Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-05-06
AS ONE WOMAN SEES 1T
The Value Of the Written Word Is
Never Underrated by the
Advertising Man
BY SARAH -. LONyRIE

WAS interested the other day in talking
l. TO a man who was about to change his
job of editing for the advertising business.
Since the war great corporations have
been more than ever impressed by the ad-
| visibility OF keeping the public good ma
! turcd about their dealings with 1t, and the
| price of the time and the talents of such
men as can get them over the top hns gone
up and up. OF course, not just any sue
| Ccssful newspaper man can turn into n
| successful advertiser, and some arc Just born
and some grow. I asked one man last year
who is getting a very. very large salnry
| even for New York how he got into the
| game. for he had never written for any
| thing but college paper And he said II
| was through war posters. lie learned by
| his success with those the sccrc' OF catching
| the publir's attention and holding II just
long enough tO leave an idea that sticks.
| He has in his short, simple sentence or two
to attract attention, to appeal to common
| sense, to Crcntc want and to show how
that want can be fulfilled. lie must write
| for the average mind. yet not condCsccnd;
he has to be quick. yet catch the slow
| thinker; in order to arrive az all he has to
overstatC, but he must have the sound Of
| not telling half.
This particular man works only for the
| winter season in his town office; the rest of
| his business is attended to nt his leisure far
| away from New York on his New England
farm. He leaves nothing to- chance, from
| the turn of his sentences to the spacing of
II
considers everything counts either for or
| against on advertisement. from the color of
the background to the last flicker Of II word
| as the page is turned, or the train rolls by.
| or the motor rounds the corner.
LIE CALLED my attention to the fact
Il that one must be careful in reIterating
| an idpa, either when II is accomplished BY
| constant repetition or by ringing the changes
| The. public must feel amused and even
ticklcd by the recurrence of the expected.
not bored llc said some vaudeville artists
and one or two renowned clowns had an in
stinct for making the public laugh by re-
curing phrase until they were on the verge
of hySterin, and he also reminded me Of the
part chorus has in song or ballad. which
he explained was a way Of fooing the public
into taking part in the performance. The
very fact that at certain po;nt they can
anticipate what the performer is going to
say or do amuscS them and makes them feel
Knowing. \ repetition that borcs them Is
one that implies they need to be reminded.
TT STRUCK mo that the very successful
J. man who bravely promulgated these rules
had discovered them after, not before he
made his success. however. ] thinx that In
advertising more than in most pursuits you
have to feel your way without stopping to
nnnlyZe yourself or your public. It Is only
perhaps after you have lost your public
through some stupid neglect that you begin
10 stan your course 10 see wherC YOU lost out,
| was struck with that this winter nt the
time there were various public meetings held
by the women Of number Of civic organi-
cations TO discuss the L. g. !. and the
quality of gas 1t was giving the city. From
n housewives point Of view the EXPRESSED
opinions at these meetings were not favor
able. And the president of the L. G.. l.,
fully awake 10 the fact that certain facts
not perhaps understood by the public might
change or nj all events nPutraize the un-
fnt hln ,tYnt1, 80
have, certain women responsible for these
meetings approached SO that they might
either stop the propaganda against the l..
G.. |. or see that both sides had fair hear.
ing. Now this was good business on the
part of Mr.. BOdinc. and made one feel that
there was one corporation officer fully on to
his job; but If Mr.. Bodine had glanced back
ward over tn" history Of the L. G. l. and
its re lation to th" public he would have
seen that until three years ago he had under
his hand a most admirable plan for keeping
the housewives in a good humor with the
|. q. !. and in constant touch with the
company.
TF ONE bought gas range or any cooking
i utrnsil three years ago one could apply
free Of charge to n district representative Of
tho company, n woman who was an expert
not only on cooking but in buying and pro-
vidng food. This expert would come 10 your
mouse and show you not once, bur over and
over again until you were proficient how
to market and cook with the greatest econ q
omy both rs to food and as to gas II you
got in fix and company was coming and
tn" rolls would not brown or the bccts get
soft. you could send her hurry call and
she would come and show you how.
Sometimes when the mother Of the family
was laid aside or had died and the burden Of
getting the meals fell on a novice, these
lessons would keep the family together and
max" a slip of girl who had known no
work but factory work since her school days
into that finest of all makcrs--a home
maker. Sometimes n tired and discouraged
woman, who had taken to drink, woQd be
pulled out of her slough of deSpond and en-
ablrd TO find the stimulus Of good food prop.
"rly cooked and the reward of husband
who praised rather than blamed, Thcs" dis
trict workers got very clos" to their clients.
and among The foreign born did u great
work Of Americanization.
T REMEMBER hearing tho tale Of ono oX-
! pcriPncp that is perhaps TYPICAL Tho
agent frr the district had to visit pcriodl
caly cvcry on" using gas rangc, and
i'm the course Of her visits she found ono
range ccnented over the burners So TINT rn
gas would' burn. Tn" woman said her hus-
band had done II out Of spite. lie wau
hunted mp by the agent and admitted hc hnd
dono it because his wife was careless and
,rt the neighbOrS use the stove and wasted
gaS. lie claimed h" never got n good meal
nt home anyway, 90 he took his meals ont
He agreed, however 70 let the district agent .
have try with s.wifc, and authorized her
~ get the cement Nut nf the burners Every
day for two weeks the agent appeared and
sat with the woman while she prepared and
looked the dinner, Iy that time the woman
Wns thoroughly interested and had begun 10
understand balancing n nutritious and an.
pctizing meal and was giving hcr neghbnrs
advice instead Of gas.
COMETIMES there would be noghborhood
- exhibitions Of how to prepare and cook
meal in ono hour and quarter and the
little kitchen would be- full Of cagor obsory
crs. The rivalry for getting the most and
! tho best for the money was also stilnuIa- -
| ton much resortcd 10 by III" agents Tho