The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-08
CHANGES IN THE POSTERS.
MAKERS NOTE LARGE increase
IN ART CRITICS.
Formerly the Advertiser Was willing to
Leave the Design to the photographer,
hut Now He Has Ideas of His own
Growth of This Form OF Advertising
An Estimntc of the Money Snnnt NcnrlN.

an Estimate OF the Money spent yearly.
Since art posters took hold Of the popular
fancy the business in commercial posters has
increased many fold" said member Of a great
firm Of photographers while this fact makes
the photographer happy one moment IL frequently
cnnduces To his misery the next, for the custom
ere. who at one time dropped in to his Office or
dcred their guods, and left designs Ia the pub
fishers n"w set UP 10 b" art critics and insist
upon bosslng their own jobs. II isn't at all like
II used 10 b" in the good old days when there were
few photographers turning out stands, three sheets
sheets, half sheets and gutter snlpcs. according
- their own idcaN Then theatrical managers
would rush IN and cntrcat us tn use our own judg
mcnt and fix them up right Even the managers
"f the little blood and thuni"rs which travel the
barn circu, imagine that what they don't know
about art and especially art in a poster. is bur
led with the dead while the proprrtors Of iron
clad dynamite pills or sure cure fluids place their
Judgment 81 the artistic far above that Of the
men who execute the pictures desired.
"rhe history Of thc poster in this country and
especially in this city is interesting In the first
| place II consisted m"rel, 81 rimplc announce.
mcnt on sheet Of III" size Of n programme which
was virtually all II amounted To- Subsequent
| 10 this came the Autograph Of a star performer
| or singer, copies ut which were distributed among
tn" keepers Of shops for display in their windows,
| They did not APPEAR in the streets. and I rrcul
| l"ct that as boy often saw such portraits Of
| fGNuritc actors and actresses hung up in hand.
| some francs IN the horne, of persons in comfort
| able circumstances. Next came tho three sheet
bill, consisting Of three sheets " paper, each
| measuring twenty eight by forty three inches
| TINS was used for circus advertising, and i. T..
bathum introduced them, or, at least that credit
| ha. always been given 10 IA" great Snowman.
bills as large this constitute stand work.
| stand being any fence. boarding or wall ON whCh
| posters may h' displayed The average stand.
termed twenty eight sheet stand, is four sheets
| high and even shrrts long Regular stands,
| given over To- advertising purposes "stab
| llshed about 1872. think. and their numbers
! rapidly increased At frs, there was some din'
| Guilty encountered by cnterprising managers
| in finding available locations for their stands
| | remember how number Of them solved the
V"N"d question by utilizing the wooden fence
| which then surrounded the Worth Monument
and which covered at times from top to bo,
tom with po,tcrs Of rival playhouScS To tn" great
| disgust Of conservative citizens. \ comic apcr,
III the seventies. took the matter up and published
| an indignant cartoon, following it up with an
article predicting the ultimate dissertation of all
| our most sanCtf"d rhiticrS the rivalry grew.
"l nclc Toms Cabin was one ot the first at
| fractions to 60 on the road and the managers ot
! that perennial! theatrical flower were about the
first 10 us" woodcu,s for heTadng their approach
Even now thcs" w"odcuts, representing little Era
! and t'rr" Ton. assemblies IT plantation slaves
| hr. Marks and his dunkry cite are to b., met
with all over the country Gradually The wood
cuts were replaced by photographic work uf a fair
| sort The artistic Improvement in posters began
| S"'nr Inn" PRIOR Ia 1870. cOincdCnt with the i'm
| prorem"ntS IN photography and photography and
has now reached plane beyond which it will bc
| almost impossible Ia ascend. Certainly some
| posters ar" much cheaper than others. and there
are many displays Of questionable taste; but take
| the fineS' work Of the thograuhcr and you will
find it characterized by elaborate design and deli
| cate execution in n great variety Of culorS and
short thr general aitraCilvrneSs Of the up to date
| poster would have fairly overwhelmed the last
E'ncrn,inn with n~t"nlShmrnt To he sure, the
mod "rn affair r"'' q great deaf more than did its
crude predecessors. but nevertheless as fully six
| times as many ar" IN MS" now as there used To be-,
| the cost OF I'm" work Is propGr,ionatcy lcssrncd.
The assertions Of the theatrical men that it
was tho theatres. nppropriating the idea of the
| crcuSes, which caused the immense develop
| mcnt 81 poster advertising by manufacturers
| Ct artl"l" If common need ar" entirely correct
| the manufacturers Of nuS,rums, breakfast foods,
h"by powders, confcc'ions:, &C., who gave the
impulse Use, I" The theatres The reason that you
whisky soap. medicines, cigars, cigarettes, cor
sets, biryclcS; books dress goods furniture.
| or other articles, photographic pictures showing
III" sensational or captivating incidents Of So
ana H"T play is all dG" to the fact that tn" mer
spend IN advertising Of this sort than the theatres
The H lI posters pay rent t%T their stands and
lHfi hl'tS lpi SutklllE DnIS nave GRADUALLY
assembled from ? aud o. cents a sheet to and
cents In nddiiion t" thus rather SUPERIOR re
| her Of bill board tickets
This iall, rs many times in the past efforts
are being made by comhipatons Of theatrical
entirely II" combination, Of course is nrccs
! SArN. i"r n" single manager could afford TO do
| AWAY with this method Of advertising his pr
did tn" samr. However, We lnhograrLc's view
III" agitation for the abolition Of posters with
| no alarm, We, We'll the II hn
! ar" discussing the shelving OF tho bill board
remember incident that occurred in Boston
! Just about eighteen years ago At that time
| tn" theatrical men got together and agreed one
ard all To DO away with the Poster. Ii was fur
! thfT agreed that the first Ia brraL the compact
! was 10 forfeit 500 Well, next week 3ostnn's
| bill boards were without a solitary theatrical
habitants Of that community of culture and beans
! were startled 10 find the town fairly hanketcd
| win The photographic advertisements Of one par
lcnlar th'atre and one only. The manager
WHO had br"ken the compact in ruthless u
! fashion promptly sent his check for 500 To the
treasurer OF the combination, together with the
| brief though unconCcrncd, explanation that
he simply could not resist the golden opportunity,
/ And ! think myself II must hav" been a hard
Thing for MIN to hold out against such CHANGE
10 attract the volume Of attention 10 his theatre
| The temptation was enormous, and in the event
| OF similar compact being made by combina
zion OF local managers some one, Of the signcrs
Of the agreement would surely break over the
lcgc Of startling ihc natives by p.astcrns t
| city with his posters
1T was in the early seventies. il my memory
serves me right that the use Of gutter snipcs as
! sumed imposing Proportions in New York They
were pasted by I'll" tens of thousands along the
| gutter edge all over the city, and on barrels and
| boxes Shortly after the elevated railroad was
completed one fine morning all the pillars Of the
structures placardcd with gaudy strips Of
| paper procaiming the superior attractions Of a
| show An ordinance was Immediately passed
| f0rbidding the posting Of bills on sidewalks and
| public buildings. or upon private property without
| the consent Of the prnpretOrS. Some years ago
when the streets u New York were a forest of teIc
graph poles. the latter were much affected by the
advertising managers Of the various railroads for
| the posting Of tiE'" tables. This gave a hint Ia
| the theatrical managers. and before long printed
slips and smell lithngraphS were contpsting for
public notice with the time tables.
The use Of llthographs IN windows is increas
| ing nll the time, beginning with portraits of
theatrical principals these were followed by pic
lures OF the same in character and in turn by scenes
from th" plays in which the prime pals appeared
| All three are now in general use, but instead Of
IN" plain affairs OF he past all autographs, with
lew exceptions ar" IN Col0rs. As in the case of
! the big posters, any number of efforts have been
made To do away with window advertising, hui
| Tor the very same reasons thCS" efforts have al
ways ended in failure OF late lthographing on
! metal has been introduced for window displays
| in order to make them last longer"
| How much money IS spent in year upon the