The times., 1899-10-15
CHANGES TN THE POSTERS
Makers Note Large Increase in
Art Critics.
Formerly the Advertiser Was Will
ing te Leave the Design TO the
Ideas of His own An Estimate
of the Money Spent Yearly.


ular fancy the business in commercial
posters has increased many fold" said a
member Of a great firm Of lithographers.
While this fact makes the photographer
happy che moment il frequently conduces
to his misery the next. for the customers.
who at one time dropped into his office,
ordered their goods. and left designs to
the publishers now set up 10 be art critics
aad insist upon bossiag their own jobs
Ii isn't at all like IL used TO be in the good
old days when there were few lithograph-
ers turning out stands, three-sheets,
sheets. half-sheets and gutter snipes. ac-
cording TO their own ideas. Then theatrical
managers would rush IN and entreat US TO
use Our own judgment and fix them up
right. Even the maragers of the little
Observation-Disclosures which travel the barn
circuit imagine that what they don't know
about art, and especially art in a poster.
is buried with the dead, while the proprie-
tors of iron-eIad dynamite pills or sure
cure fluids place their judgment OF the ar
tistic far above that of the men who exc
cute The pictures desired
The history OF the poster in this coun-
try and especially in this city is interest
ing. In the first place it consisted merely
OF simple announcement on sheet of
the size Of programme which was yir-
tually all il amounted to. Subsequent to
this came the lithogrsph of a star per-
former or singer. copies of which were
distributed among the keepers of shops
for display in their windows. They did
not appear in the streets, and / recolIect
that as a boy / often saw such portraits
OF favorite actors and actresses hung up
an handsome frames in the homes Of per-
sons in comfortable circumstances. Next
came the three-sheet bill. consisting OF
three sheets CT paper. each measuring
tWenty-eight by forty-three inches This
was used for circus advertising and p. T.
Bsrnum introduced them, or, at least, that
credit has always been given to the great
Snowman.
Bills as large as this constitute stand
work. q stand being any fence, boarding.
or sail on which posters may be displayed.
The average stand, termed a twenty-eight
sheet stand, is four sheets high and seven
sheets long Regular stands. given over
10 advertising purposes, were established
about 1872. ] think, and their numbers
rapidly increased At first there was some
difficulty encountered by enterprising man
ayers in finding available locations for
their stands. / remember how a number
Of them solved the vexed question by
utilizing the wooden eenee which then sur
rounded the Worth Monument, and which
was covered at times from top to bottom
with posters Of rival piayhouses to the
great disgust Of conservative citizens. A
comic paper, in the seventies. took the
matter up and published an indignant car
tcon. following il up with an article pre-
dieting the ultimate desecration Of all our
most sanctifed edifsces the rivalry grew.
" Uncle Toms Cabin was one Of the first
attractions 10 go on the road. and the man
ayers OF that perennial theatrical flower
were about the first 10 use wood cuts for
heralding their approach. Even now these
wood cuts, representing little Eva and IN
Gle Tom, assemblies OF plantation slaves.
Mr- Marks and his donkey, etc, are 10 be
met with all over the country Gradually
the wood cuts were displaced by Htho-
graphic work Of a fair sort. The artistic
Improvement in posters began some time
prior 10 1875. coincident with the improve
msnts in photography and lnhography. ana
has now reached a plane beyond which II
VIII be almost impossible tc ascend. Ger
tatniy, some posters are much cheaper than
questionable taste; but take the finest work
OF the photographer and you viii find II
characterized by elaborate design and deli
cate execution in a great variety of colors
and shades, and possessed of real artistic
merit In short, the general attr2ctiVeness
OF the up-to-date poster would have fairly
overwhelmed the last generation with as
toniskment To be sure, the modern af-
fair costs & great deal more than did it,
crude predecessors, but, nevertheless. a.
fully six times as many are In use now as
there used to be, the cost OF fine work IS
proportiOnately lessened.
The assertions OF the theatrical men
that il was the theatres. appropriating the
idea OF the circuses, which caused the i'm
mense development Of poster advertising
by manufacturers OF articles OF common
need are entirely correct II is ret. as
some mercantile firms have insisted the
manufacturers Of nostrums breakfast
FOODS. baby powders. confections. e c. who |
gave the impulse to the theatres. TIE rea-
son that you see more posters advertising |
So and Sos beer. whisky, soap medicines.
cigars, cigarettes. corsets, bicycles, books. |
dress goods furniture. or other articles |
than lithographic pictures showing |
the sensational or captivating in
eidents of So and Sos play. is |
all due TO the fact that the
mercantile houses have as a rule, more |
money to spend in advertising Of this sort
than the theatres The bill posters pay |
REM Tor their stands, and their prices for !
sticking bills have gradually ascended fro n |
= and l-2 cents sheet 10 1 and cents. /
In addition 10 this rather superior re- 1
muneration The bill posters reeeiYe Ger
tain number OF bill-b beard tickets
This lali, as many times IN the past ef- !
forts are being made by combinations of |
theatrical managers TO do away with the /
expense OF posters entirely. The eombina-
ton. Of course. is necessary. for no single
manager could afford to do away with this /
method Of advertising his performances
unless every one of his competitors dIg Y
the same However. we photographers
view the agitation for the abolition OF
posters with no alarm. We as well as the 1
managers who are discussing the shelving /
Of the billboard, remember an incident 1
that occurred IN Boston just about eighteen
years ago At that time the theatrical men 4
got together and agreed one and ali 10 do i
away with the poster 1t was further /
agreed that the first TO break the compact /
MAS to forfeit 500. Well. next week Bos-
tons biilbosrds were without a solitary /
theatrical poster until Saturday morning.
when the Inhabitants OF that community
OF culture and beans were startled to find /
the town fairly blanketed with the lifh-
ographic advertisements Of one particular
theatre. and one only. The manager who
had broken the compact In SO ruthless a
fashion promptly sent his check for 800
10 The treasurer CT the combination. to-
nTF ITrfr f1-.-1 -.