New-York tribune., 1904-08-14
CAMPAIGN BANNERS.
Thousands Employed in Making
Them-.4rtiSts H'ho Do the W0rh.

81 can crack out eight portraits OF any Of the
candidates in one day" remarked the artist in
ne yariegated overas, as he added a touch Of
rolor 10 Mr.. Roosevelt's mustache. ANY. old
kind Of copy viii do. a picture clipped from a
magazine often serves il a photograph IS not
easily procurable. One does not have 10 bother
with the lines OF the face in making a picture
for a campaign banner So long as IL looks the
Tart from the sidewalk the picture passes mus
lr."
Tho artist went on TO explain that the present
Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates
especially easy TO paint. All have faces with
rrongly marked characteristics that make II
Imost impossible for campaign banner artist
@ wander from a resemblance. President Rocse-
Falt with eyeglasses. round face and low
solar hair parted slightly al the side and set.
determined look is not a difficult problem. Fair
banks has high forehead and beard that is
peculiar put a Fairbanks beard on almost any
face. say the artists Of the street banners. and
The face will look like Fairbanks's Parker has
q big mustache and a judicial face. with no ex-
traOTdnary lines To bother the painter who
counts on turning out eight portraits of the
Democratic candidate a day; and Davis. with
lis pointed white beard. is a blessing TO the
artist Of the campaign variety.
The man who paints the portraits for the
fuCot banners is at the top notch OF his pro-
iession. He viii condesccnd. when ordered 10, TO
devote his talents to the portrayal of n wide
winged eagle clawing d star spangled shield or
he viii Gil in his time lettering Il PIuribus
Unum' on half finished banners, but he regards
fuch work as the proper sphere Of less talented
artists. The portrait man considers that his
time should be spent ON the pictures of the can
didGtes. The rest he calls filling in"
II requires the energies of twelve men to make
hat
being flung to the breeze. Two men prepare the
strips on which the lettering is done. Two more
attend to the lettering of these strips, painting
the names Of the clubs or assoc ations ordering
the banners the captions for the portraits and
the Offices for which the nominees are to con-
tend. TWO meu work on the centrepicces, the
eagle and the shield and the "E Pluribus Unum"
without which 10 political party with a hope of
securing votes would fling it's banner to the
breeze. One man works the special portraits
and the rest assemble the various parts sew the
strips together with sewing machines or get
down on the floor and hand sew them to the
netting.
Some Of the men employed in the making of
the campaign banner are artists who have come
into the field by the straight gate. but the ma
jority have climbed over the wall The former
clacs is made up of graduates from the art
schools, who find in the great demand for their
services in the campaign rush more remunera-
tive field than in painting pictures that no one
will buy. 1t is this class that attends to the
painting OF the portraits of candidates. BY
working on the same faces day after day, these
men become 30 skilful and so quick that they
can paint Roosevelt or Parker in the dark
with their eyes shut and paint 1t as true to life
as the standard Of the campaign banner indus
try requires