The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-12-18
Four Hundred of Them at
R. |. School of Design.
To Admire Them is SOciety'S
Latest Diversion.
Some Historical Points, s--LithOgraph-
ing Discovered by an Accident.

art OF the bill posters 10 their list oil at
fractions this evening. There is to be a
"private view, which will formally
open the poster show in the main gal
lery OF the Rhode Island School of De-
sign. IL Is the first exhibit OF the kind
over held in this city, and, what's more,
Providence is not but very little ways
behind Boston ana New YORK in taking
mp this new fad.
Posters, including play bills and circus
bills and all sort OF advertising litho-
graphs constitute what have been aptly
called the "poor mans picture gallery"
They con front him on his way TO work
and on his way home whenever he passes
"dead Yall'' or a high fence. In one
respect at least he has the advantage OF
his fellow citizens who pay the price of
admission TO see the shows advertised by
the posters, for In his picture gallery the
girls are always besutiful. and the scenes
gorgeous or thrilling as the case may be.
much more so in many instances than In
the affairs on the stage.
And.now the latest thing that's proper
is 10 select the best and most striking
OF these posters, arrange them on the walls
OF some art club, call II poster show
and invite the public 10 come and ad-
mire. And the best part of it is that the
posters are worth looking, at most OF
them, and this fashionable sanction to
spend time in gazing comes as welcome
or dared to linger on the sidewalk and
take in all the details of'the poster artists
work. A similar movement now in be-
halt of street music would be equally
appreciated and a hand organ aud hurdy-
gurdy recital ought TO be arranged. But
to return TO the posters. liz is claimed
that the idea OF the pictorial poster, IL not
the thing itself, may be traced way back
TO Pompeii, where they used to advertise
the chariot races by having written ad-
vance notices around the Reeks OF the
horses in the city'a equestrian stables,
and hat wasn't so very different from the
present method by which a horse race is
advertised by lie size lithogrsph of
bunch of trotters coming down the home
stretch.
The fact that the present poster is pos
sible is due TO an accident. A great many
years ago Alois Senefelder traced his moth
er's laundry list on his ink grinding
stone and then by carelessDess spilled
some aquafortis on the surface. The re-
suit was magical and the items Of that
weeks washing stood out in bold relief.
That was the origin OF printing from
stone or lithogra phing, which is the only
process by which posters OF any size can
be produced.
The fret poster ever used in this coun-
try was circus bill in 1912, Ii inches
wide and 20 inches long, and they df1n-t
increase mach in size until 1874, when A.
M. Palmer, the big theatrical manager,
ordered "three-sheeth posters for a new
play, and from then on the advance all
over the country has been remarkable.
At the pres, nj time on Manhattan Island
there are ], ,oO0 COO square feet OF fence
and wall space used for bill posting. The
annual rental received for all this is s125,-
600, not to mention the hundreds of
"iree passes" that are given ou TO COM
pensate for the privilege of putting lith
ographs in shop windows. This space is
all controlled by three companies, and
their aggregate amount OF business each
year averages $3.50 600, two-thirds OF
which Is ior'' commercial posters. such
as .soap lads iand the rest is for show
bills.
The largest poster on record, now
being made, is TO cover II sheets, and
will require fence ten feet high and 81
feet long. Four hundred and sixty-four
stones Will be required TO make ii, and their
com bined weight is 139, 200 pounds. Two
thousand ciopies are TO he issued, reqnir-
ing 232, COO sheets OF paper, which weigh
so, $50 pounds. The cost OF this immense
picture has not been quoted, but some
idea of the expense can be obtained from
the fact that the medium size nIne-sheet
bill requires 80 stones that cost $40
apiece. To get out anything Of this size,
formerly required four months for 5000
90 lies, and they cost the advertiser 60
cents apiece; now they can be produced
In Ave days after the order is received
and they only cost eight cents apiece.
. OF course all this has opened new field
aud big one for the ARTISTS and so many
have gone into ii that there is now the
regularly organized "poster school, OF
art which has In its ranks many OF the
cleverest workmen in this country and
France and England.
TIE hest magazines have all recently
adopted 1t and new magazines have APP
peared because of ii. During the Napoleon
craze one OF the magazines had the city
OF Brooklyn covered with Napoleon lith-
ographs. One boy is credited with having
asked his father TO take him TO the Ma
poleon circus, and Charles Dudley Warner,
who happened to be i'm Brooklyn on elec-
tion day, asked friend what Office MIR.
Napoleon was candidate for.
AT the poster show in this city there
are 400 pictures, representing the work in
this country, and France, Spain and En-
gland. Many of them will prove TO be
old friends and all are worth looking at.
The list OF the artists who devote the
whole or part OF their time to poster
work are:
Alder, Allen, Beardsley, W. II. Bradley,
Carqeville, Chamber, Cneret, Clarh,
Kenyon Cox, Palmer Cox, Crane, Cruset,
Day, Edwards, Gardner, Garrett, Charles
Dana Gibson, Goodline Grasset, Greiffcn-
hagen, Gum, Hardy, Herford, howard,
King, De La Barre. Learned, Lincoln.
Lipman, Marshall, McCarter, McNickar,
Meteysrd, Moores, Newell, Outcault,
Paxton, Penfield, Prenderegst, Reed. Rhea,
Robanui, Schweinfurth, Smedley, Smith,
Taylor, Underwood, VIII, Woodbury.,
Wright and Yeoll.