The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1901-08-23
srArlsrIcs OF ApvEarIsIno.
Estimate That it Costs Five per Cent
Of the Value II Goods Sold.

I CFrOm the Baltimore NewsJ
A recent publication OF the Ameri.
lean Statistical Association contains an
article by Sidney a Sherman, Ph. d..
ON Advertising IN .he United states
which bring on. a number OF interest.
ling facts relating to the subject and
Iincldeetally some points in reference
to the periodical and newspaper press
of the country According the CEN
sus of 1890. the amount of money in
vested IN the daily and weekly news
papers OF the United sta.es at hat
time was Si26O00,0OO. and Dr. sher.
man estimates that the Increase since
hen has been about so per cent,
which would bring the present in
vestment up to nearly S200.OOO0OO.
In 1880. more than 100000 persons
were employed by these newspapers,
and received an aggregate yearly
pay OF about S7O.OOO,OOO
without specifying he source of his
data. DR.. Sherman sets down the re.
ceipts from advertising at various
periods as follows: In 1867, 10000
600: in 1873 $4,000 900; in 1880, $780,
100000 in 1890. s71JOO,OOO and ne
judges. from the enormous rapidity
OF this increase. and from he well
known enlargement OF the advertis-
ing business during the past decade,
that the receipts of the daily and week.
/ ly newspapers for The year 1900 will
be found to have approached pretty
near to the sl5OOOO,OOO mark-a fig.
ure which, however, is in all probabil-
ity an overestimate.
Alongside Of this rapid development,
there has been Tho striking growth
OF advertising in the monthly maga-
zines. Up to almost the time of the
civil war this class of advertising had
no exis ence the first advertisement
ia the Atlantic appeared in February
! 1860, and the first in Harper's in
July, 1864. OF late years, as every
Ione knows, the advertisements have
become a sa lent feature of our mon, h
lily magazines; fortunately, their at
tractiyeness Of appearance has kept
pace with the increase OF guam ity.
In the case of Harper's Magazine.
while up TO 1883 1--WE or six pages of
advertising matter IN a number was
the usual thing, from eighty to a hun
dred pages has been the rule in the
past ten years or more, and often the
amount has exceeded hundred pages
Taking up the broad queshtion OF
what ratio advertising expenditure
bears 10 the value of goods sold, DR..
sherman comes to the conclusion that
probably 5 per cent is not an overes-
innate. In his estimate, adver. ising
OF all kinds is included, not only that
which Is supplied by new wspapers and
periodicals. by circulars. posters, etc.
but also hat which takes a personal
form. in which last the cost OF com
meroial travellers is the mHin item
The value of goods sold in the United
Sta es I'm 1890 is taken to be $4,000
600 900 and that Of advertising them
at $500. .0O0O There is a good deal
of guesswork about all this, Of course;
out though The figures are probably
pretty wide Of the mark they furnish
some kind of notion of the extent OF
he adver ising business. However
the inclusion of the whole expenses
of commercial traye'ers under the
head of advertising is rather a queer
procedure. The cost of the CONNER
cial travellers, great as i, is, is far
less than was the aggregate cost in
volved, In former days, in the making
of Journeys by the buyer to the sell
er. ms cad of the seller to the buyer;
so that while the commercial traveller
lis to be set down as part OF he ma
chsnery 2f competition, he can hard
ly be claased as belonging simply to
the advertising apparatus. On the
whole we believe that 5 per cent is
decidedly an overestimate OF the cost
of advertising.