The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-12-27
They Are Read
BY All.
THE SPY CONTEST
Lends New Proof to Well
Established Fact.

VI ( that has ever DCEll JgALtll uH lllSlut
Of a Worcester newspaper office.
If the public could all see the array
of coupons that repose in baskets i'm an
out-of-the-way corner of The Spy s
business office and read the names OF
the writer's, they would at once grasp
the situation and exclaim: THE Spy
goes everywhere.
Coupons came in showers; they kept
several members of the staff in the
business office exceedingly busy for
nearly three days, and then the three
judges, who were purely disinterested
persons, were nearly driven crazy for
the greater portion of two days read
ing the writer's reasons and trying TO
impartially decide who were entitled to
the five prizes.
The coupons were cut out and sent
to The Spy office by men and women in
all walks of life. They came from the
rich and the poor, the great and the
small. Clergymen, doctors, students,
policemen clerks, housewives, neWspa-
per and magazine editors and writers
and last, but by no means least, school
boys and girls, who gave intelligent
and concise reasons why they thought
W
the best.
Every advertisement in The Spy's
columns was thoroughly read. The
coupons prove this conclusively, as
even the small one-inch and two-inch
notices were commented upon. Every
advertiser had his share of the read
ers attention. All that an advertiser
asks for is to have his lad" read by
the masses.
The coupons are the best proof the
advertisers could possibly get that The
Spy enters the mansions of the rich
and the less pretentious homes of the
poor, and is read every day in the
year very carefully. If it was not
read, the thousands who sent in cou-
pOns would never have known that the
paper was giving away $50 in shining
gold.
The coupons were written in such a
manner: such intelligent reasons were
given why the writer's thought their
selected lad" was the best, that it
plainly showed that the public have
read The Spy's advertisements before,
and when a prize was offered they sim
ply used the information heretofore
gained to try and get a golden Christ
mas present.
The coupon writer's in some cases
were poets. In other cases, they
proved themselves to be wits, but all
showed that they had taken such a
decided interest that they had read ev-
cry line of advertising in Wednesday, S
paper and the merchants must have
protited thereby, as the dead and gone
Snowman, P. T. Barnum, who probab-
ly spent q S much money on advertising
as any one man, often declared public
ly that printers ink judiciously dis
played, brought greater returns than
anything else he knew of, and he also
said in his life history, that the money
he had spent using printers ink had
made his colossal fortune.
The coupons in The Spy Office ought
to all be printed, but they would take
up more space than all the papers in
Massachusetts could supply Some of
the humorous, practical, poetical and
terse ones are printed below, to show
how the people took to the novel con-
test, and will also give the readers an
dea of how generally advertisements.
especially The Spy's advertisements, al
ways have been and always will be
read by the people
The following reasons given by a
competitor on Green, the druggists
'ad." shows that Mr.. Green caught the
9ye of the writer. and he purchased his
FOODS when he had really intended to
buy elsewhere:
My reasons are: The very funny
open all night cat on Mr.. Green's
high board fence caught my eye and
attracted my attention to the well de-
fined story told by the excellent cuts
Of silverware. 1t caught my pocket
book and sent my money in ali entire
ly new channel"
Perhaps the advertiser sold enough
silverware to this competitor TO pay
for the lad"
Then comes d coupon from man
who believes that there is q possibility
that all mems hearts are reached
through their stomach, and he selected
the Creamerie's attractive display, and
said:
MY reasons arc: 1t appeals to all
classes for every ore must eat, and
especially at Christmas time. 1t Of
fers so much for the money and the
menu is so tempting 1t will reach the
heart of all men; Ihat is, if they have
the kind that is reached through the
stomach"
This writer was witty and still
sensible.
One of the shortest and most point
ed reasons given was she following:
F. Hewett Co. My reasons are: Be
cause it is neat concise and attract
i've"
Then appears one from 4 person who
knows a good thing when h sees it..
He selected The Spy lad" and spoke
of it in this wise: My reasons are: It's
a readable paper and may be read by
young and old, gives us news of most
!, f,,-s s,g,
world. Reading The Spy advances us
very much,
known clergymen in Worcester He Sc
leeted the Pinkham & Willis Co.'s dis
play:
My reasons are; Location, clear type,
goods offered appeal to practical sense
of local buyers, who prefer utility to
ornament; to an increasing ambition
for better furnished houses; to people 5
unselfishness, in the words, Buy some
thing whole family can enjoy. Pictures
and price give complete information
Repetition Of firm name fixes atten-
ton"
The following is from the pen of ar
.economizer. Five advertisements are
selected as follows:
81 select the advertisement of Den
HON & Mckay Co, Green, Clark
Hewett & Co.. and Pierce &c Co. My
reasons are: That Denholm & Mckay
Co.'s seems the most instructive, while
Green's seems so ingenious. and Clark
& Co. the most practical, and Hewett
& Co. the most comic, and Pierce & Co.
the most elaborate. So
The writer of the above, a lady,
wanted to get the $50 intact, and she
selected five, hoping they would be the
winners.
A practical fellow writes the follow
ing, which is elf-explanatory: