Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-11-14

AVAILABLE AND UNAVAILABLE
MATTER
BY Frederic j. HasIsin


ing to give them away free-and 1t
can not be done! At least 1t a not
be done through the United States
mails If those so fortunate 'as to +
ceive the gifts are to be selected by
any plan involving lot or chance.
Every day some indignant bust
ness man voices in no uncertain
terms his opinion of a postal law
that forbids his firms disposing of
its own property as it sees fit. After
much deliberation the Blank &
Blank Company decide hat it is nee
essary to stimulate interest in their
product by a vigorous advertising
campaign. To this end the general
manager persuades the board of d.
rectors to permit him to announce
a great prize distribution scheme.
! Something for nothing-always pop
ular. Just drop into Blank &
Blanks and see their new stock and
you will be presented with a ticket
emitting you to a chance on a beau
tiful new automobile. A newspaper
and mail advertising campaign Is
started to attract the folks in the
neighboring territory.
And then the Post Office Depart
ment steps in and says you cannot
| advertise lottery schemes through
! the mails. The bewildered general
manager for Blank &c Blank is stun
| ned. Can not one give away ones
| own property il one wishes, any way
one wishes? Positively, no, one can
not, If any elements of lot or chance
enter into the distribution of the
gifts, and the United States mails
are to be used in promoting the
scheme.
Whereupon the g, m. makes lou
| and unfavorable comparison between
the freedom enjoyed in the United
States and in Russia, and departs in
a towering rage to hearken to the
jeers of the board of directors-who
were unwilling to give anything
away anyhow.
Years ago Louisiana was famous
throughout the country for its great
lotteries in which prizes amounting
to hundreds of thousands of dollars
were distributed annually to lucky
| ticket holders. The evil resulting
| from gambling, even in its best regu-
| lated FORM, the state lottery, soon
was recognized and congress passed
laws prohibiting the carriage in the
| mails of matter relating to or in
| furtherance of any scheme offering
prizes, dependent in whole or in part
upon lot or chance"
The effect upon state lotteries was
instantaneous. Since these enter
| prises could no longer be advertised
except in comparatively restricted
| areas, and not at all through the
mails, they soon died out. European
countries, however, still flood the
United States with advertisements of
! governmentally conducted prize dis
tribution schemes. The Post Office
Department does not permit letters
concerning such enterprises to leave
the confines of our country, but re-
turns them to senders, thus saving
citizens millions of dollars that might
otherwise be dissipated in gambling
Some of the plans worked out by
advertising experts are unique and
interesting. In one instance an au-
tomobile manufacturer offered one
of his cars to the person who could
name the exact point to which 1t
would travel on Broadway with one
gallon of gas in the tank. He claim
ed that this was essentially a matter
of skill. So many elements of uncer-
tainty enter into the matter, how
ever, and the distance Travelled de-
pended so largely on weather and
traffic conditions, the Post Office De-
partment concluded that in the flnaI
analysis no attempted estimate could
be other than a clever guess And
guessing contests are unavailable.
= = .
Another scheme even more ingeni-
Gus in that it was calculated to con.
centrate the attention of the public
on a product for a long period o.
time, was that of a furniture dealer
With each purchase he presented tC
the customer a printed clock face
the hands on which indicated certain
hours and minutes. Each of these
dials showed a different time. II
the window of his store were a clocl
and a victrola. Whoever saw the
clock stop when it had run down anC
presented at the store a dial will
the hands indicating the hour near
est to that registered on the clock
was entitled to the victrola.
The ability of the clock to run fol
q long period of time without re-
winding was thus emphasized, and
the daily visits of those interested
enabled the merchant to display his
other wares to advantage. Obviously
the time at which the clock would
stop and the possession of the CORE
spending clock face were entirely
matters of chance. 1t was, therefore
necessary to bar the scheme from
the mails.
Cigar stores not infrequently fill
their windows with loose cigarette:
and invite the passerby to guess this
number in the pile, offering a prize
for the most nearly correct estimate
They may not use the mails to ad'
vertise such schemes. On the other
hand, contests actually requiring
skill on the part of the contestants
are admissible. In such cases tieinl
contestants must each be awarded
the full amount of the prize fol
which they are tied. A clever sale!
plan which attracted much attention
throughout the country during re.
cent years was that in which a prizt
was offered for listing the creates
number of objects in a certain pic.
ture, the names of which began witt
a specified letter. At fist conducted
conscientiously, this project later fel
into the hands of persons interested
only in mulcting the public, ant
many of the objects represented II
the drawings were so indistinct a.
to reduce the contestant to guessing
what they might be. These competi
lions, so-called, consequently fell un
der the ban of the postal laws.
.
Nationwide advertising cam
paigns occasionally must be aban
doned because they contain features
conflicting with the postal LOTTERY
statutes. Huge sums have beer
wasted in fees paid publicity expert!