Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 19??-1918, 1917-01-02
FIRST ADVERTISING
Il Was Done In Egypt, on Papy-
rue, Thirty Centuries Ago.
ANCIENT PUBLICITY DEVICES.

The orssks ussd rswN crlsrs and Nv.
sle, and Then Game eymhsls end
elsnhsards - The NsvslvtlsR That
Accompanied The Ar q Printing.
The Egyptian gentleman who sought
. runaway slave 5000 years ago and
advertised ON bit Of papyruh for Als
recovery turned out the drst piece Of
advertising COPY.
Whoever be was, he was I gsnius In
more than q small way. Ills copy still
lives. preserved In tho British museum
~ an exhibit qf considerable archaeo.
logical Importance and ~ an example
Of what our advertising experts Of to.
day would do II they. like the Esyp-
tlan. did not have the bencft Of up 10
date information.
The Egyptians knew nothing about
the topography Of advertising nor the
effect Of different colors, Ho didn't
know. for instance. that red 10 the
most effective eye catching color and
that green Ia second and black third.
OF these and thousand other things
that influence the character Of present
day advertisements he was totally In
ignorance. But he gets full credit for
making the nrst attempt At q written
advertisement.
" =
Tho Greeks. with nne regard Tor
art. usually made music part Of tho
advertising program. They gave N
the Idea Of employing banda u attract
attention, undoubtedly one Of the most
successful methods Of drawing Z crowd
at any place and time.
At nrst town crier. accompanied
BY q musician playing a lyre or
harp. mingled among the Greek pco-
pies and used only tho best and cholc.
est Greek In his extavagant praises
Of the producths was exploiting. Lat.
er. however, private advertisements In
writing began 10 be introduced. par.
ticularly on the whItencd walls Of the
homes. giving SOME information 70.
garding the social standing and the
age OF the residents. their financial rat.
Ing aud the family lineage.
The Romans advertised In many
ways They named their streets. I'D.
vertised shows. exhibitions and sales
on the terra Gotta walls OF public
baths, acquainted the public with sales
Of estates ana absconded debtors and
began the practice Of notifying the
Romans Of articles lost and found and
houses for sale or rent.
The Romans are commonly credited
with the origin Of the sign board. To.
day we have the bulletin board. which
corresponds to the Roman tabella
found In the ruins Of Pompeii and
Herculaneum. where public announce
ments were made.
Advertising met the same fate a. the
Romans did when tho Huns came
sweeping down from the north. Until
the middle ages very little Of II 10
seen. But with the appearance again
Of the town crier, supplied with the
customary long windcd declarations
and a choice supply Of adjectives. ad.
vertislng began to make itself felt In
the conduct Of business affairs. The
public crIers begnn to organize them
selves both In France and In England.
and they were persons with consider.
able prestige,
From crying out the superior quail
ties Of merchandise and all kinds of
goods and wares the crier soon began
to make announcement Of things lost
and found. OF sales. weddings. chris
Jennings and other interesting events
Gradually m time went Oh inns he