Evening star., 1923-01-22
CAPITAL KEYNOTES
BY PAUL y. COLLINS.

only one set to be sold in a town.
order early. so as to be the first
from your town to get this wonderful
bargain::) In agate type just be-
fore the great seventy two point
gotnlc type, was printed the unim-
portant word. miniature" but fe.g
readers noticed it. and fewer still
comprehended the dictionary meaning of
minfature.' Thousands of orders
flooded the mails for those magnificent
parlor suites. which the buyers pledged
to show their neighbors. in consideration
OF the merely Introductory price of 9S
cents. The miniature sofa was one
and a half inches long. Each chair
was cubic inch. and the table was
in proportion. That was "advertis-
ing" forty years ago. The post Office
authorities were helpless. for the ad-
vertisement distinctly said il was
miniature" furniture.
But something more powerful than
the government did stop that sort Of
"advertising.' 1t was public con-
demnation. 1t was the lesson that
honesty-not literal honesty alone,
but moral honesty-is the only thing
that pays in business. Thickness
burns itself out in day: honesty of
statement grows brighter as the day
b, n.
That lesson was learned by the minia-
ture tricksters and after awhile they
developed a genuine mai1-order bust
ness running into millions Of dollars
| month, but only after they began
telling the truth. Not every trickster
learns that lesson so well as they did
r X x +
Today the public is SO well cdu-
Gated to demand good faith in adver-
tising that single trick like that
would bring bankruptcy to the great
est house in business-or come SO
near to it as to call for receiver
and change Of management.
Not only does the public now de-
| mand good faith in advertising. but
also information that is reliable
Advertising is not an art" il is
science. IT must be based on knowl-
edge of facts. else IL has little in
huence. 1t requires research and
careful work in compiling data. for
it is the chart on which all business
is navigated.
In pursuance Of this development OF
advertising, new Better Business
Bureau. established under the sane
ton Of the Associated Advertising
Clubs of the World. is about to be
opened in Washington. This bureau
will occupy a building and be manned
| by experts in all lines of business.
whose function will be TO gather
! facts bearing upon business. Repre-
sentatives will be in touch with every
government department and bureau
and with Congress for the purpose Of
compiling facts which will be re-
ported to the advertising clubs for
their guidance in business policies
and advertising. The head Of this
bureau is Francis X. Wholley.
II is as long a reach from the ad-
vertising Of fifty years ago to this
latest development of scientific re-
search foundation of modern adVer-
tising as il is from the tallow candle
and OK cart of fifty years ago to the
radio and airplane of today.
= 4
There is dignity and serious pur-
pose in the kind Of fact advertising
as above indicated. But what shalt
be said Of another innovation in pub
ll;city-the balloon billboard? 1t is
the mountebank of advertising-and
no play on words is intended. Within
a month Washington is to find its sky
invaded by a huge. ugly monstrosity
in the form of a stationary gas bag.
which will serve as screen against
which to project lantern signs" or
"ads" In place of the moon we
may behold f1fty-seven varieties OF
breakfast foods, and numerous cures
for tired feelings. and the merits OF
typewriters. and the Elories of spring
millinery and the bargains at the de-
partment stores. Tho stars shall sing
together, but their keynote Will be
the latest stunt of the child million
aire actor or the beauties of the bal
let. Think of the desecration OF the
eternal skies!
Ard that isn't the worst OF it,
There is q trick aviator who can fly
40 miles a nlinute--or hour. or week :
and write with a Smoke-pen
across the whole heavens, while he
files. Excelsior Tobacco" or Chew
Licorice Plug" That will be r pillar
of cloud by day: the heavenly movy
will be pillar of Are by night. We
have just begun picking the music
of the spheres out OF the ether by
radio. and now the atmosphere is TO
be blotted and contaminated with
smoke and fire-and they call that
advertising. Away with il. If there
is no discrimination between that
desecration and real advertising. then
there is really no distinction between
fame and notoriety. The grand opera
prima donna screeches not so loud as
the street hawker. Shall fame be
measured by noise? Shall the pecul-
lar, the clown. the jacll-in- box.
compete with the truly great and no.
BILE? Advertising. too. has its quacks,
its charlatans. Fake doctors are not
thriving as of yore; the public
standards are higher.