The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-11-30
THE ART OF ADVERTISING.
History of Its Development in England.

The advertising spirit in England, according
to the London News, is ambitious, energetlc,
restless, untiring, dauntless, possessed Oh IL
limitable ingenuity and resources. one can
not help admiring the boundless fertility OF IN
ventIon with which the great leaders OF the
advertising world have Appropriated one
Medium after another for the publication
of what they desire people to know" The
News adds some interesting historical items:
Public Journals began q little. before the
neriod of the Civil War, and later in the cen,
tRnry they contained advertisements OF oil
sorts. By ITO the system had developed IT.
self to such proportions that the Tattier
tbonrht il worth his while to devote whole
paper to a dissertation ON the subject. Ad-
yertisements, in the opinion OF the Phlioso-
pher of Shire Lane, are to De consldereu as
siaccounts OF news from the little world, IN
the same manner that the foregoing parts OF
the paper are from the great. If In one we
hear that sovereign prince is fled from ms
captal city, in the other we hear OF trades.
man who hath shut up his shop and run away.
The writer confesses to weakness IN cohncc,
tion with the 'ttle domestic occurrences"
sometimes found alluded to In the advertising
columns of newspaper, and RECORDS tnat ne
has been caught with tears In his eyes over
melancholy announcement. The Tattler re-
cards this species OF literature as CONDUCIVE
70 the ambition of humble folks An adver-
tisement from Piccadilly goes down TO pos
terity with an article from Aaariu, anu JONI
Bartlett, OF Goodman's-tield, Is celebrated
in the same paper with the Emperor OF Ger
many.
date many of the tricks of advertisers that we
believe to be quite modern were already In
vogue. Controversies between rival traders,
which had then been carried to, such an eX-
tent 'sthat," says the writer, s'above half the
advertisements one meets with nowadays are
purely polcmical;" the adoption of various de-
vices sto catch the readers eye" such as the
use of asterisks, hands, little cuts and hgures,
| &C.; the occasional resort to "the blind ltallan
character" which, being almost illeglole, nxes
| the eve and provokes the attention; the
flourish of mentioning ''the universal esteem
| or general reputation of things that were
never heard of" and the device OF advertising
| changes of residence, ''for the information OF
| the nobility and gentry" all these methods OF
soliciting OF compelling attention are men
| toned in the oath number Of the Tattler, for
| Thursday, September IA, l7l0.
Relatively to the size of the town: the quacks
! were as busy in those days as In these. We
read of many kinds Of pills. OF wonderful cures.
of spring trIsses and Of scents OF such miracu-
| lous powers that their effect Is not to be Gre
dted without actual experience. We also hear
of advertisements not at oil proper to ap-
pear in the works of popular writcrs'--a class
which in certain quarters is not yet extinct.
"Strops for razors' seem to have engaged
as much attention in the reign Of Queen Anne
as in later days; and there wero few wants,
| real or imaginary, which vigorous advertisers
| did not express their readiness to supply
hundred and sixty years ago.
Modern times have OF course been more va-
| rious in their methods Of advertising, because
every walk of life is more crowded than for
merly and the struggle 10 exist has become
so much the tiercer. POetical advertisements
came In, If we mistake not, some forty years
ago or more. with Warren's Jet Backing,
which used to be further commended by pic
ture of u gentleman shaving himself by the
reflection OF his face in q big Wellington boot,
polished to CLASSY brightness by the applica-
ton of the said '.jet." The poet, however,
was more largely employed 8 few years later
by the great ready-made clothing establish
mcnts, and the little novelettes were intro
duced, adding vastly TO the entertainment OF
the reader. Doudney's "Reform your Tailors'
Bills - was very orihamme In the era of Earl
Grcy's great measure, and for long time after;
and we recollect famous cure tor the tooth
ache, the pictorial illustration Of which was as
good as comic w0odcut in Punch,
Then came in the sssandwlch-men," with
their boards In front and behind; and then
for posting an advertisement on The sides
of omnibusscs, the splash-boards of Hanson
cabs, the partitions of railway carriages, the
walls of railway stations, the backs of railway
tickets-all burst out into an eiflorescence of
varied and often parli-colored announcements.
Advertising agency has become distinct and
very important branch ofbuslness. Dlll-sticking
has almost advanced to the dignity of an arf;
and we have champion bil-stickers," who
rival one another in their pretensi0ns.
''Warren's Backing" has been scored on the
Great Pyramid; and the Americans have car
ried this species of vulgarity (Which really has
n serious and lamentable side,) to mOnstrOus
extent. Even Barnum, unscrupulous though
he ayows himself to be, denOunces, In his
Book on Humbugs, the ''bed-bug-souled fel-
lows" (thc epithet is his, and is so well de-
served that we reproduce it without apology,)
who proclaim the virtues of their corn-plas-
ters or Quack medicines on places that should
be held sacred from such associations. He
mentions that the Legislatures of New Hamp-
shire and New York were compelled to pass
laws to prevent this misdemeanOr; and it Is
Just possible that we in England moy be forced
into the adoption of q similar measure.