Evening star., 1899-04-14
USE OF ONE-CENT STAMPS
They Are Losing Favor, AccOrinn f.
Post Office Records,

Post Office Records.
From the New York Herald
Zen thousand circulars were heaped on a
long table in the advertising department of
great retail establishment in one of the
principal shopping districts. They were
contained in as many envelopes to which a
haIf dozen clerks We're engaged in affixing
2-cent postage stamps
one-cent stamps would surely carry
those circulars through the MAIL" suggest
eo visitor; there's no writing in them.
why 90 you waste an extra 500 in post
age?'
You're right" admitted the manager of
the department. THE circulars certainly
could be accepted at a 1-cent rate but hig
retail establishments and department stores
winch utilize this means of notifying reg
uiar customers of openings or special sales
long ago discovered that it was false econ
oIhy 10 use l-cent stamps. In fact that
stamp, so far as the metropolitan retail
trade is concerned, is a thing of the mast
Tor In these times the busy man or woman
--ahd who, pray, is not busy will not take
i tne lifne 10 open an unsealed envelope bear
ing I-cent stamp. He or she knows at a
glance that it contains advertising matter.
una therefore, without more ado tosses it
INTO the waste basket.
Every person likes to be addressed nor
sonally, ard to know in advance that sucb
IS not the case makes a bad impression
Ihus the difference between 1-cent and 3
cent postage corresponds with haraneuing
man in a vast crowd and talking to him
IN MS home. You may think this is draw
ing 1t a trifie fine, but advertising has he
come 50 important to commercial success
.hat absolutely nothing can be neglected to
insure proper consideration and attention
2-cent stamp usually guarantees the
sender that his envelope will be opened
me attractlveneSS and general interest of
the circular must be depended upon to do
the rest - Wv
IN this matter of postage and the dis
tribution of advertising through the mails
the great retail houses of New York have
brought their system to the verge of an
exact science. For example, take this lot of
nate niPeuiars 1 you @ see here. They are very or
io,e1, CT 3 cents apiece Were they to be
sent out with 1-cent stamps on them et
least four-fifths would be thrown away,
which means loss of s240 for the inclo-
sures $50 for postage and about $50 for en-
veopes and addressing making a total loss
OF $3.50. The increased cost of the 2-cent
stamps is 500, but that assures us each
circular will meet the eye of the person to
whom it is addressed, and therefore min
imize our possible less. You see there is no
sentiment in advertising. 1t is all matter
of figures. of skilled calculation and arith-
metical consistency
1.-The adoption of the 2-cent stamp is also
due to the increased cost of advertising
matter distributed through the mail now
adays Some years ago most business
houses sent their regular customers very
crude or simple little pamphlets. quoting
prices and perhaps adorned with a few
small, indifferently executed cuts. The
whole thing was cheaply put together was
printed on very ordinary paper, cost but a
trlfie and went through under cover of l.
cent stamps The modern circular, pam
phlet or booklet common to the uses of big
retail houses is very different. The cover
design Is drawn by an artist of talent the
illustrations are often equal to those of the
leading magazines and the 1etterpress is
frequently prepared by men gifted with a
high order of literary ability. OF course
the mechanical work must be In accord
and thus the cost of such publications,
trif1ing though they may seem to laymen
is a serious item in the annual expense of
the advertising department. When such
outlay of money is made the department
must be reasonably certain that the cir
cular is at least seen by the person to whom
1t Is mailed, and under the circumsta nces 1t
would be foolish to 1-cent stamps.
which at once suggest something cheap and
of no special Significance"
"One-cent stamps are certainly disappear
ing from the New York mails at least"
said an employe of the post office. 1T is
surprising to notice the matter that comes
In or goes out every day covered by 2-cent
stamps which formerly was covered by l.
cent postage. Five years ago we seldom
saw a 2-cent stamp on a newspaper parcel
unless the package carried more than one.
Now the 2-cent stamp is pasted on nine out
of ten newspaper wrappers
1.-THE use of the 1-cent stamp is confined
to persons who mail notices of meetings
and receptions, as a rule, and amounts to
little or nothing except along about election
time. Big metropolitan firms think, have
forgotten that such thing as a 1-cent
stamp ever existed"