Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1919-03-14
VALUE OF
ADVERTISING
What the U. s. Department of Labor
Thinks of Advertising as a Means
of Bringing Business To a Pre-
War Basis =.

OF significance to local rs well as
national business men are the
Following extracts from a letter tc
ths William II. Rankin Co., one oi
the leading Advertising 3genc es.
from Roger Babson Director Cen
eral' Of the U. s. Department o.
Labor:
.'It is the desire of the Depart
ment of Labor to stimulate business
bv suggesting to present advertis-
ers that they incN1ase their space
and to prospective advertisers that
they bring their plans to head
and start advertising Immediately
''The surest and quickest way to
bring business to its pre-war basis
Is to overcome the general apathy
to buying which exists in the
minds of many people at present.
Advertising will do this.
eve would like to see more retail
advertising and more national ad-
vertising and we believe that the
press of the country and yourselves
win appreciate the fostering of such
a movement oy the Department OF
Labor.
May we ask you to prepare one or
more advertisements for the De-
partment eff Labor bearing the mess
age outlined. Your cooperation IN
this matter is earnestly desired.
Presumably just such letter has
been addressed to all Of the large
National Advertising agencies ana
we believe that such movement as
is suggested will do much to bring
business back to the pre-war stand
ard in Wauseon az well as In cities
Of larger population. During the
war not understanding the larger
amount of money passing through
the hands of cur local business men,
accounted for by high prices Of wa-..
times not many if any of our local
business houses did much more than
"b~eak even" and it required care
full mAnagement to do that. One at
least of our Wsuseon business men
head Of a prosperous and successful
business told tte writer that his
firm had made no money during the
year 1918 in spite of a seemingly
large volume of business when cash
receipts were considered and they
barely broke even. Wausecn had
no war industries TO brine workers
and fat pay rolls to the town.
The citizens responded to calls for
money to support the variols organ1
cations engaged in war work among
the soldiers at homs and abroad and
fc- relief Of the war stricken peo
ples of Europe; also they responded
GO the call of the Government to
loan to Il the money necessary to
carry en- he war. 1t is to the ever
lasting credit of the people Of this
community that the most liberal
qivers and lenders, considering pro
portiorate means and resources.
were the people with limited means
and ineomts which neqsssitated Their
going without practically everything
exHspt rbsolute necessities of life
in order to give and to loan. Con-
sauently buying fell off. Wauseon
merchants entered into the various
campaigns intellectually they wore
not only giving and loaning money
which had necessarily to be divert
ed from their business; they were
slso giving to these campaigns their
time and energy which also had u
be taken from their business. There
was need of the elimination of every
possible item of expense and indeed
Of retrenchment along every pos
eible line: These are some of thf
reasons why. at the very time when
the Government was using the me.
dium of newspaper advertising all
ever the country land let us note
In passing that our business al !
professional men were paying fol-
practically all of this government
advertising that the newspaper
were not giving,) local business
cut out their advertising almost en-
tirely.
Manufacturers have clrendy be
gun a nation wide campaign of ad
vertising not only in the great
national periodicals and the daily
press of the large cities but as WEI
in the country town weekly papers
CONTINUED on page eight