New-York tribune., 1905-11-19
BALLOON ADVERTISING.
<Grotesques" of Al Sorts Made and
Used IN France for This Purpose.

In the vausiraud Quarter of Paris is fac
tory in which balloons are made-baIloOns of
special kind called 'grotesques," and which
used not for carrying people to the clouds, but
for proclaiming the virtues and good qualities
of patent medicines and other wares which ad-
vertisers have 10 sell This factory has seri
GUS department wei a humorous depart
meRt Here made the balloon in which
Andre started Off his journey toward the
North Pole and all the airships which Nj. San
tos-Dumont has carried out his experiments.
These have been described till all the world is
familiar with them. hut the ''grotesques' are
little known outside France.
DID you that gigantic balloon in the
sl4oe of scent bottle which l made for one
of the Paris expositfons?' asked the manufact-
We'll, at every ascent it was seen by at
least one hundred thousand persons and seen
under conditions which made them never forget
the name of the scent it intended to ad-
vertise. That balloon cost something like 81. coo
and each trip cost about $500 1t was big
affair. the holding thirty persons and the
ascent lasting several hours during which time
the eyes of thousands were fixed upon the gigan-
tie lettering covering the bottle from top to bot
tom
My 'gTotcsques' were originally intended for
country fairs and fetas. One day a gentleman
called upon and ordered a gross of assorted
grotesques. each of which there had to be
written the name of certain pill. famed I
understand. fer curing every i'll. | made him
up a splendid parcel of tigers and lions. eIe-
plants and crocodiles. leopards and prize pork
ers. dwarfs and giants, Punches and fat boys not
to mention pigs with wings, fish of strange
shapes and apoeaIyptic beasts of various spe-
ces Wei when he got these IA specimens of
what my factory can create he had them taken
to provincial exhibition and sent up all at
once Imagine what an advertisement that was
for his pills
Here the manufacturer interrupted his story
and took his visitor off to the workshops to
inspect his stock His grotesque balloons were
packed in variegated bundles of from twelve
to hundred in cupboards. and he took num-
ber Of these out and instructed an assistant to
initiate them
Soon the workshop was peopled with the
strangest beings And they managed some
how or other. to form most laughable groups.
A policeman SCARED aloft and made a furious
dive after a much inflated concierge, whom
he appeared to be anxious to take before
police commissary. who had taken up a position
in close proximity to a table, before which he
had an air of sitting. A harlequin made pre-
tence Of playing tricks upon a butcher with
whom his accomplice Columbine was deeply en-
gagged in conversation Then there was a
leopard which seemed 10 have evil designs upon
The crowd of animals-pgs, rabbits and lambs
for whatever one did he always would move in
their direction To prevent a wholesale mas
5acre the manufacturer ordered the ferOCiOus
beast to be hauled to earth again and instantly
dispatched by letting out his wind. Then was
one of the most comical and at the
same time realistic of scenes Grotesque indeed
were the death throes Of that leopard as the