Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1912-04-21
BEST METHOD OF
ADVERTISING CITY
Address Delivered Before Ban
quet of Iowa AID. Men in &C.
dar Rapids, by J. r. Bah
cock, of Dallas, Tex.

A city is not land, houses, workshops
and railroads. 1t is living, pulsating
entity; it's soul the sum of all the
characteristics of its citizenship; its
body, the ground, underlaid with it's
arterial system of water, drained and
cleansed by it's sewers, overlaid by
highways, car lines and bridges; it's
clothing, the showing it makes to its
friends, the other cities when they
come to call. The clean street is the
cities well kept garb and the shaded
parks, its smile ofwelcome; the play
ground a glimpse of its humanity.
The same impulse which dresses
a man in clean, well-ftting clothes, or
an advertisement in clear type on
fine paper, should prompt the soul of
the city to present its best appear
ance to the world. Realizing that the
word of mouth advertising is beyond
price, and that clothes ofttimes make
the man.
Civic attractiveness means not
Identification alone, but the city
healthful, with clean streets; the city
convenient, with good car service as
well as artistic trolley poles; with
good government, as well as a magni-
f1cent city hall
Limit it however to externals, and
1t can be shown that civic attractive
ness pays not only in making health
Ter, happier and better citizens, but
commercially and industrially, civic
attractiveness is one of the best mu-
nicipal assets and certainly the best
municipal advertisement.
Dirt, dust and disorder have driven
many an otherwise good merchant on
the rocks of failure. We buy our
goods from the retailer who has the
cleanest, most attractive stock, the
best delivery system, but not neces-
sarily the lowest prices; today we
are willing to pay for efficiency; the
time value, the place value, the art
value are factors that influence bust
ness.
Cities compete for trade; the GUS
toner arrives in your town at dirty,
dangerous and disgraceful railroad
station; he inhales a draught of sew
er gas and factory smoke, seizes his
grip and starts the short walk to his
hotel; stranger in a strange land, he
tries to get his bearings; his hotel is
at the corner of Pacific and Pearl
but no street signs appear; a cloud
of AlIGf l. t.
eyes and he just escapes being run
over by a taxi-cab driven on the
wrong side of the street. The police
man says, up one block; then to
your right" That block happens to
be 800 feet long without a break and
the wondering customer reaches his
hotel with curse of contempt for
such an lily planned town.
He meets you Mr.. Man, who have
advertised the City of Power" Hydro
Electric for 1c kilowatt. He is in
terested in the cheapness. How
about the cost of labor" he asks.
Well" you say labor is not plenti-
full; somehow the laboring men don't
stay here long. They are constantly
moving out; but you can surely get
plenty of help to start your factory
on " But Mr. Customer says, Labor
ing men are human. They must have
suitable homes, schools and church
es They can get them almost any
where" But laboring men, nova
days, are seeking the town where
they have parks, geological gardens,
Fairgrounds for their children social
centers. free kindegartens. a chance
to secure modest home with pleas
ant surroundings They stay in such
towns. Their wives and children
make them stay" We'll, you say, I'VE
have thought of those things but
they cost lot Of money. and we take
pride in having a tax rate which is
the lowest in the state. Our people
grumble about it even as it is, and
don't know what they would do If they
had to pay for such "frills."
Good bye! Mr. Customer has gone,
a $4,000 per week payroll has gone
with him. $1,300,000 a year worth of
business winch the merchants or
your town have lost and lost forever,
all because civic attractiveness was
not considered, and if considered at
all was called "frill."
IN advertising our cities we general
ly lose sight of great influence
which must be secured If we are to
succeed. The influence of the wife,
the mother or the daughter, must be
reckoned with what man will from
choice make his home in a squalid,
unkempt, unattractive city; all it's
commercial advantages are unconsid-
cred by the wife. She can only look
at the city from a home-making stand
point and only asks: rs it a city
healthful for my children, offering op.
portunity for culture, education and
recreation" Think of the purchasing
influence of the woman, the wise
framing of advertising to win her IA
vor, the care and expense put into at
tractive packing, and artistic design
ing OF all kinds of wares, to get her
"XOmen All af Sea-"