable while getting your money's worth in
summer needs" is evident.

Men's serge suits, crash suits and light wearables of every
sort, with shirt waists, silk waists, outing dresses and skirts, as
well as other summer garments for women, misses and children
are being pushed by advertising.

Many a furniture and upholstery dealer is still shouting
"Awnings, slip covers and summer curtains," to say nothing of

74 Successful Advertising

liammocks, reed furniture, etc. As for the grocery dealer, lie
lias a lot of cooling drinks, tinned foods and summer require-
ments for the inner man (and woman). And it would not be
just to that great American institution — the soda fountain — to
say nothing about it. When you come to think "on't," it is
remarkable how many summer articles there are that can stand
a lot of advertising, not only in newspapers, but also by window
displays, and as previously hinted, a cool, inviting store.

I have just been reading Thackeray's "Book of Snobs,"
and was struck with the fact that Thackeray — great as he was —
practically struck but one note through all his works, and that
was puncturing shams. Whether you read the " Yellowplush
Papers" or "Vanity Fair," you will find his incisive pen prick-
ing social bubbles, and although he played but one key, he
played it with such skill that all the world stopped to listen.

There is a thought here that can be applied to warm
weather wooing of business. It is : Have one dominant point
underlying all the summer advertising. And that point may
well be :

Ours is a Cool Store!

Vary it as you will, twist in new words, bring in new
phrases and sentences, but in every ad bring out the idea clear
and strong that your store is a nice place to stop in because it's
cool and comfortable. It will strike a responsive chord in the
bosom of everybody who swelters even a little bit under the
sizzling sun that will be with us for three months to come.

Dog=day Clothing Advertising.

Special sales during dog-day weather should be particularly
studied. For trade languishes under warm weather influence,
and the best antidote for summer business debility is strong
doses of special sales and special ads.

A glance over the advertising columns of almost any daily
publication shows clothing and furnishing goods advertising of
an order liable to extreme criticism. The principal criticism is
this: Why do retailers insist upon advertising the staple articles

How To Accomplish It. 75

of wear — such as regular suits, boys' clothing, white shirts, soft
hats, etc., wlien there is but little demand for them — vv^hen the
demand for clothing is in the direction of such summer needs
as light-weight coats and vests, crash suits, straw hats, outing
shirts, etc.? Why not give up the whole or part of the ad to
such needs ?

The other day the writer noticed the ad of a New York
clothier, which was almost altogether given to regular summer
suits. A short paragraph at the bottom spoke of straw hats.
A visit to the store showed every department deserted except
the ones given to the easy, comfortable things for summer wear,
such as straw hats, Oxford shoes, negligee shirts, crash suits, etc.

This is harvest- time for such goods. The dealer need not
expect to do much in suits of worsted, cheviot, clays or mix-
tures at present. They are likely to lie on his counters until
the cool weather of waning summer suggests their use. But
the manager should give a whole lot of attention towards the
pushing of light-weight clothing — he should give the bulk of
advertising space to a right representation of these goods.

Summer advertising should be crisp, animated and vigor-
ous. The text should be cleverly written — not too heavy, but
rather light and summery — each sentence suggestive of summer
comfort in wearing togs. Cuts are great helpers to the ads ;
they should also be cleverly drawn, and apply with strong sug-
gestiveness to the use of the garment advertised.

Get up one day a special sale of straw hats. Keep your
straw hat ad running for a week or so with change of copy
every day. Don't forget to change your copy daily, and inject
life, crispness and point into every ad you pen. Change your
cuts frequently. The great charm of advertising is its variety
— when the bloom of freshness wears off it becomes like the
antiquated summer girl, "slightly passe."

After your straw hat excitement, get up a furor on crash
suits and light coats and vests. Handle this as you did your
straw hat affair. Give some consideration to your outing shirts,
lawn ties, low-cut shoes, light-weight hosiery and underwear.
Get up a special sale on each of these. It would not be a half-
bad idea to come out strong with a half-page ad on all the

T6 Successful Advertising

above goods, and give tlie entire ad a summer flavor. This
can be done by a suitable general heading and a suitable cut to
accompany same.

Before you write an ad give a few minutes' hard consider-
ation to your subject. Don't sit down and pen the first thing
that comes uppermost in your brain. Advertising is nothing
more nor less than an intelligent exposition of your store news
and demands just as much hard, sensible thought as you would
apply to the purchase of a lot of suits or worsteds.

Lots of merchants "just jot down" an ad because they
fancy that they have not the time to give the ad the considera-
tion it deserves. This is a very grievous error — one that
switches many good dollars from the pockets of store proprie-
tors. "When you are preparing advertising, prepare it right.
Advertising is to-day to business what fuel is to a boiler — it
keeps the steam up and the wheels working.

As to Summer Schemes.— I have seen the worth of a ten
per cent, distribution, and in point of a great success never saw
anything like it. This, in brief, is how it was worked :

With every sale of clothing and furnishings a ticket good
for ten per cent, of the sale was given the purchaser. This
ticket was good for its face value in any department. Thus:
If a ten dollar suit was sold a ticket good for one dollar was
given, which ticket could get a dollar's worth of groceries, a
dollar's worth of dress goods, a dollar's worth of small wares or
a dollar's worth of anything in the store.

In a boys' clothing department a Mid-Summer excitement
can be created by giving with each suit a ticket entitling
the bearer to a photograph of himself in his new suit,
by giving him tickets to the circus or summer opera, balance-
of-season ticket to the baseball grounds, or an excursion ticket
to a nearby summer resort. These matters can be arranged
easier than is generally supposed, and when put in vigorous
operation are surprising successes.

Years ago, while looking in J. B. Barnaby's clothing win-
dow in Boston, I saw where a beautiful Columbia bicycle
would be given the boy buying a suit of clothes; who would
guess nearest the exact number of seeds in a big pumpkin. I

How To Accomplish It. 77

needed a new suit that July about as much as a dog needs two
tails, but I was suffering for that bicycle. So I joined the
immense crowds of boys who were buying suits. That pump-
kin idea, which is closely related to the corn-cob plan and seed-
in-the-jar idea, can still be worked where the lottery law is not
too strongly enforced.

Band concerts from the balcony are given by some enter-
prising clothiers and furnishers during the summer season.
Saturday night is the most favorable night for a store that caters
to the masses, as on that evening Tom, Dick and Harry gets
paid o£f, to be naturally attracted to the store from whence the
music wells.

The value of cooling breezes, whether operated by an elec-
tric fan or by the simple process of opening the front and back
doors, with a few windows, cannot be over-estimated. A judi-
cious use of the sprinkling pot and a few palm-leaf fans within
easy reach help to cool the store and incidentally the customer.
Give people the idea your store is cool, and you give them a
splendid summer advertising argument. In every ad should
appear some reference to the cool, comfortable store, as well as
the cool, comfortable wearables to be had within.

Among the out-of-the-ordinary methods of advertising that
some advanced advertisers do in summer may be mentioned:

(i) Giving away huge umbrellas (with ads on same) to
drivers of truck teams, etc.

(2) Giving away Japanese fans (with ads on both sides) to
everybody who calls for them.

But, after all, the real advertising is the newspaper adver-
tising. Just now it is graceful, yet forcible with the worth of
its story — light and easy, yet pointed and convincing — a reflex
of the hot summer season, yet telling its tale of bargains in a
straightforward and convincing manner.

78 Successful Advertising

Autumn Advertising.

The very crispuess of autumn atmosphere should send a
crispness through autumn advertising — the gorgeous colorings
of autumn foliage should suggest some gorgeous word pictures
in honor of the many hued autumn arrivals in dress stuffs,
garments, and every sort of cool weather merchandise.

For they are worth it !

All through the summer season — on warm days, dog days,
murky days, and days that were neither — was the bargain story
told and retold in every type known to the compositor, and
with every argument that the ingenious advertising pen could
write until the purchasing public, advertiser, and even the poor
compositor were so — oh, so weary !

But now all is changed. New merchandise, whose very
appearance is fruitful of ideas, is daily opened before the adver-
tiser, and it is an easy matter to swing freshness, novelty and
information in every paragraph of publicity.

Why, the autumn capes, jackets and outer garments for
women alone are worth column-of-advertising talk !

Ask the suit and cloak buyer if this is not so.

And the dress goods — see the many weaves, combinations
and colorings foreign to the town until this lot came in sight!
Why, every woman would be delighted to hear about them,
and he must indeed be a foolish advertiser vvho Vv'ill not do
full justice to them.

" But one thing at a time and that thing well," that is the
motto of the average advertiser about this period, and he pro-
ceeds to carry out this excellent rule by first having "An
Advance Exhibit of Silks and Dress Goods," then " An
Autumn Showing of Ladies', Misses' and Children's Garments,"
then " Our Grand Millinery Exhibit— Fall and Winter," and
when these and other interesting occasions are each given
proper advertising justice, it is well to combine all the
departments into a mighty Sunday ad which not only again
portrays their autumn freshness, but also v/hichv/ith good items

How To Accomplish It.

and prices demonstrates the bargain-giving power of the
establishment.

After this comes the holiday season. The usual array of
strong specials besides showing pleasing prices, also indicate
the plentitude of new styles, bright ideas and modern methods
of the mercantile establishment behind the advertising.

A well-planned, well- .^•p^:^§a§3^:-§.=§i§i§i§gg-:g^g-:gg@§i&:g%.
carried-out fall advertis- § ^

I An Autumn Showing of g

t Ladies'

Misses' and ^

Children's

Garments ! %

•^ Practically every Fashion source of ^
^ consequence in the world is represented V^
^ in this exhibit. London is a^nply

W represented — so is Paris. Berlin and \di
Vienna are not overlooked. And e?
York after grasping the Old ^

x^ New

World's best ideas sent tts several ^
"^ hundred of the newest, nobbiest and ^
I most winsome |

ing campaign should be
considered several weeks
in advance of actual com-
mencem.ent.

Consider how you can
knock sky-high last fall's
records for over-the-coun-
ter sales. Give some
thought as to how you
can improve your lan-
guage, display and gene-
ral advertising effective-
ness. Think up some
clever window displays,
and do not forget interior
store arrangements.

Everything counts up !

Try and infuse a strong
stream of that necessary
electric juice called esprit
de corps into your clerks.
Make every helper feel he
is something more than a
cog in your great wheel of
business — that he is a living, actual necessity in his particular
line of duty.

And in giving attention to over-the-counter selling, do not
forget that there are people — scores, hundreds or even thousands
of miles away from your store — who may be induced to trade with
you through a well-ordered, well-equipped mail order department.

Capes, Skirts, Dresses for

Women, Jackets, Waists,

Dresses for Children,

etc., etc., etc.

Your presence is cordially itivited. ^
This showing again demonstrates our ^
commercial supremacy. ^

JONES, JONES & CO.

■%g-;&g-:g§-:g:g-;g;g-:i-:&g;&gf-:g-;gg-:gg-:g-:gg.^-

80 Successful Advertising

Circulars, booklets and catalogues, rightly written, illustrated
and printed, are the trade reachers for a mail order department.
Occasional references about the worth of your mail order
department in your regular ads are also valuable.

Study the ads of the principal dealers in your line. No
man has a corner on good advertising. Your competitors are
as likely to evolve them as you, and by keeping in touch with
their advertising efforts you can gain many points likely to be
of decided benefit.

Holiday Advertising.

Holiday advertising — eh ?

Well let us talk about it !

Horace Greeley said that if our foresight was as good as our
hindsight we would be a blamed sight better off.

Those who have had experience — and necessarily hindsight
— will remember last year how important it was to have adver-
tising planned and prepared well in advance. Those who
waited till the last minute to select the proper things to adver-
tise, to prepare advertising and arrange for advertising space
now remember how such dilatoriness hurt business.

Delayed advertising and poor advertising will hurt this year
as well as last year.

Be on time and get up good copy on good values !

Which comes pretty near being the keynote of a successful
holiday season.

It is next in importance only to a good store and stock.

The advertising should be filled with suggestions as to
holiday gift-giving.

If you are advertising a $7.98 jacket for women say some-
where in the ad that it would make a sensible Christmas present.

If you are advertising a box of perfumeries say a lot about
its being especially appropriate as a holiday present.

If you are advertising a jack knife or a pair of skates, shed
some printer's ink on the fact that every boy aches for these
things Christmas time.

If you are advertising books speak about the long winter

How To Accomplish It. 81

evenings which can be whiled away through the generosity and
aflfection of the friend at Christmas.

And so on .

Every imaginable thing sold can be utilized as a Christmas
present — whether it be a house and lot or a paper of pins.
And in speaking of it touch upon its desirability and uses as a
Christmas present.

A reaction has set in in the past few years from giving
trumpery, ornamental articles as Christmas gifts in favor of
presents that are sensible and useful.

This is a good point to advertise.

Tell the public that your stock of Christmas gifts have been
selected with an eye to their utilization — that while you have
large varieties of holiday merchandise in which every taste and
style are centered, yet service and practicability have never yet
been overlooked. This argument will appeal to the great mass
of people who are looking for sensible goods as Christmas gifts.

Many persons have no idea of what they want, until they
get into the store and then are only confused by the mass of sug-
gestion. Help them out in advance by suggestions in your
advertising.

This is a good point for the advertiser.

For the infant there is so and so — for the boy there is this
line of goods — for the girl there is that list of articles — for the
young lady he;-e is an assortment that somewhere ought to hit
her tastes — for the matron there is a fine line of household needs
and articles of personal wear — for the middle aged man there is
a pipe — a pocketbook— arazor or what not — for the grandparents
another list that appeals to their individual wishes, and so on
until every age and wish are cleverly met in the advertising.

A good plan is to give lists of articles for certain sums.
For instance 5c. will buy so many things — loc. so many articles —
25c. another list — 50c. heads another bargain column and so on.

What holiday shoppers look for principally are suggestions.
From "an embarrassment of riches" their minds become con-
fused and they grasp eagerly at suggestions cleverly put.

Although this is the twentieth century Santa Clans is as
much in evidence this season as ever before. Swing the old

82 Successful Advertising

gentleman in your advertising — talk about liiui in type and tell
how lie gets his supplies from your great doll stock, toy stock
or whatever stock you wish to bring most forcibly before the
chiklren. Run in his picture in your advertising — he is a
pleasant piece of fiction, to be sure, but he throws an always
welcome glamour over the advertising.

The advertising does not stop at the newspaper page. It
only begins there and should travel through every legitimate
path — with posters, window displays, counter displays, and
special displays on the inside floors.

The good storekeeper is a good judge of human nature, and
the moment Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Jones enters his store she is
greeted with sound suggestions as to what to buy. He puts
himself in the proper attitude — listening deferentially to her
ideas — volunteering suggestions of his own — until the lady goes
off happy in the completion of her Christmas purchases.

If in his daily personal intercourse with customers he is an
encyclopaedia of suggestions, so should he be in his advertising;
and if it properly gives the sentiments of the season and busi-
ness, his Christmas advertising will prove suggestive, helpful,
timely and beneficial.

After the Holiday Rush.

After the holiday rush, comes what ? After the hurry and
hustle, the noise and excitement, the throngs incident to Christ-
mas shopping of excited feminine-kind, and still more excited
mankind, comes a period of lassitude as welcome to the over-
worked employees as it is undesirable to the enterprising
employer.

The enterprising employer enters his store the day after
Christmas or the day after New Years, as the case may be, and
as he gazes about at the deserted aisles and listless clerks behind
remnants of holiday wares, he decides that instant action should
be taken to inject some life into trade. Stagnation is fatal — an
undesirable stock of unseasonable goods is not to be thought of.
Something must be done — and that right quick. Put yourself in
his place. First of all, dispose of the left-over holiday wares. Take

How To Accomplish It. 83

a good-sized space — a quarter-page space, or, if you think )-ou
can afford it, a lialf-page space — in your local papers, and
announce a speedy reduction sale of holiday stocks. Announce
the fact eloquently and boldly that the knife has cut deeply into
the prices of toys, books, handkerchiefs, embroideries, slippers,
etc., etc. — that twenty-five per cent., thirty-three per cent., or
even fifty per cent, reductions prevail in all departments that
carry anything in the shape of holiday goods. And live up to
your ad — of course this is a trite business maxim, but it can
stand repeating. Keep pounding away on this sale for a week,
ten days or two weeks — give plenty of items and prices and
good-sized spaces to the newspaper announcements, and you'll
be surprised to learn that you have rid yourself of a lot of stuff
which represents an incubus of the worst possible order. No
live merchant wants to carry over, season after season, a lot of
goods ; it is far better to turn them quickly into cash, even at
the expense of anticipated profits, or even at a dead loss.

Of course, while this talk is aimed at the department-store
manager or the general country merchant, the principal can
well be carried into almost every line of retaildom. The fur-
nisher and clothier will try to rid himself immediately of the
left-overs in the line of smoking-jackets, smoking-caps, silk
handkerchiefs, embroidered suspenders, etc., etc., and if he
makes the right prices and properly announces the same
through advertising channels, he can find plenty purchasers
shrewd enough to accept his inducements. The furniture dealer
finds himself with a few smoking-tables and ladies' writing-
desks on hand which he expected to sell during the holiday
trade. He will find it good policy to make them travel fast
with the twin motors of little prices
and clever publicity.

Now about the right sort of an
ad for such a sale. As I suggested
before, a good-sized space is advis-
able for the general store. Have
the reading something like what is
given in the square space furnished
opposite :

"Holiday Goods to go In-
stantly !

" They're Going Now!— They're Go-
ing Quickly ! !

"We don't want 'em— per-
haps you do. Anyway here are
price Inducements enough to
to make your eyes blink and
your brain think. For the
next week or so you can in-
dulge in the rarest bargain
pickings in the following de-
partments :"

Successful Advertising

' Toys and Games.
"Hundreds to select from—
all marked at prices thafll
Insure rapid selling. Plenty
of pleasure here for tots
throuKh the long winter
evenings. And the cost? A
mere nothing ! Read a few
Items:"

Have the headlines six or seven-line De Vinne or Howland
type, and the succeeding heading in three or four-line same type.
The body of the heading could be worked to advantage in two-
line lower case De Vinne, and the sub-headings of the depart-
ments in the same type as the secondary headline. The initia-
tory talk that might follow the de-
partment headline should be set
uniformly in two-line lower case De
Vinne. The items could be set in
Small Pica, with the prices, of
course, in caps. As a specimen of
initiatory talk under a department
head, I append the above sample.

If this ad is illustrated, so much the better. I am a firm
believer in illustrations — they lose no time in telling stories.
Plain type tales require a little time to mentally assimilate —
pictures flash their points on the brain at once.

At the end of a week or two you will find yourself with a
very depleted stock of holiday goods — so depleted in fact that you
will find lots of room for advance shipments of spring stocks.

But do not advertise your advance spring stocks yet. There
is plenty of time for that. People find themselves after the holi-
day season rather short of ready cash, and the little cash they
have is only going to be expended when a genuine bargain hap-
pens along. Now this is when you ought to be ready with your
genuine bargains.

You have taken your inventory. What then ? Well, you
have discovered you have quite a stock of goods on hand that
you would prefer to have in the cus-
tomer's possession — every inven-
tory reveals that very interesting
fact. Get up an Inventory Sale,
which might start in as the example
given opposite.

The typographical arrange-
ment in this instance could be about
the same as with the sale of holiday
stocks. In the department captions

"Our Inventory Sale Be-
gins TO-MORROW.
" Stock-taking brings to light
many heretofore unknown
facts— tells us plainly and
bluntly of accumulations of
goods which ought to have
been turned Into cash weeks
ago. We'vejust finished stock-
taking. We've made several
discoveries. Among them is
that the following lines must
be sold at once. They will be
because these prices say so : "

How To Accomplish It. 85

a little variety might be injected by the use of " Inventory Sale

of " immediately preceding the department title. Thus:

"Inventory Sale of Dress Goods," "Inventory Sale of Uphol-
stery," "Inventory Sale of Furniture,'' etc., would make a pleas-
ing arrangement to the eye. Of course, you cannot lay too
much stress on the necessity of having genuine bargains, as well
as having every statement in the paper substantiated with
actual values.

About this time you might in the silent watches of the
night sit down and write a column or two about your store —
what an immense selling space you have, and how much money
you have spent in decorating the ceiling of the upholstery
and furniture department, and other interesting data, and per-
haps you can induce your local paper to run the write-up in its
columns. If the paper is enterprising and clear-headed it will
be only too happy to accommodate a good advertiser about this
season of the year in the matter of a write-up, and a write-up,
if skilfully done, is a very important aid to a January business.

Keeping Retail Business Active Every Month in
the Year.

Nearly every retail business advertises. If it does not it
will in the course of time. All signs point that way. Adver-
tising is being more and more recognized as a legitimate and
desirable business force. Acting on this line of thought it has
been deemed desirable by several (as well as the writer) to give
a few general hints as to how the average retail business should
be advertised every month of the twelve. So here are the ideas
— briefly put.

For January. — January generally opens with a clearance
sale of holiday merchandise — followed by a pre-inventory sale —
followed by the inventory sale — followed by the great January
mark-down sale — followed by the usual shirt, linen, muslin
underwear, upholstery, office furniture and such sales that are
necessary to stimulate this ordinarily dull month into activity.
Clothing prices suffer, which fact is well advertised.

86 Successful Advertising

For February. — February is a great month in which to
pound prices on and liberally advertise masculine and feminine
garments — push reduction sales in silks, dress goods and dress
fabrics of all kinds — prepare sales of books, notions, house fur-
nishings, blankets, underwear, hosiery, gloves, etc. ; and an earnest
effort is made about this time to effect a clearance on all winter
goods for the new spring styles will soon show themselves.

For March. — IMarch is the month when the advertising
man has plenty of opportunities to prove his descriptive povxeis
in introducing the new challies, silks, dress goods, millinery
and spring goods generally. Advance exhibits are held on
these goods and not only must he advertise them in the local
papers but also by cards of invitation, circular letters and per-
sonal letters from salespeople to patrons with whom they have
been long coming in contact. All winter goods have "been
materially reduced in prices and sales lasting a week or longer
must be gotten up on the principal lines.

For April. — More talk about the new Spring goods. (This
is a line of advertising that can be made interesting through
March, April and May.) A number of houses have a great sale
of furniture, carpets, rugs and house furnishings generally about
this time, as May ist is considered a universal " moving day,"
and households generally are ready to furnish and refurnish
their homes. Other April sales are held on Spring Garments
for men, youths and boys as well as women, misses and children.

For May. — Early showings in summer goods and sales on
spring merchandise represent the " order of the day " through-
out the month of May. There is some activity in hammocks,
trunks, bags, upholstery goods, furniture and house furnishings
and such goods during this month. Spring clothing for both
sexes is marked down and advertising to that effect is put forth
with vigor. Implements for gardening, etc., beside seeds, bulbs,
plants and trees sell freely during May.

For June. — Exhibitions of new Summer merchandise
receive due consideration from the advertising man in June as
well as " Sweeping Clearance Sales " on all sorts of spring
goods. Warm weather needs like window screens, bamboo por-
tieres, Chinese and Japanese mattings, rattan, willow and.

How To Accomplish It. 87

grass furniture, pictures and summer home decorations generally
are in demand "to furnish or refurnish the summer home."
Light, cool clothing and furnishings for people are in strong
demand — push them ! Now is the time for profits in such as
well as in summer dress fabrics of every sort. Hammocks and
outdoor games are good June sellers.

For July. — Speak of the cool store you have — tiie prompt
service and quick deliveries. (People have warm tempers dur-
ing warm weather.) If you give them free iced drinks in the
grocery department you score a point right there. Cut prices
on summer goods and let the world know it. Push along
special sales of upholsteries, carpets, rugs and household neces-
saries generally as " the Summer home" is now an important
subject. Cool garments for feminine and masculine wear at the
seashore, mountain resort, or in the city, are essentials and when
advertised will win lots of trade. Push straw hats, alpaca
coats, serge suits, flannel suits and light clothing generally, if
yon are a clothier.

For August. — The August sale of furniture is an important
feature with many large stores. With it are seen special sales
on accompanying household needs. The negligee shirt cries
for advertising aid, so does the Panama hat and reduced
prices on summer goods generally should be well advertised.
Inventory usually comes in August — a week before it comes get
up a pre-inventory sale, and when it comes along get up an
inventory sale. The mid-summer clearance sale comes along
about this time — push it for all it is worth. If handled properly
this sale can be made to last two weeks.

For September. — Advance openings of autumn millinery,
silks and dress fabrics generally, hats for men and boys, as well
as many articles of apparel are now in order. The few
remaining summer goods nnist be cleaned out at any cost.
Furniture, carpets, rugs and house furnishings must be adver-
tised to meet the eyes of those returning home after their sum-
mer vacations, and generally speaking September sees an active
resumption of trade, which had been somewhat dull the two
previous months.

For October. — Autumn merchandise in every style, shape

88 Successful Advertising

and shade now beckons the public with fresh and fashionable
features. Advertise this fact. Speak about the special sales of
cool weather goods, and give some thought to pushing fall over-
coats and suits for men and boys, besides garments for feminine
use. Furniture and household necessities are good sellers this
month. You can profitably make a feature of a sale of house
furnishings. The grocery store or department shonld do a good
business in October. In fact, all lines of retail business should
now do a big business, and they will, provided the advertising
man makes frequent rounds and publishes the results of his in-
vestigations with force and frequency.

For November. — Frigid weather is now on. Give the public
frigid facts about your abundance of cold weather needs, and how
your values give competition a chill. Furs are now beginning
to show themselves. Winter styles are now side by side with
autumn ideas. In fact, some of the early autumn arrivals have
suffered marked reductions in prices — which should be adver-
tised. A Thanksgiving sale of knives, forks, spoons and cutlery
generally with groceries, wines, furniture and " fixin's for the
Thanksgiving table" is a well-known November idea.

For December. — This is the holiday month— the month
when " Santa Claus '' dominates every line of trade and almost
every human mind. Subordinate everything to the holiday
trade — concentrate every force upon it. From December isttill
about the lOth the holiday selling is slow. Stimulate it with
logical advertising, urging your patrons to begin their holiday
buying " before the rush sets in." And when the rush does set
in, as it will about the loth, be ready for it. The advertising
now is of the suggestive order, rather than the bargain order.
During the week between Christmas and New Year announce a
radical reduction sale on all holiday goods. Look back on the
year just ended and make plans for another year.

DIVISION THREE.

SPECIAL FEATURES IN RETAIL ADVERTISING.

Advertising a Department Store.

The advertising manager of a department store is like the
managing editor of a great daily newspaper, with his corps of
reporters constantly bringing fresh, live matter to his desk.
The various department heads act as the reporters, and their
constant incomings and outgoings to and from the advertising
sanctum renders that den a very lively place at times.

Take it on a Thursday or Friday, when the big Sunday ads
are in process of construction, the scene is exceptionally lively,
and the man at the head of the advertising department has
plenty occasions to exercise his ready wit and level-headedness.
He must have very clear-cut and definite ideas as to what's
what, and no matter what influence may be brought to bear
upon him by the various managers — who are always wanting
large spaces and suggesting many ideas of their own relating to
the style of set-up and language to be used — the advertising
manager must have backbone enough to select what he consid-
ers the best and arrange the same as he thinks wise, while at the
same time he must have sufficient tact and diplomacy to do
these things without hurting the feelings of buyers — who, after
all, are the real powers in the department store.

Wonderful are the ideas and remarkable is the advice
constantly offered him. And more wonderful still are his
countless opportunities to display presence of mind. He must
be quick to think and act, and when he does so he must think
and act right.

One would imagine it would take a man's w^hole time to

90 Successful Advertising

see people alone. There are the advertising solicitors — and
their name is legion — with all sorts of advertising mediums and
schemes, including, of course, the lady with the charity affair
programme. She has traded at the store ever since she was a
school-girl, and, of course, must be handled diplomatically. And
there is the clergyman, with his religious paper — he is well
acquainted with the firm — and would like to talk with the
advertising manager all day with a view of getting a large con-
tract. Then the bright, snappy young man wlio is hustling ads
for theatrical programmes would like to talk an ear off, and
the delegation from the United Brotherhood of Hard-Working
Laborers would be much put out if they could not secure an ad
for their annual ball programme. Taking with all these the
reputable representatives of the various dailies, weeklies and
monthlies who come to secure copy for ads, contracts, adjust
rates and grievances, and it will be seen that the mere seeing of
outside representatives is a whole duty in itself. Then the vari-
ous heads of departments must be attended to, and when one
adds to these duties the writing and arrangement, the illustrat-
ing, the placing of advertising, it can be seen that the advertis-
ing manager, even if he has several assistants, has enough
matters on hand to sometimes drive him to — well — to his home
rather tired at night.

Were I the owner of one of the many big department stores
I would be strongly tempted to have the advertising department
systematized like this:

I would get an ex-member of the diplomatic corps at Wash-
ington and pay him a good salary to handle solicitors and
schemers. He should have a keen scent for "good things,"
and he ought to be able to turn down the "bad things '' in the
gentlest and most diplomatic manner possible. He ought to be
able to make his salary alone by soothing good customers of the
store to whom he could not give an ad. This diplomat would
also handle the various heads of departments when they come
up with fire in their eyes because their ads were boiled down or
because they were squeezed out of their favorite paper. He
would also rejoice with them when a bright stroke of advertising
brought them good business, and in general would be the buffeter.

How To Accomplish It. 91

I would have a first-class advertising writer, one who could
spin beautiful word stories from his imagination, and nicely
adjust the same to such prosaic matters as hosiery, dress goods
and notions. He would have to be a genius in the matter of
headlines and headings, and his descriptions of articles would
be word pictures. This writer would not be disturbed in his
mental toil — the diplomatist would hand the items and copy to
him. He would have to be a master of typographical effect and
be able to mark his copy as it should be set.

I would have a good business artist — one who could take a
shoe and transform it into a thing of beauty in the fair hands of
a fair woman. The artist and the writer should work in har-
mony— each assisting the other with suggestions.

These three would constitute the bodyguard of the adver-
tising manager, whose duties would be to mouse around the
store and push the lagging departments — to enthuse department
heads at the right moment, to make the advertising contracts,
to see the most important representatives of the most important
publications — to pass on the ads before they went to press, and
to exercise an all-around supervision over his department. Of
course, he must be a good writer, and if he is a bit of an artist,
so nmch the better.

One of the most important features of an advertising de-
partment is its systematizing. All the wheels should be run-
ning in proper order — each cog of tlie machinery should do its
duty. This is no child's play. An amateur can start off with
the idea that he can revolutionize the advertising methods in a
month, and at the end of the month he will be likely suffering
from nervous prostration. There is much below the surface
which only few eyes can see. And the proper handling of this
department, where thousands are annually — yes, monthly —
spent, requires an ability of a peculiar and high order.

The advertising manager soon knows the buyers. They
run the full gamut of emotions before his eyes. From the
heights of happiness to the depths of despair is the full keyboard
sounded. When, by his skill and a combination of trade cir-
cumstances, does the buyer succeed in getting in a lot of goods
at a paltry price, then he comes into the advertising office with

92 Successful Advertising

a beaming face and elastic step. When his department runs
ahead he is correspondingly happy. When his trade is dull he
is in the dumps. When he feels he should get a double half
column instead of the quarter single column allotted him, he is
in a resentful mood. And so on. Stretched on the rack of
business he is keyed up all the time.

Speaking about emotions, there are three phases of activity
that play the Old Harry with nervous systems. One is the
newspaper man's life, another the actor's life, the third the buy-
er's life. And the advertising whirl is by no means slow.

To get the best out of buyers is by appealing to reason.
When occasions of dispute arise, quiet, logical discussions are
the remedies. Frequently time is so valuable that a lengthy
discussion is out of the question. As the advertising man is
head of his departmicnt, he does what he considers right. Later
on, when time is more numerous, the matter may be more thor-
oughly gone into.

Of course, the advertising manager has a pretty accurate
knowledge of merchandise. He knows what other stores are
advertising, and so posts his buyers. He sees that the prices
that go into print do not run higher than competing figures.
He gauges the advertising space for each department according
to the advertising appropriation of that department, as well as
worth of offerings and weather conditions. As a general rule
departments get advertising according to their money-making
abilities. A certain percentage of its gross business is given as
the advertising outlay. This may be increased or decreased
according to exceptional offerings or weather conditions. When
a department is sick it must be liberally dosed with the adver-
tising remedy. Then usual rules about percentages are over-
looked.

Each advertising department should be a law unto itself
There are a few general rules which apply to all departments —
such as paying no heed to competitors' doings in the ads — the
use of the best possible business talk — the use of cuts, of dis-
play type, etc. — which are already so familiar to students of
advertising that I need not here touch upon them.

Each advertising manager should constantly study his audi-

How To Accomplish It. 03

ence — which mediums are best — which language is best — he
should not shoot too high or too low in this respect, and his
brain must constantly be devising new sales and methods to
attract the public. It is a study extremely fascinating.

Making Up Large Ads.

Some advertising men are extremely fortunate in their idea
of making up an ad — most not so fortunate.

To make up a large ad so that the effect will represent a
harmonious combination of vigor and ease, of business and art,
requires something more than the average conception of ad-
vertising.

Indeed, it requires considerable experience coupled with
considerable native wit.

As the prime purpose of an ad is to sell goods, the first
great point in making up an ad is to see that the principal
departments and best items are represented.

While mentioning this do not forget that the general
appearance of the ad should be striking — yet pleasing, and in
nearly every case business is sacrificed to art and art to business.

So that there is —

A constant fight between art and business (each of which is
very important), and only the ad man who knows his business
strikes at the happy medium. Therefore the advertising man
should have a thorough retail business knowledge combined
with a business knowledge of artistic effects.

It is so much a matter of "adjusting ourselves to the con-
ditions on hand" that remarks of this nature can only be
general.

When there is a general heading, run it at the top of the
ad right imder the firm's name. When a principal department
has a liberal heading place it at the top so that it obviates the
use of a general heading.

When several departments occupy the same space, the
make up of the ad is a matter of joy to the ad man. For all
that has to be done is to place all of these equal spaces side by
side and arrange the collection of smaller items below. The

Successful Advertising

most iinpoitaiit part of the ad is the top — the eye first rests upon
it. If it is happily balanced, it puts in the shade any incongru-
ities in the lower part of the ad.

Supposing in making up a page retail ad the departments
size up this way : —

JOHN JONES & CO.

Hosiery

Dress Gods

The ad man would call this a " cinch." No clipping, no
fitting — no sweating, no swearing.
Here's something different : —

JOHN JONES & CO.

Hosiery

Dress
Goods

How To Accomplish It.

Not so easy ! The cliances are that a few items had to be
dropped from one or more departments in order to bring about
an artistic result. Here's where art and business fights. Still
another case : —

Gloves

JOHN JONES & CO.

Hosiery

SUks

General Heading

Dress
Goods

Tables

Curtains

Not so fortunate as the two preceding instances considering
the material at the ad man's disposal.

That's where the rub com.es in : — Adjusting the amount of
matter with the proper appearance of the ad. You could hardly
drop out some items out of, say silks, without asking the silk
man's consent or opinion. He will probably object to having
his ad cut — so will the suit and cloak man — so will any live
department head. Yet the general appearance of the ad must
be considered, and it is in these instances where the advertising
man's real business ability is tested. If he knows the advertis-
ing worth of the goods advertised and has a fair idea of the
business bringing capabilities of the various departments he will
find such knowledge of exceeding value. When he is dip-
lomatic yet firm in his relations with the buyers so much more
valuable is he to his concern.

Adjusting the ad constantly confronts the advertising man.
At first it is a bugbear. Many a budding advertising genius it
has killed. It has caused profanity and heart-burnings from the
Atlantic to the Pacific.

96 Successful Advertising

The only way out of the difficulty is to have a clear concep-
tion of the amount of space to be used — then to set up the items
worth using in "galley form " — then to adjust them in a har-
monious striking make-up with the co-operation of such buyers
as may be affected by reductions or additions of matter.

Which matters — like most propositions — are clear in theory
but not so clear in practice.

Co-Operate with Heads of Departments.

One of the best evidences of the advertising manager's
ability in any concern is the smoothness with which he gets
along with the various heads of departments in his establish-
ment. When he gets to that point where he can work in har-
mony with these gentlemen he has gained a great point in the
concern's favor, his favor, and the department manager's favor.

With friction and fuss and feathers and fighting the team
does not pull along on the road to success as it should — the
advertising vehicle stands a good chance of being ditched on
the highway.

Absolute harmony is impossible to secure, of course, because
as long as men are men evidences of the short-comings of
humankind are always cropping to the surface, and little kicks
and fusses are to be expected right along. But some men much
mors than others have a wonderful faculty in " pouring oil
upon troubled waters " and running the advertising department
with smoothness and dispatch.

I have known several young men who apparently possessed
the qualifications demanded in an advertising manager, but who,
somehow or another, made a dismal failure in operating an
advertising department, simply because they seemed only to
antagonize the men with whom they ought to pull, viz.: the
department heads.

When a buyer of dress goods or furniture or anything else
salable comes to New York and, after considerable poking and
mousing about the wholesale district — which means very hard
work, too — succeeds in making a clever deal on a lot of goods,
he naturally wants the advertising manager to help him out in

How To Accomplish It. 97

disposing of this purchase in the quickest and best manner pos-
sible. The buyer wants a good ad on his lot. He wants to
give an expectant and appreciative audience the best possible
ad on a special bargain lot — on grades that he knows are
splendid values for the prices asked.

Now here is where the advertising manager should get in
his fine work. He ought to be full of appreciation for the
buyer's ability in securing this lot — he ought to thoroughly
sympathize with the buyer's anxiety to get up a rousing big
sale. He ought to tell the buyer so not merely in words but
also in deeds. He ought to sail in and get up an excellent ad —
with the proper display, argument, cuts and typographical
arrangement. He ought to get all the items necessary — the
buyer will gladly furnish these — and give the public the full,
complete and satisfactory details of the trade event. By doing
so he makes a firm friend of the buyer and helps along the con-
cern as well as himself.

More often than not the advertising man finds he cannot
give all the space he would like to the department wherein this
great event occurred. What then? Let him do the best he
can. Let him explain to the department head his inability to
give a large space in all the mediums wanted because of the
pressure of other departments, but that he will do the best he
can. Heads of departments are intelligent — were they not they
would not be heads of departments — and being intelligent are
susceptible to reason. They appreciate situations, and when
these situations are explained to them can adapt themselves
easier and quicker to circumstances than any other class of men
on earth — excepting possibly newspaper men.

It is always a good scheme for the man in charge of the
advertising to have a daily personal confab with all the depart-
ment heads. In a big establishment of course the proper plan
would be to have the chiefs drop in the advertising sanctum —
with a smaller store where the advertising man is not so busy
he can go about the store and see the men and goods, as well as
pick up suggestions from the trend of trade before his eyes.

Department heads appreciate this constant effort on the part
of the ad man. It shows them his hearty interest in their welfare.

98 Successful Advertising

When a department languishes the stroke of the ax falls upon
the department manager's neck, and knowing the power of
publicity he is only too eager to receive suggestions and assist-
ance from the man who guides the advertising pen.

I have seen departments sick of poor business and away
behind previous seasons' records in the matter of sales, take
sudden jumps and forge right ahead, as the result of a well
aimed advertising campaign, conceived by the advertising man
and aided and abetted by the department head. From a path
of thorns the department manager stepped on a road of velvet,
and he ever afterwards remembered the advertising man with
feelings of the strongest friendship.

In standing in with the department heads there need be no
necessity for sacrificing individualty. In fact, the best and
strongest advertising managers of my acquaintance — the men
whose work means the best in public prints — are the men who
stand in closest to the department heads.

The department heads are the real power in all mercantile
establishments. They buy, sell and conduct their several
departments with the same care and consideration they would
use if they owned their own stores. Their salaries and the
solidity of their positions depend upon the net results demon-
strated in the course of the year's business in their departments.
Advertising to-day is almost the life-blood of their business —
when they feel they are being treated right in the matter of
advertising — they make the advertising manager's life all the
happier.

Clothing Advertising.

The great charm of all matter, whether printed or oral, lies
in its being natural. We do not want the stilted, the artificial,
or the labored — we want the sentiments we read or hear to
express naturally and faithfully the thoughts of the person
responsible for them.

When you read a letter from a friend you want that letter to
mirror the exact thoughts of your friend at the moment he pen-
ned it. You prefer honesty to an artificial effort to disguise or
color his sentiments. Jnst so with a newspaper article, a maga-

How To Accomplish It. 99

zine tale or a novel. Spontaneity and naturalness must neces-
sarily be there before the attention is thoroughly captured.

This is the cardinal virtue of advertising literature. When
it is not spontaneous it is labored and artificial — therefore ineffec-
tive— when it is not natural it is mechanical and unattractive.
An honest out-and-out effort that rides rough shod over the rules
of spelling and syntax is more effective by far than the elegant
production, faultless in grammar and expression, but stilted and
artificial in effect.

Shakespeare's injunction, "To thine own self be true and
thou canst not then be false to any man," is especially applicable
to the advertising writer. He must swing his pen in exact
obedience to the thought just then uppermost in his mind, and
if he has any thoughts worth remembering they'll be recorded
in cold type to his fame and fortune — if he has no thoughts
worth remembering he had better betake himself to other spheres
of usefulness.

This article attempts to treat clothing advertising Inas-
much as you have men for an audience, you must be spontane-
ous, succinct and interesting. Men demand these qualities in an
ad. They are more occupied v/ith their various duties than the
fair sex, therefore they demand brevity and point in newspaper
stories — as they have a larger bump of humor and generally
more all-around intelligence than women, they therefore appre-
ciate the wit, philosophy, argument or illustration that may be
placed before their eyes. Mind you, I do not deny that women
do not demand the qualities above mentioned. They do — some
even more than most men — but taking men in the mass and
women in the mass you will find men more likely to appreciate
the spontaneous, the succinct and the interesting in advertising.

Very well. Suppose you are advertising — say spring over-
coats. Hold up the coat. Look it over. Feel its texture —
its linings — run your hands in its pockets and note its cut
and finish. And its price is very low — very low indeed ! All
these points are flashed on your mind and you make mental
notes. You cross-question the salesmen about the styles of
spring overcoats — which are likely to be popular. Yen go back
to your desk full of overcoat information, and bursting with this
intelligence, you proceed to fix up an ad on spring overcoats.

100

Successful Advertising

The first thing is the caption. You write a couple or three
headings :

" The Proper Spring Overcoat."

''This Spring Overcoat."

" Your Spring Overcoat."

Ah ! the last will do ! Now let us see :

"Your Spring Overcoat
is at this moment an important subject.
We have just the coat you're looking for —
showing the popular style — it's of covert
cloth, with strap seams — well made— styl-
ish, serviceable and satisfactory, and its
price is only $12.50."

Then trim and cut, and add a few words to the ad, and here

it is ready to make its impression on the overcoat-buying public :

Your Spring
Overcoat

is rather an important Rubject just
at present. In it you want all the
points of service, style, fit and
economy.

We've just the coat you're look-
ing for. It's nobby, neat and satis-
factory—and priced at a very
winsome figure. It's of Covert
cloth— with strap seams— elegantly
tailored and carefully finished.

price*' !s only $12.50.

Plenty of other styles at other
prices— some higher— some lower
—but all— right in price— right in
quality.

Smith Clothing Co.

If you're looking for a little
wit or nonsense to lighten up
your advertising, why not try
something like the other one.

// Sm;
fC of a

Smithson— " What do you think
of a man who throws a banana
skin on the sidewalk ? "

Johnson— " What do you think
of a banana skin that throws a
man on the sidewalk ? "

Skins are numerous in all kinds
of business— but especially in the
clothing line. We do right by
our customers— giving them the
higliest in value at the lowest in
price— as here— for instance :—

A Stylish
Spring Overcoat

carefully tailored
and rightly made
of the popular
Covert cloth — with
strap seams— guar-
anteed to give ser-
vice, style and all-
round wearing
satisfactio n— a
regular S15.00 gar-
ment.

Look through our stock of Spring
Suitings and Overcoats— all tastes
can be met — we've every variety
at popular prices.

Smith Clothing Co.

$12.50.

How To Accomplish it. 101

Display De Vinne makes a very handsome top line, and Pica
lower case appears very well for body. The short talk at the
bottom, speaking of your stocks in general may go either in Non-
pariel or Agate lower case. Which is plenty variety of type for an
ad of either the above styles, in fact, the fewer varieties of type
used in an ad, the better is its general appearance. I speak of
this advisedly, because some printers think that if a dozen dif-
ferent styles of type were used in an ad the better it would ap-
pear. A too-great variety of type begets confusion — it detracts
the eye from the main idea.

Speak about your spring overcoats in your ads as you would
in conversation with a customer. Give him the details easily,
quickly — and if he likes to laugh, a short joke or story may
help you in your sale.

Although no illustrations are used in the examples given,
yet I am a believer in illustrations for clothing ads. A picture
of a well dressed young man wearing such an overcoat as you
wish to speak of helps wonderfully in emphasizing the points
you desire to bring out.

Get the details of the overcoat, or suit, or shirt, or whatever
it is, pictured in your mind — then sit down at your desk and
write your exact thoughts about this article. Put everything
down on paper. Then when it is all written you can trim and
polish up the story — cutting a word here, changing a sentence
there — as grammar and diction and betterment suggest. Be
your own reporter first, and managing editor afterwards. Put
you thoughts on paper, then with them in material form criticise
them and swing them into better shape.

Nearly all ads go through this process. They are jotted
down in the rough, then carefully gone over. I know of a first-
class advertising writer who goes over an ad half a dozen times
before he thinks it is all right. And then again, I know of
another — but he is an exception — who finds the right idea and
the proper words to fit that idea at the first blush.

Short, snappy, sententious sentences are the sentences that
strike men. Clean, artistic outline cuts, full of action to har-
monize with the text, should be used. Then the type dress
should be simple, yet with an air of style. There are types now
cast that convey this impression.

102 Successful Advertising

There is a well-known clothing concern in New York City
that every Satnrday outlines the selling and advertising policy
of the succeeding week. The heads come together and say thus .

" We will dress up one window with overcoats cut to ;?8.50
another will be given to the suits cut to $y. 50, another will be
given to the 50-cent neckwear now cut to 38 cents.

" We will take a certain space in the daily papers — so much
in the Evejting World, so much in the Evening Jozirnal^ so
much in the Evening Siin^^'' and so on. The plan is laid out,
the window dressers, superintendents and salespeople notified,
and when the ads of the overcoats, suits or neckwear appear in
the daily evening papers, customers find handsome window dis-
plays and special inside exhibits.

You can see the advantage of a clean cut, complete selling
scheme like the above. From start to finish it is carefully
thought and carried out. How much better is it than the usual
whitewash of advertising which simply brings people in only to
be disgusted with the unpreparedness of things. Now do not
forget these three points :

(i) Have good window displays and inside showings with
plenty of price cards to back up the ads.

(2) Have also plenty of goods to back up the ads and hew
to the line of eternal truth,

(3) Use cuts — plenty of them — neat, not overlarge, with
crisp, convincing text.

More About Clothing Advertising.

To many minds the process of preparing advertisements is
a mystery. To others it is not so much a mystery as it is the
requirement of a certain order of ability, which includes origin-
ality, horse-sense, easy writing, a good knowledge of type and a
better knowledge of human nature.

In this sketch we are going to show how clothing advertise-
ments impress one in various parts of this broad country of
ours, and if the reader cares to follow, he may pick up a point
or two.

What is good clothing advertising in Boston is not good

How To Accomplish It. 103

clothing advertising in Savannah — what is good in New York
is not good in Denver, and so on. Wherever 30U are you must
adapt your advertising to 5'our audience. You must study the
people to whom you wish to speak. You must consider, analyze,
dissect your audience ; find out whether it is rich or poor, easy-
going or aggressive, wide-awake or drowsy, and suit your adver-
tising bill of fare accordingly.

That is the reason the papers of the different parts of the
country vary. At the first blush it would seem as though a
paper was but a reflex of the editor's point of view, but a little
study will show that it is a reflex of its clientage's. Editors
insensibly learn to appreciate the views of their subscribers and
they supply the newspaper most demanded. Just so with the
advertisement writer. He must first study the tastes of his
audience before he can hope to win results from his advertising.

Let us begin right at home, here in New York. It is admit-
ted on all sides that the New York clothing advertisements are
models of good advertising. They are short and sweet, succinct
and sensible. They get to the point without waste of words.

The writers of these advertisements are sensible enough to
appreciate the New York audience, and they are able enough to
give New Yorkers the proper sort of advertising.

New Yorkers are intelligent and discriminating. They
give thought to their wearables, and they do not care to waste
time in arriving at conclusions in buying the same. In conse-
quence the New York advertisements are brief, specific, and to
a great extent, honest and sincere.

In Philadelphia they are more generous with the flow of
language and with space, possibly because space is less costly
than in New York. The clothing advertisements of Wana-
maker & Brown are splendid examples of good advertising, and
typical of the Philadelphia style.

Chicago clothing advertisements take up still more space.
Atwood's advertising is an exception. It is modeled after the
Rogers-Peet, New York, style.

The farther west we go the more likely are we to meet with
sensational clothing advertising. Most of the clothing adver-
tisements in Detroit, are splendid examples of a medium

104 Successful Advertising

between the eastern and western styles. They are forcibly
written, well displayed and nicely illustrated.

The advertisements of the Nebraska Clothing Co., in
Omaha and Kansas City, are unique and original. They are
very catchy and immensely successful. People out there have
learned to smile when they run across one of them, because
there is generally more fun in it than in the regular humorous
column. It usually opens with a humorous talk on the political
questions of the day, a play upon words or a joke.

In Denver is to be found the highest development of the
artistic-sensational style. Life out there in a high altitude
means a rapid, restless gait ; all sorts and conditions of peo-
ple flock there for health and profit, and advertising should be
strong and vigorous.

In Salt Lake City, Butte, Tacoma, Portland and the other
cities west of the Rockies will you find the sensational clothing
advertisement flourishing in all its glory. And it has a good
excuse for flourishing. Much as we fin-de-siecle advertisement
writers would like beautiful language, beautifully diplayed and
beautifully illustrated, we should not overlook the fact that the
sole object of an advertisement is to sell goods, and for that pur-
pose must get right down to the reader's level and shout right
loud in his ear in true western fashion the virtues of the values
being offered.

Two opposite processes are commonly used in advertise-
ment writing — the positive or building-up process, and the
negative or tearing-down process. In the first drift every happy
thought and good phrase. Then comes the tearing down, when
a word here, an idea there, is coldly criticised and perhaps
eliminated.

To the New Clothing Advertiser.

Make up your mind on several things at the outset. Make
up your mind on the advertising outlay — but do not necessarily
confine yourself to a certain expenditure every month — leave
a slight margin — a sort of elastic margin which you can
spend or not as conditions demand. Make up your mind that
you will be a persistent, optimistic advertiser rather than a

How To Accomplish It. 105

spasmodic pessimist. Make up your mind to get a certain space
at regular times in your local paper. Make up your mind to
have about four splurge sales per year, each of which, if prop-
erly pushed, ought to last at least a fortnight. Make up }our
mind to have your ads honest, clear, clever and rightly typo-
graphed and properly illustrated. Buy space on long term
contracts, and get the benefit of all discounts by so doing, and
see that your local paper treats you right on reading notices.
Good reading notices represent gilt- edge advertising, and I am
surprised that clothing advertisers are so slow on this point.

Never try to advertise clothing without cuts. Some adver-
tisers get along without cuts, and they appear to do it success-
fully, but I cannot help thinking that they would do it more
successfully if they used cuts. Nothing will attract the eye to a
printed page quicker than an illustration. Through a cut the
mind receives an instantaneous and vivid impression of a gar-
ment. Double the cut space in simple type could not do this.

Advertising Men's Furnishings.

In a town or city where there is a daily paper the average
proprietor of a men's furnishing establishment advertises one
article at a time instead of several.

I have prepared a lot of advertising for men's furnishers
and I have noticed that they usually want but a single article
advertised at a time and that article must be advertised well.

Of course every rule has its exceptions and the exceptions
where the men's furnisher advertises more than one article are
in the Friday evening and Sunday papers and special editions.

I hold that men's furnishings should be more cleverly
worded than any other sort of advertising, for here is a case
where the appeal is made direct to men who are not much
given to poring over advertising literature.

Their eyes must be arrested instantly, the story told at once
without an extra word — which is the most difficult form of
advertising. A catchy cut and an odd, fetching, typographical
effect are great assistants to the text.

Rogers, Peet & Co. and Smith, Gray & Co., are very clever
in telling the advertising stoiy without waste of words. Their
window eye catchers are also advertising gems.

106

Successful Advertising

If it is neckwear, liow would something like this go?

Gorgeous!

That's the word that
best describes our Nobby
Neckwear. ::::::::::

Economical!

Is another good word for
tbougb they're
worth a dollar "hO
they're 3'ours for

There is an old timer in collars and cufis, but age does not
dim its powers. Here it is :

Let us

Collar and
Cuff You!

We'll do it well — so well that you'll
wish we always had and at a

Price Peculiar To
Ourselves Alone 1

Here's the price :

A Pair Of Cuffs or . . 1 IC.
Two Collars ^v

Pure Linen. Very Latest Styles.

How To Accomplish It.

107

Or if it is hosiery, something like this is suggested

Handsome Hose

For
Men

and
Boys.

Hermsdorf dye.

Neat silk embroidery.

6 different colors.
30 " styles.
Worth 50c. per pair.

We ^ qc.

say «^^

For

Men

and

Boys.

A Special Sale!

Advertising A New Store.

This talk, I fancy, will appeal not only to those who con-
template opening a new store, but to others who have just com-
pleted improvements — added a new wing or given their store a
new front or something like that — to which they wish to give
prominence through publicity's column.

First impressions are valuable impressions. The man
about to open a new store ought to keep that fact uppermost in
his brain. If he makes a good first impression and then lives
up to that good first impression in the matter of qualities,
varieties, prices and advertising, he does all that can be reason-
ably expected, and if there is any possibility of winning success
he will surely win it.

In this I will only speak of the advertising end. For the
past two months I have been doing the advertising for a clothing
concern which opened six weeks ago down in the Old Bay State.
The opening was a great success, despite a stormy night of open-
ing, and the concern, judging by the letters sent me by the prin-

108 Successful Advertising

cipal, seems to be swimming along all right in the sea of success.
The points to be considered, is the method employed.

I prepared three initial ads which simply spoke of the open-
ing on a certain date. It was a factory town and the clothing
and other retail stores of that place drew their chief support
from the working people. So I did not hesitate to infuse con-
siderable ginger into the announcements — more tlian I would
were I writing the opening advertising for a Boston or New
York store. (You must study your people, you know.)

There were two quarter-page ads and one half-page ad pre-
vious to the announcement. They all spoke of what the new
store's methods were to be and gave a little thought to the goods
and prices. (After the store is opened then it is time enough to
quote on items and prices.)

The papers were fairly liberal in the matter of reading
notices.

Souvenirs were to be given out on the opening night. Of
course, no goods were to be sold — everybody was invited to call,
criticise and look about to his or her heart's content, and take
away a souvenir.

Despite the rainy, unpleasant evening of the opening, a
great crowd was in attendance and the opening was pronounced
a decided success.

The three ads above spoken of, the reading notices, the
souvenirs and the novelty of the new store did the business as
far as the opening was concerned.

Of course, the papers on the day following the opening had
very flattering notices regarding the attendance, the store
appointments, the affability of the clerks and the many varieties
of goods, which were plainly tagged with very little prices.

All that sort of thing counted up.

Then the ads started in on items and prices — not too heavy
at first — but just enough to whet the public desire for values in
a new clothing store. Half-page and quarter-page ads were
used every second or third day, and with each successive ad the
range of items and prices were enlarged. The other stores
began to sneer and poke fun at the newcomer. The principal of
the new concern wanted to talk back "real sassy" to the old-

How To Accomplish It. 109

timers, but I advised him to ignore them — to advertise his good
values with good ads as though his was the only store in town.
Which is the only plan to pursue. It never pays to indulge in
personalities that only advertise your competitors and does not
add to your dignity and standing. The other fellows shut up
after a while, because they noticed their criticisms had no efifect
upon the new man. He has now settled down to a quarter-page
space about three times a week, and each ad speaks of some par-
ticular line, such as boys' clothing, men's summer suits, men's
furnishings, etc. It is poor policy for the average clothing store
to jumble up several lines in an ad — better to have one good ad
on one good sale in one department and do it right before you
take up another sale.

To the man about to open a new store I would say : — Make
all your advertising arrangements several weeks in advance of
your opening. Do not wait till the last minute, as many do.
Get the best rates from your local papers, study their circula-
tions, be unmoved by personal representations from anyone on
this, but go about it just as cold and business-like as though you
were buying a lot of overcoats. Get the best newspaper space
at the lowest price and have it understood in the contract that
you are entitled to a certain number of lines of reading matter.

Have a single column good line cut of your store made.
Have electros for each paper. Lay in your stock of cuts before-
hand and have your ads well prepared in advance. Try and
have the newspaper "boys" around your store on the opening
night and give them particular courtesy. They will appreciate
a typewritten "story" of the affair, and even if they will not
use exactly the "story" thus prepared, they will get the points
they want from it to dish up in their own language. Save them
the bother of taking notes.

Have a cut made of the concern's name. A good catch
phrase, if stuck to, is all right. In your opening ad dilate more
upon your accessibility and modern methods, rather than upon
your prices. Items and prices will follow in due time after the
opening.

If you put in a new show front or add a new wing to your
store, you are entitled to raise a disturbance about it in your

110 Successful Advertising

local advertising columns. You ought to be able to get a
picture of your improved establishment and quite a bit of
reading matter about }our enterprise and success. If your local
paper does not enthuse about the cut and the reading notice —
and it is surprising how cold and distant some become on such
occasions — tell its publisher you will have a nice single column
cut of your new establishment made by a city cut concern
and you will be satisfied if he run the cut with a few sticks of
reading matter, and he surely would not object to that. A new
cut of one of the town's establishments is nearly always wel-
comed by the local publisher, as it shows the growth of the
town — something in which he naturally takes pride.

You could use that cut in your ads, circulars, stationery
and other advertising matter afterwards. You could get up a
sale on the strength of your new improvements. The increased
room gives you further opportunity to display goods and conse-
quently you have laid in anew stock, etc., etc.

There are some concerns which, if they were putting in a
dumb waiter would raise a hullabaloo about a " Great Rebuild-
ing Sale," but I know that none of the readers of this would be
guilty of anything so foolish. Eh ?

Building Up a Sick Department.

There is a cause for everything.

If a department is sick, discover why, then apply remedies.
There are several reasons why a department may suffer
from poor business. Here are some of them :

An incompetent manager (usually the reason most abundant).

Poor advertising.

Poor buying.

Poor location.

Poor methods of display.

Inefficient salespeople.

Tardy deliveries.

Bad reputation.

Insufficient capital.

Lax business methods generally.

How To Accomplish It. ill

Let us take up each reason and try and get at tlie right
remedy. An incompetent manager should be replaced with a
competent one. That is all there is about it. A business house
is no elemosynary institution — no refuge for incompetent " mem-
bers of the family" — no "soft snap" for a dull-witted "man-
ager"— no home for one under the dominion of rum, or any
other evil influence, nor is it the place for anyone, except the
person who knows and does his business in a clean-cut way.

Poor advertising should not be tolerated. There is no
excuse for it in this age. The manager should have a fair con-
ception of how to get up sales. They are vital to-day to any
department or retail business. To get up sales properly is to
be sufficiently supplied with the right goods at the right prices
— to be able to write and mark advertising copy in such a man-
ner as to make a good, striking impression upon the public — to
secure good illustrations if necessary — to advertise and handle
each sale in such a manner that it will be a source of satisfac-
tion to the public and the concern, and to keep in the narrow
path between skimpy and extravagant advertising. No fool can
do this !

Poor buying is an abomination. Occasionally the best buy-
ers make mistakes in styles and colors. Once in a while they
become too enthusiastic in the buying, and overloaded stocks
are the result — true mountains of agony upon human shoulders !
Friendships are dangerous emotions to buyers — so are enmities.
Keep in the cool, clear wind, between both. Quietly study the
many ramifications of the market — strike when the iron is hot,
when the manufacturer is sick of his goods and willing to sell
at a sacrifice . Then the buyer has an excuse for a successful sale
— an excuse that the public (who are not asses) will see has a
foundation — and will, as a result, respond. The buyer must
know his goods — their styles, colors, fabrics, workmanship,
finish and all such details. The buyer must know his public —
their wants, whims, likes and dislikes. The buyer must know his
market — its principal men, their strength, weakness, and what
they have. And at all times the buyer must know himself and
his resources. He cannot afford to "fake" in his advertising.
No incompetent can fill his position !

112 Successful Advertising

Poor location, in many cases, cannot be helped. In such a
case the only remedy is to make strenuous efforts for betterment
in other lines. If it can be helped without detriment to the
other trade features, do so. I have seen sick departments put on
a paying basis by being moved to a better location. We all
know how the wrong side of the street makes all the difference
in the world in the success of a store.

Poor methods of display can be remedied by almost any
bright young man in the store. Do not kill his individuality
by being too dictatorial. Give his God-given abilities an oppor-
tunity to assert themselves. Encourage him !

Inefficient salespeople are generally the result of inefficient
heads. Competent merchants create competence on the part of
their workers. Every move, effort and word on the part of a
competent merchant or manager, has its effect on the rank and
file, who are human beings, and as such are not impervious to
impressions. Hovi'ever, if a sales person is naturally or per-
sistently willfully incompetent, discharge such a i:)erson. Better
for the business — better for the person when this rule is enforced !

Tardy deliveries are unmitigated nuisances that the shop-
ping public wuU not stand for. An extraordinary amount of
trade is lost by this cause alone. Keep promises in deliveries,
even if at times a few cents may be lost by so doing. These
few cents may be replaced later by a few dollars from the shop-
per, who appreciated prompt deliveries.

A bad reputation is something that can be lived down by
good deeds. The human memory is long when it dwells upon
unpleasant subjects, but it can be made to forget the unpleas-
antness of the long past in contemplation of the good of
the present and recent past. A business is like a person,
in the respect that both are accorded certain niches in human
minds — if the reputation is good, respect follows ; if bad, the
consideration is certainly not respect.

Insufficient capital is a matter that in many cases cannot
be remedied. The best rule governing such a situation is to
"trim your sails to the wind."

Lax business methods generally should be corrected by
beginning at the head and working down — not at the foot and

How To Accomplish It. 113

working up. The person to blame for a sick business is THE
HEAD OF THAT BUSINESS ! No Other. He is responsible and
should be held responsible — he in turn should hold his lieuten-
ants responsible, and they in turn their subordinates. The
discharge of one or two subordinates never helped a poor busi-
ness as long as those at the top continued the even tenor of
their misguided way. It is a pretty safe rule, that efficient
heads have efficient workers.

Keeping a Live Department or Business Always
Vigorous.

Dismiss the idea forever from your mind that because busi-
ness is running smoothly and satisfactorily it surely will continue
to do so from its own momentum, aided with a little effort now
and then.

Forget it !

There was one force that built up the business — the same force
must be applied to it every day of its existence and that force is : —

Intelligent Effort. — Conditions constantly change. Keep
in touch with new conditions. New forces enter the field.
Watch them ! These forces are different from the old ones and
unexpected moves may be made to your detriment.

Open, watchful eyes and a clear, cool and active brain
must be the possession of him who would succeed to-day.
Whatever technical knowledge in relation to his business he is
supplied with so much the better. And there is no single
knowledge more important to a business to-day than advertis-
ing. Advertising is the great salesman — he voices his argu-
ments through printer's ink and he should always be of the-
living-present, sound in argument, happy in expression and
dressed so as to win and please the eye.

Some may say that illustrations and types are matters that
need not bother the merchant much for they are fixed com-
modities and can be had anywhere at any time.

There is a taint of unsoundness in this logic — but let it
pass ! One ever present, ever live feature of advertising beyond
the power of dismissal by any advertiser is : What to Say?

114 Successful Advertising-

Every advertisement must be thought out and written.
The business man who advertises must regularly answer the
pertinent question of : What to Say ?

The goods and prices that are clamoring for advertising
recognition force the issue : What to Say ?

The dull business of the present pre)s upon the merchant's
mind and stirs up the eternal advertising question : What to
Say?

The sale about to begin asks with a great interrogation
point the conundrum : What to Say ?

The sale already under way and which must be fed with
the food of good advertising propounds the problem: What
TO Say ?

The new goods — dainty, delicate, desirable; stylish, servic-
able, sensible — the harbingers of the coming season's fashions,
fads and fancies — whisper with gentle but irresistible insistence
the ticklish question : What to Say ?

The old goods that are eye-sores because not in the public's
possession long before, ask, in a gruff, hasty voice — as though
they themselves were tired of lingering on the merchant's
shelves: What to Say?

The march of business inprovement keeps quick time to
the tune to which these words are answered: What ToSay ?"

The standstill of business under inert or incompetent
direction seems to hush itself because there is no answer to:
What to Say ?

The retrograde movement of trade gives the abject shuffle
of the bankrupt, because of the inept and unbusiness-like
answers to: What TO Say?

What to Say? is the great question that confronts every
business man who advertises. If he answers it right it is probably
because he has properly replied to the other great question:
What to Do ? or in other words he did what he should in his
storekeeping — the right expression of which appears in his
advertising.

Anyone can see that constant, intelligent thought and
activity are necessary in keeping a business and its advertising
up to date.

How To Accomplish It. 115

Advertising Women's Wearables.

She looks for style.

She looks for service.

She looks for economy.

Every woman wants this trinity of features in her dress,
skirt, waist, or whatever article of wear she may be looking for.

Swing the three features in your advertising; swing them
in with a grace that shows your pen is influenced by the style;
swing them in with a conviction that shows your pen is influenced
by the service; swing them in with a force that shows your pen
is influenced by the low price.

Again let me speak of style. Without style a garment is
nothing in the eyes of any self-respecting woman. Some great
writer — pardon the omission of the name ; it's not here recall-
able— said that the nearest approach to heaven on this earthly
sphere is experienced by the woman happy in the knowledge
that she is well gowned. And it is hardly necessary to say that
the gown must be stylish.

Dame Fashion is erratic — she has many a twist and turn in
the trail of her "creations" — but every woman feels it her
bounden duty to follow fashion's most sinuous and tortuous
path, and woe be to the merchant who gets a reputation for be-
ing behind the times. He must keep up in the procession of
style, even if he lags with service and price.

Naturally his advertising must fittingly tell the tale of his
noble effort to follow fashion's footsteps, and the advertising
man should make a study of the garments.

And it is quite a study — for a man. But it pays — therefore
should be done.

Semi-annually there comes to the store an influx of new
styles. They sweep out old fashions as do waves of the sea
sweep out impressions on the sands. Tell all about the new
styles — how they are different from old styles — whether they
originated in New York, London, Paris, Berlin or Vienna —
whether they are the creations of Worth, RoufF, Felix, Robin-

116 Successful Advertising

son or whoever the famous originator may be. This adds an
element of truth as to the exclusiveness of the garments.

With popular-priced and easy-priced garments it is consid-
ered good policy to tell how a certain enterprising manufacturer
secured an advance sample of a most stylish garment and made
up a lot to go at a price so far below what the original garment
sells for as is a fifty-cent piece below a silver dollar. Yet the
latter garments lost none of the grace, distinctiveness and worth
possessed by the original.

And it frequently happens, according to the ads of many
cloak concerns, that the manufacturer, in the course of his
operations, became embarrassed for want of filthy lucre, "and
our buyer, being on the spot with spot cash, secured the entire
lot at a price which enables us to offer the most," etc., etc.,
ad infinitum, a page full, which so stirs up the feminine portion
of the town, city or borough, that they all descend upon the
store, and each and every one secures a garment of style, of
worth, of service, at a price that causes competition to retire into
the woods and go into executive session with itself.

Suit and Cloak Advertising.

April and May are two banner spring months for the suit
and cloak manager. September and October are the two months
to introduce the fall and winter styles. They are the months
when the sun shines, and if he is wise he makes and rakes the hay.

Every woman at each of these periods, wants a new com-
plete costume. At each of these periods, besides indulging in
the sweet hope of getting the new toggerj', she is calculating as to
which merchant in her town has the best goods at the lowest
prices.

The merchant who advertises properly stands the best
chance of getting her trade.

There is good money in the suit and cloak business, but it
has to be made in season, and for those two reasons it is good
business judgment to be liberal with timely advertising.

Emphasize price.

Emphasize style.

How To Accomplish It. 117

Emphasize materials.

Emphasize workmanship.

Emphasize the liberal stocks.

Emphasize the attractiveness of the exhibits.

These are the points to emphasize in the suit and cloak
advertising that should appear right along in your home news-
papers.

Use cuts that really illustrate. Give type descriptions that
describe. Do not take one leader and so pound it with advertis-
ing that it becomes an eyesore, but have something new and
fresh with every ad. Then people will take some stock in your
liberal varieties.

It is best to begin the ad (after the introduction) with a low
priced article, and work up higher in prices until the last article
advertised is the highest priced. As a general proposition low
priced garments are easier to sell by advertising than high priced
articles. A very good ladies' suit can now be had for $5.98, and
it is remarkable how neat appearing a jacket can be had for ;^3.98.

If you can succeed in getting visitors to your store to inspect
the lower priced garments it is frequently only a matter of good
salesmanship to switch attention from the lower priced article
to the better made and more stylish garments at higher figures.

There are a lot of little kinks and twists in new styles that
the advertiser should not overlook in his type tales. The
Monte Carlo coats for women — the new double-breasted effects in
waists — the new shaped panel skirt trimmed with band of stitch-
ing and other recent ideas may be perfectly clear (therefore not
of particular interest) to the suit and cloak man, but news to his
customers, and for that reason should be swung in the adver-
tising.

Prices in Retail Advertising.

It is wonderful what a loud noise a dollar makes these
days.

Even the humble dime makes itself heard in no uncertain
tones.

Cash speaks with a tone so eloquent that when it speaks
all other orators take a back seat.

118 Successful Advertising

In all retail advertising it is very necessary to give prices.
They speak right to the pocketbook, and whatever speaks to
that adjunct of any member of the great human family will get
a hearing.

When you give a price in your retail ad you give its most
vital element.

And the price should be supplemented with a clear and
concise detail about the article thus priced.

Most retailers understand this — yet many do not. This
afternoon, while glancing over several copies of daily and
weekly out-of-town publications, I was struck with the fact that
quite a few retailers were satisfied with mere talk in their ads —
they forgot the necessity of prices.

A good, bright talk is all right — it is a very necessary fea-
ture of the ad, but talk alone, without the prices to back it, is
much like faith without good works. We can safely divide the
aforesaid great human family into two divisions:
The male
and
The female.

Let us analyze them a bit in their relation to ads. Man,
as a rule, is a logical being. When he wishes to invest in any
article he wants to know its price. That's a very important
item with him. You may arouse in him a desire for your offer-
ings ; after this desire is aroused in him the next consideration
with him is price. If the price is not in your ad, how is he to
learn about this price ?

By going to your store ?

Yes, but that entails some little effort, and the chances are
that he does not think that effort necessary. There may be
other ads in the paper on similar goods which quote prices
which seem satisfactory to him. These printed prices answer
his questions — he has the information desired and the concern
that prints prices makes the sale. You surely should not put
your readers to any trouble whatever in giving them informa-
tion about your goods. Do business " on the lines of the least
resistance."

If you are advertising a pair of patent leathers — a straw hat

How To Accomplish It. Ii9

— a smoking- outfit or anything else that appeals to a man, give
him the details of your article in the easiest and quickest man-
ner possible and never, never forget to give the price every time.

Now let us discuss woman and her relation to advertising.

She buys the greater percentage of household supplies — all
her personal needs — the personal needs of the younger members
of the family and in a great many instances no little portion of
her liege lord and master's individual needs.

Now she has a certain amount of money daily or weekly —
as the case may be — v/hich amount as a rule is carefully por-
tioned out as to where it will do the most execution. The ad
helps her in this. Daily and weekly she scans with an eager
eye the ads of various concerns to learn about the most recent
happenings in dress-goods, silks, household supplies and what
not. With a very material eye she looks for prices in every
instance. They strike right home to her pocket-book. In most
instances prices represent the first, last and greatest considera-
tion. When no prices are given she is quite at sea and turns
for relief to the ads that give facts and figures.

With prices she can make mental or notebook memoran-
dum as to how far her dollars and dimes can travel — which
memorandum is a great satisfaction in itself. Woman on a
shopping expedition becomes a practical individual and the more
practical she becomes the more she demands goods and prices.

A score or more years ago very few stores gave printed
prices either in store placards or advertisement in any
form. This gave an opportunity to practice a sliding scale of
prices, to charge whatever figure they thought the customer
could stand. A. T. Stewart and John Wanamaker were pion-
eers in the matter of making one price — and that undeviated
from — to all customers. Then this one fair price idea became
accentuated by store price cards and newspaper ads calling
attention to these fair prices until now almost every retail house
advertises prices.

It looks more business-like in a retail ad to give the price.
The presence of the figures in type is the next best thing to the
actual clink of tlie money itself. It is a type argument that
stands out impregnable against all counter argument. When

120 Successful Advertising

you see a price in print your mind is set at rest on the point of
cost. The great question, " How much? " is answered to your
complete satisfaction.

When you do not find the price in print you lay aside the
paper with a feeling of dissatisfaction, unless you are so rich or
careless that price is no object with you. But in these times,
when price is a greater object than it ever was before, almost
everybody looks out for the cost of things. And if John Smith
& Co. do not give any items and prices in their otherwise clever
ad you are very likely to swing your trade in the direction of
John Jones & Co., who answer all your very natural questions
about the quality, variety and prices of their offering in a man-
ner complete, easy and satisfactory.

A retail ad without prices is like a tale half told. No
drummer can sell goods without dilating upon his easy terms —
no huckster thinks of selling bananas from his cart unless he
shouts the price hard and loud.

Giving prices is the most vital element in selling. Do not
think that a general review of your stocks in a bright ad is suffi-
cient without goods and prices, for it is not. Always be spe-
cific with one or more articles — give full descriptions of them —
and again I repeat, never fail to give the prices.

Furniture Advertising,

The best furniture advertising done anywhere to-day is
that done by The Paine Furniture Co. of Boston.

Scores of people in Boston, in New York and in the West
have told me that the ads of the Paine Furniture Co. repre-
sented the best in furniture advertising, which verdict
coincides exactly with my own views. Inasmuch as this
advertising stands at the top of the pyramid of good furniture
advertising let us analyze it a little and see if some of its good
points cannot be applied to other furniture advertising.

Pick up any Boston daily, morning or evening, and you'll
find the Paine Furniture ad. It is missing on Sunday. Like
the Wananiaker and O'Neil ads of New York, it takes a rest on
Sunday, but starts up fresh and forcible on Monday morning
and stays right along in business until Saturday.

How To Accomplish It. 121

It represents a good example of the one idea in advertising.
A single piece of furniture such as a sideboard, a dining-room
table, or a lounge is taken. A wood engraving — showing
exactly the article spoken of — stands at the head of the ad, and
the talk following is a splendid specimen of the dignified, eas)^,
and sensible style of advertising. The description of the side-
board or whatever is being advertised is cleverly complete — the
price is generally given, and room is nearly always found for
a detail of the particular uses of the article. Ever\' day, ex-
cepting Sunday, a fresh ad appears, and this sort of thing is
kept up throughout the year with the exception of three or
four big splurges in the line of " clearance sales" and " open-
ings."

If you are a furniture dealer and wish to satisfy yourself as
to the benefit to be derived from good advertising just drop in
48 Canal Street, and look through the warerooms of The Paine
Furniture Co. the next time you happen in Boston. The im-
mense business this concern does is a living, active demonstra-
tion of the power of publicity. Out of the regular retail
district — in a region given to wholesalers and manufacturers of
everything under the sun — but fortunately convenient to the
depots of several railroads — The Paine Furniture Co. swings
trade in its direction by carrying the right sort of goods and
rightly placing this information before the public.

Boston is a city of good furniture advertising, anyway.
Jordan, Marsh &. Co , with their immense furniture store in the
heart of the city, have built up an enormous furniture business
in a very short period of time. Osgood with his "when in
doubt buy of Osgood," is in evidence constantly with examples
of good advertising, and McArthur and Atkinson also help
along the advertising columns of the Boston dailies.

And when you are ready to proceed advertising you can
gain many points from the advertising of such furniture con-
cerns as The Paine Furniture Co., Jordan, Marsh & Co.,
Osgood, Arthur McArthur and Plymptons, of Boston — Tobey
and Mandel Bros., of Chicago — The Adams Dry Goods Co.,
Flint, Cowperthwait, Little and Baumann of New York — Wana-
maker of Philadelphia, etc.

122 Successful Advertising

You will note that tliey nearly all use illustrations. I
believe in illustrations in furniture advertising. A cut of an
easy chair with a man comfortably ensconced in it smoking a
pipe tells more in an instant about tlie virtue of an easy chair
than a quarter column in t3'pe could in an hour. The picture,
the story and the price combined make the winning combina-
tion.

The keys for furniture advertisers to play upon are :

Thrift — the money saving opportunities in your store.

Quality — the good workmanship and materials evident in
your offerings.

Fair Treatment — courteous, intelligent clerks, prompt
deliveries and "money back if you want it."

Easy Shopping — large assortments to select from, plainly
priced goods, broad aisles, well lighted corners and interesting
displays.

Play with the right touch upon these four advertising keys
and if the store and merchandise back up the printed matter
business must come.

Too much stress cannot be laid upon the importance of a
well-defined, well carried out plan of advertising. Week in
and week out should this plan be faithfully adhered to — it
should be as well observed as the opening of the store every
morning. Spasmodic is not the adjective that qualifies the
advertising of the intelligent. It is the continuous, cumulative
force that fetches.

The furniture advertiser speaks to the impressionable mem-
ber of the human family — woman — and she who is such an
important factor in household buying is influenced not only by
to-day's ad but by scores of previous ads. These past ads make
the store stand out stronger in her mind. Advertising is but
the public voice of the store, and the more constant, consistent
and clear is this voice, the more will the household head think
of that store when furniture, carpets, rugs, etc., are needed.

Jnst a word on circular advertising. A certain wide-awake
carpet and furniture retailer scans the daily papers for engage-
ment, marriage and birth notices. To the newly engaged he
sends a "printed typewritten circular letter," speaking of his

How To Accomplish It. 123

ability to furnish a house, flat, or room at the right price. To
the newly married he sends the same circular, supplemented
with another, giving an attractive list of items that may be
added from time to time after the house is furnished. To
proud parents he sends his price list on baby carriages and
cribs. He says the idea is a good one.

Advertising lIoHse=FiirKisliings, Floor Coverings, Upholstery
floods, China, Glassware, Lamps, Etc.

In advertising these goods use home arguments. Show
/low the home is made happier because neater, lighter, better
t'urnished and more inviting by reason of the household needs
bought at so and so's establishment. Do not be afraid to quote
low prices in your advertising and never forget to dilate upon
bargain prices in the introductory talk.

The house-furnisher is peculiarly susceptible to bargain
arguments.

Many stores offer extremely alluring "bargains" at the
expense of quality. In other words they palm off "seconds"
in place of genuine first quality goods and it is not until the
articles so bought have gone through some household usage that
the worth of the " bargains (?) " becomes apparent.

The dealer who offers "seconds" should boldly say so in
his advertising. I believe that the frank admission of a defect
in an article increases public confidence in a store. At any rate
the woman buying "seconds" after they were advertised as
"seconds" cannot blame anybody but herself if the articles do
not give satisfactory service, for she went into the transaction
with her eyes wide open. On the other hand the retailer who
sells "seconds " to a customer under the false impression (gained
through the advertising) makes a distinct mistake. Deceptions
of that sort are boomerangs in their efiects. The advantages
they give are only temporary. Reputable dealers know their
worth.

The House-Furnishing Department is always an interesting
shopping spot to the matron. Every time she visits it she can
see scores of opportunities to add to household requirements.

124 Successful Advertising

If she has the money to spare it requires but a little silent coax-
ing from neat exhibits of pans, shovels, ice boxes, etc., and some
price tickets for her to yield. She buys these goods with pleas-
ure, for are they not to be part of her daily existence in her
fluttering from kitchen to dining room — in her constant duties
to make her home what it should be, a home in reality ?
Following this same line of thought one can see how the adver-
tising of house-furnishings exercises a peculiar influence over
women with home tendencies.

The arguments that underlie the above talk are the argu-
ments to bring to bear upon the advertising of Lamps, China,
Glassware, Crockery, Bric-a-Brac, Pictures, Carpets, Rugs,
Linoleums, Oil-cloths, Upholstery Goods, etc. All can be well
advertised in the local papers — all in the regular "value giving"
style and each ad can be made interesting and readable because
of the " home influence " that the advertising breathes.

Retailers in large cities, auctioneers, itinerant Syrians and
"fly-by-night" concerns sell immense quantities of rugs by
auction. This is a system of selling that has developed to a large
degree within the past few years. Auction advertising is some-
what different from regular retail advertising, as auction adver-
tising requires in addition to the uses of newspaper columns the
services of a catalogue or sheet showing in catalogue form a list
of the various kinds of rugs. A large percentage of such rug
advertising has been fake advertising pure and simple. Many
and many a " Circassian" and " Belloochistan " rug never got
nearer the Orient than the Bowery in New York City and many
and many a highly respectable American family is finding out
this to be a frigid and sore fact. So through bitter experience is
the demand for "high qualities" becoming stronger year after
year and the wise dealer of to-day gives quality at the same
moment he gives the benefit of a low price.

How To Accomplish It. 125

Give Full Description of Items.

When you say anything, you like to say your say complete.

You do not like to be choked off before you have half
finished your tale. You would say that was excessively annoying.

When you are listening to or reading a magazine story, a
novel, a poem, or even an ad, you like to get the whole detail.
If you are in any degree interested in the affair — be it story,
poem or ad — a half- told idea is not as satisfying as the complete,
well-rounded expression of the whole. Supposing you were
reading an ad, and you were interested in men's underwear
because you were thinking of investing in some, which of the
two following items would suit you the best ?

Genuine French Lisle Men's Underwear, regular |i.oo
goods, only 50c. a garment.

Men's Underwear of Genuine French Lisle : Shirts have
French neck : ribbed bottoms and pearl buttons — drawers
have French satinetop and the long Otis gusset— regular $1.00
goods, now 50c. a garment.

It is dollars to doughnuts you would say the latter. Why ?
For the simple reason that it gives you more complete informa-
tion about the garments in which you were interested. The
first paragraph only touches — suggests ; it is not satisfactory by
any means.

Yet many advertisers prefer to give the first paragraph, so
meagre of information, to the second, which is sufficient in
detail because : —

(i) Two or three lines of advertising space is saved.

(2) It requires less effort in preparation.

The latter reason is not worth discussing, because if no
effort is made to win trade, very little trade is won.

The other reason is penny-wise, pound-foolish policy. If
you skimp and manage to save a five dollar bill in the matter
of space in your ad, you stand a very excellent chance of

126 Successful Advertising-

losing several times that amount in business in your underwear
department.

Items and prices are potent factors in retail advertising —
the writer has preached that several times before because he has
seen and studied the practical operation of the subject in many,
many instances — and knows that the items should be complete
with all the necessary information.

Let me give a few more illustrations of the difiference
between complete and incomplete items.

The incomplete kind in Men's Linen Suits : —

Men's Linen Suits regular $3.50 grade — only ;^2.48.

The complete kind in Men's Linen Suits : —

Men's Linen Suits of brown mixed diagonal and striped
tow — cool and comfortable — usually I3.50 now I2.48.

The incomplete kind in Neckwear : —

Men's fashionable ties — were 50c. now 250.

The complete kind in Neckwear : —

Men's fashionable ties comprising pure silk tecks and four-
in-hands— latest knots and patterns — some with wide flowing
ends ; were 50c. each, your choice 25c.

If the reader cares to test the idea here attempted, let him
take some popular article and advertise it in the incomplete
item way. A few days later he can attempt the other method
and the difference in results will forever satisfy him that the
only way to handle items is to give full, complete and satis-
factory details about what he is trying to sell.

^Sow to start, Engineer and Drop a Sale.

How Should the Sale be Started? — Do not jump at it !

Give some thought to it. Very few sales are gotten up in such
a hurry that a day or two cannot be given to the consideration
of such points as special cuts to be made, special spaces to be
contracted for, special notices to the written up and strong,
business bringing advertising prepared.

How To Accomplish It. 127

The newspaper end of the sale demands thought and so
do the problems within the store. Window tickets, inside dis-
play cards and price tags must be prepared. Special spaces
must be reserved in the portion of the store where the sale will
take place.

From the receiving room down to the delivery department
all must be put in readiness for a business-like handling of the
event.

Let us assume that the event is a clearance sale of $7.50,
^10.00 and $12.00 suits for men and youths. The clearance price
is fixed at ^5.00.

Such a sale usually opens Saturday, for Saturday is the best
day for selling clothing.

Make the preparations as above stated.

The idea is to have the sale last at least a week. It may
last a fortnight. The prime point is to run it as long as it is a
trade winner.

Prepare these ads. One is for Friday evening (for Satur-
day's trade.) The second is for Sunday (for Monday's trade)
and the third for Monday (for Tuesday's trade.) The first ad
should be the largest. That it should be well-written, illus-
trated and printed is understood. The second ad should be in
the strain of " The Sale Is Now On." The third ad follows
the idea of the second with the added information to impart to
an expectant public that " Success Has Marked the Course Of
This Sale."

Now we have the sale well under way and will consider:

How Should the Sale Be Engineered? Here is where

the ingenuity of the advertising writer shows itself. For every
day in the week something new must be said about the progress
of the sale. He will receive his best inspiration by going
into the clothing department and watch the actual course of
the sale.

It is extremely essential that the advertising writer work
in harmony with the manager of the clothing department and
the clearer is the understanding among everybody concerned in
the sale the greater is the chance for success.

128 Successful Advertising

Both heads — the head of the advertising department and
the head of the clothing department — watch the progress of the
sale. If it shows any signs of cessation the advertising man
pours fresh, strong copy into the columns of the papers and the
clothing man pours fresh, bargain-great stocks on his counter.

A week goes by. Saturday evening brings the two mana-
gers together to compare notes and conclude if the sale is to be
pushed another week

The second week is practically a repetition of the first. If
the sale possesses unusual elements of vitality it is swung along
into a third week.

The only excuse a sale can give for its existence is that it
pays. When it begins to ooze forth the meagre returns — like a
half dry pump — then it is time to consider : —

How Should the Sale Be Dropped? Do not drop it

with a dull thud in the middle of the week. Before dissolution
there is usually a last rally of the vital forces, a last gasp, as it
were, and this last effort in the clothing sale can be turned into
a very respectable end-of-the-week finish.

Then drop the sale.

As long as it was a business bringer it was operated — the
moment it lost its drawing powers that moment was it dropped !

Have a Reason for That Sale.

Much printer's ink, as well as time, thought, work and
money, is thrown away in a certain kind of advertising.

This is the order of advertising that is a simple tale of
items and prices, — a dreary waste of recitals without any logical
reason attempting to show the cause for such values.

There is a reason for everything. Never yet was a price
cut or a new lot of goods bought without a cause. Cause dom-
inates effort. Therefore if you are advertising thirty-six inch
unbleached muslin worth seven cents at five cents per yard, tell
somewhere in the general heading or body of the ad your reasons
for making such offerings. Tell the public that you secured a
snap from some overstocked muslin manufacturer or importer,
or that you wished to move your cotton dress goods department

How To Accomplish It. 129

to your basement, or that carpenters are tearing the heart out
of your store, or that the end of the active season is approach-
ing and that you do not care to carry these goods over.
Always have a reason, and come out with that reason boldly
and honestly.

Shoe Advertising.

The spring and summer styles of footwear are now in every
shoe store from ocean to ocean, and thousands of retailers are
giving huge chunks of thought as to how the shoe advertising
can best be done.

Of course, there are varieties of ways, as there are in all
lines of business. Some shoe dealers come out once a week
with a double half column splurge on shoes, with a dozen or
twenty items. Some think the daily presentation of a leader,
illustrated with an exact cut of the shoe and with a full descrip-
tion of its merits and price, is about the proper caper. Some
advertise tri-weekly, some bi-weekly, some weekly after this
idea, and then come out strong four or five times a year with a
good-sized ad covering several lines.

In my experience I have found that the idea of advertising
a single drive in shoes is an excellent one. The average shoe
store cannot afford to advertise heavily as do bigger stores in
other lines ; but there is no reason why its advertising cannot
be continual and profitable. A daily space in the local paper
of about four in(!:hes is not an extravagant outlay for some shoe
concerns where shoe competition is pretty keen and the town's
population fairly good-sized. The ad should be changed con-
stantly— each successive story should tell of a new shoe bargain
in an interesting manner, or of an old shoe value dished up in a
new form.

In Sunday's ad take, say, men's patent leather shoes of the
hand-sewed variety. Get a cut, write a catch-line or two, then
sail in on your description of this particular shoe. Display the
name of the shoe and its price — let the rest of the body be in
Pica or Nonpareil lower case. Have a paragraph at the bottom,
about an inch deep, set in Agate, speaking in general about the
completeness of your stock, the universal lowness in price, etc.

130 Successful Advertising-

On Monday come out with another story on another shoe. Let
us suppose it is a woman's Dongola patent leather tipped button
shoe. Let the same idea on set-up and general arrangement
prevail here as in yesterday's ad. Tuesday you can speak of
men's bicycle shoes, and so on all through the week, giving your
readers fresh ads on fresh subjects daily. If you cannot catch a
buyer on Monday's ad, you may with Thursday's attempt. At
any rate by a succession of ads on every shoe subject, you are
likely in the course of the week to cover almost every shoe
desire, and this sort of advertising, if intelligently and persist-
ently followed, with occasional splurges at "clearance sale"
times, will bring you in lots of trade.

If you think you cannot afford to come out daily, then come
out bi-weekly or tri-weekly — only when you do advertise, do so
in a clear-cut and definite manner as outlined above.

I am moved to make these remarks by an examination this
afternoon of a dozen small town papers from a dozen points in
the Union. There wasn' t a good shoe ad in the whole dozen
papers. Strange, but true. I remarked so to an Illinois mer-
chant who happened to be in my office.

"Oh, well," he said, "these shoe dealers don't seem to
care. They've advertising contracts with their local papers
which they must live up to some way or other, and if the spaces
are filled with any sort of advertising — as long as it's advertising
— that's all that's necessary in their estimation."

He further thought that much of this advertising was sup-
posed to be done by the bookkeepers or clerks, who were kept
busy enough with other duties, and who naturally did not give
the advertising the attention it deserved.

There are sinners in this respect in every branch of the busi-
ness, and if they fall at the trade wayside, one of the great rea-
sons— if not the greatest — will be the very poor advertising they
put forth.

I noted one space in particular, it occupied six inches
altogether, and imparted the startling information that Dash,
Dash & Co.'s stock of shoes was the best in the town, and their
prices were way down. Rather a vague and hazy way of slioe
advertising — to put it mildly. To put it more justly, it was an

How To Accomplish It. 131

idiotic waste of good space. It sprawled all over six valuable
inches and said nothing.

As advertising manager for various concerns, I found the
plan of advertising a single shoe value at a time very good.
Charles A. Estes, of Denver, was a very intelligent advertiser.
In writing his shoe ads I followed the single idea every day

Then on the other hand, such successful shoe concerns as
the Massachusetts Shoe Co., of Boston, come out with a broad-
side of twenty or thirty items very frequently. It pays them,
because they have been doing it for years. And it does not neces-
sarily follow that a daily sale ad on a special shoe value would
not pay them also. Alfred J, Cammeyer, of New York, is cer-
tainly a good shoe advertiser, and his advertising can well be
studied by shoe concerns everywhere.

Mr. Shoe Dealer, here's a paragraph that I suggest you
paste in your hat :

As long as you have an advertising contract with a paper
see that your advertising space is filled with the best sort of
advertising.

It's a plain, simple sentence, but it means much to your
bank account. It is not the amount of space you use that counts
— it is rather what you say, and how you say it. And if you do
not feel that you can do your advertising justice, get somebody
who can.

Window Displays.

Simplicity — concentration — force! Such are the show
window qualities that attract.

Complexity — over-display — frippery ! Such are the show
window qualities that distract.

And the difiference between attraction and distraction is the
difference between gain and loss of trade.

Some natures — essentially vulgar — love over-display and
pointless adornment. But intelligent, well-ordered minds love
the strikingly simple — the display or arrangement that gives ex-
pression to an idea without loss of force.

The show window is a great factor in swinging retail
trade. Its importance is not appreciated to the degree it should.

132 Successful Advertising

Yet retailers are giving more and more thought to the question
of intelligent window dressing.

In the writer's estimation the keynote of intelligent window
dressing is simplicity. A window full of ladies' and children's
garments, arranged with the intention of displaying the greatest
assortment possible, is not as trade-compelling as a few gar-
ments mounted on figures gracefully poised before a large mir-
ror. A windowful of all sorts of house-furnishings does not for
a moment begin to compare with the window given solely to a
kitchen scene or wash tubs or tinware or something that accent-
uates the use of a certain line of merchandise.

Speaking about the advance in the art of window dressing,
many merchant readers will remember how (in their visits to
New York) they used to walk up Broadway and note the
helter-skelter arrangement of the windows. In a clothing win-
dow would be a few overcoats, a few odd coats, a few suits, a
few twenty-five cent ties, a few suspenders and a few other
things making a weird contrast and effect, a combination pos-
sessing neither weakness nor strength. Yet the window dresser
would show the same system (or lack of system as you like it),
day after day until the passer-by who gave even little thought to
the subject wondered why people showed such poor taste in
window dressing.

But to-day it is another story. To-day look in these same
windows ! When you look you see something ! You see back
of a window exhibit the idea standing out in bold relief. A
window may be given to an efiective shoe display, and mind
you, there will be nothing else in that window but shoes. (This
shoe display is to help that shoe ad in the papers yesterday.)

Another window will be given exclusively to a handsome
line of overcoats (to emphasize the overcoat ad of two days pre-
vious). Mirrors, figures and black velvet eflfects are skillfully
used in displaying the merchandise and the result is.

A clea7t ciit^ concrete expressiofi of an idea.

Motion in some form or other is given much study by lead-
ing window dressers. During the holiday seasons especially,
animated window displays are found in the windows of nearly
every important city establishment. The eye is instantly

How To Accomplish It. 133

attracted by activity and it takes but a few minutes for a crowd
to gather about the window with marionettes or the high kicker
or the goggle eyed dummy with the cigar.

Inside Store Displays.

There is room in plenty for taste, cleverness and artistic
(likewise business) ability when engaged upon an inside store
display.

A display to attract attention must possess sufficient origin-
ality to at once arrest the eye with a unique color arrangement
or a scheme so harmonious and beautiful so to be truly artistic.

It pays to give proper attention to interior displays.

They lighten up the store ; they soften and subdue the
hard business effect ; to the most prosaic merchandise they add
a charm which alone possesses a pecuniary value.

The most cultured admire a fine interior exhibit. The
most ignorant are influenced by it. The great mass of shoppers
are swayed by it. Dollars and cents are hypnotized by it, and
the merchant who is wise always remembers this.

In every store there is a young man or woman with the
taste and intelligence to properly attend to all displays. This
person should be encouraged.

The fundamentals that underlie advertising and window
exhibits underlie all counter, shelf and aisle displays. The
first point is to catch the eye ; the second, to retain it long
enough to deepen the first impression.

A dress goods exhibit is comparatively easy, as there are so
many color combinations that can be set in contrast.

And wash goods ! What lovelier shelf or counter display
can be made than from fresh, fashionable challies, dimities and
other wash fabrics ?

A silk showing can be made rich, luxurious and striking
by the sheen of even one color. The silken lustre reflects
another lustre in the eye of every feminine looker-on.

A suit and cloak department would not be worthy the name
were not nice attention paid to the grouping of stylish gar-
ments on forms, racks, tables and glass cases.

134 Successful Advertising

As for millinery, the up-to-now department in this line is
simply bewildering to a man, though "a thing of joy " to his
wife, sister or near female relative.

Men's and boys' clothing and furnishings have a thousand
different ways of viewing tlieir worth and beauty, and the clever
clerk with a few artistic ideas in his head need not be told this.

And so on through the whole alphabet of merchandise.
Just a little thought — ^just a few ideas — ^just a little work — just a
little lee-way from the employer, and something new and effect-
ive meets the visitor's eye every day.

The employees do not see these effects as quickly as do the
customers. For outside eyes, fresh with outside impressions, see
these inside ideas oftentimes quicker than inside eyes accustomed
day in and day out to inside impressions.

Familiarity not only breeds contempt, but begets forget-
fulness.

He who is wise gets up an inside display to accentuate the
window display, which in turn emphasizes the display in the
newspapers. The three displays make a winning trio !

Keeping Ahead of Competition.

Competition is a mighty good thing for the public at large,
as they always participate in the benefits resulting from a price
war, between competing dealers in the same line of goods.

But no large amount of satisfaction lodges in the bosoms of
the dealers themselves, as they see their profits dwindle down
to a small point, through the cutting-down profit influences
which competition brings in its train.

Most dealers look upon competition as a terrible thing. So
it frequently is — to profits — to good trade — and what this
chapter now wishes to consider and suggest, is some method
whereby this monster — competition — can be met on his own
grounds and vanquished with ease.

The secret is this : —

Get ahead of competition and stay ahead. Get so far ahead
of your neighbor in point of store methods, stocks, displays,
advertising methods, etc., that you may look upon that, once

How To Accomplish It. 135

dreaded foe, competition, with a sardonic smile and a feeling of
contempt and triumph.

If you carry a line of dress goods, carry such an assortment
of novelties that you will be soon recognized as the only mer-
chant in town, in the dress goods line. No matter how much
your competitors may cut and slash their dress goods prices, you
can smile and bear it amicably, for the reason that the superiority
and up-to-dateness of your stocks, place you far beyond the reach
of their cut price attacks.

Supposing you are a dealer in jackets, capes and ladies'
garments, and that there are two other dealers in the same
town, in the same lines? Do you fear competition? Under or-
dinary circumstances you would, but by carrying a stock superior
to theirs in quality, variety, and in point of novelties with, excel-
lent store service, you have so established yourself in the hearts
of the ladies of your town, that you have become the Altman of
your place, and fear no competition because there is practically
no competition to fear.

You have lifted yourself out of tlie ordinary class. When a
woman wants the latest and best in the garment line, she thinks
only of your store. She does not consider for a moment the com-
petitive howls of "cheap-cheap," because experience has taught
her that on only the ordinary and often the undesirable goods,
for which she has no use, do these prices exist.

When once you get a reputation in a city or town as being
ahead of all other stores in the matter of varieties, new things
and good things, you need fear that bugaboo, competition, but
very little. You can mark your goods at fair prices and easily
get the same, for the simple reason that the goods you carry can-
not be procured elsewhere. You have taken the wind out of
competition's sails. People look upon you as the headquarters
for the latest and best, and when they want these goods they will
get them without small quibbling over small savings.

So get ahead of all your would-be rivals by keeping a step or
two ahead of them in the march of good storekeeping, and thus
keep a step or two ahead of that once monster of hideous mien :
Competition.

136

Successful Advertising

Hardware Advertising.

These cool days and chilly nights impress upon the house-
wife's mind the virtues of good stoves, ranges, furnaces and
radiators, as well as the right sort of ironware, agateware, tin-
ware and other wares that wear in such a manner as to be a
lasting advertisement for the hardware merchant who supplied
them.

In advertising hardware the same general rules that apply
to other forms of advertising, of course, prevail. In brief
they are :

1. To say something definite about the good qualities or
price-cheapness of the article advertised.

2. To be timely — for each advertisement to be nicely
adjusted to weather conditions.

3. For the advertising to be sincere, honest and succinct —
liberal enough in space without being extravagant, and brief
enough without being stingy.

All of which, although self evident, are important enough
to be here repeated.

From a certain daily, not so
many thousands of miles away from
this city, I have clipped two adver-
tisements on stoves and heaters. One
shows the right way to advertise —
the other the right way not to adver-
tise. The advertiser who pays his
good money can take his choice.

This advertisement tells what
the radiators will do and cost.
With a cut it took up a space of forty
agate lines (double column wide).
Variety and additional information
could be given in the succeeding
advertisements by telling whether or

ARE YOU READY FOR
WINTER?

How about Radiators ?
There are many in the mar-
ket, but none better than

THE

RADIATORS.

Adjvistable to steam and
hot water, they will diffuse a
grateful, healthful and com-
fortable heat in any building
— in any weather.

They are ornamental— they
are serviceable — they are
economical — they come in all
sizes and styles, and with
perfect joints — iron to iron —
they wiU never leak.

Prices
Range

From $00 to §00.

How To Accomplish It.

137

THE CENTRE OP AT-
TRACTION

Is our grand assortment of
Stoves,
Ranges,
Furnaces,
Radiators,
Shovels,
Rakes,

Hoes, etc.

P. S. — A new arrival of
Scythes, wiiich will be sold
cheap during the haying
season.

not they would be put up free of charge — how much room should
be giveu them in certain size rooms — their different styles of
finish, and testimonials from hotels, public buildings and prom-
inent private dwellings. (Testimonials are always good, whether
for articles of household use or personal requirement.)

Here is the other style ad which
— strange to say — is still the style
used by many merchants not only
in bucolic sections, but in many
good-sized towns.

Although October is turning
forests into bright visions of kaleid-
oscopic colors — although the haying
season is well of the past — there is
an advertisement (?) that covers a
great variety of articles and says
nothing about anything. The upper
portion reminds one of mid-winter
needs — the rake and hoe part of
planting and harvesting seasons, and the scythe section of July
and August. It stands for twelve months in the year — it aims to be
good every month in the twelve, but
is not useful even a minute. It takes
up the same space as the sample pre-
ceding it. Through the lines you
can almost see the weary local editor
persuading the local mercantile mag-
nate to advertise, which the latter
does after repeated promises and
much wrestling with a lead pencil
and a piece of brown paper.

While touching upon store ad-
vertising, I avail myself of the op-
portunity of presenting the subjoined
clever advertisement which serves
to give a very pointed illustration as
to what may be accomplished by
reasonable application.

OUR STOVE HOSPITAL

Serves the same purpose for
stoves as an ordinary hospital
serves for human beings. It is
in charge of an experienced
stove surgeon, who with a
staff of trained assistants
devotes his whole time to
stove repairing. It costs less
to have repairs done properly
by experienced men, than the
tinkering up by amateurs, be-
cause the former will do bet-
ter work in half the time
taken by the latter. Shall we
send one of our stove sur-
geons to see about your
stove? He wiU give esti-
mates and full information
for your asking.

138 Successful Advertising

Jewelry and Optical Advertising.

Jewelry is a luxury — not a necessity.

The advertiser should never lose sight of this fact.

It takes more brains — more skillful salesmanship — more
clever and ingenious advertising to sell luxuries than necessities.

Honesty, straightforwardness, simple common sense — such
qualities never lose their advertising vitality and should be
remembered with every ad penned to push a jewelry business.

Poor salesmanship and poor or no advertising will not prevent
the sale of necessities. For the people must and will have them.

Not so with luxuries — with diamonds, watches, rings, pins
and jewelry generally.

The advertising of such should typify in the highest degree
skilled advertising — yes, artistic advertising.

When one undertakes to prepare a booklet, brochure or
circular advertising jewelry, he can count upon obtaining effects
in the illustrating and presswork worthy of the scintillating
specials mentioned.

Not so with newspaper ads. Newspapers are ground by the
thousands through presses at a high rate of speed. The pressure
of their printing precludes artistic effects. Probably this is why
so few jewelers advertise in newspapers — the most practical
advertising.

But if newspapers cannot show superb half-tones, most of
them can set up ads that, as far as type and borders are concerned,
should satisfy advertisers. "Line cuts," skillfully drawn and
cut deep, are used to-day in newspaper advertising by thousands
of jewelry advertisers.

Taste should be given the greatest latitude consistent with
straightforward selling qualities. The advertising of all articles
of luxury should appeal to the refined desires that are subdued,
if not entirely eliminated, when buying everyday needs. The
writer's pen, the artist's brush and the printer's type should,
therefore, aim to produce advertising that fitly reflects the beauty,
richness and exclusiveness of the articles advertised.

How To Accomplish

139

These two ads probably give a better expression to tlie pre-
ceding ideas on jewelry advertising :

RELIABLE
WATCHES.

The finest gold chronometers
— the inexpensive silver and
nickel case watches, all sorts,
all prices — are represented in
our splendid watch assort-
ments.

Ladies will be interested in
our attractive arrangement
of Chatelaine watches, com-
prising a showing pleasing
alike to the eye, taste and
purse.

How does this item please
your purse ? :

Ladies' Silver Chatelaine Watch, fancy
eiianiele<i dial, assorted colors, and ena-
meled chatelaine to match, worth $9.00,
but here at $G 50.

Whatever is loorth having in a jewelry
store is in this store. Its appointments
are in harmony with the exquisite
and meritoriotis merchandise we car-
ry. Our expert knowledge is always
at your disposal.

T. T. THOMPSON & SDK.

EXCLUSIVE JEWELRY.

Exclusive — exquisite — trust-
worthy— tvhat an array of ad-
jectives springs to the point of
the pen when it writes about
our stock !

Holiday and birthday pres-
ents — wedding gifts — articles
of personal wear or household
adornment — all are here in a
profusion of varieties.

The market is difficult but
we knoio it as does no other
j eweler in toton. Years of ex-
perience and ample capital
bring the cream, of the market
to us — then to you !

Small profits satisfy tis — in
proof of which we say :

Ladies' silver Chatelaine Watch,
fancy enameled dial, assorted
colors, and enameled chatelaine
to match, worth g9.00, but here
at JG.50.

Our diamonds are of the first
water— flawless. Some dia-
monds are imperfectly cut —
" off color " — poor in shape or
tarnished, with flaws, but
such stones never find their
way in the establishment of

W. W. WALSmNGHAM.

Writing jewelry advertising is a most difficult task to the
beginner. To many at no time is it an easy task. But to those
who "get the swing of it" it is delightfully congenial work.
The mind is occupied with the contemplation of the beautiful.
The richest and rarest of this world's riches are subjects of the
writer's consideration. If he has imagination it is exercised —
often inflamed — by the great influence possessed by this material
wealth — the part it has played in history — the part it will play
in history — the endless and far-reaching effects it has had and
will have upon human passions. Jewelry is an emblem of
wealth that the world promptly recognizes. The possessor of
jewelry shows conclusive, concrete evidence that he or she is a
somebody — so far as distance from poverty and all its disadvan-
tages are concerned.

140 Successful Advertising

As wealth attracts wealth, so does the wearer of diamonds
attract riches. Hence it is recognized as good business policy
for a person to buy diamonds. Look prosperous and you stand
an excellent chance of being prosperous. Should reverses come
and you are obliged to hypothecate the diamonds for more
necessary greenbacks, you will find that you can raise a loan of
larger proportions and with greater alacrity from the gentleman
who flourishes under the three-ball sign with jewelry as security
than with any other form of collateral. In other words, jewelry
stands for money at any and all times.

The preceding paragraph contains points of importance to
the writer of jewelry advertising.

If the writer wishes historical data upon jewelry all he has
to do is to look into almost any history. Macaulay's history is
suggested not only because it mentions jewelry and its influences
in several instances, but also because the luxuriant imagery of
its captivating style is full of inspiration to the writer upon
jewelry. Edgar Allen Poe's remarkable story, "The Gold Bug,"
is recommended to the writer of jewelry advertising by reason of
its splendid descriptions. Moore's " Lai la Roohk" is a poem
that should arouse the dullest imagination to a degree where it
could express something worthy of jewelry.

Type selections should be dignified — yes, elegant.

Borders should be neat and attractive.

Printing, paper, presswork and cuts should be the best
procurable.

Newspaper advertising should be given careful consideration
by all retail jewelers. In fact many wholesale jewelers can,
with great profit, give thought to magazine and booklet advertis-
ing as the power of advertising in creating a sale through every
channel is rapidly becoming appreciated by wholesalers and
manufacturers. See how clothing, shoes and foods are advertised
to-day — not only by retailers, but also by manufacturers and
wholesalers who recognize the fact that when a demand is created
the retailers must supply the goods.

The retail jeweler who has never tried local advertising
hardly knows how to begin. Let him do as the most experienced
advertisers are doing, viz. : Go in regularly with a three or four-

How To Accomplish It.

141

inch ad. The advertising appropriation should amount to about
three per cent, of his business. At first it may seem money-
thrown away, but presently the increased business done will
prove the soundness of advertising as an investment.

A few more ideas for the writer of jewelry advertising :
Write about the splendor of the jewelry.
" " " riches " " "

'' '* '' values " "

" " " varieties " "

Then tell the story as to why
Such low prices . . . can be quoted.

" high-grade goods . " "offered.

" liberal varieties . " " shown.

Optical advertising should dwell upon the danger of
neglecting the eyes — the folly of not having them occasionally
examined by a qualified optician — the strain to which they are
frequently subjected, by an excess of
sunlight, gas light, electric light,
reading in bed, etc. — the headaches
that result from a strain on the eyes
— the evils of astigmatism — in short
all the ills the eye is subject to and the
argument to end up the skill of the
optician and the worth of his glasses.
Another good point by a legiti-
mate optician is this :

Thousands upon thousands of
pairs of eyeglasses are annually sold
in this country by pedlars and small
dealers who know as much about the
delicate details of the eye as does a
Red Indian about a Fifth Avenue
function. But the small price and
superficial chatterings of the seller
overcome the buyer.

The annexed ad gives a hint
on optical advertising that may be
of some service.

YOUR EYES
ARE VALUABLE !

Protect them. They
are " the windows of
the soul" and should
always be bright and
healthy. If there is
anything wrong with
them take them to
us. We are opticians
in the true sense of
the word — eminently
qualified to attend to
your eyes' best in-
terests.

Our Perfect Fitting Nose Guards
are the best and most com-
fortable ever made. All who
wear them advertise them.
Price $0.00.
Quick repairing done in our own
factory on the premises. Eyes
examined free of charge.
Frkd Flint & Co.

142 Successful Advertising

Advertising Books.

Once upon a time the advertising man of a moderate-sized
retail store thus gave the three essentials that the man who
would advertise books should possess :

" I. A knowledge of books. He must understand the
variations of the public's fancy. He must know at least one
thing about every book that appears in his ad. He should con-
trive to find what is new in advance of when it reaches the
public eye through the medium of literary journals, thus mak-
ing his ads up to date. He ought to be a reader and a man of
some literary ability.

"2. A general understanding of the rudiments of proper
advertising. He should know the different styles of type, and
possess the artist's eye for their proper arrangement. He should
know how much space an ad ought to take and, when he has
limited space at his disposal, just how much matter will prop-
erly fill it.

" 3. An original way of expressing himself."

Clever and apt references to books do more to sell them
than anything else.

All who are posted on books and advertising will agree
that the three paragraphs above are meaty and true.

When a book is issued there usually are four persons inter-
ested in its sale. They are :

The author.

The publisher.

The bookseller (who confines himself strictly to books).

The retailer (who has a book department with other
departments).

The author can assist the publisher in the sale of the book
by preparing a lot of ads and reading notices — assuming that
the publisher is going to advertise the book and that either he
or the book possesses enough influence to secure reading notices.

The publisher can advertise the book by inserting a rea-
sonable amount of dis^^lay advertising in suitable mediums. If

How To Accomplish It. 143

the book is a popular book, have this advertising placed in
popular mediums — if the book is educational, have the adver-
tising placed in educational mediums — if the book is technical,
have the advertising placed in technical publications, and so
on. The point is to plant the advertising where it will do the
most good. The number of reading notices depend to a great
degree upon the amount of advertising put forth. Of course,
we all know that a good book will command attention from the
press although it receives no display advertising.

The advertising of almost every book nowadays is consid-
ered by the publisher.

The bookseller, who does nothing but sell books, can afford
to be a good advertiser. In the first place he can set aside a
percentage of his gross business for advertising purposes —
like any other merchant. In the second place he has a series
of subjects exceedingly fertile and interesting to write about.
And as the average bookseller is a person of some literary
attainments with an ability to express himself on paper he usu-
ally enjoys his advertising work.

I have often wondered why booksellers did not advertise
more. Their towns are their audiences — their local papers
tiieir mediums and many a bookseller would make a good
advertising man.

In the retail store the advertising of books has reached a
more scientific and permanent basis than any form of book
advertising. The retail store advertiser simply puts books on
the same basis as any other line of merchandise — he allows so
much per cent, (usually three) to the advertising of books — he
catalogues a list of well-described items in his ads and once in
a while he gets out a book catalogue. In the description of the
books is where the writer shows himself. If he knows and
appreciates books he can awaken responsive chords within tlie
bosoms of his book readers — if he does not, why, his advertis-
ing is as human as a pair of scissors.

Therefore, it follows that Mr. Would-Be Book-Publisher
should first know books, then study advertising in its various
ramifications.

144 Successful Advertising"

Advertising a Drug Store.

For the sake of an opening paragraph drug stores may be
divided into two classes, viz. :

Those who cut rates on prescriptions and patent medicines.

Those who charge regular prices for prescriptions and
patent medicines.

Either class can well afford to advertise. The former class
certainly should advertise, for by their cutting prices they
place themselves in the multitude of aggressive retailers who are
not afraid to apparently lose money and so win an increased
volume of trade. That is the stuff the real advertiser is made
of, and usually you will find that the cut-rate druggist is a
liberal advertiser.

He advertises principally in his local papers. He spends a
liberal percentage of his gross income in advertising. In
addition to his using the local papers you will notice that he is
fond of deluging his neighborhood with circulars and booklets.
He is glad to get all the almanacs, show cards and advertising
novelties that wholesalers will supply him (always with his
name on each article) and nobody can enter or pass his store
without being struck with the breezy air of prosperity that
envelops not only his establishment, but also his block.

It may be that his conservative neighbor — the druggist on
the next block who does not advertise — does a larger and in
every way a more satisfactory business. But if he does it is
because he has the trade of old families who abhor change and
detest commercialism in such an important profession as the
druggist's — a profession in which the lives of people are at
stake — a profession in which the correct compounding of a
prescription is a matter of extreme importance.

At any rate the druggist should advertise. There is no
' ' code of ethics ' ' governing his case. He can advertise — he
can swing himself into the current of American retail progress
and although the pace at first may seem a little swift and the
hustle distasteful, )'et the increased receipts will in a few short
mouths reconcile him to the new condition of afiairs.

How To Accomplish It. 145

The points to bring forth in drug store advertising are : —

The extreme care and skill with which prescriptions are
compounded.

The high standards observed in buying drugs for the store.

The many opportunities for saving money.

The long list of varieties.

There is the song — now sing it in all the keys you want.
There are the ideas — now clothe them in whatever words you
will. Any writer can get inspiration a-plenty in any drug store.
The subject is by no means dry.

Now for a wet subject — I mean soda water.

Where is the American drug store without its soda foun-
tain ? I have seen a few — in remote corners of the South and
West — but in really civilized communities no — never !

As the vari-colored light of the drug store is at night a
beacon light to a man with a cramp in his stomach, so is the
glimpse of the soda fountain a joyful sight to the man with a
temperance thirst. The soda fountain is usually so located that
it can be seen from the street, which fact alone is a good adver-
tisement in itself.

The soda fountain certainly should be advertised. During
the sunny, sweltering and sweaty dog-days a good ad on soda
water exercises a Christian Science influence in assuaging
thirst — a sort of an absent treatment, as it were. At any rate
it plays such an influence with the thirst that the possessor
thereof can be tempted to go down to Blank's drug store and
enjoy a long, cool egg-nog or some other refreshing quencher.

Advertising a Grocery.

The advertising manager of a grocery store or department
is constantly confronted with the necessity of

Emphasizing the purity of his food products.

Dwelling upon the lowness of his prices.

Advertising the liberality of his assortments.

Telling that his stocks are always fresh and up-to-date.

Occasionally he should dwell upon the inviting appearance
of the stock and its surroundings — how everything is cheerful,
10

146 Successful Advertising

bright, well ventilated and inviting, and how demonstrations of
pure food products assist in making a visit pleasant as well as
profitable.

I will first speak of demonstrations. They are valuable in
advertising a store or department, and for that reason should be
encouraged. There are any number of manufacturers and
wholesalers who are at all times ready to put a demonstration
in a j)opular retail establishment, and at all times the demon-
strator should be met half-way. Usually the only cost of a
demonstration is the space that it occupies. The success of the
great grocery departments of The Adams Dry Goods Co., and The
Seigel-Cooper Co., of New York, in which daily demonstrations
were abundant, goes to show that this double-barrelled form of
advertising the manufacturer and retailer is very good.

In the newspaper form of advertising, the principal j3oints
for the advertiser are mentioned above. A list of strong specials
should be, from time to time, inserted in the local papers. If
this list is illustrated so much the better. In every caption to
the ad say something about the high quality of every article
offered — which talk is reinforced with an irresistible argument
when followed by well-known brands of groceries among the
specials.

I believe in a booklet or catalogue gotten out at stated
intervals — say once a month, or at any rate, once in three
months. The busy housewife will appreciate this little com-
pilation of items and prices, as it will serve to jog her memory
when making out a list of daily household needs.

To patrons who live at a distance, such a compilation will
be of particular value, as they can order goods by mail from it.

Speaking about mail matters, do not forget to run in a few
words in the catalogue and newspaper ads about your mail-
order department, for many articles can go by mail, and all
articles that go by express or freight can be ordered by mail.
When arrangements can be made to prepay freight or express
charges on five dollar purchases (and over) to points within fifty or
one hundred miles, a great step is made to secure outlying trade.

Manufacturers, wholesalers, importers and commission men
are very liberal in supplying the grocer with signs, lithographs,

How To Accomplish It. 147

wall-hangers, counter eye catchers, etc. The wise grocer uses
these advertising signs with taste and judgment, and as a mat-
ter of course, with liberality.

Advertising Cigars, Pipes and Smokers' Articles.

There are thousands of cigar stores throughout the country
that can increase business very materially by the proper appli-
cation of the great modern trade developer — advertising.

The margin of profit on these goods is not so very large
nowadays, and the average dealer considers money spent in ad-
vertising as so much clipped from the already small profits.

Very few tobacconists can afibrd a local newspaper cam-
paign of advertising. The local newspaper covers the vv'hole
town or city and its environments, while the cigar store draws
trade from its immediate locality. If the cigar dealer does any
considerable trade he should, however, give some consideration
to an output of briefly and brightly worded advertisements in
his local paper.

As a general proposition he is obliged to confine his adver-
tising efforts to his store and immediate vicinity. One of the
best v/ays to build up a popular retail cigar and tobacco busi-
ness is to cut prices on well known brands of cigars and tobaccos,
and announce this by inside displays and window signs. Yes-
terday several hundred men bought the " Hoffuian House
Bouquet" cigars at a low cut price in a well-known Park Row
cigar store. " I^illian Russell," "George W. Childs,""Cremo,"
and other popular brands of cigars were advertised by striking
window signs at cut prices in the same store.

Another advertising method, nuich in vogue in New York
at present, is to give a coupon with every purchase. These
coupons, when they reach certain amounts, are good for certain
articles that almost any smoker will appreciate.

Still another method is to circularize stores, ofiice build-
ings and houses within a given radius of the cigar store with
bright and clever bargain sheets. The mail and messenger boys
are brought into requisition in this.

The average tobacconist gives great attention to his window,

148 Successful Advertising

case and shelf displays. Here is where he is certainly right.
The appearance of the cigar store has much to do with winning
or turning away a man's trade. The personalities of the pro-
prietor and his clerks are also important factors.

Only a smoker can write interestingly of smoker's articles.
The body, strength and flavor of a cigar are matters that appeal
to every smoker when they are properly treated. Some cigars
are as tasteless as straw. Some cigars have a mild and elegant
flavor. Some cigars have a slightly stronger body. Some cigars
are strong and black and heavy — the kind many heavy busi-
ness men like. The smoker who is a writer delights in expatiat-
ing upon the various flavors. Kipling is both a smoker and a
writer and here are some of his thoughts in " The Betrothed :"

" Open the old cigar-box, get me a Cuba stout,
For things are running crossways, and Maggie and I are out.

Open the old cigar-box — let me consider a space ;

In the soft blue veil of the vapor, musing on Maggie's face.

Open the old cigar-box — let me consider awhile —
Here is a mild Manilla — there is a wifely smile.

Which is the better portion — bondage bought with a ring,
Or a harem of dusky beauties, fifty tied in a string ?

Councillors cunning and silent — comforters true and tried,
And never a one of the fifty to sneer at a rival bride.

Thought in the early morning, solace in time of woes,
Peace in the hush of the twilight, balm ere my eyelids close."

Advertising Pianos, Music and Musical Instruments.

To simply quote prices with slight details of the articles
advertised, is far from enough. Competition is so keen, appreci-
ation of music so high and advertising so good that pianos
advertised to-day must be detailed in their fullest — with every
appreciation of their merits. The tone and character of the
instrument must be dwelt upon. The excellence and elegance
of its workmanship must be talked up. If the name of the
manufacturer is a famous one, so much the better for the
advertising.

Newspapers and magazines are more than ever used in

How To Accomplish It. 149

advertising pianos and musical instruments. The cash method
and the installment plan are both liberally advertised. The
arguments employed in the advertising may be briefly summed
up thus :

First— The importance of music in a home.

Second — The importance of securing only standard instru-
ments, viz. : instruments from well-known manufacturers, instru-
ments that delight the ear with exquisite music, instruments that
please the eye with a first-class appearance, and instruments that
represent good values for the prices asked.

Very few, if any, great musicians pass through this life
•without expressing themselves, on paper, as to the merits of
certain instruments. Which expressions receive much adver-
tising. And they are worth it.

A piano represents quite an investment to the average
home, and the investment is rarely consummated until the
merits of many instruments are thoroughly discussed by every
member of the family. If a celebrated pianist says that a cer-
tain piano is remarkable for "its tone superiority," his opinion
is sure to influence many minds.

The manufacturer of pianos, should be a good national
advertiser in order to keep the name of his products in the
public mind. His advertising will greatly assist the retail
advertising done by his agents and such retailers as handle his
pianos.

Agents and retailers should be constant users of space in
their local papers. These spaces should be filled with bright,
logical talks as to the superior merits of the goods offered.
Almost every department store has a department given to
pianos and musical goods, which department receives much
consideration from the advertising manager.

Booklets and circular letters — the high-grade kinds, of course
— should be used in abundance. The writer with a knowledge
of music, or the musician with a knowledge of writing, will find
the preparation of such advertising literature very pleasant work.

When musical instruments are sold on the instalment plan,
they should be liberally advertised in popular papers. Papers
that appeal to the rich miss the mark, for this class is not interested
in the instalment plan of buying anything. The great argu-

150 Successful Advertising

ment to use in such advertising is the fact that a small sum,
week after week, or month after month, is hardly felt by the
family exchequer, while the result presently is the ownership of
a desirable musical instrument.

Sheet music and books of music are sold in vast quantities
at retail and by mail. Retail over-the-counter trade is stimu-
lated by strong advertisements in the local papers and the
giving out of lists. Mail-order trade is pushed by catalogues
and advertisements. The sale of popular music is about the most
erratic line of business in existence. A song may be written,
submitted by the enthusiastic author and a few friends to a
publisher, printed, and foil as flat as a pancake, although
apparently possessing all the elements of popularity. Anotlier
song may be the most inane drivel imaginable, yet have an
enormous sale. The secret usually lies in its singing by some
footlight favorite. A good presentation often swings a silly song
into popularity and both put a poor play to the front.

Advertising a Merchant Tailoring Business.

Where is the town — no matter how small — that has not a
merchant tailoring establishment?

Where is the town — no matter how large — in which a mer-
chant tailoring business is properly advertised ? Even where it
is well advertised deeper study could be given with advantage
to the publicity.

Merchant tailoring represents a line of effort susceptible of
very effective advertising. Cogent reasons that will sink deep
into men's minds can be used.

The principal reason that men buy ready-made clothing lies
in the price. A man may think that he saves ten or twenty
dollars by buying a ready-made suit instead of a made-to-measure
suit. If such a man can be made to look several months ahead
and see what a made-to-measure suit will give him in the respect
of longer service, better appearance, more style and greater all
around satisfaction, he must be blind if he does not see that
made-to-order clothing is the cheapest in the end. Ready-made
clothing rarely fits as well as made-to-order clothing. This is

How To Accomplish It. 151

particularly so when the wearer is rather stout, thin, long or
short. No one can say with truth that the average ready-made
garment is put together as well as the tailor made garment.
The buttons are liable to come off on slight provocation. The
seams may rip at inopportune moments. A rain or snow storm
may spoil the shape of the ready-made suit. The collar of a
ready-made coat does not fit as gracefully upon the shoulder as
that of the made-to-order coat. In many cases the ready-made
suit says, " ready made !" to every beholder. A little thought
will soon convince that made-to-measure garments are the
cheapest in the long run. Appearances count for much in business.
" Clothes may not make the man, but they may unmake him,"
saj's a modern adage. A writer with the ability to express much
in few words said, that " the human animal is pretty nearly all
clothes, and the wise animal sees that these clothes are right."

Now, Mr. Merchant Tailor, go ahead and give the good
dressers of your town some arguments after the above order.
Use a three or four-inch ad in your local paper for a season.
Have this ad changed constantly. Give new and good talk
in every ad. Do some circularizing — especially at the com-
mencement of a season. This advertising will make an impres-
sion and increase business — never fear !

In April the good dressers of your town are thinking of
spring suits — in June of summer suits — in September of fall
suits, and about November of winter suits. The advertisement
or circular brought before a man's notice at the psychic moment
will be resultful.

There is no question but that plates of the newest New
York and London styles, as displayed in many merchant tailor-
ing shops, are great aids to business. They lend each establish-
ment an authoritative air. The presence of such standard trade
papers as TJie Haberdasher^ Gibson' s Clothing Gazette^ etc., is
also valuable. The average man is particular on the point of
clothes, and appreciates the tailor who is intelligently sympa-
thetic with him in this respect.

The appearance of the shop has much to do with the busi-
ness done. The assortment of fabrics and patterns in stock, as
well as the variety of styles that can be made up, influence

152 Successful Advertising

trade. The advertising of it all should be as well attended to
as the business itself.

Some tailors make a specialty of a suit or overcoat at a cer-
tain price — say twenty dollars. These leaders can be so well
advertised that even women when they think of a twenty dollar
suit or overcoat instantly think of " Tompkins, The Tailor,"
who finds that while he has a good trade in these garments, this
trade does not operate against his sale of high priced suits and
overcoats.

Advertising a Dressmaking Establishment.

A dressmaker may do excellent work, yet if her abilities
are not known she stands an excellent chance of going into
bankruptcy.

Although but few of her kind consider advertising, yet it is a
most important point. If she would give half the hard thoughts
to advertising that she does to "band and gusset and seam,"
she would make more money. This may sound a trifle dogmatic,
but it is based upon a solid substratum of truth.

Again I will fall back upon the local paper to help me out
in this little advertising talk. What better medium is there to
cover a town than its local paper ? What medium is there so
good ? What medium is there anywhere near as good ? Com-
mon sense answers with emphasis, "None!" The local paper
is the medium for about all local enterprises to be advertised in.

Following this trend of thought the proprietor of a dress-
making establishment should advertise in her local paper.
During her " seasons" advertising should be increased. Having
arrived at this conclusion the next point to consider is how the
space should be filled. If the lady has some trepidation about
penning advertising, she can appeal — seldom in vain — to the
business manager of the paper. Should he fail to produce good
advertising, it is an easy matter to secure the services of one of
the several advertising writers who give themselves publicity in
the advertising press.

The advertising arguments to use are : —

The unimpeachable correctness of the styles.

The excellence and thoroughness of the workmanship.

How To Accomplish It. 153

The service and fashion features of the fabrics.

The first-class trimmings and linings.

The attention given to securing a perfect fit.

The business-like promptness given to each order.

The consideration given to even the smallest details.

The moderate prices, which are quoted in the advertising.

With these points in her mind's-eye, and whatever individual
business features the establishment may possess, the writer can
prepare a series of striking and sensible advertisements to the
advantage of the season's trade.

At the beginning of a season announcement cards can be
sent out with advantage. These cards — which should be excel-
lent examples of the printer's art — may be mailed not only to
her regular patrons, but also to such other women in her vicinity
as may be induced to patronize her.

Advertising a Stationery and Newspaper Store.

This may be a small business, but do not forget that no
matter how inconspicuous may be the business it can be
expanded under the genial influence of advertising.

The manner in which the business itself is conducted is a
capital advertisement. The wider this manner is known the
greater increase will this business experience.

Let us consider how to make it known.

I know a young man — a boy in fact — in a small town in
the central part of New York state, who owns a small station-
ery and newspaper store. His business profits are not large
enough to warrant his advertising in the local paper save on
state occasions — which occur about four times a year. These
occasions are when he opens a new line of stationery, or school
supplies, or adds some new periodicals. Then his ads are brief,
but bright — very bright !

He has a printing press in a back room of his store and
nearly every week he strikes off a lot of small hand-bills which
he distributes when he and his younger brothers are distribut-
ing papers on his route. These hand-bills are excellent. I put
in three weeks there last summer on my vacation and never saw
one in the gutter or lying in the street. They were well dis-

154 Successful Advertising

tributed and I believe were well read. Each gave a crisp, con-
vincing talk ; some reasons why his store should be patronized,
which talk was followed up by items and prices — just as the
most experienced retailer would do.

His business is constantly increasing. He told me that
while he gave a lot of credit to his business methods he also
believed that his advertising alone had much to do with the
growth of his patronage.

There is a suggestion in this young man's efforts that other
stationers and newsdealers can study with profit.

Stationers who appeal to men and women of discrimination
and intellegence can pick up some valuable hints from the
manner in which the Edward J. Merriam Co., New York, adver-
tise the latest styles in writing paper. In fact, printers and others
who wish to advertise in an attractive, out-of-the-way style, can
get ideas from the advertising of this concern. Once upon a time
they issued a booklet entitled " Fancy Fabrics for Fastidious
Folks," the sheets of which were bound with a cord — and of
each leaf there was a large leaf and a leaf of half the size of the
other. The small leaves contained the following notes, each
printed in inks that harmonized with the papers :

'' How does this new color strike you ? Azale. ' Looks as
clear as morning roses, newly washed in dew.' And this is not
so bad either. Franciscan. A little more subdued if that's
what pleases you the better. Ah ! and here is Celestial. Did
you ever see a more delicate shade ? Just think of office station-
ery ruled and printed in dark blue on this paper. Another deli-
cate shade. Heliotrope. ' Chaste and pleasing to the eye and
modest withal.' Rather somber and heavy this, but Mazarin,
printed or stamped in dark blue, is odd and tasteful, ' and touches
a chord of harmony within the human breast.' Now here
we have something a trifle different — Opalesque — which helps
to make up the assortment. Maybe you don't like tinted paper.
Well, here it is in Pearl White. ' As pure as the snow on Hima-
laya's mountains.' This Elite Superfine will appeal to the
lover of kid finished pure rag stock, so scarce now-a-da> s. Yet,
if you prefer the same paper with smooth surface, we can please
you. ' For two minds alike doth seldom meet.

) n

How To Accomplish It. 155

How eminently superior is this sort of advertising to a bare
catalogue ! These sentences are reproduced as being clever, and
there is no reason why they should not furnish hints to printers
and stationers, paper men as well as advertisers in general.

Hat and Cap Advertising.

In the advertising of headwear the advertising must be done
in season. Each season's styles must be properly advertised
during the right period. Spring, summer, autumn and winter
have shapes peculiar to each season.

Knox, Dunlap, Hawes and such national advertisers under-
stand the importance of this. So do many wide-awake retailers
throughout the advertising world — a world bounded by no
ocean, country, river or county line, but a v/orld in which great
divisions exist through intelligence and ignorance. A great
number of retail hatters are blind as to the merits of advertising.

Every man wants a hat. It is the crowning touch to his
habiliments — it may make or mar his appearance — it is first seen
and last observed — it is instantly mentally approved or criticized,
and is always an important article of dress. Every man wants
a good hat. If he cannot afford to pay five dollars for it he may
be able to pay three — if not three perhaps he can pay two — but
no matter what price he pays he wants the size, shape, color,
material and workmanship to be as right as can be had for the
money.

Most hatters can talk well on these points to customers in
the stores. Not so in their advertising. How can they get over
this obstacle ? Let them study advertising. Let them study the
good points of their hats and their business, and make an effort
to transcribe their thoughts on paper. If they find this beyond
them, let them get in touch with a good ad writer, who four
times a year can give enough good ads to swell business to a
new and satisfactory degree. The cost will prove small in pro-
portion to the results.

" How much should I spend in advertising?" asks the hatter.

This depends upon your location and the competition you
must meet. Percentages to spend in retail hat advertising average
from two to five per cent. Three per cent, is a fair average.

156 Successful Advertising

" How should I spend it?" again asks the hatter.

Principally in the columns of your local paper. It may not
be a bad idea to try and put a few ideas in heads that you would
like to hat by means of attractive circulars or booklets. You can
easily get a good list of names of prospective customers, and
your regular patrons will not object to receiving at the beginning
of each season a well-worded talk regarding the fresh styles.

Advertising Infants' and Children's Wearables.

In advertising these garments appeal to the taste and thrift
of the mother, as well as the wishes of her family. Such talks
as the following are good :

" Your little girl is a woman in miniature, with the eye for
colors, styles, efFects and qualities as you have. Nothing
pleases her more than the satisfaction of being well dressed.
She may not appreciate our low prices, but you will."

' ' Have that good little girl go to school well dressed. It
gives her an air of self-possession, and adds an element of
happiness to her school life. It does not cost so much. To
prove it we quote some interesting prices."

" To-morrow is Young America's day in our store — to-mor-
row is Saturday — the day there is no school, and the day
of special sales in stylish, serviceable and perfect-fitting
garments for all eyes and wants of the little folks."

" Dainty and desirable garments are here for Baby — the
kinds to make Baby more cozy, comfortable and pretty, and
at prices easy on the purse of Paterfamilias. Look at our line
of Infants' Wearables when in our vicinity. We warrant that
you will be delighted."

Friday evening and Saturday morning are the best times to
advertise these goods, for the reason that on Saturday the chil-
dren are free from school. Sunday is a good time to advertise
infants' garments for very obvious reasons. The mother's purse
is usually at its fullest on Sunday — the overflow from the father's
Saturday night pay envelope — and infants' trouble not their
little minds about school as yet. With leisure and money
on Sunday she makes selections from the advertisements, and
on Monday she goes forth on her shopping quest.

How To Accomplish It. 157

Advertising Furs and Fur Garments.

Profits on the sale of furs and fur garments are excellent,
but they must be made in the proper seasons. A cold snap will
set the sale of furs bounding upwards, and a warm or wet season
will truly throw a wet blanket over the season's business. He
who advertises these goods must constantly keep a sharp eye out
for weather conditions. With weather so variable as it is in New
York and adjoining States, the question of keeping in touch with
meteorological moods is more than a matter of passing moment
with the advertising man.

For this reason fur advertising must frequently be prepared
and issued in double quick order. The best plan is to have a
number of ads prepared in advance. Then as occasion requires
these ads can be used.

In advertising furs it is extremely essential to give full de-
scriptions of the articles advertised. So much depends upon the
description as affecting a sale that every fur dealer should re-
member this point. And if the fur is a poor skin or prepared
from the skin of an animal like a skunk, say so. Many dealers
do not carry such furs, and so do not have to bother making ex-
planations, but those who do will have more effective advertis-
ing when it tells exactly what is offered. A skunk skin is a
skunk skin, and all the " trade terms" in existence cannot make
it otherwise. If a woman is induced to buy a poor article of
fur under false representations, she feels like (and is justified) in
classing in with poor skins the dealer who sold her. I know a
woman who once bought (by mail) a "marvelous bargain in a
$5.98 handsome fur scarf." The " handsome scarf" came along
all right. When the package was opened one of the (glass) eyes
of the animal's head dropped to the floor. The next day one of
the tails dropped off". Then the hair began to fall out. Talk about
a case of dandruff"! Her friends advised her to take it to a bar-
ber shop and give it a shampoo in order to stop the dandruff!
Inside of a week it was given to the servant girl, and inside of
a fortnight it was resurrected from the ash barrel by a thrifty
Italian equipped with a large hook and a big bag.

158 Successful Advertising

There's no particular moral to this little tale except to say-
that the mail order concern lost this woman's trade and the
business of several of her friends — as far as she could spread the
scarf story. It pays to be good in this world, even from the
view point of worldly interest.

I have never been a fur retailer, but have advertised quite a
lot of furs, and it has often struck me that the fur retailer who
opens his season with a rattling good sale of furs, stands abetter
chance (other things being equal) of getting the lion's share of
the season's business than the man who only does so when the
season is well advanced.

Along towards the latter part of October and the first of
November the thoughts of womankind turn to winter garments
(which, of course, includes furs.) A sale — made interesting
with cut prices — at this period would meet the wishes of many.
It is not necessary during such a sale to cut many prices — three
or four good sj)ecials would be sufficient — and after the sale had
run its course, normal prices on these specials could prevail.

Cut prices on three or four leaders need not operate against
the profits on other goods. Such a sale would create comment
and bring visitors, after which clever salesmanship could dis-
pose not only of a number of leaders, but also other fur articles.

When the season is well under way, prices begin to drop.
About this time many small fur manufacturers undergo hard
luck experiences, and stocks can be gobbled up at mere frac-
tions of their worth. Then ho ! for sweeping sales !

Advertising Pictures, Wall Paper and Interior Decorations.

"Beautify your home at small cost" — there in a nut-
shell is the central argument for the advertiser of these goods
to amplify upon.

To reach the rich, it is not so necessary to harp upon the
"small cost" feature, but in order to impress the great number
of people, termed " the masses," it is essential to speak of the
gentle manner in which the purse strings are pulled as well as
the appeals to taste and judgment made by the goods themselves.

Let lis talk about pictures. These goods do not mc\-e with

How To Accomplish It. 159

any tremendous hurry. They move slowly, but surely. Con-
siderable thought is given to a purchase long before the pur-
chase is efifected. Even a washerwoman, buying a seventy-five-
cent framed picture usually buys after indulging in some rumi-
nations as to whether her purse can afford the outlay and as to
whether the work of art will be hung in her chamber or before
the flood of light that pours in from her parlor window. The
sale of a genuine work of art — something that runs up in the
scores or hundreds of dollars — is ordinarily effected after a great
deal of consideration and talk on the part of the buyer, his fam-
ily and friends.

Local newspaper advertising will help the sale of pictures.
This advertising — in fact all picture advertising — should
have good descriptions of the subjects advertised — whether fig-
ures or landscapes — whether oil paintings or engravings, etc.
Prices should not be overlooked and the introduction to the
items should suggest the opportunities to exercise taste and
thrift — the importance of the sale to the home-furnisher about
to put the season's home to rights and talk after this order.

High-grade "opening " and "announcement " cards can be
sent with propriety and results at certain seasons of the year.

Let us talk about wall paper. Here is a line of merchandise
that certainly cannot be classed among the "swift sellers. '*
Wall paper usually moves with the deliberation of a messenger
boy reading a detective story. But when it does sell it sells in
fair quantities and at fair profits. It sells greatest in spring
when warm weather homes are being prepared and papered and
in the fall when cold weather homes are undergoing the same
process. During these periods advertising should be briskest.
Newspaper advertising is the advertising. A booklet, speaking
intelligently of wall paper and such like needs as you may carry
in stock, distributed to the families whose trade you desire is a
sensible bit of advertising work.

Let us talk about interior decorations generally. Exceed-
ingly clever and catchy talks about "color schemes," "har-
monious efiects," "pleasing decorative arrangements," etc., can
be made in the columns of your town newspaper — which talks
will be read and commented upon by many of your best citizens

160

Successful Advertising

and citizenesses. " Interior decorations" is a term that embraces
about everything that can be done in a home with curtains,
tapestries, portieres, rugs, carpets, wall paper, panel eflfects,
mantel studies, pictures, cozy corners, etc., as well as every pos-
sible arrangement of furniture. If you have a person in your
store who has some ability in this line give him local fame
by advertising his attainments in your newspaper advertise-
ments. This will give your establishment a personality and
your business an impetus. Instead of your store being sim-
ply a place it becomes an institution — where color is a study —
where art is given due consideration — where cheery and com-
fortable homes are contemplated with reverence and where
money cannot but flow in !

Beautify Your Home at Small Cost!

Framed PictHresI

Whether you want
to buy or simply see,
you will here find
hundreds of Pictures
for inspection.

The subjects are
happily selected and
there is not a poor
Picture in the lot.

Special.

Framed
Pictures—

a lot of

about 50—

embracing landscapes

and animal subjects

—in various

frames at

65c.

Home Hints!

$1.39

Cast your eyes along
this list and see how it
interests you :

Imported Tapestry-
so inches wide— the
S2.00 kind— reduced
this week
at per yard

Three-Fold Screens—
in oak, white enamel
or mahogany — with
finished frames-
worth 90 cents ^g^fy
each for . . . y WC

Lace Curtains — the
$1.50 kind— j,
special at— 3)1. I O
per pair

Wall Paper!

On this subject we
could talk a pageful.
Our workmen are ex-
pert workers— quick.
Intelligent and with
an eye for artistic ef-
fects. Let us estimate
on papering your
room or house.

This week we are
offering two great
values in wall paper at

IOC. and I2>2C.
per roll.

Smith, 5mith & Company.

How To Accomplish It.

161

Advertising Fish and Meat Markets.

The butcher or fish dealer who carries plentiful varieties
in his line, who gives prompt deliveries, who has a clean, brisk,
business-like and wholesome atmosphere about his market
should advertise these facts. In this day and age it is foolish
for him to " hide his light under a bushel " — to have no adver-
tising beyond his store and delivery wagons.

Charles Dickens could write about edibles in a way that
would make the reader hungry. The average butcher or fish
retailer may not be able to express himself on paper with the
fluency of Dickens, but he has a few ideas on tap as to what is
good to eat. If he can get anywhere near expressing these
ideas in his local paper he can stir up the appetites of his
patrons, and incidentally their purses. If he fails altogether in
expressing himself on paper, the business end of the publication
will gladly help him out. If necessary it may delegate a good
reporter to write up the advertising.

At any rate advertising should be done. The publicity
should be studied, continuous, consistent, and cumulative ad-
vertising in the local paper. Advertising helps all kinds of
retail business, why not his ?

If it is ham that is to be talked about, write up something
like this :

Suf ar Cured Hams. It^C-

the choicest from Western farms. Every
ham perfectly cured, therefore savory and
palatable to a gratifying degree. » -.^^
A Saturday special at per pound *<^^*

162 Successful Advertising

If the features are members of the finny tribe here is an idea

Friday's Fish Features
In Smith's Fish Market!

Columbia River Salmon. — Very
best quality — meaty, palatable,
nutritious and satisfying —
Friday's price per can . . . 14c,

Extra Norway Mackerel. — Fine
white fat fish, heads and tails cut
off — if you like mackerel you
will like these— 10 lbs. for $1.80

Imported Sardines. — Packed in
olive oil — plump and luscious —
very choice and at this price
a great value, per can ... 1 1 C.

Smith, Smith & Co.

The two best days in the week to advertise are Thursday
evening (for Friday) and Friday evening (for Saturday). Satur-
day is the week's best business day, as people then buy supplies
enough to last them until Monday. "Friday Features" and
" Saturday Specials" should be given particular attention in the
advertising. Specials also could be gotten up with advantage at
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and all holidays.

How To Accomplish It. 163

Introductions for Retail Advertising.

An introduction should be clear, crisp and convincing. It
should win the attention, then hold it. Oceans of ink have
been trailed across paper in order to give telling introductions,
but, after all, here is the style most in evidence : —

SPRING SILK SHOWINGS.

This spring excels all others in its great num-
ber of dainty designs and immense assortment
of silks. The world's fashion wits have
exceeded all former efforts in the beautiful
patterns, rich and charming colorings, as well
as excellence in fabrics. See our great assort-
ments. Our prices appeal to all thrifty buj'ers.

Occasionally, for the sake of variety, you will see an effort
in the papers after this order : —

SPRING SILK SHOWINGS.

This Spring's Showing Surpasses all Productions of
Past Seasons — Daint}' Designs and Immense Assort-
ments Have Been Produced —The World's Fashion Wits
Have Surpassed Their Best Efforts in Beautiful Patterns
and Captivating Colorings— Excellence in Fabrics also
a Feature— Our Assortment and Prices Will Please You.

Why the "pyramid " style — such as many newspapers use
in headlining news features — is not used more extensively is
something I do not understand. For this style head sticks out
like a sore thumb and flashes its points on the reader at once. It
does not take up so much room either. Here is how it goes : —

SPRING SILK SHOWINGS.

This Season's Productions Surpasses all Previous
Spring Efforts— Dainty Designs a Feature — Im-
mense Assortments Have Come From the
World's Fashion Centres — Captivating
Colorin2:s and Beautiful Patterns Here
in Abundance — Our Assortment
and Prices Will Please You.

164

Successful Advertising

From time to time, in looking through the many ads of
many papers you will meet this style — not a half bad style of
set up either : —

SPRING

SILK

SHOWINGS.

This Spring excels all others in
its great number of dainty designs
and immense assortment of silks.
The world's fashion wits have ex-
ceeded all former efforts in the
beautiful patterns, rich and charm-
ing colorings as well as excellence
in fabrics. See our great assort-
ments. Our prices appeal to all
thrifty buyers.

We all know how a box will throw a display line or cut
in bold relief. Good advertisers are liberal users of boxes, and
here is an instance of a box arrangement :

SPRING

SILK

SHOWINGS.

This Spring excels all others
in its great number of dainty
designs and immense assort-
ment of silks. The world's
fashion wits have exceeded all
former efforts in the beautiful
■patterns, rich and charming
colorings, as well as excellence in fabrics. See our
great assortments. Our prices appeal to all thrifty
buyers.

How To Accomplish It. 165

Advertising Schemes.

WHAT BRIGHT RETAILERS AND
KEEN ADVERTISERS LOOK FOR!

THEY HAVE BROUGHT BRISK
BUSINESS AND WILL AGAIN I

Some of the most successful business bringing schemes
evolved are herewith presented. They have been tried by well-
known advertisers and not found wanting. If your business
needs a tonic, try one of these ideas. They have been carefully
compiled from the files of The Retailer and Advertiser^ and are
herewith submitted with every confidence in their efiicacy.

ANNIVERSARY.

The Star Store, New Bedford, Mass., gave away, on their
fourth anniversary, four hundred dollars' worth of beautiful
souvenirs, consisting ot bric-a-brac, decorated cups and
saucers, fancy plates, etc., to those purchasing a dollar's
worth of goods.

" The Economy " Store, Scranton, Pa., gave away seven
hundred dollars in gifts at their twelfth birthday anniversary.
On entering the store each patron received a ticket on which
was printed a number. Each ticket was numbered consecu-
tively so there were no two tickets numbered alike, and as
one walked into the store he would see articles of furniture
each bearing different numbers . He would keep on walking
until he found the piece of furniture which bore a number
corresponding to the number on his ticket. That piece of
furniture belonged to him. To those who did not find a
piece of furniture bearing their numbers, a handsome pres-
ent was given on the day following.

166 Successful Advertising

BAKERY.

Colby's Modern Bakery, Washington, D. C, offered " moon
flies" (toys for children), free with each loaf of bread on a
certain date.

BANKING BY MAIL.

Charles H. Ravell, of the advertising department of the
Chicago Record-Herald, originated a plan for making de-
posits in savings banks by mail, the general adoption of
which, he believed, would be mutually advantageous to
depositors and banking institutions. "The banks," said
Mr. Ravell, " can make it easy and profitable for the public
to save money. The newspaper advertising can make it
easy for the wage-earner to get a pass book and open an
account. The express companies through their branch
oflSces, can get the money to the banks. The pass book is
the key to the situation, and it must be slightly changed
and an important addition made to it. In the back of the
pass book now in general use in savings banks there can be
printed a series of coupons in duplicate, with the right hand
coupon made detachable from the book. The depositor
makes his own bank entry upon both coupons (date,
amount, etc.), tears out the right hand coupon and buys an
express or postal order for a like amount and mails both to
the bank, which returns a postal receipt next day, after
crediting the account numbered the same as the coupon that
was sent with the money. With this form of coupon there
is little chance for error. This book can be used either
for depositing in person or depositing by mail." Mr. Ravell
thought that the adoption of this plan would give the banker
the first chance at the pay envelope of the wage-earner in-
stead of the last, as is generally the case, owing to the fact
that few of them are able to get to a bank during banking
hours.

How To Accomplish It. 167

BOOKS.

The Moore Book and Stationery Co., Topeka, Kan., gave
away a ten cent book-holder with every purchase made at
their store.

CARPETS, RUGS.

Wilder 's store, Montreal, Canada, gave a carpet sweeper
to purchasers of a carpet or rug to the amount of twenty-
five dollars.

CIGARS.

The United Cigar Stores Co., New York City, gave ace-: on
with every cigar sold — five of which could be excha j^ed for
a valuable certificate at any of their stores.

B. S. Cooban, Cigars, Chicago, 111., sent ou" an envelope
on which appeared the words : " A good thing inside. ' ' The
' ' good thing ' ' proved to be a circular piece of green card-
board, on which was printed " Good for one Weapon Cigar,
if presented by an adult," and the name and address of the
firm. Enclosed with this was a circular letter soliciting
patronage.

A neat little trade-drawer from the Burg Cigar Co., New
Ulm, Minn., was one of their " Blizzard" cigars wrapped
in a gilt foil and tied to a small card 3x5 inches in size,
on which the following appeared : "A man chooses the
girl who is nice and ' different' from other girls just like
the smokers choose the ' Blizzard ' Cigar because it is good
and different from other cigars." This was enclosed in a
pasteboard box, the outside of which prettily illustrated the
" Blizzard " cigar.

The Frisch Cigar Store Co., New York, offered to give a
ladies' or gentleman's umbrella — valued at three dollars—
upon surrender of punched coupons representing total pur-
chases of ten dollars. To enable purchasers to take ad-
vantage of this offer the Company gave coupons - ranging

168 Successful Advertising

from five cents to seven dollars and fifty cents — with the
amount of purchase punched out. Fractions of five cents
•were punched at the next highest figure.

The R. & W. Jenkinson Co., Pittsburg, Pa., issued a neat
booklet containing sixteen pages, advertising cigars. The
cover of this booklet was of gray paper, with the figures of
two jesters sitting outside the wall of a city, smoking cigars
and talking over beer. The front page of the cover had a
flap half the width of the booklet, which folded over the
back cover. The inside pages were devoted to giving price
lists of the different brands of cigars, wnth the labels used
with those brands, and comments on the cigars which the
booklet advertised.

R. Nete Ellis, St. Joseph, Mo., is a very aggressive cigar
advertiser. Here are some of his ideas once told :

" I zinc-lined all the wall cases and placed moistening
trays in them and of course put moisteners in the show case.
I have a six-chair marble shining stand in the rear room now
and give a free shine to every purchaser of one ten cent
cigar or two five cent ones. I bulletin the base ball games
of the Western League on a black board in the store, and
when the St. Joseph team plays out of town I give the re-
port by innings. Of course great interest is taken in the
home team when away, so my bulletin enables the boys to
come to this store and enjoy a good cigar while fanned by
electricity, with leather-cushioned settees to save their
trousers, and plenty of ice water. ' '

Mr. R. Nete Ellis, of St. Joseph, Mo., also used for adver-
tising his cigar store one of his bright ideas called a ' ' Pipe
Dream." He had made out of half-inch lumber a wedge-
shaped box 5 feet long, the ends of which were 6x6 and
15 X 15 inches respectively. The small end had a peep-
hole of about lyi inches in diameter and the other end a
mirror, which made it look a mile long. The inside of the
box was painted jet black. A twenty-four candle-power

How To Accomplish It. 169

incandescent light about a foot from the larger end, and
suspended from the lid, furnished the light. The outside of
the box was painted white to match the woodwork in the
windows. He suspended the box in the window by means
of wire from the ceiling, allowing the smaller end to rest
against the window glass just high enough to admit a
straight view through the peep hole. A card over the box
and against the window pane bore the words, "Look
Here ; A Pipe Dream ! " The inside of the box was nicely-
arranged with nice pipes, French briars and meerschaums,
the centerpiece in the rear being a handsomely carv' ed meer-
schaum pipe in case, bearing its price, $15.00. He fastened
pipes to the sides by means of hooks screwed in the walls,
fastening the pipes to them by means of rubber bands. A
few cans of choice smoking mixtures finished the display.
The "Pipe Dream" furnished something to attract passers-by ;
and every hour in the day crowds were seen standing in front
of the store viewing the " Pipe Dream," or else were heard
asking people whether they had seen the " Pipe Dream " at
the Nete Cigar Store.

CLOTHING.

The Union, Columbus, O., gave a knife with every purchase
of a boy's suit.

A. Schradzki, Peoria, 111., gave away a pencil box with
every purchase of a boy's suit.

B. Nugent & Bro., St. Louis, Mo., gave a genuine pigskin
Rugby football with every boys' five-dollar suit, reefer or
overcoat.

The Utica Clothiers, Des Moines, la., gave away a pair of
hardwood stilts to purchasers of a two dollar and a half suit
for boys.

The Hub, Milwaukee, Wis., once gave a nickel-plated
watch with every five-dollar purchase in their boys' and
children's department.

170 Successful Advertisings

Sol. Schloss & Co., Monmouth, 111., gave away at an
opening a beautifully decorated plate, and also a knife with
every purchase of a boy's suit.

The F. W. Humphrey Co., St. Louis, Mo., boomed their
boys' clothing department by giving a ping-pong set with
every boys' five-dollar suit or overcoat.

" Nicoll, The Tailor," Kansas City, Mo., once advertised to
give away, during a ten-day period, a pair of trousers with
each twenty, twenty-five, twenty-eight or thirty-dollar suit
of clothing.

The Worcester Credit Co. , Worcester, Mass. , in one of their
ads, said they would give a rebate of a dollar to the person
cutting out that ad and presenting it when a suit or over-
coat was purchased.

Campbell's (Clothiers) Pittsburg, Pa., gave an "Eclipse"
watch to the purchaser of a man's suit at seven and a half
dollars or over, and a "Yankee" watch with every pur-
chase of a boy's suit at three and half dollars or over.

The Continental Clothing House, Oshkosh, Wisconsin,
once upon a time gave away a handy carry-all with each
boy's suit. Each carry-all consisted of a book carrier, pencil
case and ruler combined. It was nicely finished off and
fitted with a lock.

Mose Cohen, the popular clothier, of Dayton, Ohio, gave
free open air concerts to the citizens of his town. So did Ber-
nard M. Wolff (" My Clothier"), Hanover Street, Boston.

The August Clothing Co., Topeka, Kan., once gave a hat
free with each suit of clothes purchased on that day.

Moses Cohen, Dayton, Ohio, once gave away twenty dollars
in prizes to the boys and girls of Dayton, after this method:
He offered ten prizes of two dollars each to any ten boys and
girls who wrote for him the best advertisements for his
children's department. The ads were to contain not more
than twenty lines, and not over ten words in a line. The
judges were the experts on the advertising staffs of the
Dayton newspapers, and the contest lasted four weeks.

How To Accomplish It. 171

The Crews-Beggs Dry Goods Co., Pueblo, Colo., seut out to
twenty-two hundred boys — whose names and addresses they
secured from the city school records — a circular to the eflfect
that with any purchase of a boy's suit selling from a dollar
and ninety-five cents to the young men's fine fifteen-dollar
suits there would be given free a ticket of general admission
to the Great Roman Forum and one ticket each for the
Electric Theatre and the play of the Yellow Kids. These
tickets could be exchanged for tickets to any of the other
entertainments where the tickets cost the same.

The Ark, Colorado Springs, Colo., once gave away six
hundred and seventy-five dollars in cash. They had a cer-
tain amount of goods, put up in seventy-five hundred pack-
ages, containing men's, women's, and children's clothing,
and they were sold at one dollar each. A number of these
packages contained an order for a certain amount of money.
For instance, one package called for one hundred dollars in
cash, another for fifty dollars, etc. The person who bought
the largest number of packages received twenty-five dollars.

Weitzenkorn & Son, Pottstown, Pa., had about five
hundred Pottstown boys turn out for the gift distribu-
tion thus detailed in the Pottstown papers :

" FREE DISTRIBUTION OF AIR SHIPS AT WEITZENKORN'S.

We want a whole bunch of boys to be at hand in front of
our store at ten o'clock sharp, rain or shine. There is
going to be something doing. We are going to shoot
twenty-five tops into the air from one of our air ships. Each
boy who is fortunate enough to get one of the tops, should
bring it to our store and get an air ship that will do the
same thing. We do this so as to keep in the good graces of
the boys and to introduce this wonderful mechanical toy,
which we give away with boys' suits."

Hartzell's, Youngstown, O., gave an Ingersoll watch to the
purchaser of a three dollar, or over, suit or overcoat for a day.

Brill Bros., the New York clothiers, once got up an adver-

172 Successful Advertising

tising scheme in the shape of a turquois blue poster about
four by eight and a half inches in size. On one side was
printed: "Boys' Suits Free. Our Boys' and Children's
Department is where you fit out two boys for what it usually
costs you to fit out one in most stores," etc On the other
side was announced a scheme for the boys. To the five
schoolboys who drew the five best pictures in their show
windows they offered the following prizes : Five dollars
for the best drawing, four dollars for the next best, three
dollars for the third best, two dollars for the fourth and a
pair of boy's dollar knee pants for the fifth.

Block Bros., St. Joseph, Mo., once issued a particularly
good booklet, advertising Union Made men's clothing. It
was compiled with the idea of winning the trade of mem-
bers of various unions. It contained only eight pages, and
it had a cover. The back cover extended a little over an
inch beyond the pages of the booklet and folded over the
front. This flap was held down by a red paster. The best
feature of the booklet was the illustrating. The cuts were
half-tones from photographs of living models. Now here
is the point, the models were well-known as labor leaders
of St. Joseph. The idea of getting well-known local men
to act as models for showing off good points of clothing is a
mighty good one. Of course, we have seen in many, many
ads the pictures of Roosevelt, Schley, Sampson and other
great men, but I do not know of another instance where
pictures of men, well known locally, have been used to
advertise a store.

COAL.

The Kansas City Coal and Coke Co., Kansas City, Mo., in
order to advertise their Fiber Kindling once gave a free trial
box with each order for domestic coal. In each box were
ten kindlers — enough to start ten fires.

How To Accomplish It. 173

CREDIT.

Wildberg's Store, Pittsburg, Pa., oflFered beautiful presents
to their credit customers. A beautiful pearl and gold pen
was given to the purchaser of fifty dollars' worth of goods,
on which one dollar and a half was paid down. The pur-
chasers of a hundred dollars' worth of goods (and who paid
two dollars and a half down) were given gilt and enamelled
clocks. On a hundred and fifty dollar sale (on which five
dollars were deposited) a silver set, consisting of cofiee,
sugar and cream dishes, was given. They also gave a couch
when ten dollars were paid on a hundred dollar purchase.

DOLLS AND TOYS.

Arreson Mercantile Co , Grand Forks, N. D., once offered
to give a large doll to the person making the largest purchase
of dry goods during a certain day.

White's Toy Store, Columbus, O., on an opening day pre-
sented each patron with an illustrated souvenir book. They
also gave a set of four pictures with every fifty cent purchase.

DRUGS.

Schaefer's Cut Price Drug Store, Omaha, Neb., gave a match
scratcher with the bottle of kidney or liver cure purchased.

The Owl Drug Store, Kansas City, Mo., once gave a
good-sized bottle of Ed. Oulettes's celebrated perfume to
each of their customers.

The Owl Drug Company, Sacramento, Cal., once gave away
coupons with every twenty-five cent purchase. The person
who held the coupon bearing a certain number received a
beautiful Shetland pony with a stylish basket cart and russet
harness.

Eugene A. Pfefferle, the reliable druggist of New Ulm,
Minn., during a fireman's convention in that town arranged
a window show display to catch the firemen's attention. He
had a " Brownie " fire company working on a house through

174 Successful Advertising

which an alcoholic blaze was coming, and real water was
poured on the house through a roof hose. The scene was
reported as very attractive.

Eugene A. Pfefferle, "Reliable Druggist," of New Ulm,
Minn., is one of those advertisers who sees the advantage
of keeping up with, and in fact a trifle in advance of the
times. The fortieth anniversary of the Indian Massacre at
that place he observed by sending out an aluminum pin tray
bearing a handsome picture of the Indian monument. This
tray was given with every purchase of Mr, Pfefiferle's head-
ache tablets and cough cure.

The C. A. Lowe Drug Co., Old Town, Me., once printed
a rebus in the daily papers and offered fifteen prizes to the
people who solved it correctly. The only condition in enter-
ing this contest was that the participant purchased a
twenty-five-cent bottle of toilet cream. They gave five dol-
lars for the first correct answer, one dollar each for the next
three, fifty cents each for the next three, twenty-five cents
for the three next and a bottle of toilet cream to the next
five.

The City Drug Store, Delhi, N. Y., once advertised that
they would pay two dollars for the largest specimen of any
kind of an apple sent them before a certain time. The apples
entered in the contest were displayed in their show windows.

Johnson & Johnson, Charlottetown, P. E. I., druggists,
once issued on a cardboard about eight by ten inches in size,
a directory of Charlottetown physicians. The greater part
of the card was taken up by the directory and the remainder,
to an advertisement for Johnson & Johnson. The list of
doctors' names was alphabetically arranged. It gave the
telephone number, address and office hours. A cord was
fastened to the top of the card. A little hook, with which
to hang it up was also sent with the request that the direc-
tory be hung near the telephone. Messrs. Johnson & John-

How To Accomplish It. 175

son sent them to all public buildings, hotels, etc., and their
directory seemed to be much appreciated by their customers-
On the card, they gave their own telephone number and
said : " Ring us up and we will send to any part of the city
for your prescription and return it to you correctly and
neatly compounded."

DRY GOODS.

The W. R. Bennett Co., Omaha, Neb., advertised the day
before " Flag Day " that with each twenty-five cent's worth
of merchandise bought anywhere in the store they would
give a muslin printed flag, thirteen by eight inches, with a
twenty-two inch long staff.

FEMININE GARMENTS.

R. A. McWhirr & Co., Fall River, Mass., once advertised
that they would make up walking skirts free of charge, if
bought from a certain kind of material.

Vogel Brothers, New York, once advertised that they
would give away a handsome silver souvenir to every pur-
chaser in their ladies' suit, skirt or cloak departments. The
souvenir was one of the Whiting Manufacturing Co.'s
make, and was given in celebration of the opening of the
ladies' department.

In Bamberger's Retail Establishment, Newark, N. J.,
during a fall opening, ten lady models held a reception in
the ladies' suit department. They wore the handsomest
garments the store had on exhibition. These models, of
course, were able to show off to the best advantage the
style and beauty of the garments.

The Star Store, New Bedford, Mass., once upon a time
enlivened trade by giving free with every child's cloak pur-
chased during that sale, a handsome dressed or kid body
doll, and with every girl's jacket bought a handsome
trimmed hat worth a dollar and a half.

176 Successful Advertising

FURNITURE.

A. Samuel, Topeka, Kan., tried the plan of giving a hand-
some rocker with a ten-dollar purchase.

W. E. Heskett, Columbus, O., advertised to give a five-
dollar cotton-felt mattress free with every folding bed.

The People's Furniture Co., Crookston, Minn., gave with
every purchase of a sideboard, a work basket or a lunch
basket.

The People's Outfitting Co., Detroit, Mich., ofiered a hand-
some mahogany parlor rocker with every purchase of ten
dollars or over.

The People's Outfitting Co, Detroit, Mich., gave a gilt
parlor cabinet of four shelves with every purchase of ten
dollars or over during a sale.

The National Furniture Co., Indianapolis, Ind., tried the
idea of giving a beautiful quartered oak center stand with a
five-dollar purchase.

Lockhart & Stoddart, Montreal, Canada, gave a good sub-
stantial spring and a white cotton mattress to each purchaser
of an iron bed.

The Straus Furniture and Carpet Co., Chicago, 111., gave
a choice of a handsome rug or a beautiful upholstered parlor
chair to the purchaser of twenty-five dollars' worth of fur-
niture.

C. H. Robinson gave for a limited time a tapestry brussels
carpet with every purchase of a parlor suit. He also gave a
five piece parlor suit with every piano purchased at his store
at Woonsocket, R. I.

Stumpf & lyanghafi", Milwaukee, Wis., gave a beautiful
bevelled-edge French plate mirror, mounted on a handsome
wrought iron frame easel, with every purchase to the amount
of a dollar or over.

The Standard Furniture Co., Seattle, Wash., gave four
prizes to the four children who sent them the best rhymes

How To Accomplish It. 177

about their ' ' Buck ' ' ranges. The first prize was a miniature
"Buck" range — the second, a dresser — the third, a desk,
and the fourth, a cart.

The Guy Furniture Co., Worcester, Mass., printed a coupon
in their daily advertisements which could be exchanged at
their store for a numbered ticket. The ticket was good for
a chance on a fifty-five-dollar "Acorn " range.

N. G. Valiquette, Montreal, Que., printed three coupons
in his advertisement which entitled holders to a certain dis-
count on purchases. The first coupon was good for two
dollars on the purchase price of any parlor table which sold
regularly for five dollars or over. The second coupon was
good for five dollars on a twenty-five-dollar parlor suite.
The third entitled the holder to ten dollars on a fifty-dollar
parlor suite.

The Coombs & Gilbert Furniture Co., Haverhill, Mass.,
once had a number of pieces of coal in a basket in their
window and stated that they would give a ton of coal to the
person who guessed the correct number of pieces of coal in
that basket. On a certain day the coal was counted in the
window and in case two or more persons guessed the cor-
rect number the coal was divided equally among them.

GENERAL.

Kdmundson, Perrine Co., Pittsburg, Pa., gave a clock worth
two dollars with every fifteen-dollar purchase during a cer-
tain week.

Phelan's Store, Galesburg, 111., had a sale in the notion de-
partment where they gave an aluminum dressing comb with
every purchase.

The big department store run by the Harris-Emory Com-
pany, in Des Moines, Iowa, once started a house organ,
known as the Corner News.

L. S. Plaut & Co., Newark, N. J., gave a box of seven
assorted colored crayons, or a pretty pen-holder with pen to

178 Successful Advertising

the youngster who bought five cents or more worth of mer-
chandise.

I. N. Martin, Peoria, 111., gave a nice oak ruler " free for
the asking " to school children. When they brought a note
from their teacher they could get enough for their school-
room.

The Broadway Department Store, lyos Angeles, Cal.,
printed a small coupon in their advertisement which enti-
tled the holder to a rebate of twenty-five cents on a pair of
' ' American L,ady ' ' corsets.

With every twenty-five cent purchase made at his store,
Reed Hurlbut, Des Moines, la., gave during a certain
period, a ticket entitling the holder to a chance on a nine
hundred dollar automobile.

H. A. Meldrum Co., Bufialo, N. Y., advertised that dur-
ing a certain week they would cut to measure any kind of
garment desired from material selected at their store if it
costs not less than ten cents per yard

McCarthy's establishment, Seattle, Wash., presented an
admission ticket to the Industrial Street of the Elk's Car-
nival, with every dollar purchase, and an admission to the
Midway, with every five-dollar purchase.

The Broadway Department Store, Los Angeles, Cal., gave
away a printing press — complete with type, ink, roller and
tweezers ( ' ' everything necessary to open up a thoroughly
modern print shop") to every purchaser of a boy's two
dollar and ninety-eight cents suit.

Atha & Atha, Pittsburg, Pa., gave tickets to each custo-
mer making a purchase of twenty-five cents or over. All
customers who held tickets to the amount of ten dollars and
who furnished them with a good photograph obtained a
portrait in water color or crayon free.

Schipper & Block, Peoria, 111., gave with everj- dollar's
worth of school books or supplies, the choice of a brass-edged
twelve-inch ruler, or an ice cream soda. They also gave

How To Accomplish It. 179

one of the famous " Zimmerman " kites with every purchase
ranging from twenty-five cents to one dollar.

The Old Bee Hive, Burlington, la., offered to give away
two hundred dollars in prizes to persons guessing the nearest
to the number of kernels of corn in a glass jar which had been
placed in the store. Kach purchaser was entitled to a guess.
The kernels were counted by a disinterested party and the
person who guessed nearest the number received one hun-
dred dollars — the two next nearest to the number received
each twenty dollars— the three next ten dollars each and the
next six received five dollars apiece.

Crawfords Retail Establishment, St. Louis, Mo., gave a
ticket free to the New West Heights Garden with every
purchase made at their store during a certain period.

The Big Boston Store, Salt Lake City, Utah, offered a
22 X 32-inch oil painting with every five-dollar purchase
during a certain time. They said : " We have engaged the
services of the world's greatest lightning artist to paint
these pictures in our window for a limited time."

W. W. Kyle, Pulaski, Pa., sent out a neat little advertis-
ing novelty in the shape of a metal match box. At the top
was a hole for hanging it up and below this a space for an
advertisement. A piece of sand paper on the bottom made
it complete.

Hahne & Co., Newark, N. J., presented to children, who
visited their store on a certain date, with the following school
articles : A pencil box with lock and key— a good, polished
pencil with rubber tip — a composition book — a box of colored
chalk — a pen or pencil tablet, and a twelve-inch school ruler.

The Church-Dodge Co., Troy, N. Y., gave free ice cream
with each cash purchase amounting to fifty cents or over.

The Broadway Department Store, Los Angeles, Cal.,
once took two complete sentences and dissected them — cut-
ting each word out of a duplicate copy. Then they mixed
them up, taking piece by piece, and pasting them on a sheet

180 Successful Advertising

of paper, until a complete mix up of words was formed. To
the boy or girl sending to their store the first proper arrange-
ment of these words they offered ten dollars in gold.

A. B. Matthew's Sons, Brooklyn, N. Y., offered small stick-
pins to children sending in the names and numbers of the
schools they attended. The pin formed the flag-pole for a
pennant made of red, white and blue celluloid. On one side
of the pennant were the words, " Be honest, diligent and
courageous." On the reverse side appeared the following:
" Education is the salvation of the nation." The name of
the firm was under these words.

A coupon was once given with every twenty-five cent pur-
chase at H. O. Smith &. Co.'s, Crookston, Minn. These
coupons entitled the holder to a guess on the number of
cereals contained in a glass jar on exhibition in their window.
A few weeks later the seal of the jar was broken and the
contents counted. The person who guessed nearest to the
exact number was given ten dollars in trade at this store.

Bemhard & Geyer, Los Angeles, Cal., once sent out an
effective advertising curiosity in the shape of a legal-looking
document, which when taken out of its envelope flashed the
word " Subpoena " upon the eye. Its outside was made out
as a summons to court, bore a red seal (that of Bernhard &
Geyer), and was tied with the customery red tape. The
wording was very clever, and the notice was plainly ' ' legal. ' '
It was signed by Bemhard & Geyer and witnessed by E. X.
Perience. It charged the person to whom it was made out
to appear before them at a certain time.

GENERAL STORE SALE.

The Boston Store, Worcester, Mass., held a "Department
Managers' Sale," during which the department heads gave
away a handsome piano to the most popular school teacher
in Worcester County. Ballots for voting were given by the
clerk from whom a purchase was made. The name of the

How To Accomplish It. 181

teacher and the name of the school in which she taught were
written on these and deposited in ballot boxes. Daily were
the votes counted and the names announced.

GROCERIES.

The Nickel-Plate Grocery Co., Alliance, O., once gave away
(for a few days only) boxes for kindling with each order for
groceries.

James Butler, grocer, Brooklyn, N. Y., gave a set of table
tennis to the purchaser of a dozen packages of Malt Break-
fast Food.

The Joseph H. Bauland Co., Brooklyn, N. Y., have tested
the plan of giving away granulated sugar to patrons in their
grocery department.

The Adams Dry Goods Co., New York, gave away a cake
of Croft's chocolate with every purchase of a half-pound
bottle of Croft's cocoa.

R. H. Bailey, Saginaw, Mich., gave away a globe, two
Italian gold fish, water plant and pebbles with each purchase
of a pound of baking powder.

The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., Brooklyn, N. Y.,
once gave away four ladies' lawn handkerchiefs to pur-
chasers of their teas, coffees, etc.

The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., Brooklyn, N, Y.,
gave away a diamond steel-enameled preserving kettle to all
purchasers of fifty cents worth of groceries.

The E. C. Hutchinson Milling Co., Trenton, N. J., gave
five dollars in prizes to each of the five ladies, making the
best loaves of bread from " Better Than Gold " flour.

Every purchaser, some time ago, who made a purchase to
the amount of a dollar at Haste's Grocery Store, Eden ton,
N. C , was presented with a large market basket.

The Grand Union Tea Company, Aurora, 111., gave a
nickel salt and pepper shaker with each purchase of a pound
of fifty-cent tea and two pounds of twenty-five cent cofiee.

182 Successful Advertising

Frank S. York & Co., Bangor, Maine, once advertised that
they would give away a handsome china oatmeal dish —
decorated in gilt and printed flower design— to every pur-
chaser of a certain brand of rolled oats.

James Butler, who operates several grocery stores in New
York, gave a package of "Zu-Zu " ginger snaps to the pur-
chaser of a pound of his best coffee and a half pound of his
best tea at the regular price of forty-three cents.

The Nickel Plate Grocery Co., Alliance, Ohio, once upon a
time gave away a ticket with each twenty-five cent purchase
made at their store — entitling the holder to a chance in
either of thirty-two prizes, valued at sixty-five dollars.

The Grand Union Tea Store, Bangor, Maine, once held a
birthday party in their salesrooms, during which a handsome
Japanese tea cup and saucer were presented to each cus-
tomer. Light refreshments were served from 2 to 10 p. m.

G. E. Mitchell, Detroit, Mich., once sold a brand of coffee,
in each pound package of which was one letter of the name
of the brand. Upon the return of five tickets, the letters
on which spell the name, two dollars and fifty cents in gold
was given the holder.

The Columbus Dry Goods Co., Columbus, O., demon-
strated their " Egg Baking Powder" by serving hot muffins
made from this baking powder, at their store, and on two
certain days they gave a loaf of currant bread to every pur-
chaser of a half pound of "Egg Baking Powder."

The Globe Tea Store, Newburyport, Mass. , once advertised
to give away a beautiful mahogany or oak parlor rocker or
parlor table with two dollars and fifty cents' worth of tea and
coffee checks. They also offered to give a pound of Mocha
and Java coffee with every pound of a certain brand of tea.

In order to test the merits of the different papers in
bringing immediate returns to their advertisements, S. Hey-
man & Co., Oshkosh, Wis., published once in each paper
carrying their advertising, a coupon which would allow the

How To Accomplish It. 183

holder to a special price of twenty five cents on twelve bars
of good laundry soap.

The Empire Tea and Crockery Co., Spokane, Wash., in
order to introduce their coffees, teas and spices, once offered
as a special inducement with each fifty cent purchase two
pounds of sugar or a choice of a large number of pieces of
china, crockery and glassware displayed at their store.
With each dollar purchase they gave four pounds of sugar
or any piece of an attractive assortment of crockery and
glassware.

HARDWARE.

R. C. Reynolds, Troy, N. Y., once advertised to give away
a barrel of Pillsbury's best flour free with every range of a
certain kind.

A pair of skate straps and a Winslow's *' Eureka" skate
sharpener was given to boom business once with each pair
of skates bought at Ingersoll's store, New York.

In order to increase their sales of "Hub" ranges Pink-
ham & Willis Co., Worcester, Mass., once offered to give
away one barrel of "Butterfly " flour to purchasers of one
of these stoves.

Geo. M. Dimmitt, Des Moines, la., once gave a complete
set of the celebrated "Majestic" cooking ware, made of
copper and enamel, and worth seven dollars and fifty cents,
to every purchaser of a " Majestic " range.

The Fair Store, Binghamton, N. Y., once offered three
" Buck Junior" ranges to the three girls who baked the
best batches of biscuits. The baking was to be done on a
" Buck" range and the contests were to be decided by a
committee of ladies.

" The Household " Store, New Bedford, Mass., once gave
away, with every parlor stove sold above twelve dollars, a
"Bissell" carpet sweeper with full nickel trimmings, all

184 Successful Advertising

the new finishes and the famous "Cyco" bearings — worth
three dollars and a quarter.

John T. Claugh, Colorado Springs, Colo., once advertised
that on the last day of the year a drawing would take place
for one of his "Great Majestic Steel Ranges." One ballot
was given free of charge to each family and the ballots had
to be deposited before December twenty- fifth.

HATS.

George B. Wells, the Philadelphia hatter, some time ago
made up an exceedingly catchy advertisement by printing
at the top of his announcement a double half-column half-
tone of one of his attractive hat windows.

D. E. Brackett (Hatter), Topeka, Kan., offered prizes
amounting to twenty -five dollars to the persons who wrote
the best rhymes or poems on the Brackett hat. The person
who wrote the best rhyme received five dollars, the next
best three dollars, the third two dollars, and the next
fifteen a dollar apiece.

Kaufman's Downtown Hat Store, New York, gave to their
patrons a folder representing a red morocco pocket-book
with strap, which contained an announcement in green,
with a broad border. This was folded twice and pasted to
the inside of the cover. The folded ends protruded from
the cover and bore a striking resemblance to greenbacks.

A very novel trade-drawer came from Liberman, the
Clothier, New Castle, Pa. It was a sheet of paper about
9x12 inches in size, printed in white on black, with a large
black space in which there was cut an opening. Through
this slit was stuck a small bunch of straw. Below this, in
white, appeared the following :

"Here's a Bunch of Straw." Just a reminder of our
Grand Straw Hat Opening, Friday, May 9th. Direct from
one of Baltimore's Greatest Straw Works— thus assuring
bed-rock prices. A chic, choice, complete collection of the

How To Accomplish It. 185

Swellest Straw Hats ever shown in New Castle— from the
chip sun hat to the unexcelled imported Panama. The
right hat for the right head at the right price here."

This circular was folded and enclosed in a large envelope
which had the words, "Good for Man or Horse," printed
across the top.

HOTELS.

Mr. Hooper, the manager of the Occidental Hotel, San
Francisco, Cal., presented to army officers sailing for Manilla
what appeared to be books— each with the title " The Cap-
ture of Aguinaldo." In reality each book was a flask
filled with the choicest brandy.
HOUSE FURNISHINGS.

Shipper & Block, Peoria, 111., advertised during their
" White Sale " to hem free of charge any purchase of table
linen.

F. S. Shooge, Ashland, Wis., once gave free to each of his
patrons a lamp costing about one quarter of the value of the
goods purchased.

Hoyt-Kent-Sefton Co., Cleveland, O., during a certain
period, gave a child's carpet sweeper with every purchase
of a " Bissell ' ' sweeper.

Frost & Atwood, Fall River, Mass., advertised that up to
a certain date they would furnish with ice every purchaser
of one of their refrigerators.

Atha & Atha, Pittsburg, Pa., gave a palm or rubber plant
free with each jardinere sold during a special sale of fifty-six
hundred jardineres that ranged in price from thirty-eight
cents to ten dollars.

Richardson & Grant, Hardware and Crockery Dealers, Salt
Lake City, Utah, gave free with every purchase of five dol-
lars' worth of goods a ticket to the famous Ringling Bros.'
circus while the show was in town.

186 Successful Advertising

The Leterinan Company, Charlottesville, Va., celebrated
the third anniversary of their " Big Store" by giving a 42-
piece hand-painted, decorated dinner set to whoever bought
twenty-five dollars' worth of merchandise during the month
of August. This amount did not have to be purchased at
one time.

The Thompson Shop, New Haven, Conn. , once offered (in
order to put out truthful and interesting advertising) to give
five dollars to the woman who mailed them the greatest
number of sane questions about carpets or other floor cover-
ings, before a certain date. These questions were printed
and answered in one of the New Haven papers.

Nathan &Skail, Cleveland, O., advertised to give a coupon
book to every purchaser of a refrigerator — from eight dollars
and a half to thirteen dollars and seventy-five cents. These
coupon books entitled the holder to two hundred and fifty
pounds of ice, to be delivered any time the holder so desired.
With every purchase of a fourteen-dollar refrigerator they
gave a coupon book for five hundred pounds of ice.

INSTALLMENTS.

McClain, Simpson Co., Installment House Furnishers, New
York, once gave away a handsome footstool pincushion to
each visitor.

Ludwig Bauman & Co. , New York, once advertised that
they would give a seventy-five dollar infant's crib to the
person who would send in the greatest number of words
made out of the letters which appear in the firm's name.

Friend's Establishment, Pittsburg, Pa., once offered special
inducements to their credit purchasers. With ever>' one
hundred dollars' credit purchase, on which a payment of
fifteen dollars was made, they gave a guaranteed lady's or
gentlemen's gold-filled watch. With every fift)' dollar pur-
chase, on which a first payment of ten dollars was made, a
plush case of Roger s silver tableware, comprising one half

How To Accomplish It. 187

dozen each of knives, forks, teaspoons and tablespoons.
With smaller purchases of twenty- five dollars, a parlor rug
was the premium, and with purchases of fifteen dollars a
framed picture was given.

JEWELRY.

Schrive's, Yonkers, N. Y., once offered to give, without
charge, a gold ring to any child under one year of age if
taken there by the parent.

The Harris Jewelry Co., Norfolk, Va., once advertised to
give away a gold watch to the most popular school teacher of
that city. The advertisement stated that no purchase was
necessary to entitle one to vote. A coupon was printed in
their advertisements, in which the name and address of the
teachers were to be written.

H. V.Monahan, Brooklyn, N. Y., once advertised that he
would give away a handsome gold ring to any person open-
ing an account of twenty-five dollars or over at his store.
These rings were set with "Parisian" diamonds, rubies,
turquois, etc.

Rees, the optician and jeweler, Binghampton, N. Y., adver-
tised during a holiday season, that until Christmas he would
give free to every purchaser of goods a sterling silver thimble.
Castelberg, the jeweler, Washington, D. C, once displayed
a picture of an ace, queen, king, jack of diamonds, and a
jack of hearts in his newspaper ad. The heading reads:
"Diamonds are trumps at Castelberg's."

LAUNDRY.

Cleaver's Laundry, Los Angeles, Cal., offered five dollars in
cash to the boy or girl sending in the best catch phrase
containing not over seven words about their laundry work.
The Iroquois Laundry, 86 West Twelfth Street, New
York, sent out a blotter which was a very fair representa-
tion of a colored cuff. There was a space left on the cuff for
the firm's advertisement.

188 Successful Advertising

LIQUORS.

R. H. Macy & Co. gave a jug free with every purchase of
whiskey.

MEAT MARKET.

In the show-window of Alexander's Meat Market, Oxford,
Pa., was once placed a large candle. The customer who
guessed the nearest number of hours and minutes it would
burn, was presented with his or her choice of any article
displayed in the window. Another prize, of " Oxford Star
Ham" was given to the person who guessed the nearest
number of customers buying in the store, or guesses made
in the candle contest, between certain dates.

MEN'S FURNISHINGS.

The Under-Price Store, Peoria, 111., gave a collar button free
with every one purchased.

Baere & Co., Cohoes, N. Y., gave a linen collar with every
purchase of a colored shirt once upon a time.

The Hocker-King Dry Goods Co., Denison, Tex., gave a
bristle hair brush with every purchase amounting to a dol-
lar or more in their men's department.

At Cotterell's store, Denver, Colo., was once given during
a neckwear sale, a stylish scarf-pin to every purchaser of a
dollar scarf. Both the scarfs and the pins were displayed in
a show-window.

The Freeman Church Co., Hartford, Conn., once upon a
time advertised that they would allow fifty per cent, dis-
count on all half-dollar neckties during a certain period, pro-
vided the purchasers brought in the advertisements clipped
from the newspaper.

MILLINERY.

Shultz Millinery Store, St. Paul, Minn., once offered to give
away any one of six different styles in milliner^' with pur-
chases ranging from two to seven dollars.

How To Accomplish It. 189

The Paris Millinery Co., Salt Lake City, Utah, gave every
purchaser of a dollar's worth of goods a chance on a five
hundred and fifty dollar " Franklin " piano.

The Leon Millinery Co., San Francisco, Cal., once held a
sale of children's hats. The day on which it was held was
called "Children's Day," and a doll's hat was given free
with each child's hat sold.

L-S Plant & Co , Newark, N. J., once sent through the mails
dainty miniature hat boxes — announcing a millinery opening.
The color of the box was maroon, with gold border, and the
name plate and address of the firm were stamped in gold
upon the cover. The box was tied with pale pink baby
ribbon, and contained a hat supporter, on which was printed
the dates of the opening. The address of the recipient was
written on the bottom of the box.

MUSIC.

A. D. Matthews Sons, Brooklyn, N. Y., gave one copy of a
popular song to every purchaser of three copies of sheet
music.

The Bartlett Music Co., Los Angeles, Cal., once upon a
time gave a rustic rocker to the first purchaser of one of
their " Seville " guitars.

E. B. Guild Music Co., Topeka, Kan., ran an ad in the daily
papers, in which they said they had gotten up a novel puzzle.
They said they would give a fine ' ' Martin ' ' mandolin
worth twenty dollars to the person solving the puzzle. The
puzzles could be obtained on request at their establishment.

MUSIC AND MUSICAL GOODS.

The Western Music, Seattle, Wash., once gave a ticket with
every purchase, and on it was shown the amount of the
purchase. Different articles were given to the holder of
tickets. The following pieces were given away according
to an advertisement :

190 Successful Advertising-

A harmonica, a kazoo, or a Jew's harp for fifty cents'
worth of tickets.

A fifty -cent " Mesner " harmonica for one dollar's worth
of tickets.

A fine toy piano for one dollar and fifty-cents' worth of
tickets.

For two dollars and fifty-cents' worth of tickets, a fine
one-dollar music roll.

For five dollars' worth of tickets, a beautiful two-dollar
music roll.

For fifteen dollars' worth of tickets, a fine Millbure
mandolin worth seven dollars and fifty cents.

For ten dollars' worth of tickets, a fine accordion worth
three dollars.

For ten dollars' worth of tickets, a good violin worth
five dollars-

For twenty dollars' worth of tickets, a good guitar worth
seven dollars and fifty cents.

NEWSPAPERS.

The Minerva (O.) News Kodak gave a watch free to every
person sending in three new yearly subscribers.

The Daily Herald, Salt Lake City, Utah, offered to give a
watch valued at three dollars to every boy who secures four
new subscribers to the Herald.

The Weekly Press, Christchurch, N. Z., have sent out some
private mailing cards with interesting photographs of peo-
ple and places in their vicinity.

The San Francisco Bulletin once gave to each want ad
patron the choice of three beautiful specimens of Bohemian
glassware.

The Charlotte (Mich.) Tribune advertised that they would
give a raw-hide buggy whip to every farmer who would re-
turn the issue in which the ad appeared.

The St. Louis, Mo., Star sent, free of expense, fifteen

How To Accomplish It. 191

thousand boys to see a baseball game between St. Louis and
Boston, at National League Park. In a supplement they
printed a coupon which was used for that purpose.

TheGalesburg (111.), J/az7 offered a beautiful Schaff Bros' .
piano to the young lady receiving the greatest number of
votes — the contest being conducted on the following lines : At
the bottom of their announcements they printed a coupon,
good for a vote to whoever secured a copy of the Mail.

The Davenport (la.) Democrat advertised to send two ladies
— one from Davenport and another from outside the city —
who are employed as clerks, school teachers, stenographers
or in some other occupation, and who reside with their
parents on a trip to Europe. A coupon in each issue of the
Democrat entitled the holder to a vote for the most popular
ladies.

The Charlottesville (Va.) Progress printed a list of eight
quotations from one of Shakespeare's plays and gave a
box containing five seats for the play, "The Taming of
the Shrew," to the person who correctly gave the play and
act from which these qvi-otations were selected. The next
four successful contestants received two reserved seats each.

The lyos Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Cal., sent some time
ago a neat little thermometer accompanied by the following
letter: "We send you by mail to-day, with our compli-
ments, a little souvenir of Southern California — a thermom-
eter mounted on the native orange wood and decorated with
certain information respecting the progress of Los Angeles
and the greater Progress, proportionately, of its representative
newspaper. The Los Angeles Times. We trust that you
may find a place in your office to hang it where it may often
remind you of the fact that, though published in the land of
sunshine where temperature varies but little the year round,
circulation and advertising in The Times mount ever higher
and higher. The record is a remarkable one and will inter-
est you."

192 Successful Advertising

The Colorado Springs (Col ) Gazette, once gave away a
Spider Stanhope worth two hundred and fifty dollars to the
most popular lady visitor in El Paso county. A year's
subscription to the Gazette, seven dollars, entitled the sub-
scriber to one thousand votes. The lady who received the
largest number of votes received the carriage. The Gazette
also offered three prizes to the most popular lady employee
in El Paso County. They printed an order blank in each
issue of the Gazette for subscriptions to that paper. For
twelve months' subscription they allowed one thousand
votes. The first prize was a magnificent Crown Piano. The
second prize was an Edison Triumph Phonograph, and the
lady who received the third highest number was entitled to
a chainless bicycle.

The Spokane (Wash.), Spokesman-Review oEer&<ltwo thou-
sand dollars in prizes to its advertising patrons. It placed
coupons with seventeen of the leading merchants of Spokane,
and every advertiser in the Spokesman-Review was entitled
to a coupon with a fifty-cent purchase — which allowed him
a chance on the various prizes. The contest was an estimate
on the number of new classified advertisements that appeared
in the Spokesmaji-Review between August 20th and Novem-
ber loth. There were fifty prizes in all. The first prize of
five hundred dollars was a savings bank account with the
Spokane and Eastern Trust Co. The second prize was a
fine "Weber" piano — worth five hundred dollars. The
third prize was a three hundred dollar carriage from the
repository of the Shaw-Wells Company. And so on through
a long list of valuable premiums down to a five-dollar ping-
pong set.

A coupon was for some time printed in each issue of the
Tacoma (Wash.) Ledger, which entitled the holder to a vote
as to who was the most popular young lady employee of a
Tacoma business house. The contest lasted for two weeks.
At the end of that time the young lady who received the

How To Accomplish It. 193

largest number of votes received from the Ledger free trans-
portation from Tacoma to Cohasset Beach and return and
two weeks' board at Pinehurst, the famous summer resort.

When the Mansfield (Ohio) News gave their ninth annual
outing to the children at Mansfield the outing was held at a
park near Mansfield, and the News issued tickets entitling
children between the ages of five and fifteen to a ride to and
from the park. In addition to this they had badges bearing
the American flag, also Ninth Annual News Outing,
Sherman-Heineman Park, Mansfield O., and the date of the
outing. An article printed in the News the day following
the outing stated that these badges were seen everywhere-
The children had free lemonade served to them while the
city band made exquisite music for their enjoyment.

OPENING.

Menter, Rosenbloom & Co., Columbus, O., gave a pretty
floral souvenir to every woman who attended a Fall
opening.

Kaufman, Myers & Co., Galveston, Tex., once, during the
Easter Opening Week, gave a handsome needle case, which
contained a handsome assortment of all kinds of needles, to
all ladies who visited their store.

OPTICAL GOODS.

The San Diego Optical Co., San Diego, Cal., once advertised
that they would guarantee all corrections in their eye glasses
for two years, and that they would make any changes ne-
cessary inside this time free of charge.

J. M. Crawford, optician, San Diego, Cal., once offered to
examine the eyes and give spectacles free to the poor of his
vicinity if they brought a note from, or were accompanied by
some reliable person who stated that they were worthy and
unable to pay for glasses. Two pairs were also given when
required.

194 Successful Advertising

PERFUMERY.

The Leader, Spokane, Wash., gave a bottle of " Elysian "
Quadruple Perfume to each purchaser of a dollar's worth
of goods.

PHOTOGRAPHIC SUPPLIES.

The G. D. Scott Co., Nanaimo, B. C, gave away a " Brownie"
camera with every purchase amounting to ten dollars.

PHOTOGRAPHS.

D. McCarthy & Sons, Syracuse, N. Y., once offered to
enlarge a photograph for any purchaser who bought a
dollar's worth of goods. Here is an idea, which almost
any photographer should be able to interest almost any
neighboring merchant in, to the advantage of both

The Kisfeld Clothing Co., Bloomington, 111., once gave with
each cash purchase a coupon for the amount of the sale.
Ten dollars in coupons presented at their store, with a good
clean photograph, entitled the owner of the coupons to one
6x6 inch portrait medallion of the photograph submitted
with the coupons.

PIANOS AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

The Weaver Organ and Piano Co., York, Pa., sent two
postal cards to some one person in a country town. They
wanted agents to handle their organs. One of these cards had
a representation of a wagon being driven, with an organ on
the hind part. This is part of the argument which accom-
panies the illustration :

" That horse and wagon idea we hinted at in our last is
worth a trial if you are not already engaged in that line of
work. It's the ideal way to sell organs. And don't yon
know that notes from the better class of country people,
payable at their nearest bank, are easier collected and more
promptly paid than city leases? You discount them at

How To Accomplish It. 195

your own bank and the banker does the collecting. An
occasional note comes back unpaid for you to lift, but these
are either renewed for a short term or collected by mail. It
is the most satisfactory part of our retail trade. One horse
will draw your wagon."

PICTURES.

A framed copy of the picture entitled " The Young Mother,"
was given with every purchase amounting to one dollar or
over during a certain period at the Detroit Art Co., Detroit,
Mich.
PRINTING.

The lyOtus Press, New York, once issued a little book,
entitled "Booklets," in which they brought out some of
the advantages of advertising through the use of a booklet.
This booklet was accompanied by the following letter from
The Lotus Press :

' ' No matter what you may require in printing, you are
likely to find samples here, properly classified in sample
books.

The lyOtus Press can be a great help to you by designing
the work and furnishing the necessary ideas, and relieving
you of worry and trouble.

We are fully equipped for doing all kinds of neat and
tasteful business and professional printing.

We would like to have a visit from j^ou."

Langley & Sons, printers, lyondon, England, once sent out
some very attractive calendars the first of the year. A
space was cut out of the middle of the card and a handsome
photogravure was pasted on the back, so that the card made
a frame for the picture. A small calendar was fastened in
the lower right-hand corner of the card.
RAILROAD.

The Santa Fe R. R. gave free melons to excursionists to
Rocky Ford, Colo., on "Watermelon Day."

irt6 Successful Advertising

REAL ESTATE.

The Eastern Land Co., Buffalo, N. Y., advertised to give
away five thousand dollars in valuable presents — consisting
of tons of coal, barrels of flour, ladies' and gentlemen's
watches, etc., in connection with an auction sale of building
lots.

H. C. Kinsman, Colorado Springs, Colo., once placed a
thousand dollars in three jars. Every purchaser of real
estate was allowed a guess as to the amount of money con-
tained in either of the jars. The person who guessed near-
est to the amount of money contained in one of the three
jars received the thousand dollars.

Wood, Harmon & Co., Pittsburg, Pa., once gave away
five thousand dollars in a clever advertising scheme. They
sent five hundred balloons up in the air in the down-cow^n
districts. A coupon, good for five dollars, twenty-five dol-
lars, fifty dollars, one hundred dollars or two hundred dol-
lars, as part payment on a lot at Westwood, was attached
to each of these balloons.

The West Atlantic Land Co., Atlantic City, N. J., sent out
an impressive booklet entitled ' ' West Atlantic — Venice of
America — the Queen Shore City." The booklet, which was
about six inches by nine and three-quarter inches in size,
was printed in brown, on super-calendered paper, had a
gray cover, and was tied with a gray silk cord. On the first
page of the cover was a scene from Venice, also the title em-
bossed in red and gray. The West Atlantic Land Co. intend
to make Atlantic City the "Venice of America," and illus-
trated this booklet by an occasional three-color plate, show-
ing what the city will be like after they have taken hold of
it and remodeled it. This booklet reflected great credit on
the Weeks Photo Engraving Co., of Philadelphia, whose
imprint and work-mark appeared on the second page.

How To Accomplish It. 197

SCHOOLS.

The Kells School, New York, sometime ago got up a booklet
about three and one-quarter inches by six inches in size, ad-
vertising their method of teaching shorthand, typewriting
and office practice. On the outside of the cover, which was
of gray paper, printed in black, was the picture of a Reming-
ton typewriter. Among the other things in the reading
matter was a paragraph telling of the merits of the Reming-
ton typewriter, which said that " It is the Remington which
is used in the Kells school." Messrs. WyckofiF, Seamans &
Benedict, upon inspecting this booklet, immediately sent as
a present to Mr. Kells, several thousand copies of a booklet
advertising the Kells School. The booklet contained exactly
the same matter as that of the original brochure, but was
given the benefit of the experience in high-class booklet
making of the Remington advertising man.

SHOES.

Holstead & Grant gave a fine red ball with every purchase
of a pair of shoes.

The Cyclone Store, Parkersburg, W. Va., gave free hosiery
with every pair of men's, women's or children's shoes
bought during a specified period.

Woodin's Shoe Store, Great Falls, Mont., gave twenty
dollars away to the family who bought the greatest number
of shoes during a certain month.

The Rochester Clothing and Shoe Co., Mansfield, O., once
gave a pair of men's or women's two dollars and fifty-cent
shoes with every ten-dollar purchase.

Furman's Shoe House, Topeka, Kan., pushed business
once by giving a pair of rubbers with* each cash purchase of
a pair of ladies' or misses' shoes over a dollar and fifty cents.

M. A. Krug, Erie, Pa., once gave a coupon with every
dollar purchase at his shoe store entitling the holder to a
chance on a three hundred and fifty-dollar ' ' Colby ' ' piano.

198 Successful Advertising

The Wakefield Cash Store, Bloomington, 111., printed cou-
pons in the Bloomington daily papers which entitled each
holder to twenty-five cents off" on any pair of shoes at two
dollars and over.

The Dee-Stanford Shoe Co., Ogden, Utah, 'once gave away
a four hundred and fifty-dollar " Schubert " piano. They
gave a coupon with every one-dollar purchase, which enti-
tled the holder to a chance on this piano.

Phillip E. Rice, Corinth, N. Y., advertised that he would
give away a Chautauqua writing desk and blackboard.
With every pair of boys' or girls' shoes he gave a numbered
coupon entitling the holder to participate in the drawing.
The boy or girl who held the lucky coupon w^as given the
desk.

Shorey & Cutter, Bangor, Me., once gave away one dollar
bills to the boys and girls of that city. They gave one dol-
lar in cash with every tenth pair of shoes costing one dollar
or more. In order that everyone received an equal chance
they placed the bill in the left shoe, and the right one w^as
shown or tried on.

Schlagel's Shoe Store, Pomeroy, O., once got up a very in-
teresting and novel shoe-string sale. A pair of shoestrings
were sealed up in an envelope, with a coupon calling for a
prize — ranging all the way from another pair of shoe strings
to a pair of shoes — and the package sold for five cents. One
day one ad in one paper sold six hundred packages.

The "Union Store," Parkersburg, W.Va., once had a cou-
pon shoe sale in order to determine w^hich of the papers in
which they advertised brought them the best results. The
coupon and the name of the paper it appeared in was dul}^
advertised. This coupon entitled the holder to a discount of
twenty per cent, on the regular price of a pair of shoes.

Albert White (shoes), Kansas City, Mo., advertised to give
away a pony and cart to some boy or girl on Christmas
morning. With every dollar's worth of shoes bought in his

How To Accomplish It. 199

store up to December i4tli, he gave a coupon ticket upon
which some bo}^ or girl could make an estimate upon the
number of scholars there would be in attendance in the
public schools of Kansas City, Mo., Kansas City, Kan.,
Topeka, Leavenworth, Atchinson, and St. Josephs on De-
cember 14th. The one who made the correct, or nearest
to the correct estimate, got the pony and cart.

During the remainder of a February, every cash customer
at the Coxe Shoe Co., Birmingham, Ala., was given a
tagged key with each dollar purchase. These keys were to
unlock a box exhibited in their window and which contained
twenty dollars. There were only three keys that unlocked
the box and on March first every cnstomer was permitted to
try his key or keys. If the first key tried unlocked the box
the person holding that key received ten dollars. The
remaining six and four dollars were distributed to the
holders of the second and third keys.

SILVERWARE.

SOAP.

In Wilbur's store, Pittsburg, Pa., was given once, to each
June bride, a beautiful silver tea service, consisting of a
coffee pot, sugar bowl and cream pitcher. During this
period any bride who applied at their office, with a marriage
license, received one of these absolutely free of charge.

Hale's establishment, Los Angeles, Cal., distributed to
children — in order to popularize this soap — small cakes of
" Cadenula " soap. Of course, the children were to visit
the store.

SPORTING GOODS.

Mackerrow Brothers, Sporting Goods Dealers, Montreal,
Canada, once published in a little square, set apart in their
advertising space, the schedule of Saturday's football games.

200 Successful Advertising

On the Monday following, the results of these games were
printed in the same space.

STATIONERY.

John W. Grahm & Co., Spokane, Wash., advertised to give
without charge, a die in any one of ten designs, with a two-
letter, provided they were given the work of embossing the
recipient's stationery at a charge of twenty-five cents per
quire.

TAILORING.

The Acme Tailoring Co., Washington, D. C, once offered
to give free with every suit or overcoat ordered a pair of
worsted trousers. This offer stood for a certain day.

E. W. Brandt, tailor, Binghampton, N. Y., once formed
what he called, " Brandt's Pressing Club." He sold mem-
bership tickets to the club for twelve dollars a year and this
entitled the member to the privilege of sending his clothes
once a week to the Brandt establishment to be cleaned,
mended, pressed and buttons sewed on. A messenger called
for his clothes, and their pressing, etc., were promptly
attended to.

lyouis vSaks, Birmingham, Ala., once advertised that he
would make one, out of every ten suits ordered, free of charge.

Osterman & David, of Columbus, Ohio, once advertised to
give away with every suit purchased on Saturday " an ex-
tra fancy vest, value not less than two-dollars and one-half. ' '
All alterations to improve a fit were offered free of cost.
This firm also promised to keep all goods bought from them
pressed and repaired for two years free of charge.

TOYS.

The Rookery, Jackson, Miss., once offered to give a kite free
to anyone who sold twenty-five cents' worth of kites for the
store.

How To Accomplish It. 201

lyongyear Bros., L,ausing, Mich., gave a gamester top to
such children as visited their store accompanied by parents
or guardians.

TRUNKS.

The Stambaugh-ThompsonCo., Youngstown, Ohio., offered
to paint free of charge initials on every trunk purchased
from them.

202

Successful Advertising

Sayings to Swing Trade.

ADVERTISERS HAVE FOUND THEM
VALUABLE AND SO CAN YOU!

ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED FOR
QUICK USE AND ADAPTATION!

Some of these sayings are new — some not so new. Some
have been tried time and time again by the brightest advertisers
and all will see service as long as advertising is a force. It is
impossible to discover their original coiners, for generally speak-
ing they are used the world over, and belong to nobody in
particular. The point here is to give them in a convenient,
alphabetical form for quick service to the advertiser at a loss
for the right word or expression.

Alluring arrays.
Attractive exhibits.
Aggressive methods win.
Attractions in merchandise.
Astonishing buying chances.
Admirable array of new goods.
Absolute economies here shown.
A host of incomparable bargains.
A matchless out-pouring of values.
Admire and study during this opening.
A chance that will impress a multitude.
An impressive sale will be in full swing.
An eye-opening sale begins to-morrow.
A purchasing chance that few will miss.
A daring cut in prices all along the line.
Advertising by us is reliable advertising.
At these prices the goods will go quickly.
Attempts at word painting are now futile.
An irresistible series of specials await you.
An opportunity worth taking advantage of.

How To Accomplish It. 203

Advantages that will appeal to any shopper.
Admiration is freely extended these leaders.
A decided and decisive drive in mechandise.
Alert readers will at once see this opportunity.
Attention will be freely and promptly given them.
A splendid opportunity is now placed before you.
Announcements like these never go by unnoticed.
A great money's worth given with every purchase.
Arrangements of new styles that will delight many.
Attend to what we say and learn to your advantage.
Active buying is bound to follow this announcement.
Advertising falls far short in depicting these beauties.

Buy here.

Buy here and now.

Buying chances are ripe.

Bargains worth looking up.

By buying now you act with wisdom.

Business bringers because big bargains.

Because values call patronage will come.

Big business must follow these oflferings.

Be wise and grasp this given opportunity.

Banner bargains to make banner business.

Brilliant bargains await you during this sale.

Better act quickly before some one else does.

Brisk business must inevitably follow this ad.

Be prudent when good chances come your way.

Busy people like our prompt business methods.

Business builders are our unequalled low prices.

Better buying chances will rot occur this season.

Buying here means much to the family exchequer.

Broken prices on tempting goods during this sale.

Business temptations are now told in printer's ink.

Be sensible and now is a time to exercise your sense.

Business can never stay away from such great values.

Bargain brilliancy dominate this entire advertisement.

Bargains are here a plenty for surplus stocks must go.

" Bargain" is a word never misused in our advertising.

Both quality and price here appear for your patronage.

Bright readers will see the worth of the items instantly.

Be on hand to-morrow and see what little money can do.

" Be in the swim " and stretch your dollars to their limits.

" Best " seems a tame adjective to qualify these offerings.

Best goods, best styles, best materials, best workmanship, best values.

204 Successful Advertising

Cash counts.

Cash here is mighty.

Clink of dollars saved.

Credit here is at j-our disposal.

Consider well then decide rightlJ^

Coin can be made (because saved.)

Can you resist this great temptation ?

Can j-ou meet or match these values?

Come, consider, criticise and compare.

Credit here nicely suits small earnings.

Contemplate the full force of this event

Cut prices are here bidding for business.

Care was given to each and every detail.

Credit us with enterprise during this sale.

Canny reader? will be prompt purchasers.

Come to look and you will remain to buy.

Criticism is welcomed by us from everybody.

Clip this out or make a money-saving memo.

Clipped prices and the highest grades for you.

Cheap is a term that applies only to our prices.

Care was exercised in writing these statements.

Coupled here are high qualities and low prices.

Competition is active but we more than meet it.

Comparison throws into bold relief our offerings.

Careful readers will respond to these suggestions.

Cheapness in prices only — excellence in qualities.

Candid statements that leave lasting impressions.

Clear statements make our advertising interesting.

Competitors watch our ads with absorbing interest

Cash or credit? In either case you get great value.

Come to us when you want a heaping money's worth.

Dashing styles.
Desirable goods.
Dainty needs for dainty people.
Drives in prices worthy attention.
Down go prices, but up go values.
Did you ever see such an opportunity ?
Do you wish the best at the least cost?
During this sale money will be mighty.
Delicious confections at pleasing prices.
Day by day we offer superlative values.
Decision is necessary for time is limited.

How To Accomplish It 205

Doubt flies in the face of these offerings.

Desire to buy can be gratified at Hftle cost.

Demonstrations of our value giving ability.

Daring doings during this mercantile event.

Drastic deeds in pulling down regular rates.

Different values are these from the ordinary.

Dubious styles or goods are never shown here.

Downward trend of prices everywhere evident.

Delicacy of fiavoran attribute of this perfume.

Decide quickly for the opportunity will soon go.

Dawn of new styles — new ideas — in this display.

Deep price cutting to sink deep into many minds.

Decisive price slashing to enthrall your attention.

" Departmental Ditties" to the tune of low prices.

Don't you think this advertisement worth reading?

Divers articles at prices that dive below the regular.

Deplore not these shattered prices — take advantage of them !

Dame fashion's fads and fancies are beautifully displayed here.

Days — yes weeks — will come before such values can be matched.

Elegant excellencies.
Elegance and excellence.
Enterprise every where evident.
Excellent money-makiuij chances.
Easy prices to induce easy selling.
Early shoppers get best selections.
Every visitor becomes a customer.
Evidences of skilled buying abound.
Ensemble of fascinating feminine fancies.
Enterprising inducements for your trade.
Expenditures here bring splendid results.
Energetic price-cutting in all merchandise.
Everyone of these items is a sterling value.
Energy well directed built up this business.
Everybody who reads should profit thereby.
Evidences of consideration for your interest.
Everything imaginable in each line of goods.
Enter this store and get your money's worth.
Each value rises triumphant over competition.
Either you or somebody else will get this value.
Everybody speaks well of our business methods.
Equal goods at equal prices exist not in this town.
Europe's best side by side with America's choicest.
European ideas together with American productions.
Every chance customer becomes a constant customer.

206 Successful Advertising

Earners will appreciate the power of their money here.

Expend your money here where it will bring its utmost.

Expansion is the order of the day and we are expanding.

Excel them > Impossible ! Equal them ? Try ! Investigate them.

Frigid facts.

Forcible figures.

Figures do not lie.

Facts worth noting.

Fascinating features.

Famous values are these.

Figure what you can save.

Fame came in the wake of worth.

Flawless and fashionable features.

Fairest of all the Autumn openings.

Features worth reading about are these.

Foolish is he who advertises untruthfully.

Frank statements of fearless price cutting.

Follow the crowd and you will come to us.

Fads and fancies of the hour are displayed.

Fashions behests were religiously followed.

Fancies and whims are more than anticipated.

Fashionable effects lighten up this great stock.

Fashion evolves many new ideas — to be shown here.

Fetching features to fetch business of much magnitude.

Good values.

Good merchandise.

Goodness of our offerings.

Give a thought to this opportunity.

Great buying chances now presented.

Great business is inevitable during this sale.

Glance with a keen eye down this bargain list.

Great satisfaction is expressed by our customers.

Get a bargain to-morrow by coming to our store.

Grip strong a chance like this before it slips along.

Gain a great advantage by seizing this opportunity.

Generous assortments are features in all departments.

Generosity in bargain giving brings us generous trade.

Go to Johnson's when you want a great money's worth.

Goodness of these articles will be recognized at a glance.

Goods are here to be sold — hence these persuasive prices.

"Goodness " is an adjective that well qualifies this article.

Gems of elegance — gems of excellence — gems of value.

Grasp the opportunity when it presents itself as it does here.

How To Accomplish It. 207

Handsome headwear.

Hints worth rememberinfr.

Have you seen these goods ?

Heaping returns for money invested.

Highest qualities at the lowest prices.

Harmonious effects in home decorations.

Harvest of bargains now placed before you.

Handy articles for domestic use at low prices.

Here are values the like of which are seldom seen.

" Hot Air " advertising never used by this establishment.

Homes can be furnished and decorated at small expense.

Hot weather offerings, viz. frigid facts regarding rich values.

Here is the home of low prices, good goods and plenty of them.

Homefurnishers with " half and eye " will quickly see their worth.

" How do you find business?" is often asked us. Pretty well, thank you.

Irresistible prices.

Interesting oflFerings.

Interest is centered upon these sales.

Interesting purchasers should not delay.

Impossible to duplicate again this season.

Impressive array of forcible facts and figures.

Intention is good but accomplishment is better.

Impress these important facts upon the tablets of your memory.

Ingenious advertising is of small avail without the goods behind it.

Impelled by force of circumstances we place this chance before you.

Impressions count in business and we are making many impressions.

Jaunty styles.

Jingling of money saved.

Juvenile needs priced for slim purses.

Just in the nick of time comes this oflering.

Juvenescent atmosphere of an old department.

Judgment can be well exercised by buying now.

Jump at this chance — the opportunity of the year.

Join the great army of customers coming our way.

Joggle your memory well and remember that sale.

Juries of satisfied customers gave a verdict as to these goods.

Journey hither to-morrow, to the benefit of your pocket-book.

Jewels of " purest ray serene" at prices that mean bargain jewels.

208 Successful Advertising

Keep the ball rolling.

Keep at it everlastingly.

Keep a keen eye upon future ads.

Keen readers need not be told again,

Kaliedoscopic array of attractive varieties.

Knowing readers fully appreciate this statement.

Keen cuts in selling figures are ever trade winners.

Keystone of our success, viz— the best possible values.

" Knowledge is power." Be armed for the great battle of life.

Little prices.

Lovely showings.

Little things at little prices.

Leaders for this week's selling.

Late comers get poorest pickings.

Look at this list with a critical eye.

Latest styles are here in abundance.

Lingering doubts to buy are banished.

Little by little are your payments made.

Low prices swell sales up to high points.

Liberal inducements to prompt purchasers.

Leave your order here to-day or to-morrow.

Low prices in conjunction with high qualities.

Lively selling must follow this announcement.

Legitimate business methods have their effect.

Less profits mean bigger values, such as these : — •

Lavish values are fascinating features of this sale.

Long time credits to suit every family exchequer.

Large, plump bargains await to-morrow's patrons.

Languid business now receives a " special sale " tonic.

Lend us your ear while we will to you a bargain tale unfold.

Lubricating the machinery of business with " special sale" oil

Marvellous values.
Marvel in low prices.
Merchandise marvels extraordinary.
Mighty movements in merchandising.
Mail orders receive our best attention.
Mail orders promptly and carefully filled.
Matchless clearance sales in all departments.
Magnetic millinery models now on exhibition.

How To Accomplish It. 209

Meditate upon the importance of the following.
Magnificent array of values are now to be seen.
Meritorious articles priced at moderate figures.
Match these values if you can. They are great.
Masterpieces of workmanship are these articles.
Make up your mind to embrace this opportunity.
Minute details have been thoroughly carried out.
Magnitude of our offerings impresses everybody.
Mail order shopping here is satisfactory shopping.
Many will hasten to respond to this advertisement.
Microscopic prices are to-morrow's selling figures.
Modes of the moment receive full expression here.
Men, women, boys and girls will alike be interested.
Manufacturers' surplus stocks to go the bargain way.
Memoranda can be made from this list with advantage.

Near cost.
Nicknacks cheap.
Nicest goods you ever saw.
Neat, novel, nobby and new.
Nearly everybody will come.
News of extreme importance.
Novelties are here in abundance.
Nobby neckwear popularly priced-
Notice with care our features this week.
Nimble business will come to this notion sale.
Novel conceits from the wide world of fashion.
Note well for it certainly will be to your advantage.

Opportunities worth noting.
Observe how ruthlessly we slash prices.
Obligation to buy never comes with a visit.
Opportunities nothing short of remarkable.
Only here and now can you get these goods.
Overwhelming evidence as to our leadership.
Oasis here for seekers of excellent merchandise.
Ordinary prices are far above our present figures.
Opportune sales for this season's home furnishers.
Oversights are committed by those who fail to come.
Odds and ends of a splendid season's business now to go.
Open wide your eyes for here is something worth reading.
Optics of many readers are centered upon this announcement.
Obstacles to buy, in the shape of high prices, are now removed.
14

210 Successful Advertising

Pared prices.

Paltry prices.

Pleasing prices.

Progressive methods.

Perfect styles and garments.

Perfection in fit guaranteed.

Prices pulsating with economy.

Prices that sweep aside opposition.

Pluck — not luck— built this business.

Price pointers that sharp eyes will soon see.

Plucky doings that you will surely appreciate.

Paucity of stocks never a feature in this store.

Patronize us once and you will call constantly.

Pace is set by us— a swift one — let others follow.

Prices that tell with conviction their own stories.

Pleasure is evident on the part of many patrons.

Plentiful assortments to make shopping a pleasure.

Pithy and pointed paragraphs, pregnant with worth.

Permit us to give a few examples of the many values.

Powerful arguments as to why you should shop here.

Pleased customers generally become constant customers.

Peerless exhibits of new, novel and alluring merchandise.

Pleasing array of the newest and best ideas for inspection.

Purse-opening arguments now set down in black and white.

Persuasive arguments to buy are evident in every paragraph.

Paragraphs that are meaty with the best kind of trade arguments.

Quick-selling prices.

Quick sales and small profits.

Quickly send along your order.

Quick responses come to our ads.

Quickness in filling orders is a feature here.

Quality and quantity always here for selection.

Quality never sacrificed in order to give quantity.

Quarters here do the regular work of half dollars.

Question us all you will— we have the right answers.

Queer prices are these in comparison with regular rates.

Quadruple ordinary values when you think of these items.

How To Accomplish It. 211

Remarkable rates.

Remorseless price-cutting.

Reasonable prices are quoted.

Radical changes are now necessary.

Reasons abound as to why you should buy.

Realize the full importance of this offering.

Reap the benefit of these splendid offerings.

Real bargains are now told of by printer's ink.

Reputable merchandise the only sort we ever offer.

Richness in bargain giving a feature for to-morrow.

Random items picked out from hundreds of others.

Reputation is a subject that readers carefully consider.

Rash prices are these ? Yes, but they bring business.

Retailing here is never sleepy or stolid, dull or drowsy.

Radiant showings of the last fancies of Dame Fashion.

Range of colorings, styles and effects most remarkable.

Restricted quantities urge the necessity of calling early.

Ruinous prices are these, so they cease to-morrow night.

Rich and rare combinations of weaves, colors and eflFects.

Respect for public intelligence is considered in every advertisement.

Resolve yourself into a committee of one and investigate here to-morrow.

Small prices.

Style and service.

Sensational selling.

Sensible shoppers come here.

Sweeping price cuts now the rule.

Service is a point we never overlook.

Sensitive purses will like these prices.

Standards here are rigidly maintained.

Snappy styles to give a snap to business.

Splendid stocks are now in full readiness.

Severe cuts in selling figures now evident.

Stocks are now at their best— their brightest.

Swap what you do not want for what you do.

Style showings worth coming miles to admire.

Smashing sales are in force throughout the store.

Sales of surpassing interest are now in full swing.

Showings that instantly captivate critical customers.

Sweep out all stocks with the big broom of small prices.

See what we have to offer then — use your own judgment.

Stirring price reductions stir up business with a sharp slick.

Score another point to our credit on account of this oflFering.

212 Successful Advertising

Small prices bring big business— as will be shown to-morrow.
Scintillating specials in superb silverware in to-morrow's sale.
Styles fresh with the last, lingering touches of Dame Fashion.
Skeptics will quickly become prompt and enthusiastic buyers.
Surging sea of humanity in response to our unequalled values.
Swinging along without opposition towards the goal of success.
Seems strange that we can quote such extraordinary offerings ?
Swell to-morrow's crowds by joining them and swelling our sales.
"Sell, sell, sell " is the cry from old goods. These prices will sell 1
Search the city with a microscope and you could find no better values.
Shoes of service ; shoes of style ; shoes of worth— at economical prices.
Store service excellent, values ditto— that's why business comes our way.

Trade tempters.

Triumphant trade turners.

Tremendous trade temptations.

TaflFy is cheap but deeds count.

Talk here is backed up by deeds.

Turn your thoughts in our direction.

Thrift and taste are well catered to.

Tremendous temptations for your trade.

Those who come to look remain to buy.

Telling arguments now are told on paper.

Tasty confections at purse pleasing prices.

Throngs will come in response to this oflFering.

Thinking people are our most staunch supporters.

Tales worth listening to are in the following items.

Tidings of more than passing interest are here told.

Terse, truthful tales are the succeeding paragraphs.

Thorough workmanship can be seen in every stitch.

Temporary trade is not our wish, 'tis a lasting success.

Thrifty readers will be in strong evidence here to-morrow.

Timid retailers cannot understand our aggressive methods.

Transactions of great magnitude were responsible for these values.

Teach yourself how to save. Take advantage of our credit system.

Think deeply— the more you think the more you will be impressed.

Time is up ! These goods have lingered long enough— now they go !

To grow rich means to embrace opportunities. This is your opportunity.

Trinity of arguments, viz : liberal assortments, high qualities and low prices.

Thrift means prosperity, the result of taking advantage of such chances as
are here.

Transact you business where facilities are best, qualities are high, goods
are many and prices are right.

How To Accomplish It. 213

United we stand.

Union is strength.

Union of grades and prices.

Unexcelled values for this week.

Undercuts in prices now in force.

Umbrellas in a bargain shower.

Unsurpassed showings in new goods.

Undercurrent of bargains run strong.

Unquestionably the event of the season.

Unexpected crash in prices during this sale.

Undoubted values will prevail during this sale.

Ubiquitous agents are working for us— and you.

Unceasing vigilance for our customers' interests.

Unassuming prices but blatantly assuming values.

Understand the full meaning of this announcement.

Unequaled opportunities are now placed before you.

Use good judgment— in other words attend this sale.

Unanimous approval has been given this establishment.

Vanishing profits.
Verify these statements.
Vastness of stocks a feature.
Vast assortments are now ready.
Victory perches upon our banner.
Vigorous retailing the order of the day.
Vehement demonstrations of leadership.
Vigorous selling seen in every department.
Valuable inducements for your consideration.
Values are here in abundance— secure them !
Values that need only be seen to be appreciated.
Visit us at your early convenience, to your advantage.
Vital features of this business are care and promptness.

Winning prices.

Winsome styles.

Wellspring of rich values.

Worth is never overlooked.

Women will be greatly interested in this sale.

Warm weather wearables at cold weather prices.

Wise readers never overlook our advertisements.

214 Successful Advertising

War to the death on high prices and poor goods.
Wander through this store to your heart's content.
Want something exceptionally good ? If so read on.
Windfalls— bargain windfalls— are numerous these days.
Workmanship on every article is up to the highest standard.
Weather conditions seldom — if ever — affect our business.
Where can you do as well as here? Echo answers, " Where?"
Why does business flock here ? Read the answer in these items.

'Xcell this if you can.

Ye bargain seekers look here !

Yield of bargains now is generous.

Yes ! here are values unmatchable.

Youth is the time to make life plans.

You should improve this opportunity.

You will be struck by our credit inducements.

Zenith of bargain giving.
Zealous bids for patronage.
Zero prices on all merchandise.

D1Y1810N FOUR.

MAIL ORDER ADVERTISING.

A General Talk on Mail Order Advertising^.

Just at present most retailers are planning how to capture
the mail order business within easy reach, and a few more am-
bitious than the rest are considering the feasibility of covering
a good slice of the country with their mail order literature.

The mail order territory of this continent may be divided
into three parts, viz.: the Eastern, Northern and Southern
States, which are well supplied through the mail order depart-
ments of big houses in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and a
few other large cities ; the great middle West, of which Chicago
mail order departments capture the lion's share of the business,
and that section west of the Rockies which is catered to by a few
big houses in Denver, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Port-
land.

It would be folly for the average house to attempt to gather
business from more than its State and the States adjoining it.
An Omaha house bidding for mail order business should attempt
to cover only Nebraska, the northern part of Kansas, the eastern
part of Colorado, the Dakotas, and such portions of adjoining
States which would not come under the scope of equally large
or larger concerns in Kansas City, Denver, St. Louis and Chicago.
The nearness of these other bases of supplies to possible custo-
mers, with the certainty that qualities and prices are as equally
attractive, would operate against the Omaha house.

That there is a profitable and rapidly growing field in this
direction shrewd advertisers readily agree. There are too many
people living in small towns and cities and on farms who desire

215

216 Successful Advertising

the same goods their city cousins get to allow this branch of
business to be dismissed lightly.

Every well-regulated retail establishment should have some
sort of a mail order department attached, and the more atten-
tion given this branch the greater chance there is for its devel-
opment.

The requisites for a mail order dejDartment briefly summa-
rized are :

1. A select list of fresh names.

2. Intelligent mail order employees.

3. Plenty of goods to fill all orders.

4. A good head to manage the department.
With these requisites the general rules to follow are :

1. Fill all orders promptly.

2. Fill all orders carefully.

3. Answer all correspondence comprehensively and care-
fully.

4. Send out catalogues of stocks at least twice a year — in
early spring and fall.

5. Keep pounding away with small advertising bullets such
as circulars, booklets, etc.

6. Mention your mail order department frequently in your
ads.

7. Exchange goods, refund money and give your mail order
customers the same privileges as your over-the-counter-customers.

8. Keep right at it — systematically persistent.

Then in the course of time, if you have any sort of a
retail business and if you follow the above rules, you'll wake up
some fine morning and discover you have a good-sized mail order
trade.

Supposing you are a retailer and wish to add a mail order
department to your store. Of course there was a sort of mail
order department in connection with your business almost as
soon as the business was started. Stray letters would wander
in, perhaps half a dozen a day, from such of your customers as
were imable to attend in person, but who wished to secure some
of your offerings. These letters were turned over to a young
lady or a young man who filled the orders in the course of a couple

How To Accomplish It. 217

of days aud then the letters were filed away. More letters came
until Mr. Retailer found it necessary to have some bright, young
person to give the proper attention to these letters, and of its
own accord, without any advertising or pushing, the mail order
department grew. This is how most mail order departments grow,
until Mr. Retailer thinks that as long as there is some business
outside his city which comes by mail without effort on his part,
much more might be induced to come by a little pushing.

Let us suppose you are in that pleasant state of mind, dream-
ing of mercantile victories yet to be achieved through your new,
up-to-date mail order department.

At the outset have a couple or more cuts made. These
should be about half or three-quarters column wide, showing a
postman, a mail bag, a lot of letters or something like that sug-
gestive of Uncle Sam's postal service.

Let each cut have something like this inscribed on it : " Let
us fill your mail orders. " " Why not do your shopping by mail ?' '
"All mail orders carefully attended to," etc.

Run this cut in your regular newspaper ad three or four
times a week. With the cut say something like this :

" Promptness and care in filling mail orders is a hobby with
us. Trained mail order clerks carry out your wishes intelligently
and satifactorily. Distance now is no barrier to successful shop-
ping."

You'll soon find that this sort of thing will increase your
volume of orders wonderfully. In the meantime you should
secure a choice list of names, which in many respects is the most
difficult part of the performance with a mail order manager.

Your local paper may allow you the use of its subscription
list in a pinch. This list is a good one, but it is possible to get
a better one. Of course the best li.st is gathered from the letters
that the daily business brings.

A catalogue issued twice a year is very necessary. The
spring and summer catalogue should be ready in March or April
at the farthest, the fall and winter catalogue in September or
October. With every catalogue should be attached a mail order
blank. If you cannot aiford a catalogue have a booklet, if you
cannot afford the booklet oct out a circular of information, but

218 Successful Advertising

whether it is a catalogue, circular or booklet always .-eivl o. mail
order blank with it.

I have foUiid it a good plan to get out a lot of small leaflets,
each leaflet speaking of a certain article. Thus, if I wished to
speak of a drive in ladies' gloves, I would have an illustration
of the glove, its description and price, and possibly a short para-
graph at the bottom of the glove story speaking of mail order
shopping in general. Half a dozen such leaflets, speaking of
half a dozen different articles, can be well dropped into every
mail order package that goes out of the mail order department.

The position filled by the mail order employee requires a
higher degree of ability than that possessed by the average
clerk, and for this reason mail order assistants command very
fair salaries.

A young lady filling orders must be quick and accurate in
deciphering obscure and apparently indecipherable handwriting ;
she must disentangle from a skein of tangled expressions the
customer's desire ; she must have enough mother wit to supply
the right sort of ribbon or the proper caper in ruchings when these
details are lacking in the letter, and while she must not intrude
upon the valuable time of the clerk behind the counter when
he is busy with a customer, yet she must not delay the order.

When a retailer finds himself rich enough to do a little
magazine splurging, he will find that the highest priced and
largest circulation magazines are the best mediums. If he wants
to demonstrate this, let him compare the cost of reaching a
thousand people with an inch ad in a great jDublication like T/ie
Ladies' Homejournalox The Youth's Companion with the cost of
reaching the same number through a less circulation paper
and with apparently cheaper advertising rates.

Advertising EdHcational Features by Mail.

Nowadays, through the mails, you can learn law, journal-
ism, illustrating, engineering, ad writing, editing and about
everything taught in schools.

It is not necessary to travel many miles to a city, and in
addition to the tuition cash pay the expenses of living there in
order to learn a trade, profession or language.

How To Accomplish It. 219

You simply write for a catalogue which gives full informa-
tion about the course desired — send along your check for tuition,
and presently you are receiving the lessons by mail.

If you are an earnest and apt student you will imbibe the
knowledge — if you are indifferent or stupid you will not, which
can be said of all students in school or out of school.

I/Ct us look at the methods of the gentlemen at the head of
these schools that impart knowledge by mail. We will watch
sharply their work in advertising their methods.

First of all the manager of the school prepares his catalogue.
He analyzes the good points of his instruction and vividly
brings these good points out on paper. As a rule he is fond of
running in testimonials from "satisfied students." From an
advertising point of view such testimonials are good.

The preparation of the catalogue, book, booklet or pros-
pectus— as you choose to call it — is a serious matter. To pro-
duce a good one requires not only a facility in writing, but a
mind analytical, forceful, logical and strong with individuality.
If it has had a business training so much the better. The cata-
logue struggle may be summarized thus :

1st. A searching study into the good points of the school and proper

presentation of these points on paper.
2nd. Several sessions with photographers, artists and wood engravers

In relation to Illustrations.
Srd. Further thought as to the disposition of illustrations and text.
4th. Heart to heart talks with the printer on the question of display,

paper, binding and general arrangement.
5th. The revision of proofs.
6th. Selecting a good list of names.
7th. Sending the catalogue to same.

Then the advertising in newspapers and magazines come
up. As this point will be treated of in the article referring to
"Advertising A School" it need not be here dwelt upon.

The " Follow Up System" is considered important enough
to be treated most elaborately by some schools. Last winter one
of these institutions happened to get my name and address, and
with great foresight concluded that I was a fit subject for their
educational course. Although I never responded to any of their
communications yet they sent me :

220 Successful Advertisings:

A catalogue, a long type-written (printed) letter, some testimonials,
and a blank application form.

A two page type-written (printed) letter and another blank. (Two
weeks later.)

An Immense postal card that annoyed the postman. (A week later.)

A two page type-written (printed) letter, some more testimonials and
another application blank. (Three weeks later.)

A copy of the catalogue they first sent me with "a special ofiier."
(A week later.)

A rather drastic page type-written (printed) letter. (Two weeks later.)

Another prodigious postal card. (A month later.)

Then absolute silence. I guess they thought I was dead.
My criticism of their " Follow Up System " was :

The entire lot of matter was poorly written— it lacked argumenta-
tive force and convincing powers. The catalogue was the best piece of
literature they sent out. There was too much advertising ammunition
wasted upon one who did not reply.

Speaking about " Follow Up System," I think that three
strong letters — about ten days apart — together with the cata-
logue— are all that should be used. I have had a lot of mail
order advertising experience, and I have watched these things
pretty closely. In many cases a catalogue and a letter is about
enough.

Another point :

Printed letters in the written form should only come from
a first-class printer. A poor printer will tiirn out such a job as
to "give the whole thing away." The space for the name and
address can be filled in by the typewriter.

Specific Talks on Mail Order Advertising,

Talk Number I.
BEST ADVERTISING HEDIUMS.

(Author's note. The following twelve talks by Mr. MacDonald ran as a
series in Prmter's hik, and are here republished through the courtesy of
" The Little School Master.'')

The standard mediums with the largest circulations are the
cheapest, although their prices may seem steep. Prove its logic

How To Accomplish It. 221

with the rules of simple proportion. Apply it to every advertis-
ing proposition that comes along and see how much better oiSf
you will be at the end of the year.

Is it a magazine proposition ? Then take the standard of
mail order mediums to reach households — the Ladies' Ho7ne
Journal. If in it a hundred dollar space can reach so many
people how many will be reached by the same cost with another
publication ? If you know the other's circulation so much
quicker can you get at the answer ; if you do not, so much
worse for the paper under test. For every publication should
give its circulation.

The same way with "lists" of newspapers or separate
newspapers that appeal to mail order trade. Competition and
the insistence of advertisers will in time reduce advertising
rates to an equable basis. In the meantime, the only rule is to
take the standards in magazines and newspapers and judge by
them the worth of all others. I have taken inch ads as well as
pages in publications. On one mail order ad alone that passed
through my hands about seven thousand dollars was spent. At
least one hundred thousand dollars has been directed by the
writer for mail order advertising, so it can be seen that I have
given much consideration to the subject. I have found that the
Ladies^ Home Journal 3.nd. the Youth'' s Covtpanion were the best
paying mediums, McClure s^ Munsey's^ Success and the Ledger
Monthly^ were also among those that brought good results.

The selection of mediums is simply the exercise of that
judgment one would bring to bear upon the buying of any bill
of goods. For a retail house or any business carrying a line of
goods appealing to a mail order trade, nothing can equal the
catalogue. Properly gotten up and put in right hands it is a
silent salesman that day and night works with main and might.
It covers the ground as can no advertisement. But it should
only speak of goods carried in stock for six months after issu-
ance. Then follows the booklet, circular and leaflet. This
form of mail order advertising is more fully treated of in
another chapter. While I am a great admirer of the bold, big
advertising spaces, I have noticed plenty of instances where
small-sized advertisements on leaders have brought wonderful

222 Successful Advertising"

results. In proportion to their space tliey frequently proved
more profitable than the larger announcements. A two inch
advertisement on 12^ cent handkerchiefs during the holiday
season is a case well remembered. The daily advertisements
of retail houses should occasionally say a few words about the
mail order department.

A mail order advertisement can as a rule be prepared weeks
in advance. This is where it differs from the usual advertise-
ment. And the earlier it is sent to the publication the better
the chance — all other things being equal — is there for a good
position.

Talk Number II.

BOOKKEEPING AND SYSTEM OF HANDLING LETTERS
AND ORDERS.

The bookkeeping of the average mail order department is
not unlike the bookkeeping of an average business. The index
name book where names are carefully indexed and classified
according to territory is, however, a book peculiar to mail order
departments. Under the heading A, may be subdivisions of
different States and counties where Andersons, Amsdens,
Andrews, Appletons, etc., live. Opposite their names can be
memoranda of the size and frequency of orders. In this man-
ner the worth of each customer is at all times apparent. In
very large departments names under the proper subdivisions are
classified in huge filing cabinets or cases similar to those used
in public libraries.

In the writer's eye is a system now in operation in a large
department store. All letters to the firm are opened in the
main office. Demands for samples are then stamped to be
immediately sent to the mail order office. Letters containing
remittances in any form go to the head cashier of the house,
who extracts the money and stamps the sum received to the
credit of the mail order department, which department then
numbers on a consecutive numbering machine the letters. Then
they are alphabetically assorted and entered upon the register-
ing book.

Hov/ To Accomplish It. 223

Afterwards they are read and handed to the girls filling
orders — according to the departments covered by the girls.
Requests for samples of dress goods, linings, etc., are left with
clerks in these departments who are expected to attend to the
letters before the day is out. Before filling an order the girl
makes out a card which shows the name and address of the
sender as well as the amount, shipping directions and whatever
notes may be valuable regarding any details of the order. This
card bears the time stamp of the manager of the mail order
department, so he can tell how much time the girl consumed in
filling the order. This time stamp is a constant indicator of
the mail order filler's efficiency.

Having selected the goods they are sent from the counter to
the mail order office, thence after examination and checking to
the shipping department. Before the goods are sent to this lat-
ter department the girl detaches from her card a stub, and the
card itself goes with the merchandise to the shipping room.
The shipping manager stamps on the card the hour and moment
of shipment. So this card is a silent evidence of the prompt-
ness of the mail order selling and shipping departments. If
there is a slip up anywhere either in the delay of filling orders,
insufficient goods to fill orders, or a superabundance or lack of
funds in payment, it becomes a comparatively easy matter to
write a letter to the customer that will straighten out matters.
And it is highly important to see that the customer is satisfied
in every detail. When there is even the slightest imperfection
regarding the filling of orders a letter should be sent to set the
department right in the customer's eye.

Talk Number III.
SECURING NAMES.

No matter how good the literature — how strong the adver-
tising ammunition — unless the right names are secured nmch
is wasted.

There are firms in large cities that make a business of sup-
plying names to retailers. The well-established firms are pat-
ronized largely by mail order advertisers of novelties, special-

224 Successful Advertising

ties, etc., and are occasionally called upon by retailers and
wholesalers about catalogue time.

As a rule the retailer depends upon his regular list of cus-
tomers for names. This list, which grows with the advertising
of the mail order department, is the most valuable list obtainable.

Local papers have been known to loan their subscription
list to good advertisers. This courtesy was extended me by
the Denver Times when I had charge of the Denver Dry Goods
Company's mail order department. Subsequently I evolved
this idea, which can be utilized by any one, provided the local
express will assist.

I went to the Wells-Fargo, Rio Grande, American and all
the express companies running out of Denver and induced
them to send a letter signed by the Denver Dry Goods Company
and the express company to all the express company's sub-
agents. Scattered throughout the Rocky Mountains were sev-
eral hundred sub-agents, and each received a request for a list
of likely mail order customers in his district. Nearly all the
sub-agents responded, and soon I had the satisfaction of secur-
ing the best names from the territory to be reached. These
names were carefully indexed. Mr. Catlin, the mail order
manager of the Hub Clothing House, Chicago, originated a
number of efficient methods of obtaining valuable mail order
names. He addressed a letter to fifteen thousand express
agents in as many different towns throughout the country.
This letter made the proposition that if the express agent would
send on the accompanying blank names of fifty persons whom
he knew to be reliable, and who would be probable purchasers
of clothing, he would receive a commission of five per cent, on
all orders sent in by the people whose names were on his list.
Nearly fifty thousand names were obtained in this manner, and
tabulated by means of the card system. The practical results
obtained from this list, however, were not as satisfactory as
those obtained by some other methods. For example, at the
Trans-Mississippi Exposition at Omaha, a registration was
made of married women, and Mr. Catlin secured twenty thous-
and names from this registration, which are especially valuable
in sending out catalogues and samples of children's clothing.

How To Accomplish It. 225

A successful scheme for obtaining practical mailing lists is
exhibited in a three-page folder, "The Hub's Proposition."
This folder sets forth the desire of The Hub to obtain names of
parties who are likely to be interested in their catalogue, and
invokes the aid of patrons by offering them a fair remuneration
for the services rendered. The folder displays attractive cuts
of samples of men's and boys' garments, and agrees to furnish
them at about the cost of production, provided the person
addressed will fill out the accompanying blank and send in five
names and addresses of prospective purchasers. The Hub then
agrees to ship any of the garments advertised in the folder by
express C. O. D., without any deposit, and at a reduction of
about twenty-five per cent, from retail prices. This method
not only obtains valuable names, but serves to introduce the
goods in many communities where they were formerly unknown.
An ordinary name index answers for a small mail order
department. For a large department a system of files similar
to that used in large libraries answers the purpose. These names
should be carefully watched. When a person dies or moves the
name should be struck off or the address corrected. Sending
out literature to dead names or names that do not respond is a
dead loss of postage, printing matter, time and effort. The rule
in the best managed mail order houses is to mail to a new name
for a year, and if no sale is made in that time this name is taken
from the list.

Talk Number IV.

BEST ARTICLES TO ADVERTISE.

This article is aimed rather at the small mail order con-
cerns, although large firms can gather points. Many a man
starting a mail order business is at a loss as to what to advertise.
This epitome of many years' experience and observation may
throw some light upon the subject.

Handkerchiefs at a popular price like 12^ cents are great

mail order sellers all the year round — particularly so during the

holiday season. Ladies' wrappers at 98 cents or thereabouts

are good sellers. Gloves for men and women in the vicinity

226 Successful Advertising

of a dollar j^ull good trade. So are ladies' shirt waists during
the summer season. Hosiery is fiiir. Boys' suits are well sold
all the year round, but take care that the price is a moderate
one. A fairly good boy's suit can be sold at $1.98, which price
includes transportation. Through the summer season a boy's
sailor suit at the same figure has been known to pull in lots of
trade. Men's and boys' bicycle, athletic or sporting caps in the
vicinity of 25 cents are trade winners. Ladies' tailor-made
suits ranging from the cheap affair of wool repellent cloth at
$4.95 up to the finest serges, cheviots, broadcloths, etc., at $20
and $2S win patronage. Ladies' duck suits for beach and
mountain wear are quick sellers through the short summer
season. In the early fall and spring light weight jackets and
capes for ladies and misses are good sellers, and throughout the
winter heavy weight outer garments for men, women and chil-
dren. Ladies' mackintoshes at $2.95 or thereabouts are quick
movers. Do not climb too high in the scale of prices. Make
the price as little as consistent with a worthy article.

During the spring seed season packages of seeds (18 or
20 in a bunch) can be profitably advertised at 18 cents and 20
cents per bunch. Bulbs are fair sellers.

Cheap watches sell rapidly; $1.50 is a popular price to move
watches. A certain firm has made a great mail order success
with a dollar watch. Cameras and camera outfits appeal to
everybody, particularly during the summer season. Concerns
have been known to make money out of men's trousers at ^1.95,
men's suits at $4.98, men's overcoats at the same figure and
men's mackintoshes at $2.75. But as a general rule these
latter goods are hard to move — not especially easy over the
counter and much more difficult by mail or express. Sewing-
machines, clocks, jewelry, eyeglasses, music, musical instru-
ments and articles of household use, when easily priced and
properly pushed are money makers. While Montgomery,
Ward & Co. and Sears-Roebuck Co., Chicago, sell almost
everything necessary for personal need or domestic use, do
not jump at the conclusion that you can do the same. First
study your territory and its people's needs. Then pick out
some article for which there is a certain demand, such as a

How To Accomplish It. 227

handkerchief during the holiday season, a boy's sailor suit, a
woman's shirt waist during the summer season, or a glove
for all-year- round trade.

lyittle points of local and climatic conditions should be
studied. Again is repeated : Have prices as small as possible
on goods of worth and wear.

Talk Number V.
CATALOGUE MAKING.

Another leading subject is the catalogue matter. How to
get up a catalogue with as little expense as possible — " Aye " as
Hamlet puts it, " there's the rub." I have seen catalogues that
were gotten up at no expense whatever to the house sending
them out. How ? Simple enough ! A retail house can call
upon the wholesalers, importers and manufacturers with whom
it deals to give quarter, half and full page advertisements to the
catalogue. Sometimes more than enough is thus realized to pay
for the cost of the catalogue. Cuts can be secured the same
way. But, broadly speaking, this is not true economy, for the
house thus puts itself under obligations to the wholesalers, im-
porters and manufacturers taking advertising space. And these
obligations are as a rule met with compound interest.

A catalogue should be planned well in advance. Estimates
should be secured from printers, artists, paper dealers, etc., in
time to permit a careful arrangement of copy and further plans.
In giving out the work the good advertiser does not necessarily
give it to the lowest bidder. He gives it to the writer, artist*
printer and paper dealer who is responsible — who has a reputa-
tion for turning out good work in quick time — provided his
prices are right. In working up a catalogue give each depart-
ment a representation according to that department's money
making ability. No more, no less. On a small catalogue it
may be well to have the printer estimate on printing, paper,
presswork, binding and mailing (which includes postage). But
it has been my experience that on large orders it is wiser to get
the paper estimate from some paper dealer. The printer could

228 Successful Advertising

estimate on printing, presswork, binding, and mailing, although
in some cases money can be saved by having the mailing figure
considered by some mailing concern.

As to text. Have it terse, direct, business-like. Give full
descriptions of goods and always, always give prices. Prices
clinch custom ; all else only lead to that pleasant point. A
page introductory about the good things to follow is all right,
so are short introductories to the beginning of chapters.

As to illustrations. Whether they should be colored, half-
tones, wood cuts or pen and ink sketches is a matter for you to
determine, as you are the best judge of the individual case. For
ordinary catalogues, pen and ink drawings are all right. They
are inexpensive. They can be made for about a dollar each, or
can be had in New York ready made for half and even quarter
that sum. Wood engravings are more expensive, ranging from
two to ten dollars apiece. No black and white illustration pic-
tures an article with such strength, fidelity and thoroughness as
the wood engraving. Half-tones and colored work still climb
higher the ladder of expense. For garments and figures the
half-tones will be always in demand. There is a daintiness and
softness about a half-tone that adds a touch of fashion to any
garment and a grace to any figure. Colored plates are in
demand by some advertisers, but for picturing purely dry goods
or department store matter, a fair comparison has demonstrated
to my mind that colored work is not as strong and practical,
therefore not so desirable as artistic black and white effects.

As to type. If the printer is a good one let him decide that
point himself. A good rule to follow is to have as few varieties
on a page as possible. De Vinne, Jensen or Howland makes a
good display. Small Pica, Nonpareil or Brevier answers the
body purposes. Footnotes can be brought out in Agate (lower
case).

As to paper. Have the paper good. Your catalogue is
your representative, and a shabby representative hurts any busi-
ness. The same may be said as to the general effect of the cata-
logue, which means that paper dealer, printer, writer and artist
should do their utmost to produce a creditable catalogue, and
in return get a fair recompense for what they give you.

How To Accomplish It. 229

Talk Number VI.
CONCERNING CORRESPONDENCE.

It is truly extraordinary in this eminently prosaic age how
methods of approaching persons influence trade. Take the soft,
delicate, insinuating method and you sicken some robust char-
acters, while pleasing those accustomed to the velvet side of life.
Go at some people with a club and you scare them into giving
you business, while others instantly show fight and become for-
ever enemies.

First-class mail order managers and credit clerks have the
gentle art of correspondence down to a fine degree. Generally it is
the "iron hand beneath the velvet glove " method that prevails.

The mail order correspondent in the fullness of time comes
to know the various shades of character in the various cus-
tomers. By keeping these idiosyncrasies in mind he is better
able to adjust grievances and in letters emphasize the points of
goodness of his goods and mail order system.

The mail order correspondent might well take a lesson in
graphology or the deduction of character from handwriting.
There are some books on the subject procurable from almost
any library, and graphology is by no means an inexact science.
The heavily marked letters without flourishes indicate the
severely practical and frequently the close-flsted. Open letters,
and letters showing flourishes, indicate a tendency to extrava-
gance. The social status of the writer is often shown in no un-
certain manner by the delicate aristocratic penmanship, while
the inky, slovenly style tells another story. The great point is
for the writer to put himself in the place of the reader. If by
previous business relations, by inferences from penmanship, ex-
pression, locality, size of order, or style of goods desired, the
writer can determine the soft and hard points of the customer's
make-up, then he can write a letter or series of letters that will
play a symphony upon the right business keys.

All Uncle Sam's letters — be they naval, military, or what
not — are couched in a sententious and simple style. So are the

230 Successful Advertising

letters from many great business houses. Long experience may
have determined that this method of corresponding is the cor-
rect one for business purposes. But people are human and are
moved by appeals to pride, vanity, anger, jealousy, etc., just as
much as ever, and it does seem as though the writer who could
inject into a letter something else besides cold business would
be a step in advance of the conventional letter writer.

Talk Number VII.
PROMPTNESS AND THOROUGHNESS.

The two watch-words in filling orders are : Promptness and
Thoroughness. Gain a reputation in these points and much is
accomplished. It makes no matter how good are the goods,
how small are the prices, if the customer's desire has to cool
before merchandise appears, a blow to business is the result.
First-class mail order houses fill orders the day they are received.
And they fill orders thoroughly. There is no skimping of full
measurement, nor lack of desire to carry out the customer's
desire at every point. It does not pay to substitute goods unless
the customer has given that privilege.

Up-to-date business is pretty brisk business. It tells of
quick service, intelligent service, good goods and fair prices.
When it does not something happens. And that something
means that " the other fellow " gets the business because he gets
to the heart of the customer and pocketbook better and
quicker than you, by his promptness and thoroughness in filling
orders on dependable merchandise, properly priced. Uncle
Sam's postal service is excellent. Even second and third-class
mail matter moves without loss of time. So does express
matter. Therefore, when delays occur customers instantly blame
the mail order department, and in most cases they are right.
Some employees are naturally slack and shiftless. They let
orders lie on their desks for a day of two before giving them
attention. Such employees are weeds — hoe them out !

Many a mail order covers a large list of articles. Here is
where that jewel — thoroughness — can be shown. Get every

How To Accomplish It. 231

article in its completeness. If ten yards of cotton are ordered
give full yards, not nine and eight-ninths. If three dozen
packages of seeds are ordered, do not give thiity-five If a spool
of Clark's thread, a dozen of pens, two packages of safety pin
books, each containing three dozen pins, a gross of thirty-six
inch selected grain whalebone and a lot of other things are
ordered in by the dressmaker in Poughkeepsie or Pawling, see
that the order is filled to the letter and shipped the day it is
received. Same way in filling orders on patent medicines or any
sort of specialties. Keep the orders moving all the time — never
let them hurry or worry you. As a rule, the people who are
rushed to death are they who have permitted work to accumu-
late upon their shoulders. The cool, collected employees
accomplish a fair share of work, each day and the succeeding
day finds them in the proper frame to do justice to further
batches.

Talk Number VIII.

GOOD MAIL ORDER HELP.

Every mail order employee should be a clear and inde-
pendent thinker — be ready to adapt himself to the emergencies
that arise from time to time — be trained in the matter of filling
orders properly and clever enough to extract the writer's mean-
ing from the letter obscurely expressed. This means that the
good mail order emplo}-ee must possess brains above the average.
In a mail order department are opportunities in plenty to exer-
cise tact, patience and cleverness. Tact can be exercised, for
instance, in the dress goods department of a retail house, when
clerks are rushed with over-the-counter trade and the mail order
employee is waiting to get a line of samples or a few yards of
Henriettas. Tact can be exercised in the framing of a letter so
as to soothe a soul already disturbed by an order misunderstood
or sent astray. Tact can be shown in numberless ways.

So can patience. Many mail order letters are neither
Chesterfieldian in tone nor clear in meaning. Patience may
unravel the latter and receive the former in a manner that will
not upset business equanimity. Cleverness can be shown in

232 Successful Advertising

expression of letters, in filling of orders, in the thousand and
one business details that a year brings forth.

No mail order manager need be told that it is hard to get
good help. He knows this fact has been, is and will be so for a
long time to come. And when a good mail order employee is
secured, only just treatment and a liberal salary will retain him
or her. In filling orders demanded by women, the best help are
bright girls. They know the needs and peculiarities of their sex
better than men and are generally better posted on the fads that
fashion brings to the surface. But men make better managers.
They have a clearer idea of broad problems of business and a
better grasp on a number of details handled by a number of femi-
nine subordinates. This is a rule to which there are exceptions
as there are to all rules.

It is \vork clean through in a mail order department,
whether it be sending out phials of medicine or everthing that a
department store carries. Mentally and physically every em-
ployee should be at the best and active all the time. Personally
the writer is not in favor of too many posted rules and regula-
tions. I consider it better to have a few fundamentals well
grounded in each employee's mind — the result of a short talk
and a few day's practice. Posted rules are eye-sores to the intel-
ligent, and none but the intelligent should find room in a mail
order department. It is bad to mix up one employee's work
with another. Each should have his or her sphere of action
clearly defined and understood.

Talk Number IX.

HAVE A HAIL ORDER PLAN.

Like everything else the start should be right. To start
right is to start with a good plan, and the plan should be as well
executed as conceived. From time to time as exigencies
demand, departures can and will be made from the first plan,
but back of all stands the original scheme.

The requisites of a mail order department are :

1. A select list of names.

2. Intelligent mail order employees.

How To Accomplish It. 233

3. A good head to manage the department.

4. Plenty of goods to fill orders.

With these requisites the general rules to follow are :

1. Fill all orders promptly.

2. Fill all orders carefully.

3. Answer all correspondence comprehensively and carefully.

4. Keep up the advertising.

5. Exchange goods, refund money and give your mail order
customers the same privileges they would receive had they
bought in person.

6. Keep right at it — systematically persistent.

One of the annoying features will be the vague and foolish
orders that will come in from time to time. Patience is a jev/el
in the mail order business. Always keep this jewel bright.
One must be quick and accurate in deciphering the most diffi-
cult handwriting — be able to disentangle from a skein of tangled
expression the customer's desire, and must have enough mother
wit to supply the right shade of ribbon or the proper caper in
ruching when these details are lacking.

Have a plan about advertising. Do not go at it in a half-
hearted way and then give up. As Davy Crockett used to say,
" Be sure you are right, then go ahead." The average adver-
tising appropriation of a mail order department is three j^er cent.
of the gross business. In starting in you should splurge a little,
then tone down to a steady percentage of expenditure.

See that the boxes and tubes to hold goods are of the exact
size and weight. Postage money may be wasted otherwise.
See that you have plenty of them, as you, your customers and
the postman will be extremely annoyed when goods are poorly
packed. It is best to make a price that covers transportation as
well as cost to customers. As a last axiomatic injunction let it
here be added : That the advertising matter be written, illus-
trated and placed right to impress the right people with the
right goods at the right prices.

234 Successful Advertising

Talk Number X.
MAIL ORDER TERRITORIES.

This is a matter the importance of which has been overlooked
by too many mail order tyros. Unless the territory is ripe for
an article or comparatively free from the influence of other mail
order concerns it is folly to there spend money for mail order
purposes. The mail order territory of this continent may be
divided into three sections, viz., the Eastern, Northern and
Southern States, which are well supplied through the mail
order departments of big houses in New York, Boston, Phila-
delphia and a few other large Eastern sources ; the great Mid-
dle West, which Chicago well covers, and that section west of
the Rockies which is catered to by a few large concerns in Den-
ver, Salt Lake, San Francisco and Portland.

Now, Mr. Mail Order Man, be your prospective business
big or little, look over the above paragraph and see how its
information affects your case.

For the average mail order concern — mind you, this applies
to the average, not to the one with an article for which there is
a world-wide demand with but one source of supply — it is not
wise to attempt to gather business from more than its own and
adjoining States. An Omaha house bidding for mail order
business should attempt to cover only Nebraska, the northern
end of Kansas, the eastern of Colorado, the Dakotas and such
portions of adjoining States which would not come under the
influence of equally large or larger concerns in Kansas City,
Denver, St. Louis and Chicago. The nearness of these other
bases of supplies to possible customers with the certainty of
qualities and prices equally attractive would operate against the
Omaha attempt.

There was a time — and not so long ago, either — when a
mail order department in the East could supply the mail order
demands of the entire East and South. But that is of the past.
Western and Southern houses have sprung up and have so well
supplied mail order trade that many Eastern mail order depart-

How To Accomplish It. 235

ments have seen their trade dwindle to insignificant proportions.
Climatic conditions are well to remember. In Oregon, where it
rains practically nine months in the year, umbrellas, water-
proofs and rubbers are great sellers. In Florida and adjoining
States an all the year round demand can be counted upon for shirt
waists, wrappers, etc. In Montana capes, wraps and overcoats
can be sold during each of the twelve months. And it also
may be remembered that certain articles in certain States are in
greater demand than elsewhere. You can sell two revolvers in
Colorado where one would be sold in Illinois and more cheap
jewelry in the South than in New England.

Talk Number XI.
COMPILING MAIL ORDER LITERATURE.

Mail order literature embraces many forms of catalogues,
booklets, circulars and leaflets, to say nothing of the newspapers
and magazines. The expenditure ranges from two to ten per
cent, of that department's business, according to the judgment of
tlie head, who should know his resources and expenditure better
than any one else. The average expenditure is three per cent.

Bvery retailer and wholesaler — yes, every novelty and
specialty dealer with any kind of a business — should get out a
catalogue twice a year. The spring and summer catalogues
should be ready by the first of April, the fall and winter cata-
logue by the first of October. With every catalogue should be
attached a mail order blank. He who cannot afford a catalogue
should have a booklet— if not a booklet then a circular of infor-
mation— but in either case a mail order blank is most desirable.
There should be illustrations in plenty, as well as terse descrip-
tions of goods. Unless for seed or other purposes where colored
work is necessary it is wise to have the illustrations in plain
black and white. Wood engravings are better (therefore more
expensive) than the usual line cuts. Most advertisers find that
line cuts are satisfactory.

Illustrations which convey an accurate picture of the goods
and suggest a thought as to their uses are the illustrations to

236 Successful Advertising-

use. Dead, flat cuts repel interest. There should be action in
the cut as well as in the text. Business is full of action and all
its advertising should be a reflex of its action. Next in import-
ance to the catalogue is the booklet, after which comes the cir-
cular. Glittering generalities do not win trade. It is the
specific say-so with price that clinches custom.

Leaflets are excellent advertising bullets. A leaflet speak-
ing of a glove, cap, razor, pipe or anything retailable, well
illustrated and well expressed, dropped in every letter and pack-
age, is an accomplisher. Several of these accomplishers can go
out with every mail order.

The retailer should frequently speak of the mail order
department in his ads. A cut of a postman or letter-box with
something like this inscribed on it, " Let us fill your mail
order?" "Why not do your shopping by mail?" etc., can be
used with advantage. That it is folly to skimp on the paper
and printing of mail order literature good advertisers agree.
The same may be said of the artist's and writer's work.

Talk Number XII.
THE VALUE OF PERSISTENCE.

Before speaking of the value of persistence, a word or
two may be said anent the curse of persistence. When one is
on a wrong tack the earlier it be known the better.

Persistence is a good thing to have nothing to do with
when little or no responses come in for an article that is well
advertised and for which it is assumed there should be a prompt
demand. If a certain style fountain pen to sell at one dollar is
rightly advertised without bringing a profitable response it is
safe to drop that pen and advertise something else. For the
demand for fountain pens depends upon no climate conditions,
nor is it restricted to any section of the land. Same way with
lots of other things that appear good to advertise, but prove not
as good as they appear.

Much money is wasted in persistently advertising goods for
which there is really no profitable demand. There is a time

How To Accomplish It. 237

limit to a fair trial. And if the advertiser does not bring hard,
horse sense upon this as well as every other mail order and
advertising proposition he will be sorry.

But persistence is a good virtue to study in many cases. The
advertiser of pills must wait for " the turn of the tide " before he
sees results. The advertiser of a young mail order department in
a field where there is competition must wait some time for the
worth of his values to make an impression upon those who
were dealing with competitors. It takes time to wean away
trade from others. It takes the steady, strong, systematic
strokes of persistent advertising to do it. A mail order trade
cannot grow in a night — the first orders filled should act as
advertisers for succeeding orders. There is a form of advertising
known as word of mouth advertising. Jones says to Smith :
"Have you tried Brown's Rheumatic Solace?" "No — how
does it work, and where can I get it?" "Oh, it's great! I
bought a bottle three weeks ago, and to-day I have no rheuma-
tism. You can get a bottle for a dollar from this address in New
York." Or perhaps Mrs. Tinkham says to Miss Kelly: "Have
you ever done any mail order shopping with Smith, Smith &
Co.?" "No, I have always dealt by mail with Brown, Brown
& Co." "Well, you try Smith, Smith & Co. — a new house
that carries the best goods at lesser prices than your concern
and a house that fills all mail orders more thoroughly and
promptly."

So the story goes. Like the proverbial snowball, the well-
managed mail order department gathers strength with its push-
ing. Persistence in advertising it, persistence in pushing, it and
persistence in attending to all the little points of service accom-
plish marvels of expansion in the fullness of time.

DIVISION FIVE.
MISCELLANEOUS ADVERTISING.

Choice of Advertising Mediums.

This is the most perplexing question in the whole calendar
of perplexing problems that the advertiser must confront —
the selection of the best advertising mediums.

By the application of that rule which should govern all
advertising, viz., the application of hard, common sense, can
this problem be solved. Even when it is apparently satisfac-
torily solved, sometimes there arises a doubt whether or not
there is some money thrown away in unwise selection.

The expenditure of the advertising appropriation is a most
important one. With the usual up-to-date store this appropria-
tion amounts to an annual expenditure of thousands — and in
some metropolitan concerns hundreds of thousands every year.

A clothing concern in a central New York town recently
wrote me on this point. They advertised in the two daily
papers and in several weekly papers in that vicinity. They
asked me as to the best method of judging the value of the
various mediums. I answered tlnis : —

Take two equally good values — give them the same space
in each of the daily papers. Have both ads written up in
the same vein — have both illustrated with the garment adver-
tised, and take very good care that both articles advertised
are of equal value. Speak only of seasonable, necessary
goods. Then tabulate the results.

Later on in the week advertise the same garment in the two
dailies, only transpose the ads. Tabulate the results. With the
weekly papers do the same. In each case note carefully the
238

How To Accomplish It. 239

results. Should weather or other conditions cut sufficient
figure to possibly affect the sale of each garment repeat this
test advertising the week following.

Results tell the story — abide by them. Stick to the paper
that brings the business — drop the others. Advertising is not
for fun — not for glory — advertising is a plain business prop-
osition to bring more business. You know, I know, and
many others know that some people advertise for the pleas-
ure of seeing their names in the papers. But with the rapid
advance of advertising knowledge this class is growing hap-
pily smaller. People now appreciate advertising simply as a
lever to swing trade in their direction. That is its sole aim and
object.

In New York — in Boston — in other cities I have done this
test advertising. It is necessary in intelligent advertising.
Blind advertising is not intelligent advertising. Only the
advertising that is thoughtfully, seriously, intelligently studied
is successful advertising.

In mail order advertising key your advertising in some
way so you can tell exactly from which source you get your
results. Supposing there was a mail order concern in the Lex-
ington Building, which numbers from 141 to 155 East Twenty-
fifth Street, that wished to do some magazine advertising. Tl:e
plan would be to have say AlcClurc' s Magazine answers go to
141 East Twenty-fifth Street, Munsefs to 142 East Twenty-fifth
Street, Cosmopolitan to 143 East Twenty-fifth Street, Harpei-'s^
144 East Twenty-fifth Street, and so on. All the responses
would come to the Lexington Building and the advertiser could
tell in a moment which mediums paid him best for mail order
trade. With this knowledge he could make his advertising dol-
lars do better duty.

Lots of concerns in advertising catalogues, etc., ask the
readers to send for catalogue F., catalogue G., catalogue?., etc.
Of course it is the same catalogue that all get, but the requests
tell the story as to which medium pulls the best. It is a
splendid plan as the requests rightly filed stand as silent evi-
dences of the best publications in which to advertise.

Now as to the choice of mediums to which you are a

240 Successful Advertising

stranger. Appearances in publications as in men are some-
times deceitful — but the shrewd observer can gather a whole
lot by appearances.

When a stranger enters your presence you consider his
appearance at once. If he is well dressed, well groomed, easy
in manner and conversation you are generally favorably
impressed with him until you know him better to his credit
or discredit. Same way with a publication. If it has a
happy, healthy, well-fed appearance in its advertising col-
umns— if its editorials and articles are original, bright and
written by writers who understand their subjects (you can
tell that in a moment if you are any judge of publications)
if its paper, typographical appearance and general get-up
impress you favorably then it is a safe assumption that that
publication has character, weight and circulation. If its
advertising rates are reasonable you would be justified in
giving it an ad. Then watch the results carefully.

George P. Rowell & Co.'s Newspaper Directory is as neces-
sary to the advertiser as is Dun or Bradstreet to the business man.

I was with a big advertiser the other day who was making
up his list of mediums. He would pick up a paper, glance
over its reading and advertising columns for about two minutes
— then lay it on a heap of rejected or accepted publications.
Appearances helped him in his decisions. Of course, being an
advertiser of some years' experience, he was familiar with most
of the publications, but even some in which he previously adver-
tised, he just then rejected because their appearances in his esti-
mation were not as healthy as they once were,

A publication is never at a stand-still in circulation and in-
fluence. It is either traveling ahead or going backwards. This
is a point that all successful advertisers consider carefully. They
watch publications as they do their bank accounts and are all the
time asking questions from every source regarding the progress
of this or that paper.

Here is a point that I have noticed lots of advertisers lame
on. That is the choice of mediums to fit the articles being ad-
vertised. High-class goods should be advertised in high-class
publications — medium class goods in medium class publications

How To Accomplish It. 241

and so on. While it is good sense to advertise bric-a-brac and
champagne in the New York Herald^ yet it is a sheer waste of
good money to advertise them in a paper that reaches the deni-
zens of Avenue A.

I am aware that in this article I am speaking to thousands
of advertisers who are doing some tall thinking on the subject
of their local publications. They are wondering if their dollars
are spent right in this daily or weekly — if a clipping or increase
of mediums would do them more good. To them I would say : —

Keep the percentage of advertising expenditure down to the
proper point — which averages in the vicinity of three per cent,
for the established retail business — frequently give test ads
and tabulate carefully the results — keep a close eye on the adver-
tising and other features of these publications, and try and have
a pretty good idea of what they are doing for you.

Advertising to Women.

Women do all their own shopping.

Women buy all the children's needs.

Women buy practically everything needed for the home.

Women have and exercise an influential supervision over
every branch of buying for the person and home.

Woman is the dominating factor for the average advertiser
to consider, for without her he would not be advertising.

There is this difference between advertising to men and
advertising to women. Men are reached by a strong swift
style — a style the reflex of their business life — a style that does
not lose itself in a maze of details and wanderings into fashion-
able features— a style sententious, business-like, pleasant and at
times a trifle humorous. Women, on the other hand, are reached
with an easier and more detailed style — a style which never
loses sight of the value end of the article advertised while
showing no hesitancy in going into deep details about material,
brand, manufacture, color, shade and every little point about
the article advertised.

Women are exact in small matters, while men are prone to
gloss them over, yet keeping a weather eye on important pro-
positions.

242

Successful Advertising

If a woman wants — say a wrapper — and looks up advertis-
ing on such an article of daily household wear, she appreciates,
after price, a very complete description of the garment — some-
thing like this :

A $1.75 FLANNELEHE WRAPPER Qi jc
NOW TO GO AT '^^'^'^'

This is a very fine quality of Flannelette Wrapper
in the very latest style, with yoke, back and front
prettily trimmed with one row of braid. It has
reveres over shoulder, which is also trimmed with
braid and a narrow edging of the wrapper fabric.
The collar, cuffs and belt are also braid trimmed,
while the inside vest lining, bound armholes, tight
back and full flounced skirt also go to show the very
complete garment. The colors are red, blue, gray,
lavender, cadet and cerise, and again ^ ^ /^ ^
we repeat the price (marked from %^\ / '^
$1.75) which is tPlei^O

If there is any feature greater than price from the feminine
viewpoint it is style. Her garments must have style. Her
home needs must have style. The wearables of every member
of her household must have style in order to be satisfactory in
her estimation. No advertiser can afford to overlook the feature
of style.

The erratic productions of Fashion are only equalled by
their number. Constantly they are pouring out upon a dazzled
world, and at least twice a year a new flood of styles sweeps into
a store to relegate old " creations," etc., to the misty realms of
forgetfulness.

Then let the advertiser follow closely the devious pathway
of the will-o'-the-wisp Fashion — whose imperious mandates are
blindly followed by every woman of every age, color and
nationality, and yet who only exists in the mental regions of
the leading designers of London, Paris, New York, and other

How To Accomplish It. 243

great commercial centres. Let him convey this fact fully to the
mind of every woman who reads his publicity.

And do not be afraid to talk about service — how the
materials are right, the fit perfection, how every stitch and seam
were scanned, how all the little trifles that go to make perfection
were criticised on the basis that while " trifles make perfection,
perfection is no trifle."

And always — always tell her the pure, undiluted truth.

Advertising to Men.

When the clothier and furnisher dips his pen into the ink
bottle to tell the world what varied attractions in price and
quality are found within his establishment, he should always
bear in mind that he is speaking to men. And in speaking to
men there are a few rules that he should bear in mind.

Men are difierent from women in this one regard — as far
as reading ads is concerned. Men hate detail — women rather
like it. You cannot give a woman too many details regarding
an article which she intends to buy. Quite different with the
masculine member of the genus homo. He wants a quick story
interestingly told. There is more humor in his composition,
consequently ajoke or a wee bit of humor helps the ad once in
a while. But humor must be used right. It is so subtle a
quality that few writers handle it properly. An illustration
tells the story at once — the type takes a minute to give its
meaning. A bright picture and a brief story is what men want
in advertising, and the advertiser should study the best cloth-
ing ads everywhere in order to get pointers.

Among the best examples of Gotham clothing and furnish-
ings advertising are those shown by Rogers, Peet & Co., Brill
Bros., and Wm. Vogel & Son, in New York. The ads of
these houses are mighty snappy and bright and are full of
choice clothing information.

Every ad should be specific. It should speak of a certain
article or two articles, with price and full information regarding
the same. It may start in with a short story told in a single
paragraph — a famous quotation or some clever catch line. This
is done to arrest attention and act as an introduction to the busi-

244 Successful Advertising

iiess talk which rapidly follows. Or you might start in with a
plain, unvarnished business tale, which some men might prefer
to the other sort of ad.

In all events be brief, be succinct. Let every sentence
convey an idea. If the idea has been expressed before express
it in a new dress. The clever advertising writer understands
this art to a point of perfection. It is hard to come out with a
new story on the same old subject every day in the year. It re-
quires study — it means work — as does every result nowadays.

The ad writer of the Nebraska Clothing Company, of Omaha.
Neb., writes the best clothing and furnishings "ad'' in the West.
It is funny — but his fun represents gentle, unadulterated humor,
which naturally trickles through his " ads" and leaves a pleas-
ant impression. The trouble with humorous advertising is that
few can do it. Many attempt it, but the result is strained and
far-fetched, and repels instead of attracts. Humorous humor is
a delicate quality and should be handled delicately.

Be perfectly natural, be vigorous when you feel like it,
be easy when you feel like it. Speak 5^our own thoughts. Be
true to yourself in this regard. The more a man writes ad-
vertising the more confidence he has in the power of his pen,
and the more individuality and consequently interest will his
advertising possess.

I believe in individuality in advertising because so much
advertising is forced upon the reader nowadays that only the dis-
tinctive leaves an impression. I believe in honesty in advertising,
because honesty is a necessary business qualification, that enters
into advertising as well as every branch of business. Adver-
tising is a fascinating study, which only the school of experience
will thoroughly teach.

Typographical Arrangement.

A well-dressed advertisement, like a well-dressed person,
commands attention by sheer force of appearance alone.

Other things being equal, the well-displayed advertisement
has an immense advantage over the other sort.

Some newspapers and printing establishments have won a

How To Accomplish It. 245

wide reputation by reason of the excellent printing they put
forth.

Clean-cut presswork and artistic (yet business-like) typo-
graphy should always be considered as an important percentage
of business worth by every advertiser.

For display there is no type that has won the wide popu-
larity the De Vinne has. Jensen type is also in demand, and
the Rowland is much in favor among advertisers. Our fathers
saw more of Old English and Roman type than we do, and the
business man of to-day has the strongest leaning towards type
that catches the eye quickly and gracefully. There is not much
room at present in advertising for the type all twists and curley-
cews. Even Script and Italic are not used as they once were.
Block type — the emblem of business bluntness — has lost much
of its old-time vogue.

The demand is for a display type at once graceful and
business-like, and the De Vinne famously fills this particular
bill.

Pica for body type is a great favorite with many adverti-
sers— especially the clothing advertisers — making a happy com-
bination with the display De Vinne. Nonpareil, Brevier,
Minion and Agate come in for everyday use. Pearl, the smallest
type, is sometimes found in the small advertisements carried
by the cheap mail-order journals.

Every leading newspaper issues a "type-book " or "type-
card," but the advertiser that selects from it a variety of type
for his advertisement is liable to be very much astonished at the
result. For type in the book or card does not always bear the
same appearance when transferred to an advertisement where
the surroundings are altogether different.

The best plan is to so lay out the manuscript that the
printer can grasp the salient points at a glance.

White spaces act as backgrounds to bring out the printed
matter in bolder relief, and therefore should be studied by the
advertiser.

If there is a cut at the upper right side of the ad, try and
have another cut at the upper left side, as one balances the
other. If there is a double headline in 3-line De Vinne on

24G Successful Advertising

one side of the ad, try and have the same type heading on the
other. If you have a double column department story for your
ad, and all the other departments are set in single column,
j)lace the double column affair in the middle columns of the ad
— at top if possible — and let the others group about it. If you
have two double column talks, place one on the upper right
side and the other on the upper left. Have all your depart-
ment headings of a uniform type size. Study uniformity in
your ads. A man to be a good ad builder must be something
of an architect. He ought to have the organ of causality well
developed.

If you see a certain style of set-up that you would like to
follow in your ads, you will find the printer will understand
your desire at once if you paste on your copy a piece of that
style with a request to follow that type arrangement. This is
easier than marking type and much plainer to the printer than
any other way.

Drop in and see your printer once in a while. If he is
interested as he should be in the appearance of the ads he sets
up, he will welcome your visits. He appreciates an interchange
of ideas, and both you and he will learn much from each other.

Box rules, either light or dark, about a department or item
make it stand out. When rules are thus used inside an ad it is
always well to run a border about the whole ad. Borders give
an ad the appearance of compactness and solidity, besides being
attractive to the eye.

If you can afford it get a font of type and a set of borders
for your own special use. By so doing you give your ads an
exclusiveness that will give you the advantage of distinctive-
ness that your competitors do not possess. But do not get fancy
or too ornamental. The plain, easily read is the best. It is the
business type. You should dress your ads with the same busi-
ness air as 5'ou would like to have your clerks and travelling
men appear in, that is, eminently sensible and to the point,
without any frills or ornamental nonsense about them.

How To Accomplish It. 247

Illustrations and Their Uses.

An examination of the advertising columns of any publica-
tion will speedily determine the fact that the use and influence
of illustrations is growing right along.

It is not so many years ago that some advertisers used to
snort at illustrations. Take Wanamaker's advertising for in-
stance. Before Mr. Gillam took hold of John Wanamaker's
advertising lever, no cuts were used in the Wanamaker an-
nouncements. To-day they are lavish — the cuts are as carefully
prepared and made to fit the text as is possible for cuts to be.
Every Wanamaker ad — whether in New York or in Philadel-
phia— has a goodly sprinkling of cuts.

Bloomingdale Bros., Siegel-Cooper Co., Macy, Adams and
all the big New York retailers use cuts — and use them lavishly
too. Illustrated advertising, like illustrated journalism, has
come to stay — it is here in response to a demand of the public
to get at the story of advertising articles without waste of time.

The illustration that docs not express a distinct idea is a
poor illustration. It should be clearly drawn by an artist with
an abundance of ideas to be conveyed in the fewest lines pos-
sible. The etcher and electrotyper should see that these lines
are cut deep and clear. When there is a superabundance of
detail in the drawing and a lack of depth and clearness in the
workmanship of the cut, the result is disastrous as far as retail
advertising is concerned. The average newspaper, city and
country, is printed on a rapid press with poor ink on poor paper ;
that is why so many cuts come out blurred and blotched.

Some retailers keep the cuts indexed in their own advertis-
ing offices, some ask the newspapers to file away the cuts.
Some unwise merchants keep the cuts in old barrels and dry
goods boxes. When contingencies arise the cuts are difficult or
impossible to find. In large cities, where the matrix system
can be worked, it has been found that the best plan is to have
the matrices indexed in the store's advertising office and the
electrotypes or stereotypes in the newspaper composing rooms.
In small towns, I believe, the best system is to have the news-

248 Successful Advertising

papers index the cuts and the advertiser to be supplied with
several proofs of each. When the "printer's devil " knows his
business this is all right ; when that individual is careless there
is constant trouble on account of cuts mislaid or lost.

In Boston there is a greater demand for wood engravings
than in any other city. But wood engravings are more expen-
sive in production than the usual outline cuts known as chalk
plates, zinc etchings, pen and ink drawings, etc. On good
paper wood engravings show up more clearly the fabric of the
suit or the grain of tlie wood than any other newspaper cuts.
But the fine effect of a wood engraving is lost in the poor paper,
ink and press work of so many dailies.

Generally speaking the chalk plate or ordinary outline cut
is the cut for the retailer. It costs little to get up.

In the matter of advertising garments for men, women and
children cuts are very necessary — almost absolutely necessary.
A garment ad without a cut is not one-fifth as eloquent as an ad
with the picture of the garment advertised. Garment cuts —
and other cuts for that matter — should do more than merely
picture the article being advertised — they should suggest the
time and place for its uses. A man portrayed walking down
Broadway, with a handsome covert overcoat, instantly suggests
to the good male dresser of Danbury, Denver or Dover, a
Saturday afternoon saunter in the principal street of his town
cutting a swell in the same garment. An effective illustration,
showing a couple of ladies on Fifth Avenue, on Easter Sunday
morning, resplendent in stylish spring capes and skirts of the
latest mode, in a moment strikes a note of admiration and keen
appreciation in the mind of every lady in the city or rural dis-
trict, who would like to appear to equally excellent advantage
in the same outer garments. Columns of talk could not make
this impression — but a few words deftly strung together describ-
ing the garments and their prices, make the combination sure
to win custom. The first great point in advertising is to under-
stand the art of attracting attention, then retaining it long
enough to tell your story. Cuts will help you as nothing else
in this regard. It is like retailing. First induce the customer
to come to your store then win him by the excellence of your

How To Accomplish It. 249

values. Induce the reader to glance at your ad by your bright
cut and happy catch-line, then retain his attention by the bright-
ness and logic of your talk — keep him fastened to your ad until
his head is filled with the tale you would impart.

You have noticed — I have noticed — every student or even
casual observer of advertising has noticed the past few years, an
evolution in cuts. The same evolution has taken place in the
ads proper. This evolution is :

Not so many years ago in the minds of many advertisers
the proper caper in illustrations was a man falling off a preci-
pice—a boy turning a handspring — an individual having his
eyes pulled from the socket — a woman chasing a cat with a
broomstick or some other idiotic caricature to give point to
an equally idiotic joke or drivel. The point aimed at was " to
be original." In the desire for originality all the canons of
decency, common sense and art were forgotten — everything was
swept aside to bring before the public eye a far-fetched and
labored witticism or effort to be extraordinarily unusual.

What nonsense — bosh — rot !

Nowadays there is very little of that.

The eminently plain, beautiful and dignified now is justly
considered in cuts as well as in ads, and it will be justly con-
sidered unless advertising takes a swing back to its dark ages —
of which there is no danger.

The first-class artist can invest his illustrations with the
proper amount of originality by the natural force of his indivi-
duality. He will take a pair of shoes, a silk hat or a corset,
and with a few strokes of his pencil give it a winsome, har-
monious effect, brimful of suggestion and action, originality
and thought, yet so easy and natural in its artistic effect that
the most ordinary reader can in a moment grasp its points and
uses.

Originality cannot help flowing from the pencil of the good
artist — he will naturally give an original turn to every picture
he makes. All the while he is not straining for this effect, but
rather following the natural bent of his artistic nature in repro-
ducing the article and hinting a thought as to its performances.

Same way with the advertising writer. In telling his tale

250 Successful Advertising

he need burst no suspender-buttons in a wild desire to be origi-
nal, because originality will naturally follow in the wake of
clearness and conciseness, which are the first considerations he
aims at. His mind, like the artist's, is trained in the direction
of bringing out the best in the article being advertised — both
have the creative faculty — the application of this creative faculty
gives the illustrations and the ads all the originality necessary.

Advertising Specialties.

When a man invents something useful or ornamental or
both which he wishes to place in hundreds of thousands of
homes he gives first consideration, of course, to its advertising.

When a wholesaler desires to push certain lines of goods
before the public eye he spends considerable of his and his
friends' time in considering the best method of doing the same.

Let us suppose you are the manufacturer of — say a pen.
You want to impress upon the mind of every man, woman and
child who pushes a pen the superiority of yours to all other
makes of pens.

First and foremost get right down to natural laws. One of
nature's laws is that very few people can think of more than one
idea at a time. Some people can think of several things at
once, but this class is not numerous.

One good idea about your pen is enough to give them at
one time. You can give them several ideas at one gulp.
Maybe they will study over your ad long enough to digest all
the various good features of your pen at one sitting, but nowa-
days, when so much advertising is brought before the public,
the one idea plan is the best.

Spend a lot of time analyzing the good points of your pen.
Get your associates to express themselves freely about your pen.
Remember their observations. If they drop a good point about
your pen make a mental memorandum of it. Advertising is a
keen analysis of the good points of the article you advertise with
the presentation of these good points in the right language,
right dress of type and right mediums.

Well ! you discover that your pen does not corrode as
other pens.

How To Accomplish It. 251

Thafs a good pomt.

No writer likes a pen that corrodes easily — he prefers the
other sort.

Make up a short two-inch, four-inch, or whatever space ad
you have decided to use, and let that ad speak of the fact that
your pen does not corrode. You may add a short footnote at
the bottom which says your pen possesses all the other pen
virtues.

Then you discover your pen is strong and durable.

ThaCs a good point.

Writers abhor the weak, scratchy, thin pen that occasion-
ally comes in their way and drives printers to drink and lunatic
asylums. A poor pen can spoil the best thought ever conceived.
Give another ad that will harp upon the strength and wear of
your pens. Bring out this point in easy, natural language, and,
if you want to, give a small paragraph, as before, speaking of
the many other excellencies of your pen. But the main part of
the ad — yes, nine-tenths of it should speak of its ability to stand
good service.

It writes easily — smoothly.

Thafs a good point.

There is not a bookkeeper or a writer in the land who does
not appreciate the pen that glides pleasantly and smoothly along
the paper in obedience to his thoughts.

When you have prepared a half dozen good ads exhausting
the half dozen good points of your pen, prepare another half
dozen bringing out the same ideas in different language. Keep
pounding away on this style and my word on it you will reap
more benefit from your advertising than if you started in to
give all the good points of your pen in one ad.

One good idea easily digested in the brain of the reader is
worth a dozen ideas imperfectly understood.

That is demonstrated in everyday life. A man who attempts
to speak to you of a half dozen subjects in the same breath
would be set down as a lunatic. The salesman who uiters one
good idea perfectly expressed and then lets his other ideas follow
in easy sequence is the successfal salesman — not the fellow who

252 Successful Advertising

fires point blank at you several partially expressed convictions
regarding his goods.

The age of saying that your pen, penholder, overcoat,
leather seat, or whatever it may be, is the best because it is the
best, is passing away. Simple reiteration of a statement cannot
begin to approach in advertising force the power of logic.
Simply saying a thing is best does not make it so in the minds of
your readers. Such an assertion does not stand analysis. If the
reader is a prospective customer he would like a little more
meaty information as to why your article is the best. He natu-
rally analyzes the merits of your goods and if you give him no
information to analyze he is at sea.

From my advertising experience, were I the manufacturer
of a carriage, bicycle, bicycle seat, hat, glove or any specialty
that I wished to popularize, I would first of all analyze my
articles' good qualities, then present these good qualities in an
easy, chatty way, with one good point at a time, and that good
point well put — then let the other good points follow in due
course.

Of course, with a good-sized ad several good features could
be given, because when you take a good-sized space the pre-
sumption is you have a lot to say and you have room enough to
speak of several good features.

But for the average ad one good idea at a time properly pre-
sented— to be followed next issue by another good idea properly
put — will in the course of time make a clear, effective impres-
sion on your customer, so that when he stops to consider about
your specialty, he will have a recollection of several very
pointed details cleverly put which somehow or other sticks in
his memory.

Individuality in Advertising.

You read some advertising that somehow fails to interest.
It lacks life, animation, individuality. It has about as much
action as a wooden Indian — it fails to arrest your attention
rightly because it has a dull, negative, leaden influence.

There are two sorts of advertising — the negative and the
positive. The first is lifeless, flat and repels interest — the latter

How To Accomplish It. 253

is direct, interesting and sparkling with bright twists and clever
thoughts. The positive style of advertising creates an interest
in and sells goods — the negative does the other thing.

The matter of injecting individuality into advertising is a
subject that has always appeared to me to be a most important
one, and this little talk will be an attempt to consider the
question.

Go to the theatre. You have no difficulty in telling the
"stick " from the actor. The actor has personality, magnetism,
individuality — call it what you will — and he invests his lines
with the full charm of the character he is portraying. The
" stick " walks about, gesticulates and gives his parrot-like
talk, and when the curtain falls the audience promptly forgets
him. The Thespian with the individuality thrills the audience
— his individuality is his principal stock in trade and he man-
ages to derive fame and fortune out of it.

Take it in business. A drummer enters your office to talk
his goods. There may be nothing startling or unique in either
the man's manner, appearance or conversation, but in very short
order he manages to fill your office with his individuality and
when he goes away there is a large hole in the atmosphere which
he has just vacated. Another drummer enters with equally
attractive samples and prices but by reason of his dull, lifeless
manner he absolutely fails to make an impression. In fact he
bores you — repels you.

Commercial travelers understand this perfectly, and always
aim to make a direct, positive impression in every interview.
The positive is what attracts, warms and makes friends as well
as sells goods.

Everybody prefers people who have corners that can be
rubbed up against, who are "all there" on certain opinions.
The cold, clammy, lifeless negative natures deaden all possible
interest.

This applies to advertising.

Certain advertisers have achieved fame because their adver-
tising was so surcharged with their individuality that every ad
they put forth was bright and interesting.

What is individuality and how can it be best applied to
advertising?

254 Successful Advertising

Individuality is a tliorougli expression of one's own self
without fear or favor at all times and under all circumstances.
In everyday life most business men possess this individuality,
but the moment their advertising pen touches paper, lo ! their
individuality flies out the window or down the back stairs, and
what they write is without a particle of their own selves — cold,
lifeless, negative. Constant practice and an absolute disregard
for the criticism of others — provided you are satisfied in your
own mind that you are right — is in my estimation the best
method to apply this individuality to your advertising literature.

Self-confidence begets individuality. Slight successes warm
the life of self-confidence — this self-confidence and past successes
spur one on to greater successes until the goal of ambition is
reached.

One must have the creative power in order to fill adver-
tising or any other literature with individuality. This creative
power should be cultivated, and is absolutely necessary in
preparing good advertising copy.

Take the most successful advertisers of the day and you
will note how full their advertising is of individuality and life
and interest and all the other attractive qualities which good
advertising demands.

Look at Pears' on soaps, Wanamaker's on dry goods. Mur-
phy's on varnish, and so on through the long list of bright pro-
gressive advertisers, and you will at once note the individuality
that crops out from every line they write. Each ad they place
reflects the spirit of the concern back of it. The writer is satu-
rated with just the knowledge he requires and his pen moves in
exact obedience to his brain, which is teeming with the right
ideas.

The first duty of the advertising writer should be, to as
nearly as possible understand the business for which he is to
write, and then endeavor to interpret the spirit of the business,
or in other words to inject into the advertising the concern's
individuality and character.

Most advertising is too common-place. It never rises above
the ordinary, and goodness knows there is enough of the ordi-
nary. Even a slight sparkle of individuality is enough to lift a

How To Accomplish It. 255

single ad above every other ad in a paper, and when this is done
a very important step is taken. There is too little thought put
into advertising. Do some thinking on your own account — let
some of the results of this thinking be boldly put in your adver-
tising. Keep right at it, and in the course of events you will
find it will pay you in hard cash, besides giving you a pleasing
fame as an advertiser whose ads are read and remembered,
because they are above the ordinary.

Regarding Ruts.

Have you ever felt the narrowing, cramping influence of a
rut?

If not you are an extraordinarily favored being and ought
to thank your stars for being so lucky. If you have, you have
gone through the average experience of the average business
man.

Ruts in advertising are very great obstacles to good
advertising. A rut is death to vitality — snap and originality.
A rut means the ordinary — the common-place — the average
every-day half-dead-and-alive way of saying and doing things.
Mental habits as thin as air and as light as gossamer become as
heavy as iron chains and as tenacious as barnacles, and the vic-
tim falls into a narrow, mechanical manner of preparing his ads
or doing any of his regular duties.

Ruts in advertising will be my present story. I know
the importance of this topic because I have been in and am
still in the harness myself and I have noticed the efforts of my
brother knights of the advertising quill to keep their wits and
pens in bright, crisp, apple-pie order in spite of the deteriorat-
ing effects of an every-day existence.

It is easier to get in a rut in a small town than in a large
city. This is by reason of the greater variety of distractions
which the large cities offer in the way of theatres and all sorts
of amusements, social life and the many phases of business
affairs that the day brings forth.

I can conceive no better way to stay out of the advertising
rut than by a regular study of the good advertising papers. A

256 Successful Advertising

careful reading of the pages of good advertising talks and exam-
ples, will help any advertising man in the direction of being
broad, bright and interesting in his work.

The next best thing, in my estimation, is to take the prin-
cipal papers of such large cities as Boston, New York, Phila-
delphia or Chicago and glance over their advertising columns
every day. If the reader of this is a clothier I believe he can
get most help from the New York papers — in other lines it is a
tie between New York, Philadelphia and Chicago dailies, with
the chances in favor of the Chicago papers. The Chicago ads
are beautifully typographed and very cleverly worded. Mandel
Bros., Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co., Schlesinger & Mayer and
Siegel-Cooper's ads are full of good advertising points.

Even a short five minutes' study of several such exam-
ples of good advertising will give the advertiser enough
points to last him for a week.

A variety of duties can keep a man out of a rut. I find a
pleasure in the preparation of these articles, because my mind
is switched for the time being from the intense study of pre-
paring advertising.

Conversations with intelligent business men are of great
help. In my advertising connections with great houses I
always enjoyed my talks with bright heads of departments,
because I believed they helped me much in being in the
receptive mood so essential to good advertising.

I remember dropping in on Mr. Mauley M. Gillam one
summer day a few years ago at Wanamaker's.

" Where do you get these bright thoughts you swing into
your ads?" I asked.

He smiled.

"You see this blank piece of paper?" I did.

** You see this lead pencil?" I did.

" From the bright department heads, and these two helps
before me I manage to get all the thoughts you think bright."

Although Mr. Gillam said nothing about his own crea-
tive brain, I appreciated the point. He absorbed the ideas
of the principal Wanamaker heads, and after they filtered
through his own brain they were utilized in conjunction
with his own creations.

How To Accomplish It. 257

A man can stay out of a rut by a constant intercourse
and rubbing against other business men. Hence you will notice
that all bright writers are broad and catholic in their views and
relations with their fellow men. The man who gets in a rut on
advertising or any other subject has only himself to blame.
When he is in that condition you will note how narrow, selfish
and obstinate he is in his ideas and dealings with the world in
general.

The Advertising Specialist.

In reading over the advertising columns of the various
advertising and trade journals, the eye runs across the many
ads of many ad writers, and it does not take a great deal of
thinking to arrive at the conclusion that the ad writer is now a
recognized' institution in the business world of to-day. He is
the product of modern business methods. That he has come to
stay, goes without a murmur.

It is not so many years ago that the advertising specialist
was an unknown quantity. Business men never thought of
him. He was engaged in other lines of endeavor. Business
men struggled with the advertising problem as best they could
with the limited sources of advertising information at their
connnand.

But advertising became of such vital interest to almost all
phases of commercial and professional life that the wisdom of
making the advertising department a separate and distinct
department under the guidance of a good head, became very
apparent.

Thus began the evolution of the advertising specialist.
Some became famous by reason of the good advertising they pre-
pared and set forth for their houses.

The contrast between the good advertising put forth by these
few concerns and the ordinary or very poor publicity of other
houses, stinuilated the latter to the betterment of their adver-
tising until almost every man or firm who did advertising to
amount to anything, hired a man especially talented for that
work.

258 Successful Advertising

Some concerns could not afford to pay for an advertising
man's entire time, but could for a portion of his time. Hence arose
the practice of an advertising man dividing his time and effort
among several houses. Of course, these advertising specialists,
knowing so well the value of advertising, were not slow to use
advertising in their own cases.

The first qualification of the advertising specialist is com-
mon sense. If he will put that homely but important quality
into whatever he plans and writes, he is much more likely to
succeed than if he tried to sell a business man a nicely plated
gold brick, which is composed of nothing but a few words
deftly strung together without consideration of the goods to be
sold or the people the ad is supposed to reach.

The business world is now educated around to that point
where it believes that the successful ad writer must be a man
who has seen considerable practical experience in preparing ads
that have proven their worth by selling goods, and by his evolv-
ing advertising plans that have been successful. If he has done
these things with reputable, well-known houses, then it is fair
to assume he can do it again with other concerns.

There has been quite a lot of abuse heaped upon the head
of the ad writer — especially when he first began to push himself
to the surface — but within the last year or two this mud sling-
ing has largely disappeared. This abuse has been the result of
ignorance pure and simple on the part of these captious individ-
uals who could never see any good in anything unless it was
hoary headed with conservatism. But now as the ad writer has
been in the field several years and proven his usefulness several
thousand times to an army of business men, all opposition to him
has about died away.

The most successful business men were the first to recognize
the value of the advertising specialist's services to their own
cases and they are to-day his stanchest friends.

Personally I like to see the general ad writing field being
filled up with first-class men. I believe it makes things better
all around. It helps to crystalize a profession, that a few years
ago was in a vague nebulous state, into a concrete, definite force
that means much in the great battle of business.

How To Accomplish It. 259

The Advertising Writer.

Here's a paragraph clipped from an advertisement occupying
a rather expensive space in a New York daily :

"A little women out in Oswego, 111. , tells about her husband
having determined to see if he could not make her quit coffee
drinking, which he believed to be the cause of her constant neu-
ralgia and general nervousness, brought home several packages of
, which he had discovered, by trying elsewhere, to be good."

Which said paragraph points a moral and adorns a tale.
The man who wrote was not the simon-pure ad-writer. Doubt-
less he was a "good business man" — a man who could make a
contract for newspaper space or could compute compound in-
terest upon a given sum for a given number of years with ac-
curacy and dispatch. But he knows enough about advertising
to lose money in the game by flabby, elongated sentences and
pointless paragraphs. A good advertising writer would produce
something after this order :

Cofiee drinking brought on neuralgia and general nervousness
in the case of a little woman out in Oswego, 111. Her husband
discovered that was good, so he brought her several pack-
ages as an antidote.

Fifty-seven words in one paragraph, thirty-seven in the
other, with the idea expressed quicker and clearer. Figure up
the saving in the year's advertising bills alone and you have
the salary paid the writer multiplied. Figure up the better
business brought in by stronger, saner advertising and you will
be amazed.

Another example is this, clipped from a lengthy advertise-
ment running in the New York dailies:

" This was last December, and although every other physician had
told him that they could not cure him, and although it seemed too
good to be true, he began the treatment, for it was his only hope,
and to the surprise of all his friends and the old doctors he im-

260 Successful Advertising

proved from that day. He breathed the soothing, oily vapors
into his lungs from week to week, and as a reward it healed
them, and the doctors wonder."

What a mess of bad grammar and involved words ! " They,'*
a plural pronoun, evidently stands for "physician," a singular
noun, and " them," in the last sentence can apply to " vapors"
or "lungs."

To think of paying good money for the advertising space
consumed by such an ad ! Would it not be better to say some-
thing like this? —

This was last December. He was given up by every other
physician. Yet despite all he began the treatment and as his
lungs received the soothing, oily vapors a cure became certain.

It is not a question of nice writing — it is not a question of
bowing to personal prejudice — it is simply a question of saying
your say so pointedly and gracefully — saying it in the best busi-
ness way possible. It simply resolves itself into a question of
dollars and cents saved in the advertising bills and made by the
eJTectiveness of the advertising.

A great many people— extraordinarily many considering the
age in which we live — have an idea that the advertising writer
is Q»e of the two following individuals :

(i) He who with a few turns of his pen produces advertising so
Uerling, original and forceful as to simply hypnotize business —
whether the business be worthy of extension or not — and for
which extraordinary services he commands a princely salary.

(2) He who makes the most outrageous claims without any
grounds whatsoever— a charlatan who should be derided and dis-
couraged by all business men.

The advertising writer is neither one nor the other. He is
simply one who can produce better advertising matter than the
average business man, because he has a natural knack in that
direction and has fostered and brought to perfection that knack
by continuous experience in that line, while the average busi-
ness man's energies go in a dozen different directions.

It is hardly necessary to here state that the advertising writer

How To Accomplish It.

261

should be a grammarian — a stylist if needs be — should know
words and their various meanings — should understand typo-
graphical arrangements and express every meaning exactly as it
should be expressed.

That we all admit.

But where the greatest value of an advertising writer to a
business man comes in, is that the writer is the connecting link
of information between the public and the business.

In other words, the writer so understands the business man's
constituency that he can talk to it in a manner clear and telling,
and with enough ignorance to look at it with the new, sharp
eyes of the public.

The first-class advertising writer looks at a subject with
the public's eye. He does not look at it with eye of the owner —
such a gaze is too full of technical detail to be interesting to any
except himself and a few on the inside of his business.

Not only does the writer look at a subject with the eye of
the public, but he gives it sufficient study to be able to array
telling and interesting facts in the most fetching manner.

There is a bottle of mucilage on the desk on which I am
now writing. The man who made that mucilage has probably
given his whole time and thought to that business for years, and
so thoroughly immersed himself in details that were he to pen an
ad about his mucilage it would read something like this :

PURE GUM ABAEIO
MUCILAGE

CENTS PER

BOTTLE.

Extra adhesive because it is made of pure Gum
Arabic. In all our years of experience Ave never
used adulterated Gum Arabic, and all tbe ingredients
of our Mucilage were first classed and carefully com-
pounded by special machinery under expert eyes.

The advertising writer would say something like the ex-
ample shown at the top of the next page, which will be found
much more explicit.

262

Successful Advertising

MUCILAGE
THAT STICKS

CENTS

PER

BOTTLE.

It's a clear, smooth-running liquid — easy to handle
— just what is wanted on the business desk. It's
superior to all other mucilages, as the Gum Arabic
in it is absolutely pure. It is sold everywhere —
used everywhere, and always satisfies because it is the
best mucilage ever made.

The last ad reads easier than the first because it is less bur-
dened with technical details and is more forceful to the world
at large, for it bears upon the points that at once appeal to those
who use mucilage. And the advertising writer from the stand-
point of an outsider sees the outside points of interest — from a
brief inside study he sees the manufacturer's points of view, and
with the two points of view well in his mind's eye, he produces
advertising that interests the outside world because the outside
world's impressions, with some inside knowledge, is brightly
put and pleases the manufacturer by benefiting trade and giving
him ideas — new fresh and money-making.

The business man that does not believe in the advertising
writer has but an imperfect knowledge of advertising. And the
business man who does not believe in advertising is as far behind
the business procession as is the old express wagon in the rear
to the band wagon in front.

The Advertising Amateur.

{After RUDYARD Kipling— a long way after— suggested by his poem
" The Vampire.''^)
A fool there was and he wrote an ad,

(Even as you and I)
To the rich and the poor, the good and the bad,
(To tell them his store and his goods were the fad)
But this fool neither wit nor experience had,
(Never as you and I).

Oh the cash some zuaste and the space some waste
And the work of head and hand

How To Accomplish It. 263

Is lost because they don't ktiow, you know,
{And well we know they never can know)
They do not understatid.

A fool there was and his goods he spent

(Never as you and I)
His coin and work and his good intent

(But nobody ever knew what he meant)
For a fool must follow his natural bent,
(Never as you and I).

Oh the toil he lost and the spoil he lost
A?id the asinine schemes he plattned
But all in vain— fools never know why
{And well we know they'' II never know why).
They do not understand

The fool was stripped to his foolish hide

(Never as you and I)
From the business whirl he was cast aside
(And nobody really cared if he died)
To advertise wisely he vainly had tried,

(Never as you and I).

And it isn't the blame and it isn't the shame
That stings like a white-hot brand :
It's coming to know that some never know why
When in advertising they falter and die
{Never as you and I).

The How of Writing Advertising.

Most New Yorkers read the Evening Journal and most
readers of the Evening Journal turn over to the last page, where
in the editorial column matters of everyday practical interest are
discussed by Mr, Arthur Brisbane in an eminently sensible man-
ner. A case in point is the following clipped from a recent issue.

"ADVICE TO AN ADVERTISEMENT WRITER.

TRUTH IS THE THING.

* The letter which we print here should interest a great
many readers besides those engaged in writing advertisements.
Large salaries — ten, fifteen, and in one instance as high as
twenty-five thousand dollars annually — are earned by men who
prepare attractive advertising matter.

264 Successful Advertising-

' W. R. Hearst, Esq., Editor Evening Journal:

' Dear Sir — I am bookkeeper for a prosperous retail con-
cern, and among other duties I have is that of preparing copy
for our advertising.

' I wish to make as much as possible of my opportunity in
this respect and would like a few pointers from those who are
prepared to give them, so I come, as many others do, for advice.

' Will you kindly give the names of good helps in that
line — publications that treat of the subject — and, most of all
that I would value, is a few remarks 'straight from the
shoulder' from you.

' Without a semblance of flattery I think the Evciiing
Journal has done more for the common people in inducing
them to thifik than any other agency before the public to-day.

' Permit me to say, Success to the Evening Journal. I
enclose stamped envelope if personal reply is necessary. Please
withhold correct address from above.

' Yours truly, ' A. A. D.

' Sussex County, N. J.'

The best way to learn to write good advertisements is to
read good advertisements.

We have heard Mr. Nathan Straus, one of the biggest of
advertisers, say that the art of advertising is merely to present
attractively the absolute truth concerning goods that are to be
sold.

We suppose that successful advertising consists in decid-
ing how much you can say in praise of an article without
damage to truth, and in saying what you have to say as attrac-
tively and as convincingly as possible.

Whatever you do, beware of humorous advertising. The
man who wants to buy an overcoat wants an overcoat and not a
joke. You can never convince him that your coats are as good
as your jokes, no matter how good your joke may be. Simply
say as earnestly and solemnly as you can : ' I have good over-
coats for sale cheap.' That is what the overcoat buyer wants
to know. You may lead up to this statement as attractively as
you choose, but that statement wants to stand out more dis-
tinctly than any other part of }our advertisement.

How To Accomplish It. 265

Be earnest in your advertising. Believe what you say.
Say only what you believe. Study the advertisements in this
newspaper, little and big. They are the work of successful
men. ' '

The Bz/emn^/ozirual editor spoke well. Seldom do you find
so much good advertising advice compressed into so few words.

Truth and earnestness ! Think of them long and hard.
Paste these two words in your desk so that every time you sit
down to prepare advertising copy they will meet your eyes.
They are synonymous with sincerity and thoroughness — two
qualities inseparable from success.

If you are earnest and truthful in your advertising you will
undoubtedly be earnest and truthful with your employer and
business associates. Earnestness in your work will cause you
to study how you can save your employer's money by the use
of strong, succinct sentences, a study of rates and advertising
mediums and a constant digging up of ideas.

Study clearness of expression. Let the reader catch your
meaning in the shortest possible time.

Although compiling and studying ads in the same line of
business is advisable to start a suggestion or a series of ideas
yet do not depend too much upon outside aids. Train the
mind to take the initiative and with its own strength follow
fully a line of thought. The mind can be trained as well as the
body. Will, memory and different brain qualities can be so
strengthened and developed that what at first appears impossible
presently becomes easy.

The newspaper habit, the novel habit, the memorandum
habit and various other mental habits get the mind in a rut —
in a sort of crippled condition, as it were, so that it can only
move with the crutches of outside assistance. This is bad.
The mind of a writer should be free, fresh, spontaneous — in a
condition to create and give proper expression to his own ideas.

Granted that the new advertising writer's mental qualities
are promising, then he should study the distinctive — the drama-
tic features of his subject. This means analysis and a use of
the perceptive qualities. After using his perceptions then he
constructs, after constructing he judges. From start to finish

2GG Successful Advertising

his work demands the exercise of a round of faculties. The
better equipped are his faculties by nature and training, the
higher the quality of the work he turns out.

Therefore it is inevitable that the advertising writer to
turn out daily a certain amount of work must keep himself in
the best possible physical and mental condition. If he dis-
sipates, overexerts or underworks himself his work suffers.

The mental self is at its best w^ith physical comfort.

The writer of advertising should study his readers. Much
money is wasted by talking in a Harvard College style to a
Bowery crowd, and many a Cambridge man has been disgusted
with a too familiar tone. Three or four stirring display lines
have been known to win a roomful, while a small paragraph
with no head lines at all cut into trade as a diamond would into
glass.

Get into the atmosphere of your audience^ even if you have
to get out of your ozvn atmosphere. You do not want to talk to
yourself, you want to talk to outsiders, — possible customers.

And when you catch their eyes give them truthful, earnest
statements.

(In connection with the above is printed the following short
article which Mr. MacDonald wrote for The Advertising World
issue of May, 1902, and which was reproduced by many adver-
tising journals ) :

Advice From an Adept in Attracting Attention. First of

all the advertising writer must have something to say.

If he has nothing to say and uses up a lot of words in try-
ing to say it the result is labored to the readers as well as to the
writer.

Study the article to be advertised.

Try and get at the point of view of the reader. Try and
use the arguments that would influence him. He is the one to
buy the goods. What you are trying to do is to sell goods.

Presently you will find your ideas are presenting them-
selves in some sort of order. And the more you think the
clearer and clearer will your ideas become until they are so
crystalized that they are ready for expression on paper.

At this point begin your writing.

How To Accomplish It. 267

Just now you need not be so very particular about your
choice of words.

Simply write — using the words that come most readily and
naturally.

After you have given your ideas to paper resolve yourself
into the stern critic. Concrete evidence of your ideas is before
your eyes.

Eliminate — condense — clarify !

Use short words instead of long.

Use words well known instead of words that sound strange
or strained.

Use forcible words instead of weak.

You will find that certain words add strength to your ideas,
while others weaken. Keep a keen lookout for strong words.

Do not be too terse.

Say what you have to say — no more, no less.

It's better to say too much than to say too little, providing
you are giving facts. For the reader can skip what he does not
wish to read, but he cannot supply omissions.

Hew to the line of truth.

There are enough truths about goods and prices to make
strong impressions without using boomerang lies.

Write — re-write and again re-write !

It is worth every thinking and writing effort.

For advertising space is costly, and an idea poorly put may
lose a sale — yes, several.

The proper connection between the point of a pen and the
brain is not always in perfect working order.

Perfection in writing comes through practice and more
practice.

The Advertising Solicitor,

This is a gentleman for whom I entertain so profound a
consideration that never yet have I attempted an article upon
the subject.

He is a subject so deep, broad, and many-sided that no pen
could begin to do justice to him.

"There are some natures," says Dumas in speaking of

268 Successful Advertising

D'Artagnan, "that resemble thunder and lightning." They
are incapable of analysis, be their visit long or short, at any
time or under any condition they leave an impress impossible to
the conventional. Approachable and unapproachable, good
advertising solicitors can approach anybody and talk upon any
subject — rules and regulations have no barriers for them, as they
fly over obstacles with the ease of a thoroughbred racer taking
a four-barred gate — they are splendid socially and supreme in a
business deal — they put themselves in instant touch with the
mood of "the other party," whether it represents the deepest
despair or happiest humor — in short they sympathize with every
emotion for the reason probably that they have gone the psycho-
logical path to the limit.

Advertising solicitors are born, then developed by experience.

Successful advertising solicitors are rare — so rare that pub-
lications have been known to die when they lost the services of
good men whom no expenditure of effort or money could replace.

First of all, the advertising solicitor studies his paper — its
possibilities and present resources.

He shines when familiarizing himself with the idiosyncra*
sies of advertisers — when overcoming their prejudices — when
driving to their innermost convictions arguments in favor of
his paper — when knocking argument over with counter argu-
ment— when entertaining and demonstrating his many qualities
as a man and a good fellow.

He knows his paper inside, outside, topside, bottomside,
right side, left side, round side, square and on the bias — he
knows how partial Brown is to the upper right corner last page,
and how Smith likes a position surrounded by reading matter
opposite editorial page. He sees that Smith and Brown get
what they want, and if there are any little luxuries in the way
of special type, cuts or reading notices, you may be sure these
gentlemen will get " all that is coming to them."

He has mastered the tricks of writing ads — in many cases
he can give ideas to artists, and not unfrequently does he give
the advertiser business pointers of great value.

But after all the advertising solicitor is governed by the
same law that governs every person and business proposition :
the law of supply and demand.

How To Accomplish It. 2G9

If his medium is good, business naturally gravitates towards
it, and his personality helps along the gravitation.

If his medium is poor, his abilities must be exerted to the
utmost, and even then the results are anything but satisfactory.

The Hustler.

The aurora of morn illuminated the Oriental horizon with
a radiance that said, if anything : " This is the sun's busy day."
Shafts of morning light struck in a chamber window — fourth
floor front of a Columbus Avenue boarding-house — and tickled
the nose of the sleeper.

Presently an alarm clock with a loud acclaim announced
that it was seven thirty. The sleeper awoke, scratched his
head, looked dubiously at the clock, then turned over on
his side for another snooze. Fifteen minutes later there was a
rat-tat-tat at the door and the servant girl shrilly announced
that breakfast was growing cold.

The Hustler jumped out of bed. In his haste to dress he
lost his collar button and broke his shoe lace. Hurriedly open-
ing his trunk, he found another lace and button, but mussed
his trunk up fearfully. In the excitement he tipped his ink
bottle on the carpet — the landlady's pride — in rushing down
stairs nearly annihilated a four-year-old toddler and a flight below
stepped in a bucket of water which the scrub-lady considerately
left there while on a tour of personal investigation.

The Hustler tackled the breakfast. The full bill of fare
was fruit, oatmeal, mutton chops, wheat cakes and coffee, but
the Hustler only found time to swallow a chop, a wheat cake
and a cup of coffee. Then rushing up to the hall rack he
seized his hat and overcoat and was soon at a rapid pace to the
elevated station. Up the steps he went like a sprinter — turned
a nickel into a ticket — dropped the ticket into the chopper — then
at the risk of his life caught a train. The guard swore, then
slammed the gate. The Hustler hung on a strap and in a short
while found himself at his place of business.

The Hustler was a Hustling Advertising Man. He swept
into his office like a Kansas cyclone and so disturbed the
equanimity of the new estimating clerk that she could accom-

270 Successful Advertising

plish nothing that morning. Copy came in, but the Hustler
was too busy to give much attention to it. He got in a wordy
war with the office boy on the location of the waste basket, then
hustled over to an artist with an idea, but forgot the suggestion
in his excess of energy before securing the artist's attention.

A man with a proposition sent in his card, but the Hustler
was too busy to see him. A pleasant advertising solicitor on a
cheap medium ignoring cards and office boys rushed in with out-
stretched hand :

" Know you are awful busy, old man, so am I, but thought
you could give us a quarter page for an anniversary issue."

Ah ! here was a tribute to the Hustler's hustling qualities.
He felt fiattersd and gave his visitor the ad.

A beautiful blonde programme siren with a voice that
thrilled then engaged his attention. The Hustler pretended to
be busy with important papers, etc., but he yielded to the hyp-
notic spell of his fair visitor and gave her a liberal ad.

The office boy rushed in with some proofs and two cards.

"Show them right in — don't waste time— I am in a
hurry," exhorted the Hustler, and the two visitors entered.

One had a proposition which to absorb would at least take
ten minutes. The other came to arbitrate a dispute on bills.
They were strangers to each other. The Hustler rattled over
his i^roofs — pretended not to see the men — then looking up with
a well-feigned surprise, said :

"Ah — good morning, gentlemen — what is it — I am in a
great hurry this morning — my desk you see is covered with
proofs of my new ads."

The visitors, seeing the man so busy, took time by the
forelock with a vengeance. Both began talking simultaneously
and vociferously. The Hustler rattled the proofs, and appear-
ing to read and listen, did neither.

Presently he broke in on the conversation by calling over
to the office boy :

"Thomas, I must go down to Park Row, as I have an
important appointment there in ten minutes. You must excuse
me, gentlemen, and call in on me some morning when I am not
so busy."

How To Accomplish It. 271

Seizing his hat and coat he hustled out. In and out of
newspaper offices rushed the Hustler. Up in composing rooms
he appeared, rattling the compositors within an inch of their
lives. In his eagerness to get to the sidewalk the Hustler could
scarcely wait for the elevator and threatened to jump down the
elevator shaft.

Once the sidewalk was reached he rushed along like mad.
Two advertising men happened along and noting the frantic
eagerness of the Hustler, said :

" Blobson is a wonderful worker — a great hustler."

" He may be a hustler, but his ads are d d poor " ;

which showed that the last speaker was more of a thinker than
just a hustler. Onward, bumping against people — treading on
pet corns and gouty toes — rushed the Hustler. In an advertis-
ing agency went he, but so busy was the Hustler that no time
could be given to anything. He had no time to sit down — he
had no time to talk — he had no time to listen — he had no
time to think, and when after a hard day of hustling the
Hustler hustled down his dinner, he found he had to hustle
down town in order to see that hustling farce comedy, " The
Hustler."

He hustled in the morning and he hustled at night,

And he hustled all the day,
He hustled at his business and at everything in sight,

But he hustled no headway.

The Jollier.

When the Jollier sat down to the breakfast table he gazed
admiringly at the waitress, then said :

" Upon my word, Anastasia O'Brien, you are growing better
looking every day. You look positively charming. How do
you manage it?"

And Anastasia O'Brien, who was thirty-five if a day and as
graceful as a cow, permitted a look of intense delight to lighten
up her gnarled countenance while ambling off to the kitchen to
procure the choicest article of fruit, the thickest piece of steak,
the most delicious toast and the best cup of coffee for the agree-
able Mr. Jollier. Plain John Smith, who was simply a gentle-

272 Successful Advertising

mau that promptly paid his board, had to worry along with a
steak rather tough and coffee indifferent.

Breakfast over the Jollier leisurely sauntered over to the
elevated. He winked at the news girl on the corner, exchanged
a witticism with the policeman, smiled as he received his ticket
from the ticket seller and complimented the ticket chopper upon
the skillful manner with which he chopped tickets. Stepping
aboard the downtown train the Jollier was rather rudely jostled
by somebody who appeared to be in a great luirry. Turning
around two old friends met : The Jollier and the Hustler. The
Hustler was in too much of a hurry to say anything, so ahead in
the car bumped he, upsetting the equanimity of a stout gentle-
man who was reading the Sim and hitting two young ladies
together with a force that set their new Easter hats awry. Then
the Hustler hung on a strap at the further end of the car.

As for the Jollier, finding all seats engaged, he hung on a
strap directly in front of a twelve year old boy. Gazing for
some minutes at the youngster the Jollier concluded his study of
the boy by beamingly saying :

" Do you know, young man, that if I had your strong stout
legs and excellent figure I would be inclined to stand up
simply for the exercise given my lower limbs."

The boy stood up — he knew not why. The Jollier sat
down and was soon lost in Cholly Knickerbocker's talk in the
American. Arriving at his place of business the Jollier speedily
disposed of his morning mail and arranged for the day's duties.

The Jollier was business manager of a weak weekly that
needed just such a man to keep it alive and he did keep it alive
with such vigor that its fat advertising columns were the marvel
of the advertising world.

The first advertiser approached by the Jollier that morning
was in no pleasant mood. Business was bad and he saw no
results from advertising in The Derrick anyway. But the Jollier
only smiled :

" Mr. Thompson, you know in what deep respect I hold
your judgment. To have built up the large business you enjoy
is an evidence of no ordinary mind. Little trade setbacks will
come from time to time but a man of your calibre will never

How To Accomplish It. 273

permit tliein to discourage you. Increase )our advertising in
The Derrick from half a column to a double half column. But
why use arguments with you ? The ability you have displayed
in matters of past grave import/' etc.

The Jollier jollied Mr. Thompson up and down the sweet
nerve of flattery in a manner truly artistic, then came away with
a double half column ad.

Sigemund Goldstein was dubious about taking any more
space in The Derrick. He had spent nearly five hundred dollars
in its columns but could not say he saw any results therefrom.

"Advertising is cumulative," opened up the Jollier.
"Advertise to-day and you accomplish nothing — keep on
advertising and a year from to-day you will be surprised at the
number of orders you will receive " (and well Mr. Goldstein
may be for he will receive none). " Ours is a high-class circu-
lation— The Derrick swings high — ha, ha, good joke, Mr. Gold-
stein— and you know from the high- class nature of your business
how difficult it is to make an impression upon the aristocracy of
customers. Speaking about aristocracy, Mr. Goldstein, I wish
to say that your daughter Rachel created a sensation at the
Levy reception last week. You ought to see how everybody
pressed to pay her attention," and so on followed a stream of
guff about Goldstein's bewitching Rachel. The Jollier came
away with a six months' renewal of contract.

Terrence Gillhooly kept a Raines' Law Hotel, but that did
not prevent him from running a cut of a building not unlike
one of New York's leading hostelriesin the advertising columns
of The Derrick. His contract was about to expire and he
determined not to renew it. So, Terrence informed the Jollier,
but that gentleman, through a long familiarity with similar
cases, knew how to handle this instance :

"Ah — Mr. Gillhooly — this weather is indeed delightful.
How is the Buck of Buckingham? as Richard the three times
used to say. As chipper as ever? What'U you have? Let's
brace up on a little of the real thing. Say — barkeep — a little
Irish whisky.

Oh whisky, you are the devil,
You've led me far astray.
Over hills and over valleys,
18 Until I am far away.

274 Successful Advertising

" These fine ballads of dear old Ireland touch me to the
quick (a little more of the same, please). Tom Moore knew how-
to put the words together. Ah — yes, indeed (a little more
seltzer, please, and a couple of imported medium cigars). I
want to tell you about a compliment I heard this morning about
Gillhooly's hotel. In coming down to business on a Fiftli Ave-
nue stage coach, one aristocratic looking gentleman said to his
equally swell friend : ' I wonder what are the rates at Gill-
hooley's hotel?' "

(The Jollier talks to Gillhooly a straight hour in which
time he puts ten drinks into that individual and gets him to
renew his six months' contract with a double space.)

Then the Jollier takes a cab over to Miss Gillmartin's— the
little dressmaker. He always takes a cab when calling upon
her, in order to " make an impression." He goes in ecstacies
over one of her latest "creations," and comes away with a
bunch of copy and a three months' contract.

After which the Jollier takes out Mr. Johnson — who is
somewhat of an advertiser himself — to luncheon. Two hours
later Mr. Johnson is delivered in a happy condition in his oflSce,
and the Jollier, before bidding him good-bye, pockets a half
page ad with a promise of several more to follow.

Then the Jollier saunters forth for further victims. He
fills up one with whisky and milk. To another he talks learn-
edly upon the influence of a college course in shaping a young
man's business success. (This advertiser has a boy at college.)
Then he calls upon Mr. Smith and takes him up to Shanley's in
a cab. After an excellent dinner a small select party under the
tutelage of the Jollier goes over to Weber & Fields and
when morning again brings with it breakfast and Anastasia
O'Brien, the latter lady does her best to make right the break-
fast of the nicest man in town.

How To Accomplish It. 275

Getting to the Reader's Level.

The successful advertising man must possess such qualifica-
tions as :

1. Knowledge of human nature.

2. Originality tempered with horse sense.

3. A vast fund of information and experience.

4. The commercial instinct.

5. Knowledge of type and typographical effect.

6. Ability to write quickly, easily, concisely.

7. A keen perspective faculty.

He ought to appreciate the value of his employer's money ;
the worth of advertising mediums ; he ought to know all about
illustrations ; how to get the best work from artists and printers,
and a whole lot of other things.

I place knowledge of human nature first in the above cate-
gory, for without it the advertising man is useless. And that
brings me right near the subject of which I wish to treat in this
paper, viz., how to get to the reader's level — how to interest the
reader in your story — how to induce him to buy your goods —
how to move him by wit, argument, anecdote, illustration or
typographical appearance.

It is a fine study. You nmst put yourself in the place of
your audience. You must search for his strong and weak points
— you must be constantly putting him through a most searching
analysis. For if you do not know your man — or woman — you
may be rubbing the fur the wrong way, and repelling instead of
attracting a possible customer.

At dinner, the other evening, in an uptown hotel, a young
man spoke of a clever ad that appeared in that day's Evening
Post.

"It's wonderfully clever !" he exclaimed enthusiastically,
to the lady sitting beside him. She expressed a desire to read
it, and between the courses it was peeped at. She was mightily
interested in it, and so was the elderly gentleman next to her,
and soon the whole table read the ad. It was a short ad — about
two hundred lines, single column, without an illustration, and

276 Successful Advertising

with but one headline ; but the text was so entertainingly
written that it was read with interest by a group who had no
earthly desire for the article advertised. It influenced these men
and women to the point where they were guilty of a slight breach
of table etiquette. Now, if that ad were interesting enough to
be read by people who had no use for the article advertised, it
must have been doubly interesting to those who desire such an
article.

But that same ad would be lost in papers with less cul-
tured readers. An East-Sider fresh from his daily toil— a police-
man direct from his beat, or a longshoreman from the docks
enjoying his favorite paper with his after dinner pipe, would not
be likely to revel in any piece of fine advertising writing. If he
became interested in an ad it would be because he wanted a
bargain pair of trousers or a cheap pair of shoes. In such a
case he would want the value to stick right out before his eyes
in bold type, and be told in a manner unmistakable in its
bargain strength.

He is not looking for literature — he is looking for bar-
gains.

The thrifty German riding uptown in the elevated is likely
to become interested in his Zeitiuig'' s advertising columns. His
attention would be attracted to — and he would carefully read —
all about a special sale of underwear and hosiery. Our German
friend would read this hosiery and underwear ad if he contem-
plated buying hosiery and underwear, thought he could afford
the money and if he felt the advertiser was honest in his state-
ments. A few grammatical errors would not bother him.

That same ad in some high-class German weekly would
provoke criticism by reason of its looseness of construction.
The effectiveness of the ad would be thus lost — which reason
would hardly ever operate against the effectiveness of an ad in
a "popular" publication.

When I took charge of Hayden Bros.' advertising in Omaha,
the first thing I did was to get myself acquainted with the class
of people I had to reach. I used to walk through the first-floor
aisles and note the men and women buying — stand near the
main entrance and study Nebraskans as they came in and out —

How To Accomplish It. 277

and occasioually walk through Fariium, Douglas, or any of
Omaha's streets to receive impressions.

I noticed that women were, as a rule, not too well dressed —
that jewelry was conspicuo-us by its absence — that men paid but
little attention to style — that money seemed hard to get — in fact,
it was the hard summer of '94, when farmers were so hard up
that in several cases they killed their horses and fed them to
hogs rather than keep them. People were so occupied with
saving and making the mighty dollar that they had no time to
read nice advertising. They were influenced by ads that would
drive home the strongest sort of bargain arguments, and prices
had to be pretty small to be interesting.

So I gave Omaha people the hurrah, straight-from-the-
shoulder, page, half-page and quarter-page advertising, with
plenty of meaty items and small prices, and Hayden Bros, said
it was a success.

Just so with Denver, Salt Lake, Portland or any part of the
West during the three or four years of financial depression — the
flashy, noisy style of advertising was the style that attracted.

Personally, I like nice advertising — the clean-cut — the logi-
cal— the witty — the advertising that attracts the eye and is a
delight to the mind. But what is the use of writing such adver-
tising when it fails in results ? Now, in New York, such adver-
tising pays well. Why ? Read the answer in the thousands of
intelligent masculine faces you see everywhere in and about
New York. In the street cars, ferryboats, waiting rooms and
suburban trains you notice an army of clean-cut, nicely dressed
men of all ages, whose appearance bespeaks wealth, leisure,
taste in dress, nicety, discrimination. You must appeal to
them with the nicest sort of advertising. That explains the
reason why Brill Bros., Wm. Vogel & Son, Rogers, Peet & Co.,
and other Gotham concerns are so successful with their nice
advertising. They have the audience to speak to.

Therefore, Mr. Budding Advertising Man, give careful con-
sideration to your audience before you speak your little piece
through the advertising trumpet. Find out whether your audi-
ence is rich or poor — whether it is well educated or not — whether
it is keen and appreciative, or dull and drowsy.

278 Successful Advertising

Another very important rule : Alwa3-s be good-humored.
Never allow a suspicion of annoyance, surliness or jealousy to
creep into your advertising literature. The public likes to laugh
— to be tickled— to be pleased. And when you try to please
them with your bargain stories— it makes no matter what your
subject is — you can be all the more successful when there is a
vein of good humor iiinning through your talk.

Use Short Words.

Frequently the traveling optics of masculine and feminine
students of advertising, in studying typographical arrangements
of intellectual publicity; productions profound in their ponder-
osity, are reminded of the wisdom — yes, necessity — of the advice
contained in the following triple-word selection : —

Use Short Words !

The quintessence of truth boiled down to such an infinit-
esimal degree that the remaining sediment is composed of jewels
exceedingly rich, rare and recherche — withal microscopic — is
owing to the advertising gospel centered in this following com-
bination of two consonants and a vowel : —

Use Short Words !

Advertisers ! Why ruthlessly ransack the dictionary — why
rake up from the remotest recesses of mental ramifications words
obsolete, words heavy and hoary with antiquity, words tongue-
twisting and brain-destroying in their polysyllabic longitude,
words that the Anglo-Saxon hurled upon William the Con-
queror and words that empty every box in the compositor's case,
when before your sagacious gaze lies this advice : —

Use Short Words !

The mental calibre of your audience is a serious considera-
tion— too serious to ever fall into inoccuous desuetude. It must
be always retained in its completest energy within the confines
of your think tank, and no matter how intellectual or otherwise
your audience may be, forget not to

Use Short Words !

The presumption is that when an advertising expression is
at the point of your pen you siiould immediately concentrate

How To Accomplish It. 279

all your mental qualities in giving said expression the happiest
and concisest form. For itispossible to manipulate the English
language in such a manner that the manipulation will bringjoy
or pain to the reader. And never — oh, never! — fail to attach
extreme significance to the following time-honored and truth-
proven advertising adage : —

Use Short Words !

Advertising space is valuable because of the immovable, irre-
vocable and inevitable law of supply and demand. Affluent pub-
lishers and cold, calculating business managers quite some decades
ago discovered that paper cost considerable cash ; type could
only be obtained by displaying and then depositing the shim-
mering simoleons, and compositors callously called for shining
spondolux each succeeding Saturday. Even the production of
a weekly was no weak enterprise. Therefore the advertiser was
" soaked so good and hard" that the only opportunity evident
to that interesting individual to get ahead of the game in pre-
paring his publicity psean was to

Use Short Words !

By earnestly adhering to this mode of procedure he not only
renders himself more intelligible to his readers, but also pro-
duces a greater number of words for their edification at a cost
more commensurate with the proportions of his bank account.
Beware, gentle reader, beware ! of the unfortunate and utterly
ridiculous habit of using words of elongated measures (which
convey a rivulet of ideas but a Niagara of noises) when into
your ear is dinned this advice : —

Use Short Words !

The above Mr. MacDonald wrote for Fame^ but " between
the lines " of jaw-breakers appears the force of the lesson :

Use Short Words :

All understand short words. Short words drive home points
that long words never do. Short words hit — long words miss.
Short words are the every day words — long words belong to the
dictionary. Short words make the advertising story remem-
bered— long words cause it to be forgotten. In the selection of
words it is best to

Use Short Words !

280 Successful Advertising

Printers' Ink Interview.

J. Angus MacDonald, Formerly Advertising Manager for Jordan, Marsh
& Co., Boston, Compares New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston
and Western Advertising by Careful Study— New York Needs a Com^
bination of Wanamaker and Boston Styles— Philadelphia Style
Wouldn't Go in Chicago, or Vice Versa— Prices Are Trade Magnets-
Cuts Are Worth Double Price, But Ought Not to Cost It.

The largest dry goods store in America, with one or two
possible exceptions, is Jordan, Marsh & Co., of Boston. It does
about $200,000 of advertising annually and locally. Its adver-
tising is largely of the catalogue order — that is, composed of
descriptives and prices and pictures. It fills full pages of the
Sunday Herald and Globe^ and it fills anywhere from a half-
column to a half-page in the regular daily papers.

It's good advertising — in Boston.

It's well written, it's well managed and it's well typo-
graphed.

I used to go into Jordan, Marsh & Co 's when Angus
MacDonald was their advertising manager, and watch him sit
in an office whose walls were entirely obscured by advertising
proofs of the eighty odd departments which he marshaled into
one glorious and conquering whole. He used to tell me how
he not only studied everything there w^as to learn about " mer-
chandising," as Mr. Gillam would say, but also absorbed the
writings of the leading authors, both modern and ancient, for
the purpose of acquiring style, finish and polish, versatility and
the ability to make 500,000 different people with different tastes
and different educations read what he might have to say about
anything from hairpins to sideboards.

Occasionally he used to fill a page of some of the Boston
dailies with articles of more than passing interest on other sub-
jects than dry goods, writing from pure love of the thing and to
exercise his literary ability.

With one assistant, he was handling an advertising depart-
ment as large as Wanamaker's, where they employ a dozen met.
for this work.

How To Accomplish It. 281

He was overworking, of course. One day he broke down,
and his doctor sent him to Florida.

STUDYING THE EAST AND WEST.

He stayed South two months, and travelled back North
very slowly, stopping to make a study of advertising in Phila-
delphia, Washington and New York, and then went West, study-
ing advertising in Chicago, Omaha and Denver. He stayed
West long enough to do some brilliant advertising for some of
the big concerns out there, and incidentally to breathe in Rocky
Mountain ozone.

With rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes, he loomed up in New
York the other day. I saw him on Broadway, and I nailed him
for an interview. I asked him what he thought of New
York advertising, Philadelphia advertising, Boston advertising
and Western advertising ; what kind of advertising was the
best ; whether Gillam would Gillamize Gotham, and whether
he himself intended to settle down in New York. I found that
he was here at the request of one of the big department stores
and that he was studying out a plan and style of advertising
that would combine the best in advertising elsewhere and best
applicable to New York.

I believe every dry goods man in the United States, every
retail dealer who does a line of advertising, will find it full of
suggestions and observations and analytical deduction of interest
and value.

" Which city does the best advertising ? " I asked first.
" It is a question in my mind whether Chicago or Phila-
delphia, Boston advertising is good for the Hub."

" What's the difference between Philadelphia and Chicago ? "
"Philadelphia is all Wanamaker. Chicago is everything
but Wanamaker."

" Do you think the Wanamaker style will go in Chicago ? "
" No, and the Chicago style would not go in Philadelphia."
"Will the Wanamaker style be ' a go ' in New York ? "
" It would take the seventh son of a seventh son to answer
that question. Wait a year or two, and IManley Gillam will
answer it for you. However, if you pin me down, I will tell

282 Successful Advertising

you what I think on the subject. Now Philadelphians are quiet,
easy-going people whose minds run in placid channels. For
them, the conversational style of dry goods advertising was a
boon, as it contained no startling announcements or surprises.
There is no other large city so peculiar in that respect as Phila-
delphia. Now the New York public is quite different. Why
wouldn't it be a good point instead of giving the New York
public the Philadelphia style — give them, say, a cross between
the Boston and Philadelphia style ? You see, Boston's advertis-
ing is more crisp, terse and forcible than the Wanamaker con-
versational method. Now, why not have a combination of the
two — a style that New York would call its own, and contain
the cream of Boston and Philadelphia style ? Facts and figures,
and good old-fashioned New England logic, deftly mixed with
pleasing, artistic Wanamaker announcements, ought to make a
taking combination in New York."

NEW YORK CAN IMPROVE.

"What do you think of New York advertising?"

" I think it capable of much improvement."

" Does the crowd come to bargains ? "

" Yes, sir. You spread before the public genuine bargains
and they 'come and partake' every time."

" Do prices attract ? ''

" Prices are the real magnets, especially in dry goods adver-
tising. Women always read and comment on the prices. They
are sharp judges and quickly scent values."

" Does the public always believe newspaper ads ?"

"The average person believes in the announcements of
reliable Eastern houses. There is no question whatever on this
point. Out West, where everything is viewed through golden
spectacles, the public take advertisements with grains of salt ;
but the fact that they respond shows that they have some belief."

"Who chiefly patronize ads ? ''

" Women. Nine cases out of ten it is the woman who
reads and remembers an advertisement."

" Don't men respond ? "

How To Accomplish It. 283

*'To a degree, yes; but they liaven't the time nor the
economical instinct that their wives, sisters and daughters have."
"What do you think of cuts? "

BELIEVES IN CUTS.

"I am a firm believer in cuts. An illustrated ad is far
more effective than any other. A picture always attracts, and
tells the story quicker and is more effective than mere type."

" Are cuts worth double rates ? ''

"I always hate to pay double rates for cuts, as I think that
charge an imposition, but frequently it pays to do it."

" How much advertising space should a store use in a news-
paper ? ' '

" That is a hard question to answer. Jordan, Marsh & Co.'s
page ads are almost weekly occurrences, whereas Lord &
Taylor's total ads for six months scarcely amount to a full page,
Siegel, Cooper & Co., in Chicago, with the biggest store in the
world, use a page nearly every Sunday, while the Denver Dry
Goods Co., in Denver, with about 200 employees, use about the
same amount of space in the Denver papers. It is simply fol-
lowing the pace you or your neighbors set."

Anable Atherton.

This appeared in Printer^ s Ink in August, 1895. Anyone
familiar with New York advertising can tell whether or not my
judgment was correct — J. A. MacD.

Booklet Advertising.

Within the past few years booklet advertising has become
wonderfully popular. Every line of business now appreciates
the benefits to be derived from booklets, and although many
booklet efforts sadly miss the mark of excellence, yet some are
beautiful specimens of literary, artistic and typographical skill.

As I said before, every branch of business can use the
booklet to advantage. It is the mean between a circular and a
catalogue. Generally the former is valueless because it says too
little, and is done to death, and the latter is too expensive. The
booklet can tell your story well — it can detail your business as

284 Successful Advertising

no circular, poster or newspaper ad can — it does not cost so very
much, and if gotten up rightly is likely to be welcomed by the
recipient.

Take for instance a summer hotel. The proprietor at this
time is looking about him for some good way to advertise his
resort. Tlie newspapers and magazines are good — he knows
that by the past experience of himself and others. But they are
mighty expensive, and he can say very little about the merits of
his rooms and table — the accessibility and situation of his
hotel — the surroundings, etc., etc. The road out of tlie difficulty
lies through the booklet. Let him get up a twenty-four or
thirty-six page booklet of medium size, with half-tone illustra-
tions showing exterior and interior views of his hostelry, inter-
spersed with bright, interesting letter press. Let him have this
booklet attended to by a good writer, artist and printer, and he
will find very satisfactory results from the same. An edition of
five, ten or twenty-five thousand — as the case may require — can
be issued, and the lot sent to a list of selected names which he
can procure from metropolitan concerns which make a business
of securing such lists.

Take again a shoedealer. He has a good store, good stock,
and a satisfactory trade. His spring stock in footwear shows
many styles that are new in his district. His spring and sum-
mer stocks will be more complete and interesting this season
than ever before. He is burning with a desire to let his vicinity
know all this. He can do it through the booklet. Let him get
up a neat, illustrated booklet with a tasty cover — if in colors so
much the better — have every page illustrated with two or more
footwear designs. Speak in an entertaining way about the new
stock and the popular shapes, and put it in the hands of every
man and woman in his town and vicinity. If the booklet is
gotten up as it should be, it will not be thrown away. On the
contrary, every member of the household will glance at it to get
a few pointers on shoes.

Same way with clothing. There strayed to my hands last
fall a booklet on fall and winter styles in clothing and furnish-
ings from the celebrated Gotham concern, Rogers, Peet & Co.
I have that booklet yet. I did not save it from the fact that I

How To Accomplish It. 285

am an advertising man and love to look over good specimens of
advertising. No, I can honestly say I did not, but rather from
the fact that it gave me several valuable pointers regarding a
winter wardrobe which several young friends and I have used to
advantage in securing clothing and furnishings. It is my belief
that men keep these booklets and occasionally glance in them
when they want a pair of trousers, a pair of shoes, or anything
to add to their wardrobes.

The department store can well utilize a series of booklets
speaking of its different departments. Prices should always be
given in booklets as well as full descriptions of the goods.

There should not be too much talk. The sentences should
be short and full of point. The paragraphs should not be too
long. Better have two or three paragraphs on one suggestion,
than one long-winded paragraph on the same thought. Short
sentences — short paragraphs — but long enough to give full
meaning to every thought, should be the writer's rule.

If the paper permits use half-tones or wood engravings. In
the eyes of some they may not be as artistic as pen and ink
drawings, but in the eyes of the many they are stronger and
bring out the points of the goods better.

When you start to get up a booklet, start with the idea to
get up a good one. It does not pay to scrimp on the paper,
printing, illustrating and writing. A booklet is supposed to be
kept and remembered, and to be thus kept and remembered it
should be attractive in appearance and contents. The newspa-
per is for a day, the magazine for a month. All advertising is
short lived, but that which lives longest is probably the booklet
rightly gotten up.

When a retailer issues a booklet he should be careful to
speak only of the lines which he is certain will remain in stock
for at least six months. Most newspaper advertising refers to
goods that will be disposed of over the bargain counter inside
of a week. Booklet advertising speaks of the lines you will
carry right through the season.

286 Successful Advertising"

Spend Money to Make Money.

" Mr. Allen told of a conversation that he had with Mr. Duke,
in which Mr. Duke complained of the large amount that his
firm, Duke, Sons & Co., had to expend for advertising.

'Mr. Duke told me,' said the witness, 'that in 1888 he
spent $508,000 for advertising.'

Mr. Allen went on to say that other cigarette manufacturers
to whom he talked had correspondingly large expenses, and that
he urged upon them the advisability of combination. Mr. Duke,
he said, said to him that a consolidation would be a good thing,
as doing away with competition in advertising.

' What was the purpose of the formation of the American
Tobacco Company ? ' asked Mr. Fuller, on cross-examination.

' It was to save the large expenses of individual advertis-
ing,' replied Mr. Allen ; ' to save expenses on salesmen, to
save office expenses, in general to promote economy in the man-
ufacturing and distribution of the products of the companies
combining.' " From report of Tobacco Trust Trial^ New York
Sun.

One thing is certain. If James B. Duke, President of the
American Tobacco Company, did not spend $508,000 in 1888
for advertising. Duke's Cameo Cigarettes would not be so well
known to the cigarette world and lots of chappies would be
puffing to-day in place of Duke's Cameo Cigarettes the Sweet
Caporal, High Admiral, Vanity Fair, or some other brand.

The above clipping gives a little bit of light on the sums
spent by well-known concerns in advertising.

Advertising is vital to nearly every business to-day. When
a man or firm wishes to push a specialty a liberal appropriation
is usually made for advertising purposes. When this liberal
appropriation is not made the enterprise dies an early death.

Perry Davis began his great Pain Killer business by ped-
dling bottles of Pain Killer from door to door. When he got a
little ahead he began advertising — his sales then began to
increase with the better knowledge of his Pain Killer and in

How To Accomplish It. 287

proportion to the increase of business Mr. Davis enlarged his
advertising appropriation.

I believe Dr. J. C. Ayer started in about the same way.
Even in their early days these men appreciated the power of
advertising.

But Davis and Ayer started their business many years ago.
Conditions have changed since then. Modern times demand
modern methods. And advertising plays a mighty part in mod-
ern business methods. Fortunes are annually spent by big con-
cerns in publicity. Enormous salaries are paid trained special-
ists to direct the expenditure of these fortunes. This is meet,
logical and just.

One of the first axioms that the business fledgling learns is
" To make money you must spend money." The day has gone
by when one can conjure up dollars with little exertion and
expenditure. There are too many aspirants in every field. The
aspirant with the cleverest brain and the bank account to
match "gets there" first. His clever brain will tell him how
much to spend in advertising — in management — in salesman-
ship— in manufacturing — in each detail. He buys brains to
help his. He knows that hard cash will buy everything — men,
papers, machinery — whatever may be necessary for his business.

If I cared to mention- some of the amounts that passed
through my hands to pay my client's advertising bills the quo-
tations would startle you. Very few people outside of those
actually engaged in advertising have anywhere near an approx-
imate idea of the fortunes spent in advertising. It is safe to
say that over $500,000,000 are annually spent by American ad-
vertisers.

If Mr. Duke started in this modern age to advertise his
cigarettes as did Messrs. Davis and Ayer fifty or sixty years ago
vi^ith their patent medicines where would he be to-day ?

James B. Duke appreciated the truth of the adage ' ' To
make money you must spend money." He was not afraid to
spend it in whatever direction he thought necessary to the ben-
efit of his business and in this connection gave advertising its
due credit. When he arrived at that point where he was spend-
ing half a million dollars a year on advertising alone he

288 Successful Advertising

thought of a scheme to reduce the advertising and other
expenses. Hence the trust.

When the trust was formed there was no occasion for such
extensive advertising because the field was swept clear of rivals.

Wiih greater competition comes a greater demand for adver-
tising.

When you enter a field that is already well filled you should
do a tall lot of advertising to put your business in the front.
When you enter a field in which you stand alone you should
advertise too, so as to let people know that you are ready to serve
their wants in a particular line, but it stands to reason that the
advertising need not be so fierce and aggressive as when the field
is already well occupied.

It is all very well to give a few platitudes on thrift and say,
"A fool and his money are soon parted," but more failures
in business can be attributed to niggardliness and greed than
is generally supposed. A reputation for being stingy is about
the worst reputation a man can have. It hurts in business and
in social life. Success does not love the stingy. She flutters
about the liberal — the generous hearted — the people who have
good red blood in their veins.

Intelligent thrift is all right. But stupid thrift— the thrift
the fool uses when he "saves dimes and loses dollars" — the
thrift that "saves at the spigot and wastes at the bunghole " is
idiocy. And yet how many practice it and pat themselves on
the back for being economical !

When you start in to do some advertising, do it right. Do
not go at it in a half-hearted way and grow frightened and stop
before the battle is half fought.

If you are satisfied you are right, go ahead !

And to advertise right means the expenditure of good
money. It means cash paid to mediums in which to place your
ads, to writers to write your ads and to artists to illustrate your
ads. Each of these needs, if worth anything, demands a fair
payment.

How To Accomplish It. 289

** Dry Goods' Economist'' Interview.

How J. Angus MacDonald Uses His Space— What Attracts Most Atten-
tion—" Tell the Truth "—How to Train a Young Man to Write Ads —
As to Criticism.

Some lielpfiil advertising hints, pertinently put, were fur-
nished an Economist representative the other day in the course
of an instructive chat with J. Angus MacDonald, the man who
frames and fashions Bloomingdale Bros.' ads. Though young
in years, Mr. MacDonald is a veteran in this field, and his obser-
vations disclose some of the methods which invest the Blooming-
dale ads with their trade-drawing power.

From a typographical standpoint the ads of this store, as
they appear in the daily papers, look crowded, and if judged by
printers or ad writers generally, would not be accorded so high a
place as the ads of some of the other big stores. Questioned
upon this point, Mr. MacDonald smiled and hesitated, as if he
had heard the criticism before. Then he said : "We buy space
in the newspapers in order to use it ; and that is just what we
do with it after we buy it. I believe in the ' open ' ad display
where it is feasible and expedient ; but experience has taught
me that in appealing to people who purchase at retail, especially
women folk, prices cut the most effective figure, and the more
prices you give them, and the bigger the list of articles, the
better they like it.

" I believe, too, in using art and literature when compatible
with the end aimed at, but when their use means a sacrifice of
financial results, they should be tabooed. Speaking of art and
literature, I am reminded of what Paul Dana, the editor of the
Sun^ had to say upon this subject at a dinner which I attended.
Referring to the work of the advertiser, he said that he occupied
an enviable position as compared with the author or the artist.
The author, he said, was compelled to stick to literature, and the
artist to art, v/hereas,the advertiser had the privilege of working
in both fields — as well as in a third field — the field of business.

" This is true, and perhaps it is this very license that
makes some ads ineffective as business- bringers."

290 Successful Advertisings

After some further remarks upon this phase of the subject,
Mr. MacDonald observed : " I suppose that our greatest success
lies in the fact that we always know what we are doing."

Parenthetically, it may be here remarked that the whole
secret of successful advertising is embodied in that simple
sentence.

Reverting to the typographical make-up of Bloomingdale
Bros.' ads, Mr. MacDonald said: "The wants of several mil-
lions of people are numberless, and the better we cover the
ground in calling attention to the extent to which we can sup-
ply their needs the better the ad serves its purpose. Our cus-
tomers, and the general public as well, have become accustomed
to this style of advertising, and it is just as characteristic of this
store as are other exclusive ideas which we utilize.

"Don't misunderstand me. I don't believe in crowding
matter into an ad to such an extent as to make it difficult to
read ; but I do believe in oflfering the public the greater variety
from which to make selections. We think that we have reduced
this end of the business to a science, or as near to that point as
possible.

"If our ads elicit adverse criticism on the part of those who
think they know better than we do how trade should be appealed
to, why, we don't mind it. It is results that tell. Criticism
against successful methods is unavailing. Take, to go outside
of the pale of the subject for an illustration, the work of the late
Burne-Jones. He was bitterly assailed for years by fellow-artists
and the critics, and yet, without varying from his methods, he
came to be regarded as one of the foremost artists of his day.
Pardon the comparison, but so it is with us. We may be criti-
cised, but we get the results ; and that's what we are after."

" What is the most attractive feature of an ad to the average
run of shoppers?" the Economist representative asked Mr. Mac-
Donald during a brief lull in the talk.

" Prices," was the quick reply, followed with " I mean com-
parative prices, showing at what price the goods were sold and
the price at v/hich they are being offered."

In Mr. MacDonald's office, up on the fifth floor of the
Bloomingdale Bros.' store, a sign depending from the ceiling

How To Accomplish It. 291

bears in large, plain black letters the words, "Tell the Truth/'
It was this sign that suggested the next question : "What do
you consider the most vital principle in advertising?"

To this question Mr. MacDonald replied: "We believe in
doing everything we promise to do, and just as we promise to do
it," which, it will be noted, was but another way of saying
"Tell the Truth."

" Two most successful retail advertisers," he continued,
"John E. Powers and M. M. Gillam, both of whom at different
times wrote Wanamaker's ads, rigidly adhered to this plan.
They were both thoroughly clean and honest, and their charac-
ters were reflected in their ads. From any standpoint, business
or moral, it's better to tell the truth ; for if you don't it will soon
be found out. And the advertiser who doesn't live up to his
professions must fail."

Asked for some advice to give to the advertiser in the small
town, Mr. MacDonald said :

"In the first place, I would advise him to get hold of a
young man with the intelligence that suggests a proper capacity
and ability to do the work once he has mastered the elementary
facts. I would, after a proper course of instruction, place him
not only in charge of the advertising, but of the window dress-
ing and interior decorating as well. In this way these three
departments would be, as they always should be, in complete
harmony. Each department would support the others, and the
result, assuming that the work be intelligently done, would be
the result that always attends careful, wisely directed, sys-
tematic effort.

" Then, too, I would have the young man hold frequent con-
ferences with department heads and buyers, requiring him at the
same time to become thoroughly familiar with the kind and
character of the stock carried in the store. As for suggestions to
utilize in his work, I would furnish him with a copy of the
Economist and require him to consult it for ideas.

" A young man systematically trained in this manner, pro-
vided always that he has the native capacity to do the work as
it should be done, and is prolific of original ideas, would soon
prove himself invaluable in increasing the store's business. It

292 Successful Advertising

should be early apparent whether or not the young man is cut
out for the work. If he isn't, he should be dropped at once."

In expressing his opinion why so many ads fail of their
purpose, Mr. MacDonald said that it was due to the fact that the
writers went off at half cock, not having devoted sufficient atten-
tion to the proposition before them, whereas, if they gave the
subject the study and attention it deserved, success, instead of
failure, would result. "That explains the value," he said in
conclusion, "of knowing what you are doing." — Dry Goods'
Economist^ July 23, 1898.

The Humors of Advertising.

When I was a boy I used to work in a country newspaper
office. My chief duty was to "write up the mail," and inci-
dentally I found time to set up a few sticks of type in the run
of a week.

As the forms were being made up one particular week our
principal advertiser in the office — a fussy little merchant — came
rushing in the office and wanted to know if we could not squeeze
in the locals a small paragraph referring to a recent acquisition
to his stock — a new importation of American boots, shoes and
rubbers.

I took the paragraph and soon set it in cold type, and with-
out the formality of a proof-reading it was soon embedded in the
waiting forms. The hand press was soon in operation and in
the course of the day the edition was run off.

What was the horror and consternation of the proprietor,
editor, reporter, business manager and advertising manager^
merged in one individual, when the worthy advertiser came in
the office next day in a towering rage and demanded that some-
body be hanged, drawn and quartered because his carefully
drawn- up paragraph read :

" Mr. begs to announce that he has just received a new

importation of American boots, shoes and rubbish." An inves-
tigation follov/ed and I came very nearly losing the very impor-
tant position I then held.

A few weeks later the above-mentioned editor-in-chief was
honored by a visit from his best girl. She was a farmer's

How To Accomplish It. 293

daughter — a sweet, unsopliisticated young thing, who was soon
lost in wonderment in the mysteries of a newspaper office. Her
Adonis was very much engaged that day, it being the day of
going to press, but with much grace and patience he began
explaining the dictionary of "quads," "takes," "forms" and
other terms peculiar to the business.

"And, George, tell me what's this?" she asked, sweeping
her muflf across three columns of set up editorials. The type
was not locked — been simply wet — and it was swept by her
muff into inextricable confusion over the cold stone and the floor.

He glanced in horror at the catastrophe — for it meant a
delay of twenty-four hours in getting out that week's paper,
and then said with much feeling :

" That's pi, by gad — pi that the whole office force and the
paper's three thousand subscribers will have to eat for a whole
week."

As advertising manager for a certain department store I
used to be occasionally much amused at the breaks of the head
of the hat department. One day he came up to the advertising
sanctum in great glee.

"I think this is a corking good heading I've written," he
said. " Let me read it to you :

" ' Fathers and Mothers, if you have children, prepare to
bring them around to our great sale of children's hats and caps
to-morrow.' "

He was asked how it was possible for readers to be fathers
or mothers without having children. The cigars were on him.

A piece of advertising copy once left my hands with this
soul stirring caption :

"A Mine of Bargains."

When it came back set up it read :

"A Mire of Bargains."

A furniture heading was prepared by the writer with this
display head :

"Paltry Prices."

The printer made it read :

"Paltry Piecbs."

294 Successful Advertising

Once an advertising writer in a great hurry attempted to
write ;

" Here are High Values and Low Prices."

What he did actually produce was :

"Here are High Prices and Low Values."

You would scarcely believe it, but the cold fact stands
behind the following paragraph :

Alpine Hats These Alpaca Coats are
* worth $1.25, but we offer

7nv -, them for 75c. In this lot are
■^ ^» some black Sateen Croats —
Q^ color guaranteed. All sizes.

Do you see the joke — or the double joke ? Notice how the
printer calls coats "goats." and how he said "Alpine Hats"
instead of alpaca coats. This occurred the other day while I
was working on a New York department store ad.

Most of the errors are caught by the advertising man
before the ads go to press.

A friend of mine, who is a writer on a New York daily,
told me last evening in a rather perturbed state of mind, how
he turned in a piece of copy relating to " trust magnates."

"And what do you think?" he said. "The confounded
printer made it read ' trust maggots.' "

Some of the errors are perfectly absurd. For instance, I
saw the proof of a ribbon ad the other day that said a yard of
ribbon would cost $300. Of course the price was 30c.

Occasionally a mistake gets in the papers. The other day
I saw advertised a lot of Lamb's Hair hats at $5.00 each. There
are no such things as Lamb's Hair hats, but there are plenty of
CamcPs Hair hats at $5.00 and thereabouts, and I am certain
the advertiser meant Camel's Hair hats.

"The proper measures to take," etc., etc., is what a friend
of mine wrote. When it appeared in type it read, " The proper

How To Accomplish It. 295

medicine to take," etc., etc. One day last summer I saw in a
small out of town paper an ad, the headline of which said :

" Have you seen our hollar shirts ?"

The tale of these shirts went on to say that they were very
exceptional shirts for a dollar.

I remember I once wrote :

" After an exliaustive study of the markets," etc. The
printer made it read :

" After an exclusive study of the m.arkets,'' etc.

I caught it in the proof, corrected it, then had the pleasure
of reading in the paper :

" After an exhasive study of the markets," etc.

To this day I do not know what the word "exhasive"
means. Neither does the printer, for I asked him.

" The trust maggots " mistake reminds me of an error that
occurred some years ago. I wrote an article for a "high-class
monthly," in which I said something about "the local mag-
nate." I could scarce believe my eyes when I saw it read — in
the magazine, too ! — " the tall gate."

Errors of prices are very common, which is not to be won-
dered at considering the pages of items and prices which depart-
ment stores are constantly putting forth.

I remember an instance when the advertisement of a con-
cern appeared in the daily papers without the name or address
of the concern. This was done through some neglect in the
composing room. Yet although it appeared in the morning in
this shape there was quite a crowd of buyers in the department
thus advertised. Inquiry among the shoppers elicited the fact
that they recognized the concern by the style of set up.

Accidents will happen not only in the best-regulated families,
but also in the best-regulated advertising departments and news-
paper offices, and though some are extremely irritating, yet
some are mirth provoking — viewed from the standpoint of the
man who does the laughing.

296 Successful Advertising

Honesty as a Factor in Advertising.

Barnuin once said : " The public likes to be humbugged."
I question very much as to whether that absurd humbugging era
ever existed — if it did it has been relegated with a lot of other
things to the dim and misty past. In this age the man who
humbugs people does it once — if he is very clever he may be
able to do it a second or possibly a third time — but then he finds
his humbugging race is run, and he begins to wish he had tried
honest methods, and given a full dollar's worth for every dollar
he received. I went around the other evening to Madison
Square Garden to see Barnuni's Circus. After firing a quart of
peanuts in the beautiful mouth of the hippopotamus and watch-
ing the camel "get a hump" on himself as he rose in his
majesty to look upon the crowds about him — after gazing upon
the zebra, tapir, lions and other animate affairs, and after watch-
ing Roman chariot races, bareback riders, trapeze performers,
tumblers and clowns for a good two and a half hours, I departed
with the rest of the crowd highly satisfied I got my dollar's
worth of entertainment and instruction from " The Greatest
Show on Earth." There was no humbug there, and when Bar-
num's show opens up in Madison Square Garden next year I
will go around again and see it some more. Why ?

Because I was satisfied with it. Because I came away feel-
ing that I received my dollar's worth. And that is the secret of
successful retailing nowadays — the sending away people from
your store highly satisfied with themselves in patronising you.
You cannot do it by humbugging methods. Competition is too
active and keen nowadays to allow a man to give otherv;ise
than honest values. Now the true secret of successful adver-
tising, is to accurately mirror the daily or weekly happenings in
your store. It is simply a reflex of your business methods — a
big plate glass window through which the great bu}ing public
can note your goods, various prices and business methods. And
when the advertising becomes "highfalutin '' or exaggerated, it
is a magnifying glass that multiplies faults which visitors
speedily discover to your after regret.

How To Accomplish It. 29"

There was a time, we all know, when exaggerated and out-
rageous advertising was the order of the day. That was during
the dark ages of advertising, when advertising was new and
people had not become fully acquainted with it. Then it was
an easy matter to gull people, but "a burned child dreads the
fire;" and once the people were gulled they rather looked upon
nil advertising with suspicion. But the bright advertisers soon
found that honest, straightforward advertising won customers'
attention and retained it, and by persistently being honest and
straightforward in their methods and advertising they built up
for themselves big businesses. And to-day the list of honest
advertisers are longer than ever before — for the simple reason
that it is best business policy to be honest.

The advance of popular knowledge regarding advertising
has quite kept pace with the ability of the advertiser to satisfy
this knowledge. The public scent the lie or hyperbole in an ad
now as quick as they look at the print, and once a man or firm
gets a reputation for gross exaggeration it sticks like a poor
relation. A hundred good, honest ads cannot wash away the
mischief done by a lying one. Therefore, be careful in your
newspaper talk. Write and edit your advertising with due
regard for the popular demand for honesty, candor and common
sense.

*' Profitable Advertising" Interview.

Opinions of a WeiNknown Advertising Man — What Jordan, Marsh &
Co.'s., and Bloomingdale Brothers' Former Advertising Manager
Has to say in Relation to Advertising— Some Pertinent Pointers for
Advertisers.

I enjoyed the pleasure and profit of a professional interview
with J. Angus MacDonald for the first time yesterday.

While on Boston papers I had met him informally many
times, but never under circumstances when I could draw him
out on the subject of our profession and study — those ideas and
methods which have long individualized him as one of the
strong men — and the personality with its cold, cutting, sledge-
hammer force and logical acumen, which have in a few short
years landed him in the front rank of our great and important
profession.

298 Successful Advertising"

Wheu I told Mr. MacDonald that I would like an iiilcrviev/
for Profitable Advertisings he modestly retreated and pleaded
pressure of business, but after persistent urging he most courte-
ously invited me to his sanctum in the great Lexington Build-
ing, and there in his unique den, piled high with papers and
books, the desk scarcely recognizable as such from alm.ost total
burial in a white mass of papers, letters, advertising and other
accoutrements of a very busy man's business retreat, I elicited
the following answers to my brief queries, which I now append
minus all verbiage and cigar smoke with which the interview
was liberally punctuated :

"What, in your estimation, Mr. MacDonald, is the first
requisite of an advertising man?"

" The advertising sense. It is indefinable. Very few pos-
sess it. The good reporter possesses the nose for news. He
cannot quite lay his hand on that quality, although it is his first
necessity. It shows itself in his work. The good advertising
man may appear like every other man — usually he appears very
ordinary — but his peculiar ability and adaptability shows itself
in his work. You can tell a good ad when you see it, yet when
most people start to prepare an ad they fail to give it that incis-
iveness, character and virility which it should possess. The
advertising man who knows his business knows how to do this.
It is an inborn talent, and he scarcely knows how to explain the
methods and style which he puts to his work."

"It is not literary work?''

" Not by a long shot It is beyond literary work, because
it is more valuable from a commercial point of view. The
literary man would need a column in which to tell his story.
The advertising writer can compress it into one-half that space "

"What beyond this advertising sense should the advertising
man possess? "

" The commercial instinct which enables him to rightly
determine the value of mediums and his employer's money. A
knowledge of printing — the use of types. He should also
have the artistic sense highly developed, so as to get the best
work from artists by appreciating and being in sympathy with
their work. He ought to be something of an architect, so as to

How To Accomplish It. 299

plan and arrange systematical and striking ads ; lie ought to
have a well-trained mind in this respect. He must be a thinker
and a student of people and affairs. He must have a head teem-
ing with original ideas, and of course be able to express his
ideas in the most fitting language."

" What are the most important features of an ad?"

"Ideas, words and arrangement. Ideas come first; they
should be rightly expressed, the whole should be properly
arranged with type and illustration."

"What city does the best general advertising, in your
estimation ?"

"Chicago."

"Why?"

"There are several reasons. The first is, the writer has a
more free, unconventional scope to his pen. He is not limited
by tradition as he is in most Eastern cities. Then, again, the
presswork and printing of the Chicago papers are beautiful, and
the illustrations very artistic."

" How is New York general advertising?"

" It has improved very much within the last two or three
years. The advent of John Wanamaker, and Siegel, Cooper Co.
has helped on this. There is one branch of New York adver-
tising that is exceptionally good, which is clothing advertising."

"And Boston advertising? "

" Being an old Boston advertising man myself and knowing
all the advertising boys down there so well, I do not feel like
posing as a judge on their work. In the main it is very good.
Jordan, Marsh & Co., Shepard, Norwell & Co., Houston &
Henderson, and Filene's represent good advertising in general
retail lines."

" And in specific retail lines? "

" In furniture we all consider that the ads of the Paine
Furniture Co. are the best anywhere."

" How is general advertising throughout the country?"

"I have never known it at a higher plane of excellence
than it is to-day. Of course this is due in a very great measure
to the teachings of Profitable Advertisings Brains^ Printers'
Ink^ Fame^ and the other advertising journals, as well as to the
writings of leading advertising men."

800 Successful Advertising

"Will this advertising knowledge continue?''

" Most assuredly. It is a good thing all around — for the
merchants, the advertising writers, the papers, the artists and
the whole army who deal in publicity in any form. It indicates
an appreciation of public taste. The public now keenly dis-
criminates in advertising. Years ago the ordinary slip-shod,
conventional ad was enough. To-day only the carefully pre-
pared ad, which represents thought, character, point and intel-
ligence is read"

" Is the advertising expert in demand?"

"I should say so. He is to-day considered more than ever
in the commercial world. That is only logical. If he knows
his business he is of great assistance to every advertiser — big
and little — who wishes to make his advertising dollars go
farthest. It is a simple business proposition. The lawyer helps
his clients on some knotty law point; the doctor helps his
patients through their illness; the advertising 'expert' helps
his clients — but I don't like the word 'expert' though — helps
them through their advertising."

"Don't you like the word ' expert ' ? I notice you avoid it
on your stationery and advertising."

" The word is all right, but it has been misused. It has
been prostituted like the word ' bargain.' I call myself the
' Practical Advertising Man ' because I consider a practical
knowledge of a subject essential to a mastery of it, and I flatter
myself I have been so steeped in advertising knowledge that I
have a practical knowledge of all its phases. Speaking about
'experts,' to return to the subject of a moment ago, here is a
practical demonstration of their demand."

Mr. MacDonald pointed to a mail of about twenty-five let-
ters which were just then brought in by the carrier, and then
to another stack of opened letters a foot high on his desk. On
a rack back of his chair were files of various publications from
all parts of the country.

Mr. MacDonald started in opening his mail, and kept up a
running fire of comment all the time.

"Advertising should be thoroughly studied. It is a hard,
serious, exhausting study. Each case should receive individual

How To Accomplish It. 301

attention. The conditions surrounding each case should be
carefully considered. Cold, hard sense, facts and logic should
be brought into play. An advertising man should be a good
business man. He should be more than the average business
man, because he should have some literary talent and a bold,
original mind. He must be fertile in ideas. He mubt be a
deviser, an organizer, a writer. He must be a close student of
humanity. He must be able to analyze the motives of people
who buy so as to play upon these motives. Clearness in express-
ing ideas should be studied. Typographical effects should be
mastered. The knowledge of words, of types, of illustrations,
and of mediums should be at his control. Economy in space
should be understood. It is a comparatively new field of
endeavor — this advertising business is — but it is a very complex
field to enter. It is easy when you know how. Till then it is
brain racking. The acquirement of details is a matter of
patience and persistence. Both patience and persistence are
cardinal virtues in this business."

Robert Freeman Hunter,
In Profitable Advertisings June, 1897.

Foreign Advertising — A Little About It.

There's one thing certain !

Foreign advertising must take its hat off to American
advertising.

Foreign advertising generally is very poor. English adver-
tising is the best in foreign advertising, but English advertising
is not a circumstance to our own American advertising.

English advertisers seem to lack typographical taste, as
well as clear expression and logic in presenting arguments.

I was looking over the Paris edition of the New York
Herald the other day, and could not but help comparing its ad-
vertising columns with the advertising columns of this city's
issue. In the New York Herald you see literary and artistic
merit, representing every shade of ingenious effort — pages of it.
In the Paris edition you will find but a small showing of adver-

302 Successful Advertising

tising, and that principally composed of stilted and conventional
cards of business houses, hotels, etc. Same way with the adver-
tising columns of such continental leading publications as The
Fliegende B/(S^/er {the best comic weekly in existence) published
in Germany. Look through the Russian and far Eastern papers
and you will find this dearth of advertising activity.

Why ? Goodness knows ! In the editorial and news col-
umns you will find polished diction, deep thought, philosophy,
wit, pathos, art, poetry, and every other intellectual output
represented, but all this stops short at the advertising columns.

It is not that business competition does not exist in foreign
lands as it does in America. It is not that there is a lack of good
writers, artists, and business men to produce good advertising.
It must be that the value of good advertising is not instilled into
foreign minds as it is in domestic mentalities. It is my belief
that the recent improvement in English advertising has been
due in a large measure to the circulation in that country of
American advertising ideas.

Porto Rico is claiming a good share of newspaper space
these days, and although Porto Rico is at present under the
American flag still that country's advertising is set in a con-
glomeration of types of different sizes and styles. No arguments
are used to lure people into the stores, and all lines of goods
are named together. Oil stoves, women's wrappers, watches,
lady's skirts, etc., are spoken of in one breath. There promises
to be a large and growing future in Porto Rico for the advertis-
ing writer.

A friend of m.ine in Manila sends me occasionally copies of
its daily paper, and there is no evidence in its columns that the
writer of publicity is making himself felt to any alarmingdegree.

And once in awhile a client of mine in the city of Mexico
sends me a copy of a Mexican paper. Talk about paper and
press work, let alone the thought and concrete work shown by
the ads !

Why, sir, it is

Ah ! here is where my pen fails me.

Give me the American papers every time. Tlieir news,
editorial and advertising columns represent enterprise, ability,

How To Accomplish It.

308

push, progress, outlay of time, energy, brains and mone\ — in
short every conception the human brain is capable of conceiving
and every work ingenious hands can produce.

Real Estate Advertising,

The author had the right idea about real estate advertising
when he penned the following advertisement. It lacks, how-
ever, that great essential : Price.

Real Estate is the Basis of Wealth.

Savings lead to wealth !
Good iuveetments bring riches !
Prosperity fosters contentment !
Own your own home and be happy !

Be wise and buy Chelsea lots while prices are low and terms
easy. Do not be afraid to go into debt for a good thing. Clear
titles. Deferred payments on Chelsea lots will make you sad.

Come and see this ideal suburb with its unusually wide
avenues and fine modern residences. It possesses all the advan-
tages, such as churches, schools, social advantages, electric lights,
water mains, sewers, etc. It is a fifteen minute ride on a North
End trolley car.

To speak of the accessibility and advantages, as well as the
price of a piece of property, is the proper thing for the real
estate advertisement to do. Thousands upon thousands of
families pay rent year after year without a thought as to the
foolishness of that method, compared with buying real estate
on the instalment plan or joining a building and loan associa-
tion with a view to the future possession of one's own home.
Every head of a family should well consider this point, and
€very rightly constituted head of a family would, were his

304 Successful Advertising

attention only attracted to it by a short, sensible argument. We
are all creatures of habit — all influenced by environments — all
walking the dreary tread-mill of routine until some sharp, sud-
den circumstance or friendly hint puts us on an easier — or
rougher — road. Advertising real estate is susceptible to so
many strong selling arguments that v/hen properly gotten up it
should be extremely interesting to the ambitious solid readers
of any newspaper.

When considerably younger than the present writing shows
me to be, I wandered out in the Pacific Northwest. I bought —
on the instalment plan — a couple of lots in a small boom town,
but which, according to the newspaper advertisements, had the
future possibilities of a Chicago, San Francisco and Tacoma
rolled in one. This boom town had a weekly paper and an
imposing array of streets, avenues, projected street car lines,
steam railroad facilities, etc. (on paper). Its weekly paper was
an assured fact, for had I not read and re-read several copies of
the sheet, which — according to present memory — seemed to
contain nothing but interviews from eminent men who were
going to locate there, promises from transportation magnates as
to what they were going to do and a lot of glittering general-
ties, exceedingly gratif}'ing to investors who wished five hun-
dred per cent, profit on their land investments.

This weekly paper was a great comfort to me. I had paid
up about seventy-five per cent, of my payments when I had
occasion to visit a nearby city. While on this visit the steamer
passed the town wherein my lots were located. It ran near
enough to enable me to see that the town consisted of a wharf,
a couple of small buildings that looked like outhouses and the
forest primeval ! I was shocked. The purser noticing mj''
chagrin, and spotting me for a tenderfoot, laughed a most sar-
castic laugh and made a remark befitting it.

" Well, where do they print their weekly paper ? " I asked.

" In the city you are going to visit," he replied.

I paid no more money on that property, and I do not think
any other investor did after he saw with his own eyes the town
and its possibilities. Although put to base uses, the advertis-
ing that so impressed me was a good illustration of the power

How To Accomplish It.

505

of printer's ink. At that time hnndreds upon hundreds of lots
were sold to Eastern investors who never saw their property,
but who were influenced by the advertising.

Later I sold lots on my own hook in an all-right Western
town after this style : —

Space was taken in the local papers announcing a grand
free excursion on Sunday to a barbecue at beautiful Bright-
onside, which was going to be the most popular suburb,
which was convenient to trolley cars and steam trains, and
which was selling swiftly at $175 per lot — $$ down and ^5
per month. Each lot contained 25 x 100 feet.

These events took place on Saturday afternoons as well as
holidays, and were extremely popular with the working people.
I remember how one afternoon I personally sold fifteen lots. The
barbecue and free excursion were wonderful assistants in pro-
ducing the right impressions upon the would-be purchasers.

Here is a good way to advertise a farm. It is to the point,
yet complete with every detail, including price :

For Sale— Half Section— choice first-

class stock and coarse grain farm, one hundred and sixty acres
under cultivation, sixty acres fenced for pasture, frame dwelling
house, stables, granaries, and two good wells, within two and a
half miles of railway station. Clear title. Price, ten dollars
per acre. Half cash, balance on time if required. Liberal dis-
count for all cash. John Johnston.

The wise real estate buyer has learned (probably through
bitter experience) the importance of sound title. Do not forget
in your real estate advertising to state the fact that the title is
clear and sound.

306 Successful Advertising

Advertising Action.

This caption is all right at the first glance — yet not all right
at the second look. Advertising action is intended to mean ac-
tion in advertising, not advertising action vs. advertising some
form of activity such as bicycles, automobiles, surreys, etc.

But if the caption is not altogether all right, the preceding
paragraph is, as it illustrates what this article wishes to em-
phasize :

Action in every form of advertising.

You will notice a thread running through the first paragraph
from "this" to " etc." So should it be in every advertisement.
Some advertisements are lifeless. They are as animated as a
kid glove on a wooden hand. As a rule they fail to arouse atten-
tion. Even should they secure attention they fail to hold it, as
they lack the logic, grace, wit, philosophy, style or character
contained by the advertisement that arrests and holds attention.

Various great authorities — and they seem to be a unit on
this point — say that an advertisement should say something
about the goods and say something about the price.

True. But did you ever know a successful drummer who
simply said to his prospective purchaser : "Here are spring busi-
ness suits at ^7.50 apiece" — that and nothing more?

Not on your life ! The successful drummer selling suits, or
any old thing, knows a joke or two, an argument or two, a res-
taurant or two, a theatre or two, and a whole lot of other things
that put the p p. in a pleasant buying mood. It's a poor drum-
mer that does not know how to weaken the barrier of reserve
that every business man throws about himself at times, espe-
cially when the genial knights of the grip come around.

Back of all the cold business rules ever conceived is the
great wall of human feeling. The advertiser must take this in
consideration with every advertisement he writes. Action, go,
spirit, dash, life — call it whatever name you will — must be in the
advertisement penned to catch dollars. It is the quality to which
human nature always responds. What made the most successful

How To Accomplish It. 307

novels ? Action ! If you do not think so, read Dumas, Scott,
Dickens, Kipling and other great masters.

What makes the most successful newspaper "stories?"
Action ! Which form of poetry to-day seems to be most popular ?
Ballads ! And what do you find in ballads ? Action — plenty
of it!

What quality is most demanded of young men to-day in
business ? Action ! If a young man has no go he soon goes.

Advertising is a reflex of the business world — the business
world is full of action — it is a warfare for dollars and cents, and
advertising, to accurately mirror business, should have plenty of
action about it.

Action harmonizes with quick reasoning. A paragraph full
of logic is full of action ; for the strength of the logic is a cable
that grips the mind at the first word to carry it along to the final.

Good illustrated advertising illustrates action. Look at the
illustrations in the advertising of Pears' Soap, Ivory Soap, Sa-
polio, Ayer's or Hood's Sarsaparilla, etc., and you will notice go
in every picture.

It is hard to swing action in an advertisement unless the
writer is familiar with, and enthused over, his subject. It
means work — plenty work !

Yet the reader demands action, and the advertiser should
supply it.

Street Car Advertising,

Street-car advertising is good advertising. It reaches the
people — it makes an impression, whether the impressee is in the
receptive state or not. Instinctively the eye follows the rack of
advertising signs, and the brilliant, bold, clever and even
aesthetic card will have an opportunity of getting in its work.

The first three adjectives qualifying " card " in the preced-
ing sentence are the adjectives for the street-car advertiser to
keep well in mind. If the card is brilliant, like Siegel-Cooper
Company's candlestick holiday card ; if bold like Hearn's card,
or clever like Sapolio's card, the attention is enchained. But
the sesthetic card is unbusiness-like. There must be some force
about a street-car card. Force and aestheticism do not well jibe.

308 Successful Advertising

Street-car advertising, I imagine, is more valuable for soaps,
patent medicines and proprietory articles generally than for
retail lines of business, yet I have no doubt that were a depart-
ment store, a furniture house, a clothing concern or almost any
line of retaildom to begin a systematic method of street-car
advertising it would pay handsomely. I remember that while
advertising manager for a department store outside of this city,'
I conceived a very elaborate method of street-car advertising
after this order : —

Have the cards changed daily. On Sunday have a card
with a general announcement of the Monday bargains ; on Mon-
day show a card telling of the dress goods values that day
offered ; on Tuesday a few display lines on the sale of furniture;
on Wednesday talk about the shoe selling ; on Thursday about
the cloak chances and so on — a fresh card every day. All this
was to supplement the newspaper advertising. I remember that
the late Mr. Carleton, of the then firm of Carleton & Kissam,
and the writer fussed about the matter some time, but the plan
in its completeness was killed by higher authorities when it left
my office.

Yet I still think the plan a good one. Newspaper advertis-
ing is the best retail advertising, but even the best advertising
can be made more elBfective with the aid of the next best.

I have traveled all over this continent, and it has often
struck me that were I a national street-car advertiser I would
have different cards, suitable to the view points of different
localities. The card that would appeal to the cultured Boston-
ian would be lost on the rough and ready miner, cattleman,
prospector or business man of Butte. Practically the same dis-
tinction can be made between Salt Lake and New York, or San
Antonio and Detroit, and so on.

Were I a manufacturer of umbrellas or waterproofs I would
seriously consider the advisability of advertising in the street
cars of Portland, Ore., where it rains so much that the old set-
tlers are termed " webfooted." Had I a cod liver oil or a cure
for consumption I know it would be a good idea to advertise in
the street cars of Denver and Colorado Springs, where consump-
tives are so numerous as to impress every visitor. Smith

How To Accomplish It. 309

& Wesson could advertise their six and seven shooters with
advantage in the street cars of Butte, Helena, Spokane, Tacoma,
Seattle and Port Townsend, as from these towns parties are
being constantly formed to go to unfrequented mining, lumber-
ing and gaming regions.

The man who does street-car advertising must depend a
lot upon the literary and artistic ability of him who prepares the
cards.

Brevity is at a premium in street-car advertising. The
advertiser who overloads his card with too much talk or too
many " art ideas " makes a mistake. The street-car card accom-
plishes its mission when it can be seen at a glance and its full
purport understood inside of thirty seconds.

Jingles are exceptionally valuable.

Short proverbs are also good.

Bold, clear and easily read type is the type to give expres-
sion to street-car advertising.

Outdoor Advertising.

A large world can be covered — the great outdoor world —
by three sheet, six sheet, nine sheet, and other size posters, as
well as "snipe" sheets, lithograph and ordinary printed sheets,
tin signs, wooden signs, and signs of every size and sort.

To the general advertiser outdoor advertising is particu-
larly worthy of consideration. It will prove a great aid to maga-
zine and newspaper advertising.

To the retail advertiser outdoor advertising plays a dis-
tinctively second part to newspaper advertising. Newspaper
advertising gets right next to the heart of the retailer, for it gets
right next his business by giving prompt and traceable returns.
Not so with outdoor advertising.

Circumstances have much to do with cases. The retailer
so located in a section of his town or city that he does not
receive the full benefit of local newspaper advertising should
<3eeply ponder over the advisability of doing some outdoor ad-
vertising in his vicinity.

When the retailer (or any other advertiser for that matter)

310 Successful Advertising

starts to buy some outdoor advertising space, he will find that
what he is asked to pay is by no means what he is obliged to
pay. Prices fluctuate. I remember how I once secured a year's
rental on the side of a house for a five dollar bill when I was
asked fifty dollars. There are no fixed charges for such spaces.
If the advertiser is a good business man he will get the space at
a reasonable figure, if he is not, he stands an excellant chance
of paying an exorbitant price.

In large cities these spaces are controlled by agencies, con-
sequently there are fixed charges, but in small towns and rural
districts the question of price frequently resolves itself as to
whether the advertiser or owner of the property first yields.

Having settled upon the question of price, the next point
is to get a painter or billposter with suitable paper, and here
the eternal question of price again shows its head.

If the advertiser is a merchant in a small town, he will find
that the best plan is to get some ready made posters from one of
the large poster concerns in New York, Chicago, Boston, Cin-
cinnati or Cleveland. At a small cost his name will be printed
on a lot of twenty-five, fifty, a hundred or five hundred, and pre-
sently the good citizens of his town will learn that "John Smith
is Showing New Styles in Hats."

If the advertiser is a merchant in a large city he will find
that it pays to have a special poster design drawn to his order.
After which a lithograph and printing establishment will print
him as many as he wants, and the local billposting firm will
post his spaces — all at a reasonable rate, too.

The general advertiser goes at the matter in a wholesale
way. He usually has a design drawn by a well-known artist —
has several thousand or several hundred thousand struck off,
then he makes arrangements with a national billposter to cover
certain sections of the country. This is usually done in con-
junction with newspaper and magazine advertising to popularize
his goods and assist dealers in making sales.

Paper signs are supposed to last a week, or two weeks, or
perhaps a month — according to the demands on the spaces they
occupy. This is an important feature of the contract, and the
advertiser usually investigates this point himself.

How To Accomplish It. 311

Painted signs, as a rule, have no such contract, for the
original painted sign is supposed to last for years.

It is a pretty well accepted proposition among advertisers
to-day that all outdoor advertising is but an aid to advertising
with printer's ink. That it is a good aid is self evident.

Advertising Does Not Increase the Cost of Goods
to the Consumer.

In answer to the question from The Dry Goods Chronicle^
as to whether or not advertising increases the cost of goods to
the consumer, I said : —

If by this question you mean the simple proposition whether
the expense of advertising an article increases its cost to the
consumer, I answer in the affirmative.

If you ask the more involved question : — " Has modern
publicity in the aggregate the tendency to increase the aggre-
gate cost of advertised articles ? " I answer in the negative.

Look at the first proposition. Be it a soap, perfume, dress-
shield, dictionary or what not, in computing the percentage of
profit, the cost of manufacture, storage, with the selling and
advertising expense must be taken into nice consideration.
Having arrived at an estimate as to the entire cost of produc-
tion and handling, the seller insists upon a profit of ten, twenty
or thirty per cent., as the case may be. The one to pay for this
profit as well as the cost of production, storage, with the selling
and advertising expenses, is the consumer.

The second proposition is quite another matter. The mass
of advertising to-day represents a force that accentuates every
law of competition. The publicity of prices forces prices to
stand on their own selling merits, and when smaller prices are
advertised on the same line of goods, all selling force is taken
out of higher figures.

There is scarcely a line of production not advertised by two
or more competing concerns. Look in the magazines and you
will find cigars, furniture, clothing, shoes, etc., advertised by
rival houses. Is there a woman in New York to-day who will
say that Wanamaker's, Adams', or Macy's advertised offerings

312 Successful Advertising

are dearer by reason of advertising? Money can travel farther
to-day than ever. Retail houses cut each other's prices on
advertised articles. Goods advertised are the cheapest. The
cost of advertising leaders is borne by the main establishment,
and from my experience and observation, I would say that the
benefits to the purchaser in purse and convenience far outweigh
the cost of advertising.

The second proposition swallows up the first. The inevita-
ble conclusion is that advertising does not increase the cost of
goods to the consumer.

Referring to the above, I would like to say that in the
course of a lecture on advertising, delivered by me before the
Prospect Union, Cambridge, Mass., I touched upon the same
subject, and at the conclusion of my talk, I was struck with the
interest with which the Harvard College contingent and Cam-
bridge and Boston business men present discussed this very point.

It is an interesting point in economics for Harvard young
men or any other young men to consider. But advertising has
come to stay.

The Unreached Masses.

One evening recently while walking dovv'n Washington
Street, Boston, with the advertising manager of one of the
Hub's leading enterprises, the question occurred to us :

" How many of the thousands about us are unreached by
advertising?"

We discussed it.

To the right and left stretched side streets showing hotels,
apartment houses, tenement houses, private houses, small stores,
saloons and restaurants, out of which poured streams of human-
ity to be swallowed up by the greater streams of the streets.

Up and down brilliantly lighted Washington Street v/an-
dered another and better dressed crowd — some for a promenade,
some to the theatre, some to their homes, some from their
homes — all apparently without thought of advertising.

Nearly all familiar with newspapers, but to what degree ?

Some take up a newspaper to glance at its sporting and
athletic page — that and nothing more.

How To Accomplish It. 313

Some take up a newspaper to see its locals — that and noth-
ing more.

Some take up a newspaper to note its political news and
views — that and nothing more.

Some take up a newspaper to while away a moment.

Some — not many — never read a newspaper.

Does the advertisement compiled so carefully and costing
so much strike home to these people ? Hardly.

Some take up a magazine long enough to look at its
pictures.

Some take up a magazine long enough to read a story or
special article.

Some never read a magazine from the first day of the year
to the last.

Upon them what influence lias the advertisement ?

Echo answers " What? "

Some cannot read.

Some can read, but do not.

Some are so distracted by pressing personal matters that
the advertisement makes absolutely no impression upon their
minds.

Even the bludgeon-like advertising that comes under the
heading of electric signs, bill boards, fence and dead wall
advertising has no effect upon a great number of people for the
simple reason that familiarity not only begets contempt, but
also breeds forgetfulness. The stranger in Union Square the
first night would be instantly struck by the fine electric adver-
tising signs. The second night the impression would be less
vivid. The third still less, and inside of a month, amid the
clang of cars, the whirr of the cable, the hum of the city and
the lights of the streets and stores, his mind would be as
unimpressionable to advertising as though he were walking
through a Jersey meadow.

The vast sums spent to reach him and thousands of others
represent money absolutely wasted.

Some are influenced by the advertisements all illustrations
— with such it is abortive to try and reach with advertising
purely literary, no matter how lucid or logical.

314 Successful Advertising

Some have minds running in so mathematical a groove that
they are only aflfected by advertising heavy with argument.

Some are so frivolous that only airy persiflage appeals to
them, and others have artistic natures so exquisite that they
shudder at a single line of typographical malformation.

The point of view of every man or woman is constantly
changing. The argument that appeals to the youth of seven-
teen hardly hits the man of forty, while he is persuaded by that
which unconcerns the man of seventy.

The object of advertising is to influence the mind — that
which to a very large degree is the result of environment and
personal influences. When it does not influence it is not adver-
tising. And it is clear to any dispassionate observer that there
is a lot of scattering shot in the constant volleys of advertising.

Brains Interview.

An Interesting Talk with a Hustling and Ciever Ad Man of One of
New York's Greatest Stores.

In all the New York newspapers of Thursday and Friday,
recently there appeared a white-on-black cut of a bursting bomb.

There was nothing to show whose bomb it was, or where it
would burst, but a man of Brains found out about it on Satur-
day— a day ahead of the public announcement of the time and
place of the explosion. He happened to drop into the ad oflice
of Bloomingdale's big store and found Mr. John Angus Mac-
Donald, the ad man, busily loading the bombs. In other words,
he was making up the big Blooniingdale ads for the Sunday
papers, and at the head of an announcement of a great clothing
sale the bomb was creating an awful wreck of clothing values.

The store of the Blooniingdale Bros, is an interesting place.
It is immense in size, covering the whole block on Third Avenue,
between Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth Streets. Within its walls can
be bought almost every article needed by man or woman in the
journey from the cradle to the grave.

It has eighty departments, each one a whole store in itself,
and it takes 2200 employes to conduct its tremendous business.
As one rides to the top of the building in one of the elevators,

How To Accomplish It. 315

one catches glimpses, on the different floors, of a surprising
variety of articles. On the top floor is a photographic studio,
and an art gallery of several rooms, elegantly furnished and
brilliantly lighted. The collection of paintings in these rooms
would do credit to any gallery in the land, containing as it
does examples of the work of the greatest artists of the world,
many of which cost immense sums of money. On the roof is a
roof garden, a large greenhouse filled with all kinds of flowers,
plants, palms and the like. In the basement, among other
things, are a fully stocked grocery store, a cafe and restaurant,
and a wine, liquors and cigars department. This big business,
one of the most prominent and prosperous in America, has been
built up in a comparatively short time, by persistent advertising-
on an extensive scale. This firm spends a large fortune every
year on newspaper advertising, and it makes its ads the most
prominent feature in every New York newspaper.

Mr. J. A. MacDonald, the ad man, is a Nova Scotian by
birth, and was for two years Advertising Manager for Jordan,
Marsh & Co. in Boston. His health failing him, he went
South, thence to Omaha, and from thence he went to Denver.
His experience has been wide and varied, and he has a large
store of solid, practical information about advertising. News-
paper advertising, he thinks, covers about the entire field. " Of
course there are other methods that pay," he said, "but the per-
centage of profit, as compared with the profit from the same
amount expended in a good newspaper, is very small. Posters are
the latest thing in advertising ; we have used them somewhat."

"Do they pay?"

"I think they reach a class of people that perhaps would
never see the newspaper ad. Many men have not the time nor
inclination to seek out what they wish in the ad pages of a
newspaper, and a pretty poster showing a handsome suit of
clothes or a shapely hat is likely to catch their eyes and bring
their trade."

"How about advertising in programs and the like?"

*• That isn't advertising."

"What is the best thing to say to the program solicitor?'*

"Say 'No!'"

316 Successful Advertising

" It's a plain business proposition. You buy of us because
we give you the worth of your money, but that is no reason why
you should ask us to buy something of you which will mean a
loss of money to us."

" Do you use the same ads in all the newspapers ?"

" No. That is to say, we advertise different things in the
different papers."

"Why?"

" Because they reach different classes of people. This is a
matter which every advertiser in New York and every other
large city ought to carefully consider. In a paper that goes to
the masses, the goods the masses want at the prices they can
afford to pay should be advertised. In the high-class papers,
that is to say the papers that the wealthy and highly educated
read, altogether different articles should be advertised. For in-
stance, a merchant who advertised a sale of 19-cent underwear
in the Sun and Herald^ and a sale of champagne and other high-
grade wines or costly books in lesser grade papers, would hardly
hit the nail on the head."

" How do you determine the comparative value of mediums?"

" By past experience. And we frequently use test ads."

" Do you change the language of your ads in the different
papers? That is, do you word an ad of the same article differ-
ently when it is to go in several papers which reach different
classes of people?" asked the Brains man.

"Frequently, but I believe an ad should ever be a plain,
business talk — perfectly clear to the upper five and the lower
ten. I find everybody as susceptible to clever headlines and
phrases — but I give first consideration to clearness of expression."

" What do you think about cuts?"

" Cuts are one of the most important parts of an ad. They
not only catch the eye, but they show what the article looks like
— at least they should. The cut tells the ordinary reader more
about what the article really is than the description does. Of
course you know what a vast number of cuts we use. Every
newspaper has thousands of ours."

" How do you keep your great accumulation of cuts so that
you can lay your hand on one if you wish to use it again?"

How To Accomplish It. 317

"We don't keep them at all. As I said, the newspapers
attend to that. They have an elaborate system for keeping
their customers' cuts, and they can at once lay hand upon any
ad cut they have ever used, but I keep a close record of the cuts,
and can always tell which paper has any particular cut." —
Written by Leroy Fairman in Brains^ November, 1896.

The Salesman and the Ad.

When you hire a salesman you flatter yourself you have a
pretty good idea as to his capabilities. You have thoroughly
satisfied yourself in your own mind as to whether or not he was
a competent and reliable man for the position you had to fill.
You have looked into his references, you have talked with the
man, you have studied his record, with a view of becoming
thoroughly satisfied that he was qualified to impress your patrons
and sell them your goods. Perhaps you pride yourself upon
your ability to pick out the right sort of man for the right place
— do you not ?

Has it ever occurred to you that your ad is a salesman —
one that should always be sleeplessly energetic, active and loyal
to your interests ? Have you ever subjected your advertising to
a merciless, logical analysis as to its good and bad points ? Have
you ever tried to divorce yourself from yourself as the author
of your ads and stand in the attitude of the everyday newspaper
reader ?

You know — we all know — how hard it is to do this. We
live in a little world of our own, we have in our little circle of
friends, who by reason of their being our friends say only the
kindest words regarding our advertising attempts. ' ' That head-
ing in your last week's ad was remarkably clever and original,"
they smilingly say, and they pat you on the back and approve of
the advance proof of your next effusion. Man is only human,
and you are no exception to this rule. This constant "jollying"
puts you in immense conceit with yourself and you "jolly"
yourself along with the idea that your advertising is all right.

But does your advertising pay as it should ? Sit down some
day where you will not be disturbed and ask yourself this ques-
tion seriously, honestly, coldly.

<il8 Successful Advertising

That is the only end of advertising. It is a cold business
proposition. Advertising is for no other purpose than to swing
trade your way. It is not to gratify the moment's idle vanity
of yourself or your friend who maybe lost in ecstacy over a say-
ing more or less clever or a witticism that you may have evolved
from your brain.

Let the same thoughts that actuate you in employing sales-
men actuate you in preparing advertising. Your salesmen should
be well dressed and make a good impression. So should your
advertising. It should be well dressed in typographical arrange-
ment, in illustrations, in borders. Your salesmen should be
alert for business, and ready with the right word in the right
place. He should be gentlemanly and intelligent. He should
be logical, sensible and convincing. So should your advertising.
The text should be patterned on the lines followed by the suc-
cessful salesman. It should be logical, sensible and convincing.

The good salesman is adaptable. He can adapt himself to
all sorts and conditions of men and women without eflfacing his
personality. So should your advertising. It ought to have in-
dividuality to distinguish it from the great mass of advertising,
but also ought to be framed to appeal to all sorts and conditions
of people.

The good salesman aims to go through his daily duties
to the greatest profit of his employer in an intelligent, courteous
and sensible manner. He secures the customer's attention and
holds it by the qualities above mentioned, while he shows and
speaks of the goods. So should the advertising. Its end is to
call attention to your offerings and retain this attention until the
story is told. This attention is best secured by the most direct
and simple language aided by the accessories of type display
and illustrations.

Be Optimistic in Advertising.

The commercial value of a cheerful, happy disposition is
everywhere acknowledged. The traveling salesman with his
bright, cheery face and his bundle of jokes and stories is every-
where welcomed to his employer's benefit, and the salesman be-
hind the counter sells many a good dollar's worth by the virtue

How To Accomplish It. 319

of an amiable and cordial disposition. A laugh, smile or bright
word has helped countless thousand sales, while on the other
hand, the depressing influence of the pessimist has dampened
the ardor of many an intending purchaser and spoiled many a
possible sale.

Now, if the optimist is so welcome in every day face-to-face
commercial life, and the pessimist is equally unwelcome, it
star.ds to reason that all advertising should be optimistic — that
it should breathe the spirit of hopefulness and expectancy of
quick-selling and satisfactory trading.

The optimistic spirit is infectious — especially so in adver-
tising. Once you give people the ideatliat all is well with you,
that business is lively, that customers are flocking to your doors
and dollars are coming in your direction, then you are all the
more likely to be successful.

Human nature is peculiar, and one of its great peculiarities
is to be attracted by the successful. Success wins greater successes.
The successful business man finds it easier to sell goods than his
less successful rival, who may even have better values to ofier.

It is not necessary to lie in order to be optimistic in your
advertising. All that is necesary is to be good-natured and happy
in your statements, to utter nothing that may savor of disap-
pointment, envy or anger. Never jump on your competitor in
your ad. The moment you do this you give the fact away that
competition is hurting you. Let your ads breathe the Wana-
maker air — good will towards all, malice towards none. In the
West the optimistic spirit is cultivated to an unusual degree — this
feeling of light-heartedness has lightened many a weary load
during the recent few years of commercial depression.

When you read the ads of the Nebraska Clothing Co. you
will at once observe their optimistic strain. These ads were
written and printed by a concern who always seem to be par-
ticularly pleased with themselves, and everybody in Kansas City
and Omaha, because their trade is so good, and once in a while
their bubbling feeling of happiness finds vent in a humor so
clever that the brightest wits of the day cannot discount it. They
have built up a big business by being so optimistic in their
advertising. Why can't you?

Successful Advertising"

The Rubiyiat of O'My Advertiser.

(Rendered with due consideration to Messrs. Omar Kayham, Edward
i^itzgerald and Richard he Galliene.)

Oh ! come Dear Sir — the spring is in the land.

Take pen and ads and book of rates in hand ;

Come ! sit with me in the office shade ;

Come ! let's figure what the winter's made.

I dreamt I heard the nightingale singing in the bough :—

"Their ads say the opportunity is here and now,

For bargains bright abound on every hand,

Brighter bargains do not exist in all the land."

Yes ! Biz was good. But why other wise ?

We spoke out loud to all that use their eyes,

And they without eyes couldn't but help hear,

Because. The clink of Dollars Saved struck the ear.

The Advertising ? Ah ! that was good my man,

It told with vim how prices hit hard pan.

It praised our Goods up to the skies —

Allah ! but ad writing much the fancy ties !

The type De Vinne and the Gothic bold

Much helped us the reader's eye to hold,

Small Pica also — but how the Printer swore !

When late copy caused his turban to be tore.

He bowed his beard in the Dust of Spring,

Then tore it — (the whisker is of which I sing).

But set the Ad. By the Prophet a quick job

And a good one ! Types from the case did bob.

Lo ! the Comp's tbe man to have my bread and wine,

When he my ad sets up strong and fine,

His brain and hand are full of wit and skill

E'en if he at times the adsmith would kill.

And the Boss ? Well, sometimes a price goes wrong,

Then he in rage does a violent song

And dance, until the day follows day,

When the papers all this damage pay.

So ! Thus winds the advertising life life around,

Mahommed only knows the phases that abound.

The Good of Yesterday is past. But of to-day ?

Allah ! To-morrow will another story say.

How To Accomplish It. 321

Advertising a Publication.

Daily there travels to this desk various letters, circulars,
cards, etc., purporting to advertise various publications. Some
of these bits of mail contain a great number of words — some
very few words — but in brief the essential information that most
of them give is: "Our circulation is constantly increasing,
therefore ours is a good advertising medium."

What the exact circulation is, was, or is likely to be is a
subject often surrounded by heavy silence and Egyptian dark-
ness. And upon that point is the advertiser most desirous of
obtaining information.

There are three things a publisher is most anxious to obtain,
viz. : Advertising patronage, circulation and influence. The
first naturally follows the latter two. A publication with a
limited circulation may have a wide influence by reason of the
force of its editorials and other newspaper excellences. Its field
may be limited, hence, it has a limited circulation. A publica-
tion may have a wide field with a wide influence and circula-
tion, and frequently not get the advertising patronage due it, be-
cause advertisers are not made acquainted with its exact circula-
tion and approximate influence.

I have always believed such matters should be made known
to the advertiser who, as a rule, is a clear-headed business man,
thoroughly familiar with the exact measurements, weights, and
numbers of whatever else he buys.

This is a commercial age and a man wants to know what
he is giving his good money for, and in every case he wishes a
good money's worth.

If the publication has not much of a circulation, boldly tell
what that limited circulation is, state what particular field is
covered, and how well it is covered. This information will be
respected and accordingly appreciated. If it has a big circula-
tion, with a wide influence, say so in every good advertising
way and get all the business that should come to it. Newspaper
directories are relied upon by advertisers and the American
Newspaper Directory in particular.

322

Successful Advertising

The argument has been often brought to bear npon the ad-
vertiser that " were our paper to state its exact circulation, our
rivals would give false and higher figures."

This argument is unsound as truth is contagious, as well
as a lie. The publisher standing behind truth can reiterate it
again and again with the eloquence of sincerity, and occa-
sionally nail the lie to the other fellow's mast. For lies con-
stantly discomfit liars by coming to the surface. The honest,
straightforward publisher need have no fear in occasionally pub-
lishing and proving the other fellow's mistatements. Adver-
tisers as well as the community at large will appreciate suet
action.

Whether it is the letter, circular, card, copy of paper or the
bright advertising manager who solicits advertising for a publi-
cation, let the gist of the story be : —

^ The exact circulatiou of our paper is jR
{givi7ig figures) \

It circulates among [such and such a j^
class.)

Its advertising abilities are at your
^r disposal.

^ You should use it because (gn'e short
eason here)

Assuming that the publication is sincere in its circulation
and influence statements, its next step in bidding for advertising
business is to sufficiently familiarize itself with the advertiser's
business and render such aid in the preparation of advertising,
the giving of good positions and reading notices as will make
the use of the paper an object to the advertiser.

Cleverness can be shown by giving an acceptable variety to
the story — tactful persistence should be observed in its presen-
tation— a due allowance ought to be made for the advertiser's

How To Accomplish It. 323

peculiarities — but one thing is sure if the medium amounts to
anything and that is : SUCCESS.

Considering that every advertiser who amounts to anything
reads one or more advertising journals, it does seem an exceed-
ingly wise policy to reach his attention by taking space in his
advertising paper.

In advertising a publication with a view to obtaining sub-
scribers, the time honored plan of sending out sample copies
and offering special rates for three or six months is good. The
New York Siin^ Boston Globe and Philadelphia Ladies' Home
Journal advertise extensively in other publications and the plan
is a good one.

Prospective subscribers can be secured by good circularizing,
and many large papers advertise their features by billboards.

But after all that is said and done on the subject, a sentence
will hold all the milk in the cocoanut. So here is the sentence : —

Get lip agood papcr^ then let readers and advertisers know it

Advertising a Patent Medicine.

When a man is sick, or thinks he is sick, he is seized with
an intense desire to have somebody — sometimes everybody —
sympathize with him.

If he has the grip, he wants his nearest friend to tell him
all the unpleasant symptoms of that unpleasant malady — how
the body is languid, the brain fevered, the appetite on a vacation,
and the whole system in a generally unstrung condition.

There was an old colored preacher who once solemnly assured
his congregation that no matter how hard were their trials and
tribulations there was one place where could always be found
sympathy.

"Anddat place," he concluded, "my beloved bredern, is
in the dictionary."

Just so with the sick man. When he looks for sympathy
and imagines his friends do not give its precious drops, all he
has to do is to look in the average patent medicine advertisement
and there revel in the terrors of his disease, so vividly por-
trayed. If his stomach refuses to perform its accustomed duties,

324 Successful Advertising

he finds a dolorous consolation in the fact that "constipation,
biliousness and an evil smelling breath are but precursors to a
long train of evils that may conclude in that dread scourge con-
sumption, that torturing trouble rheumatism, that unsightly
and loathsome disease scrofula," or in some other equally pleas-
ant finale.

And that is the right way to advertise a medicine.

To picture with fidelity on one hand, the miseries of sick-
ness, and on the other the joys of health, means not only to help
sell the remedy, but is also an act of altruism by strengthening
the energy and determination of all sick readers in their desire
to grow well.

While it is true that pure logic is the backbone of almost
all patent medicine advertising, yet some preparations rely
to a great degree for advertising success upon reiteration, pure
and simple.

Even to a thoroughly healthy person, with a thoroughly
healthy mind, reiteration is resultful, and upon a mind so worn
by illness that it is unable to think and analyze with its accus-
tomed clearness, the simple repeating of

I SMITH'S PILL5 TONE THE SYSTEM, g

\:gS&g^:g-:g^eg§;g&:i-:&gg;&&:§-:g-:gg-;g-:g;&:6g:g-:g;g;&&^

Makes an impression likely to long remain.

Testimonial letters are always good. That Jones' physical
condition is altogether different to Smith's organism, does
not make such an impression upon Mr. Smith as the fact that
Mr. J. was cured of the same distress as is now bothering Mr. S.
As Smith reads the heartfelt letter of gratitude upon Jones'
recovery to health, he instinctively feels whatever anguish the
writer went through — he sympathizes with every symptom (for
he is now undergoing the same tortures), and Jones' letter can-
not but make a strong impression upon Smith in favor of the
medicine.

It takes a fortune to advertise a patent medicine. I know a
concern that spent $30,000 in advertising a very meritorious
medicine, but even that good-sized fortune was found to be

How To Accomplish It. 325

inadequate. The man who starts in with less than $50,000,
stands an excellent chance of sinking his money before the
returns begin to cover the outlay. It may be that by restricting
himself to a state or a portion of a state he will succeed in turn-
ing the tide his way with a few thousand dollars, and from
future profits cover larger territories, but it is best to have an
ample capital in reserve for every contingency.

The details of patent medicine advertising are enormous.
Not only must the newspaper, magazine, booklet, circular, card
and out-door display advertising be kept up, but the druggists
must be kept sufficiently interested to display and push the
remedy. This last feature alone requires a force of traveling
salesmen.

"Patent medicine advertising is the easiest kind of adver-
tising once you get it going," remarked a young advertising
manager of a patent medicine concern. I instantly disputed
his assertion. It takes a long, up-hill fight to establish a patent
medicine, and after it is established it takes the same vim and
vigor to hold it. For competition in this field is keen, and it is
truly a fight in order " To Have And To Hold."

There are plenty of instances where patent medicines were
put upon paying foundations, but only to die of dry rot after
reaching staggering success.

Advertising Face Bleaches, Powders, etc.

One pleasant summer afternoon, while seated in my office, a
gentleman entered. He soon told his story. He had just
secured control of a certain line of cosmetics — not even locally
well-known, but possessing merits which should be well-known
and he was willing to back this advertising desire with several
thousand dollars.

After some consultation we decided upon a plan of action.

He went back to his office and sent me several samples of
his goods.

In the meantime I framed a letter which my typewriter
soon struck off and sent to about a hundred well-known actresses
and prominent women, who looked upon advertising as a highly
desirable element of their daily existence.

326 Successful Advertising

This letter was to the effect that the cosmetic — a sample of
which went with the epistle — was highly meritorious and was
about to be widely advertised, and that if, after a short trial, the
preparation was found to be as represented a few lines to that
effect would be appreciated with the intention of using the testi-
monial in our advertising. Naturally the writer herself would
gain some free publicity.

Nearly all responded — without much delay — and most of
them sent their photographs. A booklet was prepared from this
material and quite some space was bought in the principal
metropolitan papers. The advertising at once " struck oil," the
sales bounded up to the degree where it was necessary to secure
added facilities for the preparation and marketing of these
cosmetics. Success instantly came and remained ever since.
To-day a large floor space on Broadway is necessary to this ever
increasing business. The advertising is kept up in the leading
New York papers. Such in brief is the advertising story of
one of the most popular preparations to aid and enhance feminine
beauty to-day on the market.

I can conceive of no better way to advertise this line. It
costs nothing beyond the asking to get a testimonial from a
"public beauty" — public people as a rule are only to ready to
rush into print upon the slightest provocation — and odd as it
may seem, no one can so influence her more retiring sisterhood,
striving for outword charm and beauty as the woman constantly
in public prints and constantly in the public eye.

The desire to be beautiful is ingrained in the very soul of
womankind. It is the power over man that has never failed
since the days of Adam and Eve. To enhance this beauty — to
prevent the progress of time, of care, of disease — to be always
charming, witching and youthful is an argument that is irresti-
ble. Where is the woman who can withstand it ?

See the crowded "beauty parlors" — ask the always busy
masseurs— ask the thousand and one "beauty doctors" who
flourish from the Atlantic to the Pacific and the answer will be
that woman wants to be beautiful. There you have the keynote
of advertising face bleaches, powders, etc.

"Your money back if you want it" idea is good, so is

How To Accomplish It. 327

discriminate sampling. Literature in the shape of a booklet or
circular properly written and typographed should accompany
every box and bottle and the appearance of literature and
package throughout should be dignified if not artistic, for is it
not going into that place we all hold sacred " 7)ii ladies^ boudoir.''''

Advertising a Hotel.

In the New York Evening Telegram appears this rather
neat way of advertising hotels and restaurants. The stranger
on Manhattan Island is frequently in a quandary as to which
hotel to stop at. A list (like this) is of decided value to hotels
and strangers — in fact to everybody having anything to do with
hotels.

HOTEL ROLAND park &'Madison^v^ff

nOTEL WELLINCTON «f Stance.

Service a la carte.
7th av. and 55th st. Theatre Suppers. Good Music.

Broadway Central l>1ntr^!;:l^o foTpT

R^rrpff Hft«CpI^^^*'» 6thav.&38thst.,Alc.allday.
DailCU llUUaGTdh. Din., with wine. 60c. Music.

The average hotel proprietor shudders at the expense of
advertising in his local paper. The above method can be used
in almost any town by several hotels combining — each to take
a small space. Several small spaces — say that each was half an
inch deep — would make, as a total, a very respectable space ;
impressive and obtrusive enough to enlighten any traveler and
sure to be productive of results.

Hotels should be advertised.

Hotels are public necessities — they have something to sell
the public in the shape of food, drink, lodging aud accommoda-
tions generally. There is a vast army of travelers and tran-
sients looking for such service. And advertising will show
where this service can be had.

I rem'^v^be.r that once while stopping at a hotel in Denver

828 Successful Advertising

the proprietor approached me on the possibility of increasing
his patronage by advertising.

His was principally a family hotel. We discussed the matter
two or three evenings while seated out on the porch and smok-
ing cigars. (Ever notice how well two men can talk under
such conditions — how smoothly ideas run ?)

The result was that I wrote a book of about twenty-four
pages about the hotel. It was illustrated with interior and
exterior views of the hostelry. Several thousand were printed.
It made a strong bid for family and permanent patronage. For
this reason I had no hesitation in making daily lists of all new
arrivals in Denver and mailing each a booklet. That was all
the advertising done, but it was successful.

I know a bright but somewhat impecunious young news-
paper man who got a job last summer as a publicity-promoter
under-cover to a fashionable seaside hotel. In other words he
had to keep his real business under cover. He was apparently
a guest — certainly on the same footing as the other guests —
but he was thus wise diflferent from the other guests for it was
his duty to keep the doings at the hotel as much as possible in
the newspapers. As he had some friends in the newspaper busi-
ness and as he was a good worker the result was that his hotel
had more newspaper talk about it than all the other hotels at
this particular watering place put together.

He earned his salary and had a good time while the hotel
proprietor saw his hotel patronized to an unusual degree before
the season was fairly under way. His guests seeing the hotel
so often mentioned in the press were convinced that it was the
fashionable hotel — therefore THE only hotel to stop at.

Outside of good service and fair prices the best way to
build up a hotel patronage is by advertising. And when the
advertising question comes up it resolves itself into telling the
story about the good accommodations and moderate prices to
the greatest number of people likely to take advantage of them.
Logically the medium that best accomplishes this is the local
paper.

If the hotel is a " summer resort hotel " prospective joatrons
can be reached by advertising at the beginning of a season in

How To Accomplish It. 329

publications that reach tliem. Another good way is by mail-
ing at the same time to a carefully culled list of names a bright
booklet. If the hotel is a "winter resort hotel" the same
methods can be used to advantage.

It is an easy matter to write advertising about a hotel.
The location, scenery, accessibility, building, management,
cuisine, service, rates and other details can all be brought out in
bold yet pleasing relief in hotel advertising of any kind.

Advertising a Restaui^ant.

Here is a card I picked up in a well-known down-town reS'
taurant. It well expresses good restaurant advertising :

Did You Ever Drop Into The

Unrivalled as the pioneer of
low prices for first-class food.

And on the other :

RESTAURANTS COME AND RESTAURANTS 60.

THE STANDS.

It stands for matchless coffee — the best in the cit}^

It stands for splendid steaks — always juicy.

It stands for prime rib roast beef at a marvelously
low price.

It stands for pastry (our own make) that is un-
rivalled.

It stands for quality.

It stands for cleanliness.

It stands for your confidence.

Which determined me to make this article applicable to
restaurant advertising.

330 Successful Advertising

This card will give ideas upon which a readable round of
advertisements could be constructed.

Cleanliness, quality, good service and moderate prices are
four features upon which the advertising pen can dwell with
great effect.

In man}' towns where the limited population makes news-
paper rates moderate, the restaurant centrally located will find
newspaper advertising of distinct advantage.

In large cities the high newspaper rates stand in the way of
restaurant advertising in daily publications. There are a few
exceptions to this rule, like the advertising of the Castle Square
restaurant in the Boston Herald^ and the Martin in the New
York Siin.

But if the restaurant cannot advertise in a newspaper that
fact need not stand in the way of other advertising. The res-
taurant situated in the business section, bidding for business
men and business women's patronage, will find a system of cir-
cular and card advertising of benefit. With the aid of a busi-
ness directory, as well as the directory to every large ofiice build-
ing, a list of names can be secured to receive circulars, cards
and occasional bill of fares (just to show the variety of food
and the reasonableness of prices).

In advertising a restaurant too much stress cannot be laid
upon the goodness of the coffee and pastry. That cup of coffee
at luncheon is the finishing touch that makes or mars a meal
— that puts a person in the right or wrong trim to do the after-
noon's work. Of course we all know how important the morn-
ing's cup of coffee is — how it imparts a grateful sensation to the
half-wakened system — how it clears the brain, brightens the
eyes and gives an edge to the day's work. And then at dinner
the demi-tasse worthy the name discounts most liberally poiisse
cafes^ crenie de menthes and all the other after-dinner draughts
ever concocted.

Coffee alone is a subject upon which a thousand different
ads could be constructed. Pastry is a feature capable of con-
siderable advertising. The meats, vegetables, soups and service,
to say nothing of the prices, are fruitful of ideas for any advertiser.

No person can reasonably be expected to go through the

How To Accomplish It.

331

day's doings without good, nourishing food, properly served.
Were the idea contained in the preceding sentence firmly based
in the minds of all who eat within easy distance of a good res-
taurant the good restaurant's patronage would certainly increase.
Here are a couple of efforts which contain this idea :

TO EAT WELL
IS TO WORK WELL I

To eat at the /Arcadia res-
taurant is to eat well. The
chops and steaks are the
choicest — the vegetables the
market's best — the soups per-
fection—the fish most appe-
tizing— the pastry delicious
and the coffee most excellent.

PRICES ARE RIGHT

— at—
THE ARCADIA RESTAURANT.

WHERE DO YOU EAT?

The Arcadia restaurant is
easily the best in town. It is
clean, well kept, with a first-
class service and a cuisine
that satisfies the veriest
epicure.

We realize the importance
of good food — how important
a part it plays in a man or
woman's daily work— and the
Arcadia is achieving a great
success by keeping this idea
in view. Low prices are a
great feature at the Arcadia.

Theatrical Advertising.

One of the cleverest press representatives that ever boomed
theatrical shows is Mr. Thomas Donohoe. He has a wide ex-
perience in New York city and "on the road," and if there is
an idea that has slipped the average agent's conception you will
find it safely lodged under Mr. Donohoe' s hat.

One evening, while with a box party at the New York
Theatre, I stepped down to the foyer to enjoy the cool night air
and observe the tactful tactics of Mr. Donohoe. Here is an
effort to picture about two minutes of Mr. Donohoe' s work at
this time : —

" Certainly — all night — to-morrow noon I'll be at your office
with some pictures and a story." (This to a dramatic writer of
a daily paper.) " Roof garden — yes, this way — here's the ele-
vator— theatre to right — in through here — hello, Charlie ! —
here's the boy ! — passes for Tuesday night ? Sure thing — yes,
in a minute, John — say, Charlie, you ought to see the costumes
in the last scene and make a scene about it in your paper — here's
the story if you want it — now John, my boy, what can I do for

332 Successful Advertising

you ? — theatre to right, madarne — start on the road next — "
(mum, mum, buzz, buzz, from fifty voices) — " Philadelphia next
Monday — yes, I heard Thompson in Philadelphia— theatre to
right, madame — " (mum, mum, buzz, buzz from twice fifty
voices, and Mr. Donohoe retires into his office with the dramatic
editor of an evening paper.)

Mr. Donohoe and I once entered into a little advertising
scheme for the mutual benefit of our respective employers —
his employer operating a theatre — mine operating a department
store. The idea was : — Mr. Donohoe sent several stars and
minor footlight favorites to the photo studio of the department
store, where by special arrangement their pictures were taken
free of charge. These pictures were distributed broadcast by
Mr. Donohoe to leading publications, and every time a photo-
graph would appear it not only advertised the theatrical celebrity
but the photo studio as well. For, by editorial courtesy, the
photographer's name appears on all photographs that appear
in print. It brought the photo studio more strongly before
the theatrical profession — whose trade is so extensive that it
supports several photographers.

While managers secure special rates on photography, the
cost in first-class companies runs up into the thousands of dollars.
Photographs of cabinet size can be had for ^lo a hundred ; the
price increasing according to size until the pictures, fourteen by
seventeen inches, are reached at ;^6o a hundred. Flashlights are
made at the rate of $7.50 for the plate and five prints, any
further number of prints at sixty cents each.

To supply the daily papers of New York City for a single
Sunday sixteen photographs are needed by the press agent.
Properly to cover the town — that is, to supply pictures for
weeklies, sporting papers, trade journals, etc. — he will need not
less than thirty photographs.

Chicago comes a close second in the matter of eating up
pictures, and every large city takes a fair supply. The press
agent for a popular comedian used in a season of twenty weeks
350 photographs of his star for advertising alone. Add to this
the number given away, and you will see how some of the
manager's surplus cash is invested.

How To Accomplish It. 333

The average first-class attraction uses ^200 worth of litho-
graphs a month, and a well- known metropolitan manager, who
is going to send out three companies in light opera and
musical comedy, closed a single contract for lithographs to
the value of $31,000. These will last him about two-thirds of
the season.

The successful press agent must work hard. A thousand
papers may be on his list, and he must exercise care against
repeating the items sent out. He considers himself fortunate if
seventy-five per cent, of the items sent out appear in print. It
takes an expert to accomplish this. After the production has
scored a hit in New York, Chicago or any other large city, he
collects the press notices, has them printed on a large sheet and
shows them among the managers of all important theatres where
the company is booked or desires a booking.

Not many evenings ago, while dining with a well-known
theatrical manager, he beguiled the afiair with a long disserta-
tion upon theatrical advertising.

Here is a portion of it : —

" If I had the whole say with my show I wouldn't use a bit
of advertising other than newspaper advertising, and our regu-
lar show programmes. I can get all the publicity I want out
of the newspapers, and I think the other managers could, too.
Of course, bill-board, gutter and snipe advertising is good in a
way, but it does not weigh so much. It simply helps the news-
paper advertising and comparing costs of all methods with
results the newspapers are ahead every time.

" Of course we don't do much display advertising with the
papers. No theatres do — but we get a lot of advertising out of
the theatrical news columns. Cost much? you ask. Well —
yes — y-e-s — that is, it costs us some theatre tickets and effort (to
get the stuff in the papers), but we're glad to work hard to do
this.

"Say! speaking about reading notices and w^orking the
press, you ought to have seen the stunts I did when I was on
the road last fall. I made some of these jay town papers look
like thirty cents, I made them look farcical. Say ! it's fun to
strike a town like a cannon ball and hit the editor's sanctum

334 Successful Advertising

still harder, and before the editor knows what's struck him get
two or three high balls into him, then hand him an earthquake
in the shape of triple column cuts of the stars with royal write ups.

" I got one fellow so loaded that he got sleepy and asked
me to make up his paper. I am an old newspaper man and I
made up his paper — oh, yes ! oh, yes ! !

" I put all the telegraph first page news on the last page,
and all the last page ads at the bottom of the first page, then
filled up the top of the first page with talk and pictures about
my show — good talk, too, because I wrote it myself When the
town got that paper next morning, it did not know what had
struck the Gazette. The show did a good business, but you bet
your boots that I hurried out of town before that editor could
find me.

" But you can't get at all editors with the rosy, ruby or amber
liquid. You have got to throw literature into some of them,
and as I know a lot of writers and read a lot, I can give a game
of talk on Howells or Kipling.

" But you have got to know your editors pretty well, and
you must be enthused over your star and show. Otherwise you
will have cold feet, and a chilly advance will throw a frost over
the show that follows.

" Are actors and actresses anxious to get advertising? Oh,
no-nit-not, never, me boy, never ! Why say ! they work all sorts
of schemes to get in the papers — they work direct and through
second and third parties — they want it — it's a part of their busi-
ness, and of course, they must have it."

His talk about covered the situation. It is simply " to
work the press " for reading notices, and the press agents and
business managers do so in every American city and town in a
manner resultful and artistic.

I will conclude this with a sage piece of advice recently
given on upper Broadway by a gentleman who succeeded in
reaching New York, by leaving his trunk in a Rochester hotel,
and buying a railroad ticket on the proceeds of a pawned watch : —

"I don't care what they say — give me good paper every
trip. I'd rather have a poor company with good paper than a
good company with poor paper. By paper, I mean show bills

How To Accomplish It. 335

— lithographs. We had rotten paper on the last trip, even if the
company and repertoire were good, but in Toronto we had a
frost and went to pieces in Rochester, after a skaty time in
Niagara and two or three other places. I remember last season
I took a bum burlesque show down through the south and
southwest, but we had some of the most elegant lithographs
you ever saw (bought cheap ready made in New York), and that
good paper did the finest business ever heard of Yes, sir ! give
me good paper every trip."

Advertising a Circus.

The other morning — being one of those raw, foggy, early
spring mornings — in a rather pessimistic mood, while on my
way down town, I happened to note this : —

"Stupendous Spectacle of Splendor. Miles of Moving
Massiveness and Magnificence. Pyrotechnical Panorama Power-
ful and Prodigious," etc.

Ah-ha, ah-ah ! The circus in town. The most interest-
ing feature of the many interesting features in this vast, varied,
bewildering and colossal aggregation of masculine and feminine
bipeds — animals, domestic, imported, tame and ferocious — objects
of art, utility, amusement, instruction and interest is the jnan
who writes the circus ads !

Pessimism vanished — optimism reigned in its stead. I
dropped this personage a note — he promptly answered from his
oflSce in Madison Square Garden where the circus is holding
forth, and presently he gave me an interview which contains
much that has never appeared before in print and which will
surely interest the general advertiser, for back of the wall of
words that dazzle, enrapture, shock and confound the defenseless
public there is a well defined plan of advertising — intelligently
conceived and as intelligently executed.

Mr. Whiting Allen is the circus word wonder worker^-
the publicity promoter — the advertising man. He has been
writing show advertising for about twenty years. Judging by
his appearance he must have begun to professionally exercise
his vocabulary when about eighteen years of age.

336 Successful Advertising

His is a difl&cult profession, and not more than half a dozen
out of the many who have essayed it have made a reputation.
Mr. Tody Hamilton (who exploited the Barnum show in
Europe) and Mr. Allen stand at the top of their profession.
Here is a specimen of Mr. Allen's work : —

" Human birds of passage, indeed, are the Ten Peerless Pot-
ters. They embrace the ten acknowledged greatest of all the
■world's aerialists -who have been secured from all the arenas of
Europe and America. Individually each member of the dectette is
a brilliant star in the aerial firmament, while collectively they con-
stitute the most dazzling constellation that has ever sparkled
beneath the vast and lofty dome of canvas that canopies the
greatest of all earth's arenas."

The man who loops the loop before beginning his per-
formance might take this mild sentence as a bracer : —

" In all man's struggles and strife in seeking supremacy by
superiority in strength, skill and strenuosity, there has never been
anything like an approach to this fearful, frightful and fearless
feat in rash and reckless risk of limb and life."

It is evident that Mr. Allen believes in alliteration. In dis-
cussing it and other matters he said : —

"In alliteration I aim to use words intelligently. They
must be clear and comprehensive — so must my metaphors, and
I do not believe in using polysyllabic words simply to use them.
They must be expressive. Alliteration is like the cable that
grips a street car — it grips the mind and insensibly the men-
tality of the reader is caught by one word only to be gently but
surely passed on to the next.

" This alliterative, polysyllabic method of circus advertis-
ing is the only way to adverti.se a circus. People look for it. It
has been established by precedents and is too well grounded in
circus traditions to be good business policy to get away from it."

"Kindly tell me the circumstances and conditions under
which you produced this season's literature?" I asked him.

" Last winter I took a small back room in the Townsend
Building, New York, which was used for storage by our folks.
I had a couple of kitchen tables, a copy of the Congressional
Directory and a copy of Pettengill's Newpaper Directory. These

How To Accomplish It. 337

volumes happened to be tlieie — simply happened there, and I
never opened them. No ! I had no dictionary. I was given a
list of the performers — so many bareback riders, so many
acrobats, so many clowns, etc. These names were typewritten
on one side of a flimsy paper. From snch simple data I pro-
duced my literature."

The luxuriant growth of words that follow a luxuriant
imagination is illustrated by the simple data and ornate descrip-
tion that follows : —

Data: — "Paul and Katherine De Venes — French eques-
trians in Drawing Room Scene."
Printed description : —

" FRENCH FANCY

Equestrianism in a Long Train Gown.

Of all the long list of artists that have been gathered from the
great arenas of the world, two of the most interesting have been
contributed by France, the De Venes — Paul and Katherine. They
are artists extraordinary. Equestrians of the very highest order,
it remained for a beautiful and dainty French-woman to conceive
the idea of riding in a full length drawing-room gown (?« train.
It is sometimes of the snowiest white satin, sometimes of the
warmest cardinal silk, and again of the richest sapphire velvet.
Together with Monsieur, the fair Mademoiselle mounts a horse, in
her long train dress, and the two artists proceed to place them-
selves in a series of poses of exquisite and classic grace, the while
their horses continue their ambling and circling journey.

Again the great artists appear, this time in acrobatic garb.
Monsieur handles Mademoiselle as lightly and gracefully as a
feather although she is by no means petite. All the things they
do may not be told in this brief space, but they do not bow them-
selves away before they give a most astonishing exhibition of
what is known as cranial equilibrism. It is an act peculiarly their
own, and is performed by no one else in the circus profession. To
lovers of the novel and unique as well as the beairtiful in physical
accomplishment, these artists will be a genuine pleasure."

Mr. Allen continued the interview : " My literature is
original every year. Advertising is to excite a desire for posses-
sion. In the circus business advertising is purely transitory. It
is usually done for one day's business. Ninety per cent, of our
entire season is in one day stands. A season averages six
months.
22

338 Successful Advertising

*'Froni thirty-five to forty per cent, of our gross receipts is
spent in advertising, so you see we are very liberal advertisers.
I study the geography of our advertising. In some sections you
must do more than in others. We have about a hundred per-
sons on our advertising staff at salaries ranging from thirty to
sixty dollars per month as bill posters to the manager's salary
often thousand dollars per year. Expenses are paid in addition
to these salaries.

" A fair day's receipts would be five thousand dollars.
Here in Madison Square Garden we are not surprised at ten
thousand dollars. The high water mark was down at Dallas,
Texas, when in one day we took in sixteen thousand dollars.
The Texas state fair helped us in this.

" As we are liberal advertisers we stand ready to buy a lot
of display advertising in papers in our territories. If we notice
any attempt at imposition or extortion we cut down this adver-
tising, as would any other business concern. I am pretty well
posted on the value of quantities and qualities of circulations as
well as rates, for I have made it my life study and very few
papers can fool us.

" We are extremely liberal with tickets to the press and this
of course helps in securing much straight news advertising
although the mere arrival of a circus alone possesses such news
interest that no live paper would overlook it.

" We issue talks on advertising which we distribute freely
to the press. These talks tell in a brief and comprehensive
way the value of advertising. These books are free and while
given to boom the show are so highly appreciated by the papers
at large that many of them use as editorials our advertising
talks to impress local merchants and advertisers.

"We aim to adhere to facts in our advertising. You may
smile but when you read a statement as to the number of horses,
camels, trapeze performers or number of dollars invested in
wagons or any of the circus paraphernalia you may set that
down as gospel truth.

" We issue twelve publications with a combined circulation
of five million, four hundred thousand copies. These publica-
tions are outside of our general appropriation for newspaper
and bill board advertish.^g."

How To Accomplish It. 339

The last statement of Mr, Allen tells why it is necessary
that the circus advertising man must be a genius, a student
of zoology, pageantry, pachyderms, aerialists, riders, clowns,
menageries en masse and humanity en masse, including that
highly important individual the country editor.

To fill up these twelve publications and other advertising
with words that thrill and " excite a desire for possession " is a
task so absolutely beyond the lay brain as to give the average
citizen a severe fit of brain fag to simply contemplate produc-
ing a small fraction of such literature.

The " Aurora Zouaves," a band of extremely agile military
men are introduced amid this paean of panegyric : —

"My country, 'tis of thee ! "Words that should be a prayer
on every lip ; a sentiment that should swell every breast ; a song
that should be one grand chorus sung by eighty -five millions of
Americans.

" Youngest but lustiest giant in the family of nations, who can
say thee nay ! lu thy infancy didst thou wrest from a sceptered
hand the priceless boon of liberty ; in thy chilJhood thou didst
resist victoriously further encroachments upon the vested rights
from that same hand ; in thy youth didst tbou struggle success-
fully with the grandsons of Spain and gain more room in which
to grow ; in thy young manhood the whole world stood in silence
and saw thy blue and thy gray appeal to the arbitrament of the
sword and then in closer fraternity forever unite ; in the ripeness
of maturity thou didst bid tyranny depart from the great islands
of Eastern and Western seas, and thou couldst not be denied ?
Oh, America! oh, my country, if thou art great thy sons have
made thee so ?

" America hss won her now undisputed position as one of the
great world powers, not by sentiment, but by supremacy at arms.
Manila and Santiago were the twin lights of victory which illu-
mined the world and revealed the strenuous superiority at sea
of the world's greatest and freest people. Since the sinking and
stranding of the Spanish ships off the shores of Luzon and Cuba,
America has stepped further within the charmed circle of nations
who rule the world, and her starry banner is now bathed in the
sunrises and sunsets of both hemispheres. In the glistening eyes
of all who would be free its fluttering folds more closely cling to
Freedom's godlike form, added lustre is in the scarlet of its
stripes and greater glory is in its symbolism of security and strength
for the oppressed of all the earth.

* ' On land as well as on sea has America shown her sons. Her
soldiers no less than her sailors have worked to her greatness until

340

Successful Advertising

the limit of her beneficence to man now knows no measure. And
it is her soldiers you are now asked to consider. Nearest in Mem-
ory's vision of her conquering heroes are those gallant horsemen
who rode up the heights of San Juan Hill and to glory, and saw
the walls of Pekin fall. Of them more is said elsewhere in this
publication. Especial attention is at this juncture asked for those
men of arms and feet who are ever known to stand and advance
face front to the enemy — the infantry.

" The most famous company of infantry in the United States
is, beyond all doubt, the Aurora Zouaves. Theirs have been the
victories of peace rather than the conquests of war," etc., etc

Mr. Allen looks as though he enjoyed producing circus litera-
ture. The physical efifort alone that is required to write miles of
polysyllabic circus talk is enough to tax the strongest constitution.
Mr. Allen has a strong right arm and herculean frame, admira-
bly adapted to work in harmony with a brain seething with
ideas, and a pen from which ink flows by the gallon. Mr.
Allen has a wide acquaintance among the powers-that-be in
Washington, which acquaintance, together with an extremely
persuasive manner enabled him to pass a bill through Congress
for the benefit of the Barnum and Bailey Shows — the only
instance on record, perhaps, where a private bill has been passed
bv the government for the sole benefit of a circus.

Railroad and Steamship Advertising.

When one has a yearning to shake the dust of the present
territory from his feet and looks over the transportation ads in
the daily press he runs across something like this: —

Jonesville Local

Smithville Express

Thompson Corner's Local

Chicago Express

p;:mlngton Local

Leave.

* t U-^O A. M.
*s8.10a. M.
■ c 12.40 P. M.

18.55 p. M.

1 5.10 P. M.

Arrive.
•12.10 P. M.
+ 2.20 A.M.

* 1.2-5 p. M.

* 9.15 A. M.
•7.10 p.m.

Transportation advertising, the newspaper end of it anyway,
is about the poorest advertising done. It is not that the railroads
lack money to advertise or that they lack the brains to conceive
advertising. What is needed is somebody to take the initiative
and instead of giving the local newspaper a fifth of a column of

How To Accomplish It. 341

dry technical information (which is generally paid in passes,) fill
up a column or two with well written, descriptive matter regard-
ing the territories traversed, when trains leave and arrive, the
dining car service, the restaurant features, the sleeping car ar-
rangements, the staunch roadbed, the high class rolling stock
and the many other points of interest that any advertising man
could swing in type talk.

You say we have all this in booklet and pamphlet form,
beautifully written and most exquisitely illustrated ?

Which is true. The transportation lines of this country
spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every year in this book-
let and pamplet work but the great question is : — "Who reads
it all ?"

Were this immense sum directed into larger and better
newspaper ads the results would be greater.

One summer I went to the City of Mexico. I was unde-
cided whether to go by way of Washington and New Orleans,
St. Louis and San Antonio, Chicago, Kansas City and El Paso
or any of the several routes a man can take from New York.
The railroad ads in the New York dailies appeared to be very
uninteresting and decidedly unsatisfactory. The Pennsylvania
Railroad trains for Washington left New York very frequently;
but when they arrived in Washington and with what train, if
any, they connected was a mystery. The Royal Blue Line trains
left at various hours but the advertising omitted to state when
they would arrive in Baltimore and Washington. The trains
of the New York Central, West Shore and other lines left New
York at certain hours but when the traveler arrived in Chicago,
St. Louis or Kansas Cily was something the advertising could
throw no light upon whatever.

" Why don't you get some of their time-tables, pamphlets
and booklets?" asked my friend.

I did.

After making selections from most liberal stacks I found I
had a load of literature embracing time-tables, pamphlets, leaflets
and booklets v/ithout number and my friend and I sat down to
study the coolest and quickest route between New York and the
City of Mexico.

342 Successful Advertising

A remembrance of that effort is a phantasy of yellow, blue,
pink, black and colors of many hues and shades depicting
Mexican sombreros and zarepas against a background of moun-
tain or desert, burros under mineral loads, trains speeding
across plains, emerging from tunnels or crossing great bridges
and interior as well as exterior views of "limited expresses " —
an artistic showing in myriad effects that must have taxed an
army of artists. As for the text there were miles of it — all
beautifully written — descriptive, incidential, confidential, sym-
phathetic, optimistic and pessimistic.

The task to study was too much !

No human being could read more than one twentieth of it
and even that was a great physical and mental efibrt.

The next day I still had the same confused idea as to how
I should go, so I cut the problem short by taking a Pennsylvania
R. R. train to Washington and there, after a consultation with a
very pleasant passenger clerk, bought a through ticket by way
of New Orleans, San Antonio and Eagle Pass. Take the above
case as an illustration.

Would it not be better for each railroad to have a column
or so in the New York dailies, as fresh, newsy and interesting
as any department store advertising ? Could not the cost of this
be made up from the saving in other forms of advertising ? If
a man wanted to travel over a certain railroad would not
that railroad's full column give him all the information need-
ful ? If he wished to go somewhere and was puzzled as to
which line to select, would not the several column ads of the
several railroads help him ? Is there not too much attention
given to pamphlet advertising on the part of railroads and
steamships and too little to newspaper advertising?

Steamship advertising is so closely allied to railroad adver-
tising that an article covering one also covers the other.

Dental Advertising.

The average dental ad is a nightmare. What is nearer a
grinning skull than a hideous black and white effect, supposed
to represent human jaws and teeth ?

Yet we see this monstrosity constantly staring at us from

How To Accomplish It.

343

advertising columns, and at times wedged in between the upper
and lower jaw the legend : —

jj GOLD CROWNS $5 UP.

I am neither hyper-sensitive nor blunted in my conceptions.
I think I see things as they are, and by this time I ought to be
able to tell good from poor advertising, and I want to again
write with the full force of this stub pen that the average dental
ad is an eyesore — a nuisance — a driver away of trade — an adver-
tising excrescence that should wither and disappear under the
fullest force of advertising criticism and advertising intelligence.

There is hope. A series of decent, clean cut and business
bringing dental ads have made their appearance in the New
York papers, and here is reproduced one from the Times : —

DENTISTRY.

Every man who makes a success has some
ideas peculiar to himself. The corps of spec-
ialtists under my direction have been trained
according to my ideas. They work as I want
them to work.

My extensive dental experience of twenty-
three years in college teaching and private
practice qualifies me to select proper men for
the different branches of dentistry, and to direct
them in their work.

Silver fillings, 81.00. Gold and platinum alloy, S1.50. Pure
Gold. 32.00 up. Gold crowns, $5, S7.50, glO, according to the amount
of gold. Artificial Teeth, 88, SIO, 812, 515. Painless extraction
included.

Edward Everett Cady, D. D. S.

857 Broadway (Cor. 17th St.,) Manhattan.
346 Fulton St. (Cor. Borum PI.) Brooklyn.

344 Successful Advertising

Now here is an ad that makes an imprcssion — the impres-
sion that the writer knew what he was talking about, and said
it in a manner that appealed to reason. All objectionable
features are eliminated.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Edward Everett Cady,
D. D. S., nor transacting any business with him whatever, but
I have had the pleasure of reading a great many of his ads, and
they struck me as being remarkably clean cut, interesting and
well expressed.

He should be encouraged, and so should all good dental ad-
vertisers.

The average dentist inserts in his local paper a cut showing
a ghastly and ghostly pair of wide open teeth and a few display
lines at the top, middle and bottom, saying something like this :

I tried one Broadway dentist and was convinced that his
painless method was very painful. He filled a tooth, and during
the process I became gradually imbued with the idea that
one of the subway steam drills was grindingly, roaringly and re-
morselessly drilling through my jaw clean up to my think tank,
and having reached the seat of learning, my agony became so
intense and ideas so confused that the room seemed a whirling
mass of drills, while the air was surcharged with a thousand
whirling noises. Finally he finished.

" I thought you said your method was painless ?" I asked
him.

" Well it was — to me !" he answered as he pocketed the fee.

But to get back to the advertising. Why cannot every
dentist that advertises content himself with a series of short, crisp
talks as to his methods — how his gold is pure gold and not

How To Accomplish It. 345

gold with alloy — how his artificial teeth are made to wear for
years — how he reduces pain to a minimum by the use of the
very latest and best appliances and discoveries — how reasonable
are his prices, and all the features that any clever advertising
man could point out for him ?

Classified Advertising.

When you see the classified advertising columns of the
metropolitan daily and Sunday papers, you see the zenith
of that popular form of advertising.

Of course we all appreciate the uses of classified colunms,
and it is not the purpose of this article to tell the reader that
when he has a house for sale he should use the "real estate"
column — when he wishes a clerk he should use the "help
wanted " column — when he has a business for sale he should
use the "business opportunities" column, and so on.

But there are certain features of classified advertising that
some advertisers are not so clever on as are others. Mail order
advertisers in particular are keen judges and good users of class-
ified advertising. Concerns wishing agents are liberal users of
the classified columns of advertising, so are many brokers, fiscal
agents and financial men.

If you have an article that you wish advertised broadcast
and do not care to spend a small fortune in newspaper display
(which eats up money as an elephant gobbles up a meal), pre-
pare a two, three or four-line ad — eight words to a line — and
have it read so that it will fit under a " business opportunities,"
"help wanted," "financial,'' or whatever classified heading
under which you wish it to run. Take this ad around to an
advertising agent, who makes a feature of classified advertising,
and ask him to give you a list of papers with prices. You will
be surprised at the bargain you will get. You will notice for a
comparatively small sum you will get in a list of papers that
reach a million or more readers.

Many stock brokers wanting agents in cities and towns obtain
lump rates on the "business opportunities" columns in a list
of papers. One ad, one order and one check does the business,
and the ad simultaneously appears in scores of leading papers.

346 Successful Advertisings

Mail order advertising men use the classified columns so
liberally that one can scarcely pick up a daily or Sunday paper
without seeing their string of alluring offers.

Salesmen are much in demand. Therefore ads for sales-
men are very familiar. Usually such ads are simultaneously
spread broadcast through the services of an advertising agent to
greet the eyes of thousands of ambitious young men at the
same moment.

Here are two points in favor of classified ads : —

They usually cost less than display ads.

They are more likely to be read by those interested than
display advertising for they get in the column that people look
to for just such ads.

Classified advertising columns have been used with great
success in retail advertising. The great business built up a few
years ago in Boston by Wilson Brothers, retailers in clocks,
watches, jewelry, etc., was due, in a large measure, to the
extraordinary liberality with which they used about all the
classified columns of the Boston papers.

What Percentage to Spend in Advertising.

Here is an important subject.

The wisest heads in the business world have been scratched
and rubbed many and many a time in endeavors to find inspira-
tion upon so intangible a subject.

For it is an intangible subject — bounded by no set rules
and with only the track of common sense and the individual
requirements of a business to follow.

Retail houses spend from two to ten per cent of their busi-
ness in advertising. The average expenditure is three per cent.

With a new retail business — a new store or a new depart-
ment the advertising expenditure is frequently in the vicinity
of ten per cent.

In a town where the competition is keen and advertising is
vigorous the advertising expenditure is very often found from
seven to ten per cent.

Under the direction of an aggressive advertiser you will

How To Accomplish It. 347

frequently find that the advertising expenditure for even a well
established business ranges from five to seven per cent.

These percentages are high yet considering the influence of
advertising and the necessity for it in this age who will call
them extravagant business expenditures?

The average expenditure is three per cent.
In an article upon " Advertising the Circus " which appears
elsewhere you will see that the Advertising Manager of that
institution spends from thirty-five to forty per cent, of the gross
receipts in advertising.

There is advertising with a vengeance ! But these people
know their business.

The most successful patent medicine and proprietory article
advertising men are those who apparently poured their money
like water into the advertising trough.

Some may be wasted but most of it comes back.
The advertising appropriation of a big live business is very
much like an accordion— open to the widest with the expendi-
tures under some circumstances and closed up tight and hard
upon other occasions.

The weather— the seasons— the styles— the moods of the
people — geographical conditions— market fluctuations and thou-
sands of causes gauge the advertising outlay.

You will find plenty of general advertisers who spend
twenty, thirty and forty per cent, of their receipts in advertising.
In order to give a new business a start you must shut your
eyes to advertising expenditures and consider only the growth
that advertising will surely bring— provided other conditions
are equal.

In order to galvanize life into a sleeping business you must

apply the electrical current of advertising with a strong stream.

"Economical" advertising is in too many cases money

wasted. Advertising is a force that cannot be measured by

pints or quarts, ounces or pounds, inches or yards.

But for the average retail business we know that three per
cent, is a fair expenditure for advertising.

348 Successful Advertising

Advertising a Printing Establishment.

A great many printers send around a huge calendar " to the
trade" once a year and "let it go at that.''

A great many printers content themselves with the simple
imprint of their names upon all work they do.

A few printers understand and apply the possibilities of
advertising beyond the blotter and calendar stage. The writer
of the following belongs to this class :

I Our t

i Printing is neat, clean and at once makes J
i a good impression. We employ Union men |
i — pay Union wages — are content with a X
i small profit, and we see %

I That Every Customer |

I Is Satisfied. |

The above small ad was clipped from a local paper published
in a small Pennsylvania town. I warrant that advertiser is
doing the printing business of his town. No one will gainsay
that local newspaper advertising will help every legitimate busi-
ness and certainly printing. But most printers think of the
cost — shudder — then go on in their usual rut.

Why not do as the retailer — spend two, three or four per
cent, of the gross business to advertising in the local newspaper?

That is the plan !

Every time the business man picks up his local paper he
sees the ad of his fellow townsman and good printer only to
conclude that this printer must be an enterprising chap and
worthy of patronage.

Apart from the local paper advertising, a system of cards,
leaflets and booklets can be operated with advantage. One
week the merchant may receive a card in his mail from enter-
prising Mr. Printer, next week he may receive a nicely worded
printed typewritten letter calling attention to Mr. Printer's
work in that line, next week a tasty leaflet may float along —

How To Accomplish It.

349

all harping upon good work, good stock, prompt deliveries and
moderate prices.

On my desk at this moment is a good piece of advertising
from a New York printer in the shape of a leaflet :

Let Us Do Your Printing.

Give us one trial — simply one order, just to
show you what we can do and how cheap we
can do it — and the chances are that you will
STAY WITH us.

Our prices are cheap but not our work. It
is work that you would expegt to pay much
more for, but as we get a lot of it WE SAVE
PRICES. When we promise to deliver work at
a certain time it is delivered AT THAT time.
When we promise certain type, certain stock and
certain effects OUR promises are fulfilled.

For we are printers that from long and earnest

study KNOW our business.

Some printers send out "type cards'' or "type books,"
which show the various type styles and sizes carried. This is
also a good idea, as it makes an impression as to the resource-
fulness of the printer.

There is no advertising so potent as good work, once it is
known, but more often than not the knowledge on this subject
is not as widely diffused as it should be. Here is where adver-
tising should step in to make known far and wide the merits of
good printing.

Almost every printer can so express himself on paper that
he can produce fairly good ads. If he cannot he should find
somebody inside or outside his establishment who can write
snappy business-like ads.

At any rate a printer should give all the advertising in the
shape of cards, circulars, etc., the right typographical appearance
which, in itself, is most important in making an advertising im-
pression. With such the business man can tell at a glance
whether or not the printer shows judgment with artistic sense.

350 Successful Advertising

Advertising a Town or City.

The work of the IMerchaiits' Association in advertising
New York as a mercantile centre is so well known to business
men all over the world that it is not necessary here to dwell
npon it beyond using this fact as an excellent illustration of
what can be accomplished by a preconcerted effort on tlie part
of leading citizens of any town or city.

The Merchants' Association has spread the fame of New
York's wholesale markets in every corner of America. It has
secured rate concessions from leading railroads and its practical
results in the shape of delegations of hundreds of retail buyers
and merchants from states far and near can be seen by anyone
interested enough to visit the Broadway Central, Imperial,
Waldorf-Astoria and other New York hostelries during buying
seasons.

Leading citizens of Cripple Creek, Colorado, had an adver-
tising plan submitted to them by a New York advertising
specialist. The object of this idea was to let Eastern investors
know the great mineral resources of Cripple Creek and was
the subject of much favorable comment.

The Clinton (la.) Herald recently urged lowans to make
known to the world at large the resources of Iowa to farmers,
miners, manufactureres and business men. The article said
in part : —

" Iowa has advantages in the way of manufacturing that
are possessed by few States, but they have been so carefully
concealed that the men who manage the great manufacturing
plants of the country have never been particularly well informed
of the fact. An Eastern man, passing through this State on a
Northwestern train, observing a branch line running south
from Belle Plaine, asked a fellow passenger where it led to, and
being informed that it was a coal line, seemed surprised and
inquired, "Are there coal mines in Iowa?" He expressed
wonder when told that almost half of the State is underlaid
with fine veins of coal.

" It is not the especial duty of the State to advertise the

How To Accomplish It. 351

resources of the country, yet it might well do something in that
line. States have boards of immigration when they have vacant
lands but that time has passed in Iowa."

Such organizations as the National League of Improve-
ment Associations of Springfield, Ohio, not only exist for the
purpose of making America beautiful but also advertise which-
ever section of America it may work in in a most business like
wa}-. Read the following — clipped from its literature : —

"Organized purely as an educational movement, the League
has proved a decidedly successful business 'boomer,' both for
' the trade ' directly concerned in the sale of plants, seeds,
paints, paper and decorating supplies, and also on a broader
scale touching larger interests. Landscape gardeners, manufac-
turers, architects, contractors, real estate dealers and many
others are financially interested.

'' Already special campaigning in a given city has resulted
in the sale of the entire stock of every local florist. In another
city an average of fifty per cent advance in real estate has fol-
lowed the agitation of an improvement association in a section
containing ten or twelve thousand inhabitants. One of the fore-
most paint manufacturing concerns is now using a splendidly
illustrated booklet exploiting its products in relation to this
new-born movement. The League plans, agitates and organizes.
It unites school people, influential citizens, commercial bodies
and other groups in a way that awakens interest in every home.

" The League is an investment, not a charity, and a proposi-
tion to support it is purely a business matter. An organization
formed for similar purposes among manufacturers is largely sup-
ported by prominent firms whose efforts are thus brought to the
attention of an interested public.

"The League prepares booklet, magazine and leaflet issues ;
arranges copy and illustrations for hundreds of periodicals,
provides lectures and lantern slides for towns and assemblies ;
secures the organization of local leagues and the enlistment of
commercial bodies and public spirited citizens."

There is not a state in the Union and scarcely a town or
city in it but cannot be benefitted by a regular advertising bureau
organized and operated for that purpose.

352 Successful Advertising

Of course the principal help is the local press and such aid
can be enlisted in nine cases out of ten, provided the situation is
put in the proper light before editors. A certain amount of
advertising in publications could be contracted for with every
feeling that such an outlay is wise because business bringing
and legitimate.

Booklets, maps and letters should be sent to inquirers and
carefully culled lists of names.

Efforts should be made to interest railroads in securing
special rates.

Efforts should be made to interest hotels in quoting special
prices.

Efforts should be made to interest leading citizens in the
propaganda movement.

For the success of the town, city or state is their success.

Efforts should be made to secure the presence of conventions.

Eflforts should be made to secure the presence of men of
national reputation upon convention and other leading occasions.

Advertising a Resort.

The presence of an up-to-date press agent every day during
the season at a summer resort is an idea that time and time
again has struck with force the managers of such places.

And why not ?

The only way the great, outside, work-a-day, stay-at-home
world learns of such resorts is by advertising.

The advertising may be in the form of a sea serpent story.

The advertising may be in the form of a regular news item.

The advertising may be in the form of a half column of
" Society news " in a metropolitan Sunday paper.

The advertising may be in the heart to heart talk of
Mr. Jones to Mr. Brown regarding the atrocious costumes she
saw on the promenade.

The advertising may be in the heart to heart talk of Mr.
Jones to Mr. Brown anent the burning question of heavy checks
that their wives' summer outing demands.

It is all advertising.

You cannot get away from the force of advertising — a force

How To Accomplish It. 353

that loses not one iota of strength when considered in its
relation to summer, winter or any other season resort.

How to advertise ?

If I owned a resort, as Mr. Bradley owns Asbury Park, I
would employ a competent advertising man for the season and
two months before the season opened. These two months could
be given to a preparation of "copy." This "copy" would
include news items and advertisements. At the beginning of
the season the papers would blossom out with these efforts and
throughout the season the advertising man would be kept busy
in his efforts to keep up the publicity. The advertising man
should endeavor to enthuse hotel proprietors, boarding-house
keepers, restaurant managers and entertainment enterprises in
walking the advertising march with military precision.

He could do it — the right kind of a man !

When the season is fully under way and the newspaper
correspondents begin to come he should be expected to "take
care of them " in the way of accommodation, information and
entertainment. Should they run short of something to write
about he should smile, bow, and with a Chesterfieldian air hand-
out neatly typewritten stories so well constructed and with such
a back ground of actuality behind them that they will be grate-
fully received on the spot. If needs be the advertising bureau
could prepare the advertising of the various hotels, boarding-
houses and attractions as well as provide suitable lists of names
to which this advertising may be addressed.

Advertising a School.

The principal prop to the advertising structure in this case
is the catalogue or booklet. (Whether it is a booklet or cata-
logue, it is usually called a catalogue). Naturally its prepara-
tion is a matter of more than passing care and study.

The author of such a work first analyzes the good points of
an educational institute. He propounds a series of questions
after this order : —

How is the location ? It is on high, dry ground.

How are the health conditions ? Very good. There are no
malaria, typhoid or such fevers as are induced by impure air,
23

354 Successful Advertising

poor water and defective drainage. As a rule, the health of our
pupils is excellent. We have a doctor on the premises.

How are the surrounding conditions — scenic and otherwise ?
The scenery is beautiful. (Describe the scenery). The town
is three miles distant. (Describe briefly the immediate sur-
roundings).

How is your place reached? (Describe the various railroads
running to your vicinity).

What comprises your course of studies ? (Detail them).

Who are your teachers and what are their qualifications?
(Detail this fully in answering).

What are your terms? (Give terms for full course and
special course. Include with this living and incidental expenses).

In what special features does your school excel others?
(Study this carefully for it is an important advertising argument).

How long does it require a student to take a course?
(Answer fully).

How many pupils do you usually have ? (Answer).

What recreations can you give pupils? (Answer in detail
as this is a feature in which youngsters are interested).

When are your vacations and holidays ? (Tell them).

The catalogue maker writes down all this information and
whatever else he may consider important. He studies the sub-
ject again and again — adding a fresh thought here — eliminating
a paragraph or sentence there, and presently he has the facts
desired in complete get-at-able form.

In the meantime he has some illustrations made — usually
half-tones — showing interior and exterior views of the institution.

Then he proceeds to write out in full his catalogue.

His first draft is rarely satisfactory— his second better, but
still not up to the mark— the third is near perfection, and about
the fourth or fifth time he feels that the letter-press is all it
should be.

The pictures are worked in where they should go — the final
typographical and literary touches are marked, then it goes to
the printer.

At this juncture let me emphasize the importance of giving
the book to A Good Printer.

How To Accomplish It. 355

A poorly printed catalogue of any thing is a poor salesman.
It misrepresents instead of represents.

The printing of advertising matter emanating from an
educational fount of any kind should be scholarly, dignified,
business-like and impressive. A poor printer cannot give such
printing.

Before the catalogue is ready, take out the vital points and
compress them in one, two or three-inch ads. Write and rewrite
these ads with the utmost care, for they go where every agate
line is expensive and where every line counts.

The advertising for publications usually goes through
advertising agents — the best course.

Having gotten through with the catalogue and advertising,
the next point is the correspondence — a most important point,
for few pupils come until several letters have passed.

Advertising a Bakery.

Very few bakers think it worth while to advertise.

In fact, most bakers never give advertising a thought, save
to wonder at it with the peculiar outside view of those who
know nothing whatever about the subject. Which view is gen-
erally expressed in the stupid query : " How in the world does
Smith get back the money he spends in advertising ? "

The self-same Smith may annually spend a small fortune
in advertising, but he makes this outlay return a handsome
dividend. Advertising pays Smith because advertising makes
known the merits of his offerings. As an inevitable, logical
result more people know about (and naturally patronize) Smith
and his bake shop than are acquainted even with the fact that
his rival, and non-advertiser. Brown, is in business.

Generally the progressive advertiser is a progressive busi-
ness man. Because he is the latter, he is the former. His estab-
lishment, foods and business methods are superior to his rivals'.
With good advertising, good business methods and a good
establishment in his favor, the progressive man has every favor-
ing wind of business in his sails.

People imist eat !

The baker must be patronized.

35G Successful Advertising

The glove man, the shoe man, and even the clothing man
may be passed by, but the baker — never ! He is a constant
necessity. The baker is as important an institution in a com-
munity as a supply of drinking water.

In a community are nearly always several bakers. If their
products, business methods and establishments are on a par,
the only way for one to take the most prominent place is by
advertising.

How should he advertise?

Doubtless he can use his local paper to advantage. If so,
he can tell his fellow-townsmen (and their wives) in several
kinds of ways about the light, flaky, crusty pies he makes ;
the delicious, wholesome bread he bakes ; the crisp, palatable
biscuits he turns out, and the hygienic conditions, as well as the
up-to-date machinery and methods employed in producing these
various foods. He can speak of prices as well as any other
advertiser, for does not every household consider the financial
end of any sort of an investment ?

I know a baker in New York City, who has "a bargain
day" — which day happens to be Saturday, and I further know
that this "bargain day" is a pronounced success. Women
come scores of blocks to his Saturday sales and secure their
Sunday supplies of bread, pies, cakes, biscuits, rolls, etc.

Some of the conditions under which a bakery is run are
abhorent. Right here in highly civilized New York City are
bakeries — the sight of which would effectually kill the appetite
of a pile-driver. The up-to-now baker could talk — with interest
to his patrons and advantage to his business — of the cleanliness
of his workers, machinery, workrooms, store, delivery, and
every phase of handling his breads and other foodstuffs.

Circular advertising, novelty advertising and card adver-
tising can be used from time to time to supplement his local
newspaper advertising, which is the best, for it gets before most
of the people to whom he wishes to sell.

How To Accomplish It. 35T

Financial Advertising,

Advertising Stocks.— Now-a-days there is a tremendous lot
of financial advertising spread broadcast. It looks at you from
the columns of your morning paper — it is in evidence in your
favorite weekly and it is also carried by about every magazine.
Persuasive prospectuses, carefully constructed circulars, and
well-worded letters travel in large quantities through the mail.

This branch of advertising has developed into a great busi-
ness by itself, and will see still greater development. The
wealth and restless energy of this country are constantly pro-
jecting new enterprises in the form of stock companies. In
order to sell stock in these enterprises, advertising must be done
— the only exception is where the stock is taken in blocks by
persons rich enough to do so and sufficiently familiar with the
situation to make advertising unnecessary.

The advertiser of stocks apportions a certain amount of
money for advertising in publications — for prospectuses — for
circulars or booklets and for correspondence. He selects the
papers that he thinks will reach the most desirable people who
may be induced to invest. In preparing the advertisements he
is guided altogether by the nature of the investment — whether
ultra-conservative or otherwise. He mentally dwells upon the
promising profits of the enterprise, and substantiates this with
facts and figures. He speaks of the ability and personnel of the
ofiicers and directors. He tells the amount of the capitalization
under which the company is incorporated, the par value of
stock (whether common or preferred), and its selling price. In
fact, he gives in a well-written summary the ideas that are
detailed more fully in the prospectus, which will be sent to who-
ever responds to the advertisement. His advertising campaign
is usually well considered and executed — generally with the
assistance of an experienced advertising man.

Advertising Bonds. — There is a form of advertising much
more conservative than advertising stocks. Bonds are sup-
posed to be gilt-edged investments that do not require any great
urging to sell. The value of a stock may be doubtful, but the

358 Successful Advertising

value of a bond is always somethi7ig — backed by securities to
make it so. In advertising bonds, adjectives are at a discount,
and, as a rule, but the bare facts are given. This applies to the
prospectus, circulars and letters that may be sent out regarding
the bonds.

Prospectuses. — To write a good prospectus requires such a
high order of capacity that few writers are competent for the
task. It must be ample in information, yet concise in con-
struction— enthusiastic in its tone, yet conservative in its utter-
ances and suggestive of profitable possibilities beyond the actual
statements made, yet never at any time stepping beyond the
boundaries of actual facts.

Usually the writer first mentions the company, then its
capitalization, the state under which it is incorporated, the par
value of shares, the price at which these shares are ofiered, and
the nature of these securities. Then he gives the names of the
officers and directors, and whatever remarks he thinks advisable
regarding the standing and ability of these men. Then he tells
where the enterprise is located — its nearness to railroads or
ocean ports and bases of supplies. He gives some history and
geography regarding the proposition, then proceeds to give
some facts as to the profits. After which he recapitulates in a
paragraph or two the arguments before given, which, together
with the price, makes the prospectus a whole and convincing
plea for the proposition.

Frequently with a prospectus are gotten up a number of
circulars for the use of various sub-agents or "fiscal agents,"
who agree to push the sale of the stock for a certain considera-
tion. And a " follow-up system " — consisting usually of three
strong letters — is generally put in operation to clinch the results
of the advertising, prospectus, circularizing and letter writing.

Bankers' and Brokers' Advertising.— The advertising of

bankers, brokers, fiscal agents and those who sell bonds, stocks
and securities generally varies to a great degree. There is no
question that advertising is valuable to them and appreciated by
the great mass of people ready to enter in upon financial and
speculative enterprises. There is also no question but that
dignity must be a feature of such advertising and extreme

How To Accomplish It. 3-59

judgment used in the construction and placing of advertising.
Some of the world's highest intellects are engaged in financial
enterprises, and as advertising now is a most important factor in
such operations, it stands to reason that the advertising put out
by Wall Street, New York ; State Street, Boston, and other
financial centres must be a product carefully considered and
eminently qualified to fit financial needs.

Advertisings Banks and Trust Companies.— The growth of

this form of advertising within the past few years has been
most marked. Appeals for business are now made by advertise-
ments in newspapers, weeklies and magazines, as well as by cir-
culars and booklets, to the world at large, by banks and trust
companies. They solicit savings accounts, check accounts,
issue letters of credit, and some say that they are ready to look
after properties as administrators, executors, guardians or
receivers. Some advertise to ofier advice on investments, and
others speak of the importance of having safe deposit boxes.
Every form of banking business is receiving an advertising
impetus — an impetus quite in harmony with twentieth century
conditions.

Banks and trust companies have something to ofier the
community, and this something can be advertised as well as
anything else. Great care, however, should be taken to see that
the advertising is dignified and clean-cut. Familiarism and
sensationalism are as far removed from banking business
methods as they can possibly be from any business or profession.

Banking by Mail.— Under this caption, in Advertising
Schemes^ elsewhere in this volume, is a well defined plan of
banking by mail. There is no question but that this idea will
meet with favor by many banks and investors.

Value of Advertising Novelties.

Every advertiser must at some time or another appreciate
the fact that advertising novelties possess marked advertising
(and consequently commercial) value.

While this form of advertising by no means compares with
substantial advertising like newspaper and magazine publicity,
yet it is distinctly valuable.

360 Successful Advertising

The presentation of advertising novelties can, from time
to time, be well considered by everj^ advertiser — big or little —
local, retail, mail-order, or general. To detail this more closely,
it may be said :

The retailer opening a new store can give out advertising
novelties as souvenirs of the occasion, and by doing so achieve
a distinct hit.

The retailer with each anniversary of his business can give
out advertising novelties that are appropriate to each occasion,
and each occasion will be heightened by so doing.

The retailer, during openings of millinery, feminine gar-
ments, dress stuffs, etc., can add to the impression made by each
opening by a judicious distribution of advertising novelties.

The retailer, during the warm summer months, can present
his patrons with fans, thermometers, umbrellas, etc. — each
article bearing his advertising, and of such timely value that it
will be kept by recipients. At other seasons of the year he
can also make good business hits by distributing seasonable
advertising novelties.

The retailer, during the progress of an important sale, can
add to its effectiveness by giving out some desirable advertising
novelty.

Other local advertisers, like the printer, hotel and restaurant
man, butcher, baker, stationer, etc., can give out advertising
blotters, calendars, stationery, pens, small order books, memo-
randum books, and other little knick-nacks that are not so very
expensive, but which are frequently exceedingly beneficial, in
creating pleasant feelings in the minds of patrons.

The mail-order advertiser can better attract attention and
hold trade by occasionally sending out advertising novelties
in the shape of coin-holders, return-postal cards, return-order
blanks, match-boxes, lead-pencils and other articles, which may
appear trifling to some minds, yet which exert a general bene-
ficient influence in increasing trade.

Newspapers continually add subscription and advertising
patronage by a systematic sending out of advertising novelties
which, in conjunction with other advertising and business
methods, " do the business."

How To Accomplish It. 361

The general advertiser — such as the national or international
advertiser of foods, soaps, perfumes or patent medicines — finds
it good business policy to give out, from time to time, advertis-
ing novelties in order to assist the execution of his general
advertising scheme.

The man who attempts to build up a business by the dis-
tribution of advertising novelties alone, stands a poor show of
succeeding. But he who assists his newspaper, magazine and
stronger forms of advertising with the timely and appropriate
distribution of advertising novelties, can well deserve being
called a good advertiser.

Measures in Which to Set Advertisements.

In setting up advertisements the matter of measure — in
other words, the width in which the advertisement is set, often
resolves itself into a very important proposition.

A measure is a column wide.

A half measure is a half column wide.

Other proportions in measures equal the same in column
widths.

All measures look alike to the inexperienced or careless
advertiser. His favorite measure is a full column wide. He
neither understands nor appreciates the effect, economy and im-
portance of expanding to a double, triple or quadruple measure
under certain conditions, and of contracting to a half or third
measure under other circumstances.

The more one becomes familiar with advertising the more
does he appreciate this detail of preparing publicity.

The average — mind you, the average advertisement, can be
set in full measure — a column wide. Were all advertisements
set in this measure the following criticisms could be justly ap-
plied : —

There would be a sameness to the advertising which would
operate against its efiFect upon the public mind — upon its business-
bringing powers.

There would be extravagance in instances where the items or
paragraphs would not fittingly fill out the space taken.

There would be a too crowded condition of affairs when the items
or paragraphs would be packed too solid in the space taken.

362 Successful Advertising:

Important advertising subjects frequently demand double, triple
(and more) measures. When these wide spaces are not given the
advertising suffers and a business blunder is the result.

In retail and general store advertising such light and not
particularly profitable articles as notions, books, ribbons, linings
and knick-knacks for household needs can frequently go in half
measure. Here is an instance of half measure matter under a
measure heading : —

f DINNERWARE CHEAP! |

Ptp 5-ineh PLATES, pie size, C^.

'^ each *^^

W 6-inch PLATES, tea size, A^

?» each "^

^ 7-inch PLATES, break- 7^

^ fast size, each ■* ^

8-inch PLATES, dinner O^ ^

size, each ^^ ^

Deep SOUP PLATES, 7^ ^

each '^ ^

CUPS and SAUCERS, pair 8c ^

FRUIT SAUCERS, each 3c ^

Above the matter is compact, readable and business like.
Notice the same matter all set full measure. Thus : —

I DINNERWARE CHEAP! I

qj! 5-inch PLATES, pie size, each OC ^

^ 6-inch PLATES, tea size, each 6c ^

]^ 7-inch PLATES, breakfast size, each 7c j^j^

^ 8-inch PLATES, dinner size, each 8c j$a

^ Deep SOUP PLATES, each 7c ^

^ CUPS and SAUCERS, pair 8c m

^ FRUIT SAUCERS, each 3C Jtl

In the above case the matter is neither compact, readable
nor business like. The abnormal white space indicates loose-
ness— yes, extravagance. Besides the eye is not assisted by the
space wasted.

On the principle that certain portions of the advertisement
should be set in Agate or Brevier on the score of economy, so
should it be set in a less space than a full measure.

On the other hand, it pays to break rules and jump across
single, double, triple or even quadruple column rules in order to
give proper display.

How To Accomplish It. 363

The experienced advertiser knows when such conditions
arise, and adjusts his advertising widths, or measures, ac-
cord in gly.

Manufacturers and Wholesalers Should Help
Retailers with Advertising.

Years ago the sale of a patent medicine by a druggist was
regulated by the amount of advertising done in his territory by
the proprietors of the patent medicine. If it was liberally
advertised the druggist had for it a ready sale, if not it had
little or no sale.

The same condition of affairs prevail to-day and will
always prevail, but the rule is being widely extended.

The retail clothier finds without any advertising on his
part, that there is an active demand for clothing with a certain
label. This is because the manufacturers of this clothing dis-
tribute broadcast from their headquarters — be they in New
York, Rochester, Chicago or some other great manufacturing
centre — advertising that creates a demand for this clothing
everywhere.

The national advertising of certain makes of shoes has
given them a reputation that exists wherever advertising
reaches. This means an insistent demand for these shoes and
naturally retailers are obliged to supply this demand.

Certain brands of shirts and neckwear are so well-known
through widespread advertising that the haberdasher with any
degree of pride would be ashamed to admit that he has not
these goods in stock. Therefore he is obliged to carry them —
the public continually cry for them — the manufacturers and
wholesalers are always working at pressure to supply the
demand and the entire business operation is telling testimony
as to forceful and far-reaching effects of advertising.

As for foods, why the advertiser of Presto or any other food
touches the advertising button and presto ! it straightway has a
national reputation and every grocer throughout the land hears
a loud call from his customers for a particular food and he feels
himself called upon to lay in a supply.

The old time methods of employing commercial travelers

364 Successful Advertising

to induce, beg, implore, cajole, threaten or entertain retailers in
order to carry certain lines are rapidly becoming superseded
with this application of broadcast, yet systematic advertising.

This movement is capable of almost indefinite application.
Practically everything eaten, drank, worn and used is suscep-
tible of advertising by the manufacturers with the view of
creating a demand that retailers will feel themselves obliged to
meet.

Regarding methods. Let us take the case of a Broadway
manufacturer of clothing. He advertises in the magazines and
newspapers. He issues booklets and all sorts of literature. He
gives out ready-made cuts and advertisements to retailers to use
in their local advertising. He supplies ideas on window dress-
ing, interior displays, sales, openings and every imaginable sub-
ject interesting to the retailer and calculated to sell his clothing.
He may spend a royal fortr.ne ever}' year in so doing, but he
finds that after deducting the old time expenses of drummers,
presents, discounts, rake-offs, entertainments, etc., and consider-
ing the immense volume of trade now done, his advertising
expense — great as it may seem — resolves itself into an invest-
ment that pays a handsome dividend.

Advertising a Pliotograph Studio.

The proprietor of a New York photograph studio and the
press agent of a metropolitan theatre met and talked after the
manner of their kind.

After a while the photograph man gave a good imitation of
a man doing a thinking act.

"Why so contemplative ? " asked the press agent.

" I am struck with a great idea " said the producer of photo-
graphs and as he continued his conversation he showed that he
was also a producer of ideas.

"See yon fair damsel, blithely tripping along the Rialto?
See the several bevys of beautiful womankind that pass by?
Seethe swagger stride of every actor that moves along? See
the "

" Cut it out ! What's your idea ? "

" Not so fast — not so rude, young man ! This is a good

How To Accomplish It. 365

idea for you — for r.ie. All these people — these renowned actors
and famous actresses — want their photographs in as many-
papers as they can enter. They want publicity — photographs.
They want photographs — publicity. They want — well, we'll
give it to 'em."

" What ? How ? " asked the press agent.

" You send me twenty leading people from your unequalled
star cast. I'll give them each a dozen photographs for nothing.
They'll jump at the offer, of course. Then I'll give you two
dozen photographs of each actor and actress with the under-
standing that }ou'll send my photographs — and my photographs
only — to the papers and magazines with your regular press
notices. When these photographs appear my name '11 appear on
each and presently it '11 be known to hundreds and hundreds of
thousands of readers as that of a leading artist in tlie photo-
graphic line. Oh ! This is a great idea, my boy."

"Good idea — I'm with you " enthusiastically said the press
agent.

" I'll also give you a half dozen large sized crayons if you
will distribute them judiciously about your foyer," continued
the photographer.

The ideas as conveyed in the preceding conversation were
put in execution by the photographer, aided by his friend and
collaborater the press agent. The magazines blazoned forth
without charge the name of the photographer every time one of
his photographs of a dramatic star appeared. The daily papers
literally advertised his script cognomen without charge or ques-
tion. The theatrical world saw his name and picture and was
nmch impressed thereby. His business grew to the point where
he presented his very good friend the press agent with as hand-
some a tailor made suit as you could find on Broadway between
Twenty-third and Forty-second streets.

This is no sketch spun from the thought-webs of the
imagination. It is based upon a fact and contains a pointer
worthy of consideration by any photographer in any town or
city where there is a fair theatrical contingent.

The photographer who manages to show pictures of local
interest in the principal show windows, hotel offices, railroad

366 Successful Advertising

depots and public places of liis town usually does the lion's
share of the town's photograph business.

When it comes to newspaper advertising he need not take
much space, but the little space he does take can be filled up by-
convincing talk as to the artistic merit of his photographs. He
can quote prices. He can make a special bid for children's
trade on Saturday and tell mothers that he is always fortunate
in getting the best expressions and happiest results in such
cases. He can say that cloudy days are as good as sunny days.
He can give an idea of the time required to produce a dozen
finished cabinet photographs. He can afford to cut prices on a
line for a week or so — just to stir up trade. He can talk about
the bright, cheery atmosphere of his studio. In short he can
find lots of interesting points to talk about in his advertising.

He can circularize at special seasons of the year. At the
beginning of the holiday season he can well send out a well
worded circular calling attention to his facilities for producing
in short order, holiday photographs and their desirability as
Christmas presents. In June he can send out with profit a cir-
cular calling attention to his ability to photograph satisfactorily
picnic groups, lawn groups, yards, houses, schools, conven-
tions, etc.

Advertising a Laundry.

New York laundries are excellently advertised as far as
wagons, windows, machinery and offices are concerned. They
do little or no newspaper advertising. Occasionally some send
out circulars or large postal cards.

As a couple of hundred dollars capital will start a man in
the laundry business, there are hundreds of small laundries in
Manhattan alone. Yesterday I was talking with a man who
operates one of these small laundries, and here is about the
gist of our conversation.

He said : " I have been established only ten months in my
present location, but I call my laundry the ' Old Hickory'
Laundry. I have a double reason for this. New York has a shift-
ing population, and many people will tliink from the name that

How To Accomplish It. 367

my laundry was established in Andrew Jackson's time. Others
will imagine that my process of cleaning clothes will make them
last, for hickory is the name of a wood that lasts — don't you
see ? I do a nice little business on Fourth Avenue, and keep
my windows, office and work-room as attractive-appearing as
possible. I never did any advertising, but I feel as though I
should."

"Regarding the advertising," was my answer, " I would
advise you to get a list of the names of all families, together
with lodgers and boarders in your vicinity — say within three
blocks east, west to Broadway, six blocks north and six blocks
south. Circularize these names once a month. Have these cir-
culars briefly, brightly and logically worded — each with a good
illustration suggestive of your business. The reason I speak of
boarders and lodgers is that in this, a great boarding house region,
is a shifting class that hardly ever thinks of laundry work until
a bunch of soiled clothes is a reminder of its necessity. A cir-
cular will do effective work with this class. Newpaper adver-
tising is not advisable in your case, for you cover but a small
portion of the city, while the daily papers cover the whole city
and its environments. There would be so much waste circula-
tion that such advertising would prove too expensive. Syste-
matic monthly circularizing with the good work of your grow-
ing business will cause a further and rapid growth."

But if this laundry cannot advertise to advantage in news-
papers, there are thousands of laundries in small cities and towns
that can use newspapers to advantage.

In such an instance a laundry generally bids for trade from
the entire town, and as the local paper does likewise it stands
to reason that the paper is its best advertising aid.

I have been told that a laundry business is usually very
profitable. I see no reason why the appropriation of a laundry
business should not range from three to five per cent. There
may be weeks when this systematic advertising does not seem to
pay, but looking back on the year's advertising the manager of
a laundry about to open a new year of business is invariablv
found to express himself thus : — "Advertising is all right and I
am going to keep it up another year."

368 Successful Advertising

Some laundries advertise that they will darn socks, put on
buttons, sew tears, etc. Others talk about the exceeding care with
which they handle delicate laces, embroideries and such filmy
features of the feminine wardrobe. Others speak of the unap-
proachable manner in which they handle shirts, collars, cuffs,
etc. All such points are very valuable to study as advertising
arguments.

The question of filling up advertising space with business-
bringing talk is a question that almost any advertising writer
can answer, and the wise laundry man will put himself in touch
(to stay) with that individual.

Advertising Leather Goods and Harness.

The harness store in a town nowadays is usually the re-
pository of all kinds of leather goods, such as pocketbooks,shop-
ping bags, traveling bags and trunks, card cases, cigarette cases,
writing tablets and needs of such order.

The advertising of such goods can be made readable and
profitable. The advertiser can, from time to time, give out ad-
vertising novelities made by himself to illustrate his hand craft.
An anniversary or holiday souvenir in the shape of a card case
is something not be despised. It will be remembered and ap-
preciated by the recipient lucky enough to get it.

As for the local newspaper advertising that should be the
mainstay of the advertiser. Constant study of his goods and
prices and an intelligent expression of the results of his studies
represent the sum total of his advertising labors. The worth of
the advertising exactly mirrors the ability of the man who does
it. If the advertising is bright, logical and convincing then
there is an able man directing it : — if weak, wishy-washy and
purposeless then there is an incompetent at the advertising
helm.

Having settled down upon a plan of advertising which
should mean the expenditure of from two to five per cent, of the
business and should include newspaper (principally newspaper),
circular and novelity advertising — then the advertiser should
proceed to analyze the good points of the offerings and present
them to the public.

How To Accomplish It. 369

Generally, the two principal points about leather goods are,
or should be, durability and appearance. When a man buys a
harness he wants a good strong harness, that will stand plenty
wear and tear and present an attractive appearance. The next
feature is price. If there are any further features they are in
varieties to choose from, courteous attendence, a pleasing, well
lighted store and prompt deliveries.

Traveling necessities made of leather should also be durable
and presentable. A trunk is an article that oftentimes passes
through strenuous periods and if it is not strongly built it becomes
a misadvertisement for the dealer who sold it.

The advertiser of these goods can say something fresh and
good in every ad. Let him put himself in the place of a sales-
man in the store talking to a customer and he is then in the
right attitude to write advertising.

Advertising Assistance From Papers.

Papers should give all the assistance possible to advertisers
in the construction of their advertisements and in making
profitable their advertising.

This idea is slowly, but surely, taking root. Many dailies,
weeklies and monthlies have well organized departments which
are ready to furnish ideas, ads, illustrations and set ups to
advertisers.

One of the most successful newspapers — in the point of
advertising patronage — to-day in America is the Washington
Star. The enormous amount of advertising it carries is due in
a large degree to the well-known Star Ad Writing Bureau.
A few years ago this bureau sprang into existence and under
able management developed Washington advertising to an
unusually prosperous degree. What could be done in Washing-
ton could be done in any other city. Advertisers are hungry
for ideas — for ads — for assistance in their advertising drudgery.
Some daily paper in New York will make a hit with a well
equipped ad writing and ad illustrating bureau on its staff.
Then Boston will wake up. Then a whole lot of cities and
towns will fall into line and from this cause alone American
advertising will receive a mighty impetus.

370 Successful Advertising

I remember how a few years ago while out in the Rocky
Mountains for health purposes I went to a town not so many
miles away from Denver. I was in town a day or two — mop-
ing around, a j)erfect stranger — when an idea struck me. I
immediately proceeded to put it in execution. I walked over to
the office of the local paper and asked if I could see the busi-
ness manager. I found that individual sitting in a chair and
smoking a cigar.

" Well sir?" he said interrogatively.

" I want to see you about a plan I have for the development
of advertising in this town and so increasing your advertising."

He looked at me with amazement, suspicion and disgust
combined.

" Don't think you can do anything in this shop. What is
your scheme — programme, coupon, want ad scheme or what is
it?"

"It is nothing of the sort. There is no ' scheme' about it.
It is a sensible and dignified way of increasing your advertis-
ing. It is to give such advertisers as you have assistance in the
way of preparing their advertisements, helping them to get up
and run sales and in general make their advertising more profi-
table. As their advertising will be more profitable your adver-
tisers will increase it and your paper will reap the advantage.
More advertisers can also be developed by a persistent and
intelligent exposition of the good of advertising and a willing-
ness to give them every help possible."

" Oh, you mean to become an advertising solicitor on my
paper? " he asked.

"I do not mean to become a solicitor on your paper," I
answered. "I am obliged to remain in this region for a fev/
months and could put in my time more profitably to myself
(and you) if we could make an arrangement whereby I could go
to work on the above lines." I then told him of my advertis-
ing experience and detailed my ideas very thoroughly and
finally he said :

" Come in to-morrow and I will let you know. I want to
talk it over with the owner who is also the editor."

I dropped in next day and the manager opened up :

How To Accomplish It. 371

"Your scheme is not feasible. It can never be worked.
If you write an ad for Jones his rival Smith will want to know
about it. Everybody will know — or think they can know —
what everybody else is doing."

"If that bank across the way carries my account is that
any reason why everybody who banks there should know the
size of my account? Don't you suppose that banks are silent
sometimes? Don't you suppose that your business developer
can keep certain matters quiet ? " I thought I gave him a great
argument, but he answered : —

" No, your scheme is not feasible. Good day."

This was over seven years ago. The plan I then advocated
is in operation in that and several hundreds of other towns. I
have personally advised the operation of this idea to scores of
publishers and in my correspondence with many others h.,ve
urged it. Here is the case in a nutshell : —

Advertisers want ideas — help. They want to make their
advertising profitable. The paper that will assist them in this
will see its advertisers appreciative a?td its advertising columns
grow by reason of this development of advertising.

Reading Notices.

Reading notices, when rightly written, are business bringers.

A clever pufif can do a lot of good to a business and by the
same token a malicious notice can do it a lot of harm. Adver-
tisers generally feel that they are entitled to a number of read-
ing notices in proportion to the patronage given and the papers
usually grant them.

Retailers and all local advertisers should be well treated
by the managers of local papers. Business doings possess news
value. The new arrivals in spring silks at John Smith's store
are subjects of interest to women. The new machinery installed
in the Main Street Laundry is a subject often as much discussed
by the town's business men as the speech of a spellbinder.

How often in looking over the "locals" in the paper do
you run across something like this?- —

L,atest styles in Spring millinery now at The Leader.

372 Successful Advertising

How miicli better would something like this be ? —

Yesterday the Argus man, in his rounds, learned of the arrival of
new shapes in Spring millinery at The Leader. Being a mere
man he did not presume to look at and judge of these Hats, Bon-
nets and Toques with the same eyes and judgment exercised by the
feminine patrons of the The Leader, but he is positive of one
fact, viz : That there is a large and very attractive display of pretty
headgear on view. The prices too are attractive for they are in
harmony with the low price policy of this establishment.

Here is another instance of the reading notice rarely read :—

Johnson the watch maker does repairing.

Which could be written so as to say something — after this
order : —

If there is anything the matter with your watch or clock, why
not visit Johnson the watch maker? There is very little about a
clock or watch that his repairers do not understand. Johnson will
call and deliver free of charge. If you are in a hurry ring him up,
telephone 279 West.

Occasional endorsements of reputable advertisers are not out
of place by the best newspapers and the best newspapers from
time to time fully extend such endorsements.

Headlines.

The headline is the first bid for business.

It is the eye-catcher — the attention-attractor — the life and
essense of the ad.

If it is successful the advertisement is read.

If it is unsuccessful the time and money spent on the pub-
licity is wasted.

Therefore advertisers should study headlines.

Among the highest paid men in metropoliton journalism
are the headline constructors. They aim to present the news
of the day at a glance in the display above the "stories."
Their headlines are pithy, purposeful, striking, scintillating and
sensible.

Every advertiser can well study their eflforts. They are
brilliant with dramatic effect. They play upon the reader's
emotions. They are alliterative and read before realized. They

How To Accomplish It. 373

never waste words. They go to the heart of the subject and go
as straight as a bullet. They say something.

Commonplace advertising floods everywhere. It neither
attracts nor repels the reader's eye. If the reader has time, or
is particularly interested in the article advertised, he reads the
advertisement — if not — it has not even a moment's significance
to him.

Not so with the advertisement topped with an interesting
caption. By sheer force of its advertising worth it wins atten-
tion. The duty of the headline there ends. It is the advertise-
ment proper that holds the attention after being won.

The good headline possesses a distinct financial value. Its
mercantile imyjortance is proven by the increased business it
influences as compared with the trade brought by the ordinary
advertisement capped with the ordinary headline.

Advertising in Publications.

Daily Papers. — For retailers the best advertising is in daily
papers. The returns are prompt. They can be easily traced.
Within twenty-four hours from the time a merchant inserts his
advertisement in his local paper he can tell whether or not it
paid. If he has a good store system and watches his advertis-
ing closely he can tell almost to a certainty the exact returns
from this advertising.

Daily papers so far supersede all other advertising mediums
for retailers that many merchants spend the full per cent of
their advertising appropriation in their columns.

Advertisements for daily newspajDers should be set up at
least a day in advance of their publication. Final price and
other corrections can be made in the final proofs But it is
advisable to have these corrections made in advance of this and
so obviate any possibility of errors creeping in the advertise-
ments. When advertisements are ordered for insertion it is
usually when the advertising and composing staSs of the daily
are at their busiest (and the force of a daily newspaper is a
pretty busy crowd at all times.) To make corrections at the
last hours — when pressure is at its highest — is obviously poor
judgment.

374 Successful Advertising

To the local advertiser of any degree and description the
daily newspaper may be set down, in nine cases out of ten, as
being his chief publicity prop. It covers his field — reaches the
people he v/ishes to reach and through it he can tell his story
more economically than through any other medium.

The mail order advertiser wishing to advertise in a certain
town, county, State or territory can do so through the daily
paper which not only covers the town from whence it is issued,
but also a large section of the country outside of it.

The general advertiser wishing to cover certain sections of
the country will find the same rule operating in his case. Many
a general advertiser covers a certain portion of the country at a
time, and covers it well, with the assistance of daily papers.
When that portion is well covered he proceeds to cover other
portions in the same way and presently he finds that his goods
are on sale all over the continent.

Weekly Papers. — Country weekly papers are excellent for
retailers located in their towns and vicinities. Where the
weekly alone is published it is a splendid advertising medium.
As it has the entire advertising field of its section to itself
its value to the local, general and mail order advertiser is most
obvious.

When there is a daily published in the same town the
weekly is also a most desirable advertising medium, as the daily
and weekly together make a strong advertising combination for
the advertiser to cultivate.

The country weekly is the most highly prized and closely
read of all papers published. It's chronicles of local doings are
scanned by every member of the family. It is an essential
institution in its neighborhood— at times, far beyond its neigh-
borhood— and for this reason alone is a most desirable advertis-
ing medium. What it lacks in quantity as a medium it there-
fore makes up in quality.

Great weekly papers like the YoutJCs Companion^ the Satur-
day Evening Post^ Collier s Weekly, Harper'^ s Weekly^ etc., are so
generally recognized and generously used as advertising
mediums by mail order and general advertisers that it is almost
unnecessary to here say anything regarding them. The ques-

How To Accomplish It. 375

tion of the use of each is best determined by the advertiser him-
self after considering the article he wishes to sell, its price, the
people he wishes to sell it to and the advertising rates as well
as the quality and the quantity of the weekly's circulation.
There is no question but that such papers are more carefully
read and preserved than daily papers.

Magazines. — The general and mail order advertiser must
consider the use of magazines. They go everywhere, are care-
fully read and long kept, have enormous circulations and
exercise a tremendous influence not only from an advertising
viewpoint, but also from every point of view in moulding
human thought. The retail or local advertiser is the one adver-
tiser who never bothers about magazine advertising, unless he
has a mail order adjunct to his business, through which he wishes
to make the world at large his customers.

One point about magazine advertising is that the advertiser
must get his copy in early. The daily or country weekly
advertising rule of getting in copy a day or two in advance of
publication must be quite forgotten in dealing with magazines,
which demand copy long in advance of publication.

The date of closing of forms vary with the various maga-
zines. Some magazines are excellent for high class articles —
others for popular priced goods and others for very cheap goods.
When an advertiser considers magazine advertising he con-
siders, as a matter of course, the character of its circulation as
well as the character of his goods. He makes one fit the other.

Religious and Other Class Publications.— To the advertiser

wishing to reach a certain class of people he can generally pick
his choice of mediums from several papers appealing to that
class. About every religious denomonation has its paper or
papers. About every political party has its paper or papers.
Medical men have papers carefully edited for their sole perusal.
And so on through almost every line of conviction and
endeavor.

Without attempting to enter upon a dissertation regarding
the worth of the various mediums of this nature it can be said
that they are extremely valuable advertising mediums to busi-
ness men with articles that appeal to certain classes.

376 Successful Advertising

Trade Papers.— Manufacturers, wholesalers, importers,
brokers, commission merchants and those live business men
who wish to make their business known in their respective
fields find trade paper advertising invaluable. The great adver-
tising incomes that some trade papers enjoy is the best proof of
this- Trade papers have great circulations and exercise wide
influences upon the retail, wholesale, manufacturing and import-
ing lines — upon the specific lines of action that they cover.

Advertising Confectionery.

The advertising of sweetmeats — over the counters and
through the mails — have received quite an impetus within the
past few years.

There is no earthly reason why candy cannot be advertised
as well as anything else, and candy retailers, wholesalers and
manufacturers, are rapidly realizing this fact.

Such adjectives as *' delicious," "piquant," "palatable,"
^'pure," "tempting" "choice," "toothsome" and "mouth-
watering" are called into great requisition by the advertising
-writer when he wiggles ink across paper in his efforts to give
publicity to saccharine specials.

SATURDAY
SPECIALS!

IN ASSORTED CHOCOLATES.

Choice assorted Chocolates — made espec-
ially for our trade — therefore vrc know them
to be fresh , pure and luscious— when down ^ ^c.
town to-morrow get a pound box for ^

IN SPECIAL MIXTURES.

If you are looking for sweetmeats particu-
larly toothsome see the alluring assort-
ments of Bon Bons, Chocolates, Caramels,
Wafers Glaces, Fruits, etc. — that we . _
offer to-morrow at per pound box ^5

CALKIN'S CANDY STORE.

How To Accomplish It. 377

Every town — no matter how small— has its confectionery
store, which should be advertised. Friday evening or Saturday
morning are good times to advertise confectionery, (i) for money
is plentiful on Saturday (2) many Saturday shoppers like to
bring home a box of candy (3) the store is usually open Sat-
urday evening (which, of course, is the best evening).

The local paper should be a good friend to the confectioner.
For it should carry the bulk, if not all, of his advertising — set
it up in good shape — give it a good position — give him such
assistance in the way of suggestions, writing and illustrations as
may be valuable from time to time, and in short, be of service
to the confectioner and itself.

Speaking about local papers, it is wonderful how many dif-
ferent kinds of advertising and business managers there are.
Some such men are of distinct value to advertisers, as they
are bright, cheerful and helpful, while others are not. The de-
velopment of advertising in a town rests almost altogether upon
the managers of the local papers. I have seen some " mana-
gers" who, if they were hired to turn away business from their
papers, could do the turning away process no better than they
daily do in the course of their "managerial" duties. However,
this phase of advertising is discussed elsewhere under the cap-
tion of " advertising assistance frofu papers?''

The advertising of a confectionery store should be put on
a systematic basis. Once the " plan of operation" is decided
upon, then about all the labor of running the advertising con-
sists of writing the advertisements and passing upon the proofs.
This is worth the proprietor's attention, but if he (or she) lias
neither the time nor inclination, the bright young lady who
weighs out chocolates with a smile, may be induced to attempt
the advertising writing. I have noticed that young ladies are
very superior advertisers of candies. Why this is so I do not
know, unless it is due to the fact that they make a deep study
of and like to contemplate candy, very much as a man likes to
consider and study cigars.

Boxes, paper bags and packages that enclose candy should
be exceptionally well printed, with the concern's name and
address. A catch phrase is a good idea to use on all packages,

378 Successful Advertising

stationery and advertising. Whatever circular or card adver-
tising that is sent out should also represent excellent printing.
On such occasions as Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, etc.,
.<^pecial sales should be gotten up. Newspaper advertisements
and store displays are then in order.

Advertising Suggestions.

Bigness and generosity always attract humankind, especially
when that humankind is womankind. So in your bargain
stories, give plenty of items and prices.

Newspaper space is too valuable to be wasted with poor,
pointless advertising. Let every word in your ads tell, let every
sentence convey a clear cut idea.

In advertising to Vv'omeu, don't waste words — with men, be
briefer still. Men hate detail, women rather like it ; but its rather
expensive to indulge in muchly.

The advertising man should know type and its uses. Many
a good ad is spoiled by poor typographical arrangement in the
hands of a hasty or careless printer.

Retailers, always give prices in your ads. They're to the
initiatory folk what the train is to the engine ; the noise and
fuss only serves to swing them into view.

Don't be hypocritical in venting your ideas on paper. Many
a good idea has never gone through the sieve of criticism be-
cause the critic was too small-minded to appreciate its worth.

Always be good-humored in your ads. Good humor is like
sunshine, it lightens up many roads ; it is always pleasing and
attractive, and is a great lift on the road to advertising success.

The ability to prepare a "write-up" on every subject is pos-
sessed by few. The line between too much advertising and too
little advertising is a thin and narrow one and discoverable by
only really clever advertisers.

Retailers, in your ads give plenty of quotations. Don't
have a Niagara of words and a rivulet of items and prices, that's
too suggestive of a poor house pudding — lots of wind and very
few plums.

Don't expect results from your ads in a moment. "Rome
was not built in a day," and it takes time for your arguments

How To Accomplish It. 379

to simmer in the brains of people who are occupied with affairs
of their own.

Ideas come from all sources. The office boy's glance may
mean an inspiration ; the fluttering of leaves may suggest a
train of thought. Quick perceptions see them everywhere and
utilize them in advertising.

Size up an advertizing medium as you would a man. If the
publication has a well-fed, sleek, healthy appearance, it is
thriving, and as a publication rarely thrives unless it has a right
to, then it deserves consideration.

Brevity is the soul of wit ; 'tis so in advertising. Study
brevity as you would spend money ; endeavor to lesson your
flow of words as you would your flow of cash, yet see that the
flow of both, is sufficient to do execution.

Top O' Column is all right and so is Next to Reading Mat-
ter, but the main point, after all, is the ad itself. See that it is
strong in argument, beautiful in appearance and satisfactory in
general. Then try and get it a good position.

When an idea strikes you, jot it down. When another
comes along, pin that down, too. In this way the bright adver-
tising writer can keep his ideas constantly on file for reference,
instead of their going astray through memory's window.

After all, the greatest study of mankind is woman, with
man as a side issue. The advertiser should never overlook this
point. When he conquers Her Serene Highness, the American
Woman, he is on the highway to success.

Ideas move the world. Every action, great or small, has its
root in an idea. In writing advertising use ideas. If you can't
think easily, or are too busy to think, get some one to do your
thinking for you. Here's where the modern ad writer comes in.

Make your sentences short, likewise your paragraphs. Re-
member the egg in this, it is a small affair, but very meaty and
easily digested.

Hard horse sense is the prime requisite of an advertising
man. From the first preparation of copy till its final appear-
ance in a newspaper this qualification is demanded.

The perceptive faculties must be well developed in an ad-
writer. He ought to grasp ideas from every source, to see

380 Successful Advertising

points that escape the average, all of which he can utilize in his
profession.

In preparing an ad be your reporter first and editor after-
wards. As reporter, get all your best thoughts on the subject
down on paper, as editor, trim, polish and elaborate until your
ad is perfect.

Take a thought and express it quickly and easily with one
sentence. Treat the second the same way before you venture
upon the third. Let each idea stand by itself, never intermin-
gle or jumble them up.

Be natural. Be honest. Be sincere. Be all these to your-
self in writing your advertising. The public will recognize
these qualities for they are human and touch all.

In the average body of the average ad Small Pica lower case
answers very well. It makes a clean appearance, is easily read
and is used by good advertisers like Rogers-Peet Co. and
others.

Advertising is analysis. It is an analysis of the good points
of what you have to offer. Analyze your offerings carefully,
bring to light all the good points and let the full glare of
publicity shine upon them.

The advertising writer is like a sponge, he absorbs every
idea within reach. If he does not use suggestions the moment
they come to him, they are absorbed in his mental receptacle,
to be fished out when occasion requires.

When you set out to prepare your ad have a mental picture
of the space you are to fill. Fill this space right, with neither
too many words nor too little. The organ of casuality (as
phrenologists call it) is very necessary in an ad-writer.

When you see a particular style of set-up that you would
like to apply to your own ad don't bother marking type. It is
quicker for you and easier for the printer if you paste a bit of
that style on your copy with the words " follow this style."

The advertising writer must use his imagination. Imagina-
tion is the sun that lightens up dark places. It lends a charm to
prosaic subjects. Bare facts are pills that are more easily diges-
ted when covered with a coating of a <:;ood v/riter's imagination.

It takes time to make impressions. The first appearance

How To Accompiish It. 381

of your ad ma}^ be scarcely noticed, the second noticed bnt not
remembered, the third may make a slight impression, but the
succeeding insertions impress by present and past appearances.

Clearness, brevity and point are the triple virtues that the
advertising writer must remember. Originality in expression,
beauty in typography and all around nicety are minor virtues,
yet all are good and should somehow be squeezed in the ad.

It is not a bad plan to once in a while go around and inter-
view the compositor or head of the composing room where your
ads are set up. An interchange of ideas is mutually advanta-
geous and welcome.

To write a good ad you must have a keen interest in the
goods themselves. Handle them, fondle them, get acquainted
with them — consider the richness, beauty and many attractions
— then when you have imbibed the right sort of impressions let
them flow naturally from your pen.

Punctuation.

Punctuation that will help advertising in being clear, crisp,
concise and convincing is the punctuation most used by the good
advertising writer.

Periods are used with great liberality. For short sentences
are best.

Commas are also much in demand, as they indicate the con-
clusion of a thought but not of a sentence.

Commas are used thus : — Style^ quality and value are here.
Reliable^ handsome^ but lozv priced. Before a quotation of one
sentence, run in in a paragraph, use a comma, thus : They all cry,
''' time and tide wait forno man.'' In sentences containing two
clauses, connected by a conjunction, the clauses should be sepa-
rated by at least a comma. If the clauses are unusually lengthy
or not connected with a conjunction, use a semi-color, or prefer-
ably a dash. Better still make two short or medium sentences
out of the rather lengthy sentence.

Colon and dash comes in at the end of such paragraphs as : —
Read carefully every line of the following : —

Dashes are preferable to colons and semi-colons in writing

382 Successful Advertising

advertising, as they make ideas not terminated by periods, stand
out in bolder relief. To illustrate this, here are two forms of
punctuation for comparison on the same subject : —

Men's English Squares, Knots,
Imperials and Four-in Hands ;
in li<:;;ht or dark effects : ex-
quisitely finisiied ; equal to
what would usually cost '"^C/-.
youjfti.oo; here for . . . >^t^»

Men's English Squares, Knots,
Imperials and Four-in-Hands —
in light or dark effects— ex-
quisitely finished — equal to
what would usually cost ^^^
you 5i-oo — here for . . . / OC

Quotation marks are used to show that the writer is not the
author of that particular word, phrase, sentence or excerpt
quoted. If a mark of exclamation or interrogation is used at
the conclusion of the quotation that is not part of the quota-
tion, then this mark should be outside the quotation marks.
For instance : — T/uy call them " valii£s^\'

Exclamations are preferable to periods at the conclusion of
sensational sentences like : — This will be the Sale of the Season !

The advertising writer is not long in harness before he finds
out that his great task is to say somethings which when said,
almost any printer will properly punctuate.

How To Accomplish It. 383

PROOF READER'S MARKS.

WHEN THE SIGNS HERE GIVEN ARE EMPLOYED AS DIRECTED THEY WILL
BE READILY UNDERSTOOD IN ANY PRINTING OFFICE.

X Change bad letter.

X Push down space.

^ Turn letter right side up.

A Take out [dele).

A Left out ; insert.

# Insert space.

V Even up the spacing between words.

w Less space.

0 Close up entirely.

0 Insert a period.

/ Insert a comma.

Q Insert a colon.

Insert a semicolon.

Insert an apostrophe.

384 Successful Advertising

Proof Reader's Marks Continued.

yiy

Insert quotation marks.

Insert a hyphen.

Insert one-em dash.

/^/

Insert two-em dash.

Insert em-quad space.

Move over.

\\\

Straighten lines.

Change alignment.

Make a paragraph.

stet or ...

. Let it remain ; change not necessary.

w.f.

Wrong kind of type used.

font.

Kind of type required.

tr.

Transpose.

rem.

Use roman letter.

How To Accomplish It. 385

Proof Reader's Marks Continued.

ital. Use italic letter.

Caps. Use Capital letter.

s. c. Use small capital letters.

/. c. Use lower case or small letters.

overrun. Carry over to the next line.

Qy. or {?) Doubt regarding spelling, etc.

Indicates italic letters.

= Indicates small capital letters.

~ Indicates CAPITAL letters.

— Indicates black lower case letters.

7:;ccc^ Indicates BLACK SMALL CAPITAL letters.
Indicates BLACK CAPITAL letters.

Successful Advertising

PROOF BEFORE CORRECTING.

J / /I A Thousand pairs of [stylish[women's]and ^•
' serviceable Shoes, of Patent Leather, in
xcj^ bjitton and lace/^^re embafced in thisV/c^
Oj oflferij^g. They have hand turnedSand welted/-/ J^
solesj[ and come in|this Autumn, mostjshap^ •yi
^ lasts. ^ Ail sizes are here, and while we ^
§ anticipate a big big rush^we yet havemade ^ "^
Ci<r^,2imp\e preparations to meet it, SO we can tLoJr
promise no waitijQgT) Cc^bs.

5" CThis is an unusual opportunity, brought j^^j^
S ab^out through a fortunate purchase^ and w

3 we cornjnend it to every woman who is
I looking for a high grade pair of shoes at /=/
the lowest price possible. <^' ^ >

C [ You can save from ^ILOO to ^JJoO^ 2^^.**^
per pair by taking advantage of this special ,

sale price, which is $1.85 per pair

How To Accomplish It.

387

PROOF AFTER CORRECTING.

I Thousand

Of women's stylish and ser-

A, viceable Shoes, of Patent
PdirS Leather, in button and lace,
are embraced in this offer-
ing. They have hand-turned and welted
soles, and come in this Autumn's most shapely
lasts.

All sizes are here, and while we anticipate
a big rush, we yet have made ample pre-
parations to meet it so that we can promise
NO WAITING ! This is an unusual oppor-
tunity, brought about through a fortunate
purchase, and we commend it to every wo-
man who is looking for a high-grade pair
of shoes at the lowest price possible.

Youcan save from $ 1 .00 to
$1.50 per pair, by taking
advantage of this special sale
price, which is

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

A General Talk on Mail Order Advertising 215

A Live Department or Business Always Vigorous, Keeping 113

A Reason for that Sale, Have 128

A Sick Department, Building Up no

Action, Advertising 306

Active Every Month in the Year, Keeping Retail Business 85

Ad Building i

The Foundation : Ideas i

The Superstructure : Words • • 5

Prices 9

The Essentials : Displaying Items and Prices 12

Preparing Advertising Copy for the Printer 15

The Embellishments : Types iS

Illustrations 22

The Completion — Merchandise and Audience • . 24

Ads, Making Up Large 93

Ad, The Salesman and the 317

Advertising a Bakery 355

a Circus

335

a Department Store 89

a Dressmaking Establishment 152

a Drug Store 144

a Grocery 145

a Hotel

327

a Laundry .: 366

a Merchant Tailoring Business 150

a New Store 107

a Patent Medicine 323

a Photograph Studio 364

a Printing Establishment 348

a Publication . . . . < 321

a Resort 352

a Restaurant 329

a School 353

a Stationery and Newspaper Store 153

a Town or City 350

389

300 Successful Advertising

A.dvertising Action 306

All the Year Around, Retail (Division Number Two) .... 27

Amateur, The 262

April 58

Assistance from Papers 369

Autumn 78

Be Optimistic in 318

Booklet 283

Books 142

China 123

Cigars, Pipes and Smokers' Articles 147

Classified 345

Clothing 98

Confectionery .... 376

Copy for the Printer, Preparing 15

Dental 342

Does not Increase the Cost of Goods to the Consumer . ... 311

Dog Day Clothing 74

Early Summer • 63

Educational Features by Mail 218

Face Bleaches, Powders, etc 325

Financial 357

Fish and Meat Market 161

Floor Coverings 123

Foreign 301

Furniture 120

Furs and Fur Garments • 157

Glassware 123

Hat and Cap • • • 155

Hardware 136

Holiday 80

Honesty as a Factor in 296

House Furnishings 123

in Publications 373

Individuality in 252

Infants' and Children's Wearables 156

Jewelr}' and Optical 138

Lamps 123

Leather Goods and Harness ...••• 368

Mail Order (A General Talk on) 215

Mail Order (Specific Talks on) 220

Mediums, Choice of 238

Men's Furnishings 105

Mid-Winter 46

Miscellaneous (Division Number Five) 238

More about Clothing 102

Novelties, Value of 359

How To Accomplish It. 391

Advertising, Outdoor 309

Pianos, Music and Musical Instruments 148

Pictures, Wall-Paper, Interior Decorations 158

Prices in Retail 117

Railroad and Steamship 340

Real Estate 303

Schemes 165

Shoe 129

Solicitor, The 267

Special Features in Retail (Division Number Three) .... 89

Specialties 250

Specialist, The 257

Spring Stocks 52

Street Car • . . 307

Suggestions 37S

Suit and Cloak 116

Theatrical 331

The How of Writing 263

The Humors of 292

to Men 243

to Women 241

Upholstery Goods 123

What Percentage to Spend in . 346

Women's Wearables 115

Writer, The 259

Advertiser, To the New Clothing 104

Advertisements, Measures in WTiich to Set 361

After the Holiday Rush 82

Again Spring Advertising 54

Ahead of Competition, Keeping 134

Amateur, The Advertising 262

April Advertising 58

Arrangement, Typographical 244

Assistance from Papers, Advertising 369

Autumn Advertising 78

Bakery, Advertising a 355

Begin the New Year, How? 29

Be Optimistic in Advertising 318

Best Advertising Mediums (Mail Order Talk Number I) 220

Best Articles to Advertise (Mail Order Talk Number IV) 225

Bookkeeping and System of Handling Letters and Orders (Mail Order

Talk Number II) 222

Booklet Advertising 283

BookSj Advertising 142

392 Successful Advertising

Bombardment, Mid-Summer 70

"Brains" Interview 314

Building up a Sick Department no

Business, Advertising a Merchant Tailoring 150

Active Every Month in the Year, Keeping Retail 85

Always Vigorous, Keeping a Live Department or 113

Pushing Winter 48

Warm Weather Wooing of 73

Car Advertising, Street 307

Catalogue Making (Mail Order Talk Number V) 227

China, Advertising 123

Choice of Advertising Mediums 238

City, Advertising a Town or 350

Cigar, Pipes, etc., Advertising 147

Circus, Advertising a 335

Classified Advertising 345

Clearance Sale, The Mid-Summer .... 67

Cloak Advertising, Suit and 116

Clothing Advertising 98

Advertising, More About 102

Advertiser, To the New 104

Advertising, Dog Day 74

Compiling Mail Order Literature (Mail Order Talk Number XI) 235

Coming, Speed the Parting, Welcome the 50

Competition, Keeping Ahead of 134

Completion of Ad-Building (Merchandise and Audience), The 24

Concerning Correspondence (Mail Order Talk Number VI) ..'•... 229

Confectionery, Advertising 376

Co-operate with Heads of Departments 96

Copy for the Printer, Preparing Advertising 15

Cost of Goods to the Consumer, Advertising Does Not Increase the . . . 311

Dental Advertising 342

Department, Building up a Sick no

Departments, Co-operate with Heads of 96

Department or Business Always Vigorous, Keeping a Live 113

Department Store, Advertising a 89

Description of Items, Give Full 125

Displaying Items and Prices 12

Display, Inside Store i33

Displays, Window 131

Dog Day Clothing Advertising 74

How To Accomplish It. 393

Dressmaking Establishment, Advertising a • . . 152

Drop a Sale, How to Start, Engineer and 126

Drug Store, Advertising a • 144

*' Dry Goods Economist " Interview 289

Early Summer Advertising 63

Educational Features by Mail, Advertising 218

Embellishments of Ad Building (Types), The 18

Engineer and Drop a Sale, How to Start 126

Estate, Advertising Real 303

Essentials of Ad Building (Displaying Items and Prices), The 12

Every Month in the Year, Keeping Real Business Active 85

Face Bleaches, Powders, etc., Advertising 325

Factor in Advertising, Honesty as a 296

Features by Mail, Advertising Educational 218

Features in Retail Advertising, Special (Division Number Three) .... 89

Financial Advertising 357

Fish and Meat Markets, Advertising 161

Floor Coverings, Advertising 123

Foreign Advertising 301

For That Sale, Have a Reason 128

Foundation of Ad Building (Ideas), The i

Full Description of Items, Give 125

Furnishings, Advertising House 123

Furnishings, Advertising Men's 105

Furniture Advertising 120

Fur and Fur Garments, Advertising 157

General Talk on Mail Order Advertising, A 215

Getting to the Reader's Level 275

Give Full Description of Items 125

Glassware, Advertising 123

Good Mail Order Help (Mail Order Talk Number VIII) 231

Great January Mark-Down Sale, The 30

Great Mid-Winter Sale, The 40

Grocery, Advertising a 145

Hat and Cap Advertising 155

Hardware Advertising 136

394 Successful Advertising

Harness, Advertising Leather Goods and 368

Have a Mail Order Plan (Mail Order Talk Number IX) 232

Have a Reason for That Sale 128

Headlines 372

Heads of Departments, Co-operate with 95

Holiday Advertising 80

Holiday Rush, After the 82

Honesty as a Factor in Advertising 296

Hotel, Advertising a 327

House Furnishings, Advertising 123

How ? Begin the New Year 29

of Writing Advertising, The 263

to Start, Engineer and Drop a Sale 126

Humors of Advertising, The 292

Hustler, The 269

Ideas, in the Foundation of Ad Building • i

Illustrations and Their Uses 247

Increase the Cost of Goods to the Consumer, Advertising Does not . . . 311

Individuality in Advertising 252

Infants' and Children's Wearables 156

Inside Store Displays 133

Interview in "Brains" 314

in " Printers Ink " 280

in " Profitable Advertising " 297

in " Dry Goods Economist" 289

Introducing Spring Millinery, etc 56

Introductions for Retail Advertising 163

Items, Give Full Description of 125

January Mark-Down Sale, the Great 30

Merchandise Movements, Some 36

Sales, Various Other i}

Jewelry and Optical Advertising 13S

Jollier, The ... 271

Keeping a Live Department or Business Always Vigorous 113

Ahead of Competition 134

Retail Business Active Every Month in the Year 85

How To Accomplish It. 395

Lamps, Advertising 123

Large Ads, Making up 93

Laundry, Advertising a 3^6

Leather Goods and Harness, Advertising 368

Letters and Orders, Bookkeeping and System of Handling (Mail Order

Talk Number II) 222

Level, Getting to the Reader's » 275

Literature, Compiling Mail Order (Mail Order Talk Number XI) .... 235

Live Department or Business Always Vigorous, Keeping a 113

IVI

Mail, Advertising Educational Features by 218

Mail Order Advertising, A General Talk on «... 215

Mail Order Advertising, Specific Talks on 220

Talk Number I. Best Advertising Mediums 220

II. Bookkeeping and System 01 Handling Letters

and Orders 222

III. Securing Names 223

IV. Best Articles to Advertise 225

V. Catalogue Making 227

VI. Concerning Correspondence 229

VII. Promptness and Thoroughness 230

VIII. Good Mail Order Help 231

IX. Have a Mail Order Plan 232

X. Mail Order Territories 234

XI. Compiling Mail Order Literature 235

XII. The Value of Persistence 236

Making Up Large Ads 93

Manufacturers and Wholesalers Should Help Retailers With Advertising . 363

Mark Down Sale, The Great January 30

Masses, The Unreached 312

May Merchandising, Movements in 60

Measures in Which to Set Advertisements 361

Meat Markets, Advertising Fish and 161

Medicine, Advertising a Patent 323

Mediums, Choice of Advertising 238

Men, Advertising to 243

Men's Furnishings, Advertising 105

Merchandise Movements, Some January 36

Merchandise and Audience, in the Completion of Ad Building 24

Merchant Tailoring Business, Advertising a 150

Mid-Winter Advertising 46

Sale, the Great 40

Sales, Other 43

396 Successful Advertising

Mid-Summer Bombardment 70

Mid-Summer Clearance Sale, the 67

Millinery, etc., Introducing Spring 56

Miscellaneous Advertising (Division Number Five) 238

Money, Spend Money to Make 286

Month in the Year, Keeping Retail Business Active Every 85

More About Clothing Advertising 102

Movements in May Merchandising 60

]\Iovements, Some January Merchandise 36

Music and Musical Instruments, Advertising Pianos 148

INi

Names, Securing (Mail Order Talk Number III) 223

New Clothing Advertiser, To the 104

New Store, Advertising a 107

New Year, How ? Begin the 29

New Year Resolutions 27

Notices, Reading 371

Novelties, Value of Advertising 359

Of Business, Warm Weather Wooing 73

Of Competition, Keeping Ahead 134

Of Items, Give Full Description 125

Optical Advertising, Jewelry and 138

Optimistic in Advertising, Be 318

Order Advertising, Mail .... 215

Orders, Bookkeeping and System of Handling Letters and (Mail Order

Talk Number II) 222

Order Help, Good Mail (Mail Order Talk Number VIII) ....... 231

Order Literature, Compiling Mail (Mail Order Talk Number XI) 235

Order Plan, Have an (Mail Order Talk Number IX) 232

Order Territories, Mail (Mail Order Talk Number X) 234

Other January Sales, Various 33

Other Mid-Winter Sales 43

Outdoor Advertising 309

Papers, Advertising Assistance from 369

Parting, Welcome the Coming, Speed the • 50

Patent Medicine, Advertising a 323

Percentage to Spend in Advertising, What 346

Photograph Studio, Advertising a 364

Pianos, Music, Musical Instruments, Advertising 148

How To Accomplish It. 39T

Pictures, Wall Paper, Interior Decorations, Advertising 158

Powders, Face Bleaches, etc., Advertising 325

Preparing Advertising Copy for the Printer 15

Prices, in the Superstructure of Ad Building 9

Prices in Retail Advertising 117

Printing Establishment, Advertising a 348

"Printers' Ink" Interview , . . . 280

" Profitable Advertising " Interview 297

Proof before Correcting • • . . 386

after Correcting 387

Reader's Marks 383

Promptness and Thoroughness (Mail Order Talk Number VII) 230

Publication, Advertising a 321

Publications, Advertising in 373

Punctuation 381

Pushing Winter Business 48

Railroad and Steamship Advertising 340

Reader's Level, Getting to the 275

Reading Notices 371

Real Estate Advertising . . . . • 303

Reason for That Sale, Have a 128

Regarding Ruts 255

Resolutions, New Year 27

Resort, Advertising a 352

Restaurant, Advertising a 329

Retail Advertising All the Year Around (Division Number Two) .... 27

Advertising, Introductions for . . . 163

Advertising, Prices in 117

Advertising, Special Features in (Division Number Three) .... 89

Business Active Every Month in the Year, Keeping 85

Rubiyiat of O'My Advertiser, The 320

Rush, After the Holiday 82

Sale, How to Start, Engineer and Drop a 126

Salesman and the Ad, The 317

Sales, Other Mid-Winter 43

Sale, The Mid Summer Clearance 67

The Great Mid- Winter 40

The Great January Mark-Down 30

Sales, Various Other January 33

Sales, Warm Weather 65

Sayings to Swing Trade 202

398 Successful Advertising

Schemes, Advertising 165

School, Advertising: a

353

Securing Names (Mail Order Talk Number III) 223

Shoe Advertising 129

Short Words, Use 278

Solicitor, The Advertising 267

Some January Merchandise Movements o 36

Specialties, Advertising 250

Specialist, The Advertising 257

Special Features in Retail Advertising (Division Number Three) 89

Specific Talks on Mail Order Advertising (Division Number Three) . . 220

Speed the Parting, Welcome the Coming 50

Spend in Advertising, What Percentage to 346

Spend Money to Make Money 286

Spring Stocks, Advertising 52

Advertising, Again 54

Millinery, etc., Introducing 56

Start, Engineer and Drop a Sale, How to 126

Stationery and Newspaper Store, Advertising a i^i.

Steamship Advertising, Railroad and 340

Store, Advertising a Department 89

Advertising a New 107

Advertising a Drug 144

Store Displays, Inside 133

Street Car Advertising 307

Studio, Advertising a Photograph 364

Suit and Cloak Advertising 116

Suggestions, Advertising -^78

Summer Advertising, Early 63

Superstructure of Ad Building (Words) The 5

Swing Trade, Sayings to 202

System of Handling Letters and Orders, Bookkeeping and (Mail Order

Talk Number II) 222

Tailoring Business, Advertising a Merchant . 150

Talk on Mail Order Advertising, a General 215

Talks on Mail Order Advertising, Specific 220

Territories, Mail Order (Mail Order Talk Number X) 234

That Sale, Have a Reason For 128

Theatrical Advertising 331

The Advertising Amateur 262

Advertising Specialist 257

Advertising Solicitor 267

Advertising Writer 259

Completion of Ad Building (Merchandise and Audience) 24

How To Accomplish It. 399

The Embellishments of Ad Building (Types) i8

Essentials of Ad Building ( Displaying Items and Prices) 12

Foundation of Ad Building, (Ideas) i

Great Mid-Winter Sale 40

Great January Mark-Down Sale 30

Holiday Rush, After 82

How of Writing Advertising 263

Humors of Advertising 292

Hustler 269

Jollier 271

Mid-Summer Clearance Sale 67

New Clothing Advertiser, To 104

New Year How? Begin 29

Printer, Preparing Advertising Copy For 15

Reader's Level, Getting to 275

Rubiyiat of O'My Advertiser 320

Salesman and the Ad 317

Superstructure of Ad Building (Words) 5

Unreached Masses 312

Value of Persistence (Mail Order Talk Number XII) 236

Year, Keeping Retail Business Active Every Month in 85

Thoroughness, Promptness and 230

To Advertise, Best Articles 225

Make Money, Spend Money 286

Spend in Advertising, What Precentage 346

Start, Engineer and Drop a Sale, How 126

The New Clothing Advertiser 104

Town or City, Advertising a • 350

Trade, Sayings to Swing 202

Typographical Arrangement 244

Unreached Masses, The 312

Upholstery Goods, Advertising 123

Up Large Ads, Making 93

Up a Sick Department, Building no

Use Short Words 278

Uses, Illustrations and Their 247

Various Other January Sales 33

Value of Advertising Novelties 359

Value of Persistence, The 236

Vigorous, Keeping a Live Department or Business Always 113

400 Successful Advertising

Wall-Paper and Interior Decorations, Advertising 158

Warm Weather Sale 65

Warm Weather Wooing of Business 73

Wearables, Advertising Women's 115

Welcome the Coming, Speed the Parting 50

What Percentage to Spend in Advertising 346

Wholesalers Should Help Retailers With Advertising, Manufacturers and 363

Words in the Superstructure of Ad Building 5

With Department Heads, Cooperate 96

Window Displays 131

Winter Business, Pushing 48

Women, Advertising to 241

Women's Wearables, Advertising] 115

Words, Use Short 278

Writing Advertising, The How of 263

Writer, The Advertising 259

Year Around, Retail Advertising AH the (Division Number Two) .... 27

Year, Keeping Retail Business Active Every Month in the 85

Year, How ? Begin the New 29

Year, Resolutions, New ... 27

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