assumes an authoritative attitude by exerting his own freedom
of choice. This curious and obscure principle of action
probably lies at the root of all poster advertising, for the
poster does not set forth an argument as does the newspaper
advertisement. It hardly attempts to reason with the
reader, but merely impresses a name upon his memory. It
is possible, by lavish advertising, to go so far in this
direction that the trade-mark of a certain manufacturer
becomes synonymous with the name of a commodity, so that when
the consumer thinks of soap or asks for soap, his concept
inevitably couples the maker's name with the word ``soap''
itself. In order that the poster may leave any impression
upon his mind, it must of course first attract his attention.
The assistance which the advertiser receives from the artist
in this connexion is discussed in the article POSTER.
The fact that the verb ``to circularize'' was first used in
1848; sufficiently indicates the very recent origin of the
practice of plying possible purchasers with printed letters and
pamphlets. The penny postage was not established in England until
1840; the halfpenny post for circulars was not introduced until
1855. In the United States a uniform rate of postage at two
cents was not established until 1883. In both countries cheap
postage and cheap printing have so greatly encouraged the
use of circulars that the sort of people whom the advertiser
desires to reach--those who have the most money to spend,
and whose addresses, published in directories, indicate
their prosperous condition--are overwhelmed by tradesmen's
price-lists, appeals from charitable institutions, and other
suggestions for the spending of money. The addressing of
envelopes and enclosing of circulars is now a recognized industry
in many large towns both in Great Britain and in the United
States. It seems, however, to be the opinion of expert
advertisers that what is called ``general circularizing'' is
unprofitable, and that circulars should only be sent to persons
who have peculiar reason to be interested by their specific
subject-matter. It may be noted, as an instance of the
assiduity with which specialized circularizing is pursued,
that the announcement of a birth, marriage or death in the
newspapers serves to calf forth a grotesque variety of circulars
supposed to be adapted to the momentary needs of the recipient.
In concluding this review of methods of advertising, other
than advertisements in periodical publications, we may add
that the most extraordinary attempt at advertisement which is
known to exist is to be found at the churchyard at Godalming,
Surrey, where the following epitaph was placed upon a
Sacred
To the memory of
Nathaniel Godbold Esq,
inventor & Proprietor
of that excellent medicine
The Vegetable Balsam
For the Cure of Consumptions & Asthmas.
He departed this Life
The 17th. day of Decr. 1799
Aged 69 years.
Hic Cineres, ubique Fama.
The preparation of advertisements for the periodical press has
within the last twenty years or so become so important a task
that a great number of writers and artists--many of the latter
possessing considerable abilities--gain a livelihood from this
pursuit. The ingenuity displayed in modern newspaper advertising
is unquestionably due to American initiative. The English
newspaper advertisement of twenty years ago consisted for the
most part of the mere reiteration of a name. An advertiser
who took a column's space supplied enough matter to fill an
inch, and ingenuously repeated his statement throughout the
column. Such departures from this childlike method as
were made were for the most part eccentric to the point of
incoherence. It may, however, be said in defence of English
advertisers, that newspaper publishers for a long time
sternly discountenanced any attempt to render advertisements
attractive. So long as an advertiser was rigidly confined
to the ordinary single-column measure, and so long as he was
forbidden to use anything but the smallest sort of type, there
was very little opportunity for him to attract the reader's
attention. The newspaper publisher must always remember
that the public buy a newspaper for the sake of the news,
not for the sake of the advertisements, and that if the
advertisements are relegated to a position and a scope, in
respect of display, so inferior that they may be overlooked,
the advertiser cannot afford to bear his share of the cost of
publication. Of late The Times, followed by almost all
newspapers in the United Kingdom, has given the advertiser
as great a degree of liberty as he really needs, and many
experienced advertisers in America incline to the belief
that the larger licence accorded to American advertisers
defeats its own ends. The truth would seem to be that the
advertiser will always demand, and may fairly expect, the
right to make his space as fantastic in appearance as that
allotted to the editor. When some American editors see fit
to print a headline in letters as large as a man's hand,
and to begin half-a-dozen different articles on the first
page of a newspaper, continuing one on page 2, another on
page 4, and another on page 6, to the bewilderment of the
reader, it can hardly be expected that the American advertiser
should submit to any very strict code of decorum. The
subject of the relation between a newspaper proprietor and
his advertisers cannot be dismissed without reference to the
notable independence of advertisers' influence, which English
and American newspaper proprietors authorize their editors to
display. Whenever an insurance company or a bank goes wrong,
the cry is raised that all the editors in Christendom had
known for years that the directors were imbeciles and rogues,
but had conspired to keep mute for the sake of an occasional
advertisement. When the British public persisted, not long
ago, in paying premium prices for the shares of over-capitalized
companies, the crash had no sooner come than the newspapers
were accused of having puffed promotions for the sake of the
money received for publishing prospectuses. As a matter of
fact, in the case of the best dailies in England and America,
the editor does not stand at all in awe of the advertiser, and
time after time the Money Article has truthlessly attacked a
promotion of which the prospectus appeared in the very same
issue. It is indeed to the interest of the advertiser, as
well as to the interest of the reader, that this independence
should be preserved, for the worth of any journal as an
advertising medium depends upon its possessing a bona fide
circulation among persons who believe it to be a serious and
honestly conducted newspaper. All advertisers know that the
minor weeklies, which contain nothing but trade puffs, and
are scattered broadcast among people who pay nothing for their
copies, are absolutely worthless from the advertiser's point of
view. The most striking difference between the periodical
press of Great Britain and that of America is, that in the
former country the magazines and reviews play but a secondary
role, while in the United States the three or four monthlies
possessing the largest circulation are of the very first
importance as advertising mediums. One reason for this is
that the advertisements in an American magazine are printed
on as good paper, and printed with as great care, as any
other part of the contents. There are probably very few among
American magazine readers who do not habitually look through
the advertising pages, with the certainty that they will be
entertained by the beauty of the advertiser's illustrations
and the quaint curtness of his phrases. Another reason is
that the American monthly magazine goes to all parts of the
United States, while, owing to the time required for long
journeys on even the swiftest trains, no American daily paper
can have so general a circulation as The Times in the United
Kingdom. In comparison with points on the Pacific coast,
Chicago does not seem far from New York, yet, with the exception
of one frenzied and altogether unsuccessful attempt, no
New York daily has ever attempted to force a circulation in
Chicago. The American advertiser would, therefore, have to
spend money on a great number of daily papers in order to reach
as widespread a public as one successful magazine offers him.
There is reason to believe that the English magazine publishers
have erred gravely in taking what are known in the trade as
``insets,'' consisting of separate cards or sheets printed
at the advertiser's cost, and accepted by the publisher at
a specific charge for every thousand copies. This system
of insetting has the grave inconvenience that the advertiser
finds himself compelled to print as many insets as the
publisher asserts that he can use. The publisher, on the other
hand, is somewhat at the mercy of too enthusiastic agents
and employes, who estimate over-confidently the edition of
the periodical which will probably be printed for a certain
month, and advertisers have had reason to fear that many of
their insets were wasted. The added weight and bulk of the
insets cause inconvenience and expense to the newsdealer,
as two or three insets printed upon cardboard are equivalent
to at least sixteen additional pages. Some newsdealers have
further complicated the inset question by threaten. ing to
remove insets unless special tribute be paid to them; and
with all these difficulties to be considered, many magazine
publishers have seriously considered the advisability of
altogether discontinuing the practice of taking insets, and of
confining their advertisements to the sheets they themselves
print. In connexion with this subject, it may be added that
many readers habitually shake loose hills out of a magazine
before they begin to turn the pages, and that railway stations,
railway carriages and even public streets are thus littered
with trampled and muddy advertisements. The old practice
of distributing handbills in the streets is dying a natural
death, more or less hastened by local by-laws, and when the
loose bills in magazines and cheap novels have ceased to exist
no one will be the loser. Advertisements in the weekly press
are on the whole more successful in England than in America.
A few American weeklies cope successfully with the increasing
competition of the huge Sunday editions of American daily
papers. But even the most successful among them--a paper
for boys--has hardly attained the prosperity of some among
its English contemporaries in the field of weekly journalism.
The merchant who turns to these pages for practical suggestions
concerning the advertising of his own business, can be given
no better advice than to betake himself to an established
advertising agent of good repute, and be guided by his
counsels. The chief part that he can himself play with
advantage is to note from day to day whether the agent is
obtaining advantageous positions for his announcements.
Every advertiser will naturally prefer a right-hand page to
a left-hand page, and the right side of the page to the left
side of the page; while the advertiser who most indefatigably
urges his claims upon the agent will, in the long run,
obtain the largest share of the favours to be distributed.
To the merchant who inclines to consider advertising in
