The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-05-22
ONE MORE D CLUB
LeavenWOrth Merchants Awaken
to Importance of Movement.
First Meeting a Success From
Every Viewpoint.
j. w. ROBINSON SPOKE
Topeka Booster Explained Work
Of Capital City Club.
Merchants Expect to Interest
200 Firms Within 80 Days.

LeavenWorth, Kan, May Got
the ffty-seven men interested in the
formation of the Leavenworth Ad club
forty-one signed the roll as members
at the meeting held to perfect the or
ganization in the club rooms of the
Greater Leavenworth club And i;
that great number consider the AID
club good thing there is no reason
why the club should not have, by its
next business meeting, the first Tues
day in June, membership of $50,
and it is thought before a month it
will grow to at least 200. This is a
rather roseate statement, but the en-
thuStaSm that was shown was great,
and those who failed to attend will
have regrets that they were not there
The question asked by so many
merchants who were requested to join
the association: .'What are you going
to do with this wildcat or graft
advertising?" was ably answered by
J. w. Robinson of Topeka, chairman
of a Topeka organization of mer-
chants, and if any merchant wants
to know Just what they do in Topeka
all he has to do is to ask anyone who
attended the meeting. for Mr.. Rob-
inson's explanation was so explicit
that a child could comprehend it.
j. w. Robinson's Address.
The real feature Of the meeting
was the address made by J. w. Rob-
inson of Topeka, relative to the man
ner in which the Merchants associa-
ton in that city gets away from graft
or wildcat advertising. He told of
the formation of the Topeka associa-
ton; that it was not opposed to pro-
gram advertising, if it was good ad-
thing that was good, but that it saved
the Topeka merchants thousands of
dollars in many ways. Regarding the
AID club, by way of introducing his
subject, he said:
at Greats a good feeling among the
merchants. They get together, rub
elbows, find out that the other fellow
is a good fellow, and have a better
opinion of each other and work to-
gether for a common good.
Merchants Pay the Bills.
Relative to undesirable advertis-
ing I want to say the advertiser pays
all the. advertising bills. whether in
a newspaper or in any other publica-
ton. If it is bad the merchant pays
as much for it as he would were it
good. We do not all know what is
good advertising, but we do know
what is bad.
Five years ago the merchants of
Topeka started the organization for
the suppression of Objectionable or
Improbable advertising. We had six
members, now we nave SlXIy-IVe
and hope to have this year a men,
bership of 200. We figured out that
$4,000 was spent in Improbable
advertising by the merchants of To-
peka in 1908. and that we saved the
merchants who belonged to our asso-
citation $25, OOO.'
He told of the association printing
the entire programme for or
CARNATIONS in Topeka that solicited
ads from it and that one programme
that had Sis worth of estimated adj
vertising on it was printed by the
organization for S4.75. The sixty
five men saved SHOTS by having the
work done. The speaker told of
many graft schemes that were
nipped by the organization. 1t
didn't make any difference, he said,
whether all of the Topeka mer-
chants belonged to it or not.
Outside Merchants the Losers.
The ones not in the association
were the ones who were losing money
by not joining A solicitor is given a