Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-16

trade Adopting this meaning, the earliest
| the doors of shops In Rome saw so
placed indicated the carpenter, bushel
measure the baker, and branch of ivy
Gacred to Bacchus) marked the tavern.
Frcm this latter form Of advertisement we
have our proverb. Good wine needs no
| bush" The use Of written characters in
advertising for trade dates back at least
twenty centuries. The excavations at Pom
peii have brought to light sign at a street
corner. which. being translated, reads:
| visit the Inn Of Lianus, turn to the right"
The custom Of advertising for lost articles
also obtained then. Another Inscription
unearthed in the buried city reads: "A wine
jar Is lost from the inn. If any one bring
| It back there shall be given to him IS ses-
terces; II any one bring the thief who took
1t, double the sum will be given" That the
wine shop should have figured SO conspicu-
ously In the early history Of advertising,
we may remark In passing. is more Of a
than 1t Ii q discretit TO the art of publicity
In fact, in no form Of literature are the
wees ana virtues and customs Of differ
ent eras more ytvidly portrayed than in ad-
vetusements. Photograph the shops Of q
nation ana you have a correct idea Of its
methods Of living. What does this SO we'll
as an advertisements 1t is the unedited
voice Of the people
As to the first newspaper advertisement,
there Is a difference Of opinion. Some credit
10 the ancient paper the Mercurius Po-
nueus wniie others claim that a certain
cid journal supposed to have been printed
In 1881. and on file in the British museum.
deserves the honor. One of these pioneer
advertisements Is curious enough to quote.
1t reads thus:
That excellent and by all physicians ap-
proved Chinese drink called by the Chinese
Toha. by other nations Tay, alias TIE, is
sold at the Sultanes Head Coffee House
'in Sweeting's Rents, by the ROYAL Ex-
change, London"
Another early form of advertising was the
bell man or town crier. which still exists in
some old New England towns. The prob
! one of the most difficult that confronts the
publisher OF a new paper He must estab-
lish rate which will insure him a fair in
come and yet not be regarded by the ad-
intimated, circulation il the only true basis
Tor advertising. Yet character Of cir
culation Is always taken more or less
mt ,boassmn Half ,,1 cent per line
cent per line per thousand circula-
ton for weeklies, 10 often spoken Of as a
fair price, But many contracts are placed
on a lower basis. Agate type forms the
usual basis OF measurement for advertising
space. There are fourteen agate lines to
the inch. Some papers. including the month
ly magazines, use nonpareil type as the
standard. Nonpareil Is the next largest
size to agate. measuring twelve lines to the
inch.
Another point is, how publisher can win
and hold advertisers. The way to do IL to
win and hold your readers Advertising fol-
lows circulation. Occasionally a publisher
that has not yet acquired circulation will
be able, by dint Of much persistency, to
force advertising. but 1t is at best a feeble
growth, and is likely to fall away suddenly
and leave the publisher high and dry. The
advertiser is shrewd and although he may
be fooled at first, he will in the end find out
the facts about an undeserving paper. The
best way Is for publisher to base his ad-
vertising rates on his actual circulation, and
then make a plain. honest statement of the
number he prints. 1t Is important for him
to see that his paper Is properly rated in
the leading newspaper directories, for these
books of reference are much used by adver-
tisers. The home advertisers should be cul-
tivated by publisher. rather than the for
eign or general advertisers
Although the character Of a medium has
considerable weight with advertisers, 1t
must not be supposed that the journal hav-
Ing a constituency Of the highest social
class Is always able to command the high
est price. This whole matter of advertising
rates is today in a very confused condition,
and the number of papers that actually con-
duct their business on the one-price system
may almost be counted on the fingers of
your two hands. If publishers would only fix
upon fair price for their space and then
stick to it (as is done in all first-class stores
nowadays the advertising business would
be greatly simplified. But the trouble is
that the publisher is constantly tempted to
allow discounts rather than lose an Inn
portant order. He figures that 1t will not
cost any more to publish a certain advertise
ment than 1t will to insert reading matter
in fact. not so much. He calculates there
fore. that Whatever he gets for the ad will
be 50 much clear gain There is something
peculiar about newspaper space, a respect
in which 1t differs materially from drugs
dry goods or building lots. Space in a news
paper that has once gone to press is value
less. Absolutely nothing can be realized for
it. 1t must be sold today or not at ALL 1t
cannot be laid away on a shelf until a Gus
toner is found at fair price. While these
conditions continue to exist, and while the
ability OF an advertising manager Is gagged
by his success in breaking rates, the pres
ent sliding system of rates will probably
prevail.
Luckily. we have not yet come to con-
slider business as degrading in this country
The leisure class, as 1t exists abroad, which
would be ashamed to acknowledge any reg
ular employment has not succeeded in gain
Ing q foothold here. Even our society men
are men of AFFAIRS. AS advertising Is only
branch of business, there would seem to
be no reason for the contemptuous tone
which Is sometimes taken toward advertis-
ing by persons who are not themselves
above earning their living by an honorable
and legitimate means. OF course, methods
are sometimes employed that cannot be
indorsed any more than those of the charla-
tans that creep into the medical profession,
the sensation mongers that occasionally
find their way into the pulpit. The deface-
ment OF natural scenery that at one time
threatened 10 DrlnS advertising into 0lSre-
pute has been generally abandoned. Every
man in business Is more or less of ad
vertiser The sign outside of his door, the
impression on his letter head, the drum
mers'' on the road, are all advertising him.
Why should he look with disdain on the
highest type of all-newspaper advertising?
l will not attempt to question here the GOOD
judgment of the doctors and lawyers whose
code of ethics prohibits advertising, which
position results in leaving for the most
part to quacks and impostors this impor-
tant means Of reaching the public.
Mr.. Edward Bellamy. in Looking Back
ward" reflects upon advertising as an eco
nomic waste. Perhaps when his ideal state
Of society shall have come into existence
this criticism will be deserved, but at pres
ent the advertisement sustains as import
ant economic relation as any other link in
the social chain. Consider the case Of the
grocer who has on hand a larger quantity
of perishable goods than he can dispose Of
in the ordinary way. He invokes the aid
of the advertisement, and sells them be-
fore they have had a chance to spoil; or
the case of the property owner, who wishes
to dispose of his suburban home. The or
binary method of selling 1t would be to
place it in the hands Of a real estate agent
who would charge a commission of 1-2
per cent, which, on a $4,000 house, would
amount to $3.50. But supposing. instead, 1t
Is advertised in the public press The first
tha fha hid "A