Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1884-02-28
TYPOGRAPHY.
Growth of tho Chrome Branch Of
Business Advertising.
The Sums Expended in Illu minated
Printing -Improvemen in tho
Art--.Oscar Wilde's
Advent.
NEW York Mail and Express.

Town insurance house. IL Is lHUeHtlou loi Ioo
calendar fend. Since before the holidays
the leading insurance and steamship COM
panies down town have been besieged with
applicants for calendars. Gall the value they
have to most people," said clerk, "is the
photographic part of them. The leaves are
torn of, and cardboard workbox, ash"re.
ceiver or match-safe glued on, the whole be-,
ing then hung up in conspicuous place in
their homes. Calendars cost too much money
to be wasted In that way" Talking further
on the subject, Mail and Express reporter
was amazed to learn that vast sums
Of money are spent by insurance companies
yearly in illuminated advertisements.
quarter of million Of dollars, it Is estimated,
would not pay for the combined works Of
this kind given away. Many OF the calGn-
dais this year cost 60 cents apiece Insur-
ance companies, however, are not alone in
this prodigal means Of giving publicity to
their existence. Steamship, railroad, and
other large companies spend hundreds OF
thousands of dollars every year in elegant
photographic advertisements. Some OF the
pictures given away by the Cunard, Guon,
Red Star, and other steamship companies
cost over 81 apiece. The photographic work
OF single railroad furnishes enough bust
ness frequently to keep large establishment
running for year.
THE MONEY SPENT.
In answer to the reporters question As to
how much money is spent on lthography in
a year. wel-'-nown photographer said:
"Taking the insura lce men, patent medicine
dealers, theatrical companies, and dry goods
men altogether it Is estimated they have ex-
pended in eight years enough money to more
tl,an th., oil 1aht
visits paid many OF the photographic estab-
lishments later on, and from interviews
had with members OF the trade concern
ing the subject, it was learned that
tan years ago the most pretentious spec-
mems of the illuminated advertisements
were tho pictures OF Spanish bull-tghts,
vineyards and festivals that came in reisin
boxes These and small labels on cotton and
woolen goods and the better brands of cigars
constituted the orders of the photographer to
great extent In the introduction OF re-
ward, Sunday school, birthday, Christmas
and Easter cards into America the quick
wit and the artistic eye of the job printer
saw a means of doubling his income ana
diminishing his labors one-half. 1t was no
that first utilized the small art productions
intended for the exemplary scholar and sac
riticed their beauty to the advertising craze.
IMPROVEMENTS.
One firm OF reward card publishers sold
millions aud millions of their productions to
Job printers in the inland towns. At first
prices ranged from Us cents to 81 per 900
cards, but with the growth of trade and the
demand for original goods the prices ran up
until $50 thousand was paid in some in
stances. European manufacturers were not
81, IN, ha Hp n
ated work, and they soon had lines on the
market that were sold from samples before
the goods had come from the press. Hun
dreds of Americans entered tho race and
wed with each other until seemingly every
subject and design possible had been
utilized to furnish stock for the printer.
Improvements in photographic printing
presses, bronzing machines, stamping blocks,
cutting -.ocrs, and education in art matters
generally soon made it possible for indi-
vd al houses to have their own designs and
special subjects worked up by the ltho-
grapher. Most large advertisers, it is said,
spend 25 per cent. of their gross earnings in
advertising. OF this, Is per cent. is spent in
appealing to the mil1 through the eye by
means of a brilliant combination OF colors in
n Telegraph. One cigarette manufacturer,
it is alleged, has spent a fortune on litho-
graphs Of prominent actors and actresses.
Three patent medicine firms are credited with
spending yearly enough money to carry an
election in the state Of New Y orK
THE VARIOUS DESIGNS.
The advent Of Oscar Wilde with his lily and
sunaower brought grist to the photographers
mill. So also did the coming of Mrs Lang
try and Henry Irving and the rage for
ceramics Jumbo was Autographed to the
extent Of $40, 900. baby elephant belong
ing to a well. known circus cost s25,0oo for
Autographs Of it and its mother. The vari-
ous devices given away by the largo retail
dry goods houses in the xernblance of banjos,
guns, fans, hats, plaques of all kinds, and the
thousand and ona other designs cost from $50
to $500 per 1000 What becomes of this vast
amount of chrome lithography' will be asked.
Much Of it lis destroyed and goes to waste in
the course of its advertising mission. But
there is also large amount OF 1t used in the
homes of the middle and lower CLASSES. There
it adorns walls that would otherwise remain
bare, and affords opportunity to creator or
less extent for tho cultivation OF u taste for
art The only art gallery known in some
country homes is that made up OF chromo-
photographic gems from distant city maui
facturers.
THEATRICAL LITHOS.
With reference to the Autographs used by
theatrical companies, it is said the cost ct
this species of advertising to all first class
companies is in the neighborhood OF $4,000
for season of forty weeks. Said the fore
man of a large establishment In this city:
AS a rule it pays an artist better to work at
the stone in photographic establishment
than to attempt the oncs popular aim of be-
coming great painter Good hands at de-
signing, working out, and reproducing get
from $40 a week up We have some men to
whom we pay Sa,)0 per week. Actors and
managers pay literally for their work and
want the best that can be got For window
lithos we get all the way from 2 cents to 40
cents each-that Is, in lots of 1000 or more.
For descriptive posters and other illuminated
paper for the walls prices vary. For some
we get az low as 10 cents sheet. For other
kinds we ask as high rs so cents"
"This accounts, then, ! suppose, for SO
many companies going under'
"On the contrary, my experience has been
that the theatrical companies who make the
most money and live the longest are those
over whom the manager presides that be-
lieves in printers ink. The art of the actor
does not seem to make the business 1t is tho
art Of the photographer that tells. call to
mind a company now travelling that can post
a stand of one hundred bills aud never dupli
cate one. of them, and every sheet of that
stand represents reserved seat ticket. Still
thsy make money"