The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1916-12-08
Measuring the Pretender

Measuring the Pretender
A number of years ago Blackfoot
had a clothier who did a great deal
of advertising and he always assumed
that he knew more agout printing
than any one else When he prepar-
ed his advertising he undersigned
some words and lines, and doRble-
UNDERSIGNED others and some he
wrote in red ink, and printers would
receive the copy from him without
comment and smile at his ignorance
Of typesetting when he was gone. One
day when he handed his order to the
printer he said, NOW what kind of
type are you going to set the first
three lines in?" The printer sus-
pected that he knew nothing about
type faces and to test him he named
some type for it that would give a
reader cold chill to look at; Il will
set the first line in SO point Chelten-
ham Old Style; the second line in SO
point Century, modern; and the third
line in SO point DeVtnne, using
meager white space thruout." The
advertiser replied, THAT will be all
right" ana he walked out as If he
were greatly pleased with himself
The printer laughed about it and set
him an attractive advertisement not
at all like what he had described.
How to Judge Advertising
When you read your paper and be-
gin passing your opinion on which ad-
vertisements are the best, you do
not need to know the names and sizes
of type; you do not need to know
what the printer means by "meager
white space" but you may notice that
some Of the advertisements are
catchy and pleasing to the eye;
some are easy to read while others
are worded so they do not make
smooth reading; some have so much
crowded into small space that you
involuntarily pass it without hardly
knowing why you pass 1t. II you
canvass yourself about it you may
find that it looked as IL It would be
hard to read, not restful and plain,
but irritating to look at All these
things go to make good advertising or
poor advertising, and it is impossible
for the printer to set good ad II
he is given great amount of word
ing to go into a small space. Some
advertisers write what they want to
say and leave it all to the printer
to determine the size of type and the
amount of space to be used, while
others order certain amount of
space for il, without judgin~ correct
ly whether it will have harmony and
that beauty of display that helps the
tired man to rest as he runs his eyef
over it.
Run your eye over the advertise |
ments in this issue and see If you find
any that are restful and interesting; |
any that give the opposite effect, or
any that have the ring Of sincerity
or the lack of it. Look for those that
convey a message that it is well to
have delivered in a pleasant manner
and at a time when the reader has
leisure and time for study. Read the
communication from H. D. MacCos-
ham, printed on page four in which
he speaks of advertising service and
business service. The last paragraph
of it is good example of an editorial
expression and helps to make plain
our definition of an editorial and OF
the kind of advertising which this
paper wishes to encourage and which
our readers evidently appreciate as
shown by their vote in the advertis-
ing contest of three weeks ago. There
are a number of advertisers who hold
the same views and whose merchan-
dising and advertising deserve consid-
Grafton and confidence and should