Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-05
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
I. C. M.
THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
OF ADVERTISING Frank Pres


Just to let YOU know" Here. in ef-
feet, stands the primary intent OF pub
licity in its current commercial sense.
And from this basic idea there has
developed, out of crude and Tnakeshht
beginnings, the profession OF modern
ADVERTISING, essential link between en-
terprise and the people, chief haAson
officer between buyer and seller.
Nightly, the streets OF town ana cry
project a spectacle Of parti-colored orll-
iiance-!ights, red and blue, yellow ana
green, in 4 Tnadcap game of follow the
leader-"just to let you know" BY day,
everywhere, the business fronts OF win
dow and wall carry on the lesson IN
endless variety of direction, in grow
ing ingenuity of device, in an increasing
artistry of expression, in swarming new
catchwords of pause and interest," just
to let you know"
What a wizard OF performance al
vertising has come to be! Ana, Tignt
here the mind slips back-only little
way back, so swift has hsen the advance
to the crude ballyhoo efforts OF pub
licitv only Yesterday and the day be-
fore What a story the sweeping pag-
cant of advertising would make! Notn-
Ing less than a tale of such wonder as
to bestir Aladdin himself to the TRIM
ming of his lamp anew, lest IL snu1
out completely in the surrounding gen.
eral radiance.
And here Is the story. The life story
of advertising from its modern begin
nings, so init-or-niss, up to It's preseEt
where, a full-fledged profession II
stands, on tip-toe and face front, ready
to let YOU know in ever-expanding
fields of fresh enterprise.
Moreover, the story is in the hands
equally in the mind and heart as we'll
of one who for 40 years, or thereaoout,
has walked with practical advertising,
talked with it, worked with it, worked
within it and directed the ehorts OF
others In its pursuit. And. along the
way he has now and then stepped
aside to look upon 1t as whole, meas
uring it's growth, marking the changes
that have come in its movement toward
a distinct professionalism. 1t is here
that he pauses to gather the credentials
of advertising as a prolession-tne
bodies OF authentic information that IT
commands, the individual techn1c OF
operation that it has acquired, the
astute knowledge of the workings OF the
common mind that 1t has mastered.
the substantial code of business ethics
to which 1t adheres, its progress in art
istry of portrayal and projection, It's
enormous growth and general recognl-
ton as an organic part OF the great
economic institution which the world
itself today is.
The body of this story Is concerned
with the growth Of advertising in the
United States 1t offers an historic set
| ting to this special consideration OF the
subject, however, by way of survey OF
ancient publicity practices from Baby
lon to Rome and then on to the rise
and growth of the art in England from
signhoard to the golden era" of 1850.
In this country the story runs from
the Puritan to the radio. Rather scant
announcement to publicity from the
first of these, since the devil lurked in
signs and symbols of most innocent
face, leading mems thoughts on into
byways Of destruction. Yet, some move
ment in this direction was achieved.
And then, IN men and movements the
advance Of publicity grew with the
swift growth Of the country from colony
to the great Commonwealth itself. Mr..
| Presbrey makes an interesting point
about the nature of advertising, main
tanning that it. too, is a pioneer no less
than we're those who opened the West
to us, going on ahead. spying out the
land, creating interest in 1t and waken-
ing desire toward 1t. Advertising is the
early adventures were the forerunf1erS
of settlement from ocean to ocean in
the United States. He is constantly
| saying things in that nature, setting
new lines Of interest, waking drowsy
ideas, popping UP nat historic recollec-
tons.
However. to get back to the story
whose waymarks of adventure and
growth stand out, now in the name OF
| MAN Ynuv ~ the reRnrd ~ eOrNa
J event. Paul Revere. Benjamin Frank
| lin, the Yankee peddler, p. T. Barnum;
the rise of the newspaper, the patent
medicine wave, and so on and on now
| in gradual advance, now in mad rush
of publicity ideas up to this moment
when advertising operates in clothing
and religion, in medicine and music, in
| ect, every sort of propag political,
| philosophical, industrial or whatnot.
To catch the drift of this movement,
to sense the practical outlook of the
study and at the same time TO realize
| its far-reaching scholarship on the one
hand and its dramatic seizure of the
subject on the other-just glance over
few of the chapter headings
Arrival of Newspaper Display" ''Ad-
Printers Ink Begins Its Service"
John Wanamaker Shows the Way"
Advertising Turns to Slogans" De
velopment of the Magazine" Cyrus H.
K. Curtis" And Then Came the Au-
tomobile," World War Demonstrates
Great Power of Advertising, Radio the
Potential Giant"-and so on with a
list In which the headings given are
genuine samples and not superior ex-
And the illustrations-350 Of them
progressive as the story itself. illustrat-
ing the growth of the pictorial art,
the changes that have come to its use
as a publicity measure, Illustrating
also the growth of the art of newS-
paper printing and picturing, arrarg-
ing and projecting. An outstanding
part Of this book is its body of illus
trations that really do meet that par
ticular end. and meet 1t in an effect
of clear inspiration.
And the man himself. What manner
of story teller is this? First of all, he
has a tremendous story to tell, one
whose bare facts are of an almost in
credible extent and quality. Obviously
| he Is in love with his story. And why
not? He has lived it. He has eh-
gagged his working years upon 1t, get
| ting acquainted with its less obvious
: parts, as he Is so clearly intimate with
| its main lines. But this alone would
not do. Here is a mass of material
| just q mass to be organized into a
beginning and a midruG of events, anu
an ending, all belonging together. each
contributing to the others. Here Is a
splendidly organized whole to speed the
| reader on his way. Then enters the
story teller, artist and dramatist Ana
| here he is, going over the big matttr
with warmth and gusto and complete
communicahility. AID so the reader
steps into the story. becoming a part
of Il, engrossed by it and immensely
A big book-more than 500 pages
| big--and, as average pocketbooks meas
! ure not q nhean honk Oh well this