The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-07-25
POLK GETS FINE ADVERTISING
IN MANUFACTURERS RECORD
(From Manufacturers Record of
July 20. 1850

When POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA,
voted s1,50O,OOO OF bonds for the
building of good roads. it secured an
amount of publicity throughout
the United States which in itself
will be almost, If not quite. worth
the entire bond issue.
One illustration of the way in
which this has worked is shown in
connection with the business de-
partment of the Manufacturers Rec
ord. On June s there appeared in
the news columns of the Manufac-
turers Record a full-column story
about this issue of bonds, with a
statement that it was the largest
single bond issue ever voted by any
county in the South for good roads.
Particulars were given as to the en-
gineers who had prepared the plans
and Specifications, the names of the
various contractors in the South and
in other sections who had received
contracts for the building in the ag-
gregate of the PIT miles of projected
roads, and for the construction of re-
enforced culverts, with some refer
ence to the Board of County Com
missioners, and the names of some
of the people who. as bond trustees,
mould handle fho ayDandfturo af
this money.
The business department Of the
Manufacturers Record, in making a
study of this list of contractors, not
ed the fact that, with one exception,
every contractor on these jobs was
subscriber and that two Of them
subscribed for offices located in diff
ferent cities, and that the engineer
ling company which drew the plans
and the Board of County Commits
sionees of Polk county were also sub
Iscribers.
With a view to presenting these
facts to contractors and business
men generally, the business depart
ment arranged an attractive full
page advertisement, and, of course,
without any cost to Polk county, In
which the story of this bond issue
and the names of the contractors
and the extent of the road work
that they would do were all given
This advertisement has been carried
for some weeks, not as an advertise
ment of Polk county, but as an ad-
vertisement of the wide circulation
lof the Manufacturers Record among
contractors and engineers and coun-
} ty commissioners. It has cost Polk
county nothing, but 1t has bee
worth many thousand dollars to that
county.
This advertisement was then pre-
pared in circular form and copies OF
it mailed to some thousands Of con-
tractors and engineers and machin-
cry people throughout the country
to give them tangible illustration
of the broad way in which the South
lis developing its bodybuilding &C
ltivities and how closely the Manu-
facturers' Record is read by the con-
tractors and engineers engaged In
such work throughout the South.
Thus the fame of Polk county and
Its bond issue of $4,000 for good
roads has been spread broadcast
throughout the land, and Polk coun-
ty will, for years to come, reap the
benefit of such publicity campaign,
as all broad, intelligent work, such
as that of Polk county usually and
Justly secures, to its own benefit and
entirely outside of the particular
thing for which the work was I'M
dertaken.
The Manufacturers Record con-
graduates Polk county upon the
splendid publicity which it has Sc
cured and which, in this case. fell to
its lot without cost as by-product
of its campaign for road building.