El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-06-12
INTEREST IN THE
ADS IN HERALD
Many Women Write in Her
aid Contest About Their
Favorite Advertisements.

Is newspaper advertising read regu-
larry. carefully and inteuigently? Is
1t a source Of genuine assistance to
the thrifty2 Is it an extraordinarily
profitable sales medium for the bust
ness man?
Convincingly affirmative answers to
these questions are presented on pages
4 and 5, editorial section. Of today's
Herald, whire announcement is made
OF the names Of the IS southwestern
women who have been declared win
ners of the 500 in cash prizes offered
in the "Ad Reading" competition in
augurated by this newspaper in April.
This competition has proved from start
TO finish one Of the most popular and
interesting ever presented to the south
western public and the results offer
the most striking evidence not only of
tremendous selling power of neWspa-
per advertising but also of the excep-
tiOnal buying shreWdness OF south
western women.
The results Of this unique, letter
writing test are all the more striking
because the conditions of the compe-
tition were so simple. Any woman or
girl was eligible, and no money was
required. Competitors were asked
merely to select from issues OF The
Herald between April p and May 81
the advertisements which appealed 20
were to write The Herald a letter Civ
ing reasons for their special interest
in the advertisement selected. The
question Of literary finish was entire
" disregarded in the judging. the
prizes being awarded for the letters
that were considered the plainest and
most interesting The object was, OF
course, to obtain absolutely frank and
sincere expressions Of opinion-genu-
inc reasons why women read neWspa-
no q Tr~arffefr,r~ nd rr-1a
usements appeal to them more than
others.
Letters began arriving at The Her
aid office Immediately after the first
announcement Of the competition, and
continued in daily punches right up to
June 5, the closing date. They came
from women in every section Of Arr
iona. New Mexico and west Texas; and
in practically every case. the writer's
showed not only that they were regu-
that they read advertisements for the
double purpose Of saving money and
keeping uptOdate.
So many good letters were received
that he judging became a matter of
considerable difficulty and the prizes
were awarded My after the emOst Sc
rious and protracted deliberation.
Among the letters which did not re-
ceive prizes, there were a number Of
such excellence that they were deemed
worthy or recognition, ana honorable
mention is hereby accorded TO letters
submitted by the following: Miss
Allen Z. Smith. Of Cloudcroft, n N;
Mrs Elmer E Share, sos North Oregon
street. FL PasO- Miss D. H Crutcher,
1910 North Fl Paso street, FL PasO;
Mrs i. B. Andrews. Fort Bliss. Texas:
Mrs J. NJ. Terry, Madrid, y. n. Mrs.
F. P. Barron, Fort Stockton. Texas,
and Mrs. Paul Nesch. Deming. y. n
An inspection Of the letters sub
mitted in this competition reveals the
fact that the interest Of southwestern
women is by no means confined TO ad-
vertisements dealing with wearables,
food products and household goods
Practically every kind Of service or
commodity represented in Herald adj
Vertisements struck some woman as
particularly interesting. and the result
was a mass of letters extraordinarily
varied in contents.
In a word. there is just one conclu-
sion 10 be drawn from the results Of
The Heralds ~Ad Reading competi-
ton: A well prepared advertisement
placed in The Fl Paso Herald is the
most effective means Of selling goods
or service in -the FL Paso southwest