The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-05-23
AMERICA-LAND OF SLOGANS

AMERICA-LAND OF SLOGANS
Some time ago an observant Eng
lishman stalking over this par
of the world to find out wha
our people are thinking about
their tastes, impulses, aspirations
sentiments and all the rest OF
it, declared that the thing which
impressed him most about Amer
lea is that it is country OF
slogans. He elaborated on his theory
by explaining that skillful selecting
of slogan, one that will catch the
attention of busy Americans and
promptly command wide circulation,
is sure to result in success for any
business enterprise, public movement,
fad or wrinkle. Come to think about
it, he was on the right track. Slo-
gans, or notices (there's not much
real difference), have exercised wide
influence in this country almost from
the start. Students of history, going
back to the political basis of things,
recall a slogan that hobs up at every
campaign, and even in our legal doc
uments and jurisprudence-"Life,
Liberty and the Pursuit of Happi-
ness" It's great stuff" as the
present day press agent would say,
even though the chauffeur, who is in
hurry, totally disregards it when
ever a pedestrian is so thoughtless as
t" block the way. Then we all recall,
Government of the People, For the
People, By the People" That's the
proper DOPE" as the baseball fan
will readily admit, whether or not he
realizes that if the people don't
stay on the job the professional poll
ticians, who apparently don't take
much time to sleep, are going to han
die that slogan with quite a variety
of reservations.
Many of us recall "The Full Dinner
PAIL" which in itself had no percep-
tible effect on the fellow with an ap-
petite, but. it sounded SO attractive
could sniff the aroma of ham-and-
eggs, corned- observation-disclosures, and
other famous diet affinities, when the
noon bell sounded; and it turned the
trick. Thousands of young Ameri-
cans faced death and destruction
when they scrambled lover the top"
to "Save the World For Democracy"
1t proved an effective slogan, even
though many who got their inspra-
ton therefrom didn't understand just
what it was all about. One of the
South's most thoughtful and distin-
guished editors put much additional
pep" into the folks who stayed at
home and helped the boys cover
There" with slogan he attached to
each of his war editorials: "To He'll
With the Hohenzollerns and Haps-
burgs" 1t seemed to chit the spot"
about that time, and it became ma
tional in circulation and influence.
Only a short time ago a Frenchman,
who wanted to introduce himself to
the American people on a fast sched-
ule, appreciated the wisdom of bring
ing along catchy slogan that would
get the desired recognition. 1t worked
quite effectively when it got to going
among the photographers, cartoonists,
stage comedians, ct cetera, and the
foreigner cashed in extensively on it.
every Day in Every Way I'm Get
ting Better and Better" is a tidy
idea, after all. The railroads saved
tremendous amount of money in de-
laying Embarrassing elimination by
adopting a slogan that looked good:
Safety Firstw One of the big trans
continental lines built up a lucrative
business by impressing the people
that they were not patriotic if they
didn't "See America First"
Whether or not the European OBJ
server was correct in his theory, there
is no doubt that wise selection of
slogans has proven highly profitable
in this country. The Republican
party seems to realize this while
floundering around in search of a
slogan that might help to pull it out
of it's present discouraging condition.
Law Enforcement" won't work.
Everybody who amounts to anything
is for that already. "Let Well Enough
Alone" was used once before, and
there is even less to base it on now
than then. Somebody will have to
come to the rescue of the Republican
organization with slogan that will
pull it together and get the votes,
whether it carries any substance or
not, if that party expects to make a
better than "Also Ran" showing next
time.
The governor of Ohio demonstrate