The daily Alaskan., 1917-01-26
FIRST ADVERTISING
It Was Done In Egypt, on Papy-
 rus, Thirty Centuries Ago.
ANCIENT PUBLICITY DEVICES,

RocomPaniSd thS ATt or FTIHtiHS'
 The Egyptian gentleman who sought a runaway slave 5000 years ago and advertised on a bit of papyrus for his recovery turned out the first piece of advertising copy.
 Whoever he was, he was genius In more than a small way. His copy still lives, preserved in the British museum as an exhibit of considerable archReo- logical importance and as an example of what our advertising experts of to- day would do if they, like the Egyp- tian, did not have the benefit of up to date information.
 The Egyptians knew nothing about the topography of advertising nor the effect of different colors. He didn't know, for instance, that red is the most effective eye catching color and that green is second and black third.
 Of these and a thousand other things that influence the character of present day advertisements he was totally in ignorance. But he gets full credit for making the first attempt at written advertisement
 The Greeks, with a fine regard for art, usually made music a part of the advertising program. They gave us the idea of employing bands to attract attention, undoubtedly one of the most successful methods of drawing a crowd at any place and time.
 At first a town crier, accompanied by a musician playing Tyre or a harp, mingled among the Greek peo- pies and used only the best and ehoic- est Greek in bis extravagant praises of the product he was exploiting. Lat CT, however, private advertisements fin writing began to be introduced, par ticularly on the whitened walls of the homes, giving some information re- garding the social standing and the age of the residents, their financial rat ing and the family lineage.
 The Romans advertised in many ways. They named their streets, ad- vertised shows, exhibitions and sales on the terra cOtta walls of public baths, acquainted the public with sales of estates and 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 P6mpeii and Herculaneum, where public announce ments were made.
 Advertising met the same fate as the Romans did when the Huns came sweeping down from the north. Until the middle ages very little of 1t is seen. But with the appearance again of the town cr!er, supplied with the customary long winded declarations and a choice supply of adjectives, ad- vertiSing began to make itself felt in the conduct of business affairs. The public criers began 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 tenings and other interesting events.
 Gradually as time went on inns be- gan to use distinctive signs and sym bols to mark their hostelries, just as individuals had employed coats of arms. All kinds of devices were used and are still used by inns to the pres ent day. All such signs as the blue anchor, the black dragon, the three tuns, the boar's head, the red lion, and so on, made definite representations and implications.
 Of course with the derelopmeht of the printing press advertising took a great spurt The use Of posters came into vogue, and all kinds of pamphlets were printed and distributed Printing gradually began to supersede the hand written manuscript. William Caxton set up his press in Westminster abbey in 1471, and two centuries later, in 1922, a newspaper, believed to be the first real newspaper, was printed. It. was called the Weekly News and pHr- ported to contain news of dOings in Germany, France, Hungary and BOhe, mia.
 From then on newspapers, mostly weekly publications, began to appear from time to time in increasing num- bers. Advertisements of medicines be- gan to be inserted in the newspapers at an early date. The insertion of the first real newspaper advertisements. however, Is credited to Nathaniel But fer, who advertised books.
 The first two magazines to carry ad- vertisements were Gdey's Lady Book and Peterson's. but 1t was not until 1864 that magazine advertising really began, and it was not until 1880 that