Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-22
THE BIG SHOW BILLS.
Nearly a Million Feet of Space Gov
cred With Gorgeous Paper
IN THE TWO CITIES EVERY WEEK.
Rivalry Of Theaters for the Windows and
Piles in the Streets.
PASSES FOR HANGING LITHOGRAPHs
WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPArCH.l

WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPArCH.l
One of the most remarkable facts of civil
lied life is the number of important busi-
nesses that exist of which the public have
the m ost absurd ideas. Bill posting is a
conspicuous instance of this We see great
posters pasted on boards around vacant
lots or old buildings and as we glance at
the announcements or pictures there dis
played we regard the whole affair as very
unimportant element in city life. We
know that men 60 around with piles of bills,
buckets of paste and brushes, and that,
with q few dexterous movements, they con-
vert space full of tattered paper, or an
e1panse of old boards, into brilliant dis
play of dramatic scenes in many colors.
We see them do this, but few of US stop
to think that these men are part of = sys-
temized business that involves many thou
sands of dollars of capital, an army of work
men and the most careful arrangements by
men of long experiences. Yet there is no
business in the city that calls for more care
full attention than this of bill posting.
A few figures will convey some idea of
its extensive character. In Pittsburg and
Allegheny there are, under the control of the
city bill posters, 5000 lineal feet of board
ing, averaging ten feet in height. This is
750, 900 square feet that is covered with bills
of various kinds all the year around.
Bills That Make the Boys Stare.
Besides this there are 5000 "three-
sheet" boards. A ''three-sheet" bill is
about 81 feet wide by ~ feet in
height. Spaces on which can be
pasted up 10000 "one-sheets," each 81
by 211 makes up the total space of free read
ing and art work that is placed at the dis
posal of the inhabitants of the two cities by
the work of the bill posters. To paste up
all this paper every year 1000 barrels of
flour are used, with the services of % men,
who are constantly employed, while extras
are put on when there is a rush. Three
horses and wagons help to carry the paper,
paste and men to some extent, but not alto
gether. Since rapid transit has become
general in the two cities, bill posters have
been able to use the street cars extensively,
and great part of the routes can be covered
in this manner that formerly required the
use of wagons.
The largest stand in the city Is $50 feet
long, by u feet high, but most are q to AZ
feet long, by 10 in height. The theaters use
a great deal of the bill board space, but not
all of it. This was shown q week ago,
when, notwithstanding that seven of the
eight regular places disbursements were run
ming, Barnum's circus occupied with its an
nouncements and pictures no less than 1000
feet of boarding, 10 and II feet high.
The Space Is Never Idle.
During the regular winter season, each of
fhaa aIohf han ataro
sheets of paper on the boards and walls, ex-
elusive of Autographs, which are known
technically as "window work" When the
season is over, commercial announcements.
patent medicine announcements, railroad
bills, etc, fill the space. 1t is never idle
The bill poster goes about his work in
methodical manner. Before he leaves the
bill room he has his paper all methodically
arranged, so that when he arrives at the
board he is to cover he can take each sheet
of paper just as it comes, and put it in the
right place. Suppose it is 28-sheet stand
that is, bill seven sheets long and four
high. The operator takes the sheet for the
left upper corner and pastes it neatly in
place with very few touches. Then he
takes the other top sheets and adds them
one by one. Then he commences on the
next row and works across, and so on, until
he has the whole % sheets in place, and
shows you large picture IN which you can
not distinguish the joints save by very close
inspection.
The bill poster is very mstter-of-fact.
He does not care whether it is Shakespeare
or farce comedy that he is illustrating. All
he cares for is to do his work in neat
manner, so that no one else in the business
can criticise, and then let who will admire
the subject of the bills. That is no concern
of his. 1t is not an uncommon thing for
bill posters to be actually unable to read,
but they never make mistake in putting
up bill. Their system is too good for
that.
1t Takes Skill When It's Windy.
1t takes long training to make bill
poster. When a sheet of paper is pasted it
has miserable knack OF sticking together
in folds and tearing at awkward moments
unless it is handled with professional skill
is this true on a windy day, when
it is only by allowing so much for wind, and |
holding the paper in certain position that |
it can be safely affixed to the board. But |
the old hand knows all about this, and he |
will put up 2S-sheet stand in gale of |
wind without a mistake, while pedestrians |
can hardly keep their feet, and are obliged to
hold on their hats with both hands.
In posting for theater the bill posters
boards in the outskirts of the two cities, and
work in toward the center, so as to finish by
afternoon. The managers of the |
attractions at the theaters desire to have
heir paper shown as long as possible, but it
IS recognized as the professional thing for
bill posting to be done in this way: so that
each attraction gets the same length of show
ng on the bill boards. The three-sheet bills
hat are posted at the entrance to theaters
ire covered with the announcements of the
hows for the next week as soon as the per-
ormance has commenced on Saturday night.
It is supposed that BY that time the current
If attraction has drawn about all the patron
Ige that will fall to it, and the next weeks
how is entitled to the boards
Utilizing All Available Space.
The experience Of bill posters enables
hem to tell at a glance how big bill they
AN put in certain place, and it is inter-
,sting to see how they will fill all the avail
ble place with odd sheets that fit in. A
!S-sheet stand has been put up, perhaps,
md there is still a space at the side about
our feet wide. Up goes a three-sheet bill
n the space, consisting of picture or
announcement OF the merits of
he show, and that much more advertise
nent is secured that would be lost but for
he torethought of the bill poster
There is great deal of rivalry between
heaters over securing space in windows
md on temporary piles Of building mate
ial, lumber, ETC., that is not in the hands
VI the city bill posters. If store is empty
or few DAYS the owner is besieged by the
.dvertising agents of the theaters to give
he use OF his show window tor the lithO-
,raphs and show bills of the attractions
sometimes he divides his window, giving