The Sidney herald., 1960-09-28

always first quality" Event
ualy-why not now?" "Time for a
change" Even her best friends
won't tell her."
Like the beat, beat, beat of Cole
Porter's tomtoms, slogans of all
kinds are with us night and day.
But though they've scored a
humping success in modern
America, the slogan, catchword
and motto are actually among the
most ancient of human inventions.
Two thousand years ago, when
the Romeo Carthage farms race"
had the ancient world agog, a
Roman senator named Cato the
Elder concluded each of 5000
speeches with the words Garth
age must be destroyed" delenda
est Carthage). After lending their
ears to this sort of thing for a
while. the Romans finally took the
hint and laid waste the rival city
of Carthage.
Since then, no cause has lacked
its rallying cry. Goods wills it,"
echoed through Europe in 1905 as
Crusaders moved toward the Holy
Land to wrest it from the Moslem
Arabs. "St. George for England!'
yelled the British as they faced
their French enemies on the field
of battle. "St. Denis for France!"
countered the Gallo opposition,
flinging the name of their national
patron saint into the fray. The
shouted names of Scottish High
land clans as their members rode
into battle were actually the first
expressions to be called slogans
for the word derives from the
Gaelic sluagh (army) and CHARM
(outcry).
More recent conflicts have alsC
yielded wal cries. Remember
Pearl Harbor as your g~randfathel
remembered the Maine and hi:
father remembered the Alamo?
Remember the classroom IL
which you learned the ringing
slogans of the American Revolu
ton: Patrick Henry's "Give M
liberty or give me death" and al
equally famous remark, usual.
attributed to James Otis, Tax
alton without representation L
TYRANNY" What Otis really Sai'
was much more prosaic: mo part
of his majesty's dominionS can b
taxed without their consent.
Whoever juiced up his words, tn
revised slogan became the watch
word of the Revolutions patriot:
"Banzail" - the ancient Jap
anese war cry, literally mean
'ten thousand years" But a he
roic U. S. Army division of Japa
neSe-Americans coined a nev
battle slogan in World War L
$50 for broke!" The phrase wa
so applicable to so many peace
time situations that it becam
part of our language.
Also colorful have been tn
'batle cries" transformed b
Madison Avenue men for a hare
fought sales campaign. Thong
thinking mems filters and or
sized cans of shaving cream al
currently in the news, some {
the older slogans were equal
picturesque. children cry for il
was the implausible but memo,
able boast of one maker of a ca:
tor oil product. "Eventually-wf
not noW?" became a classic catcl
word ever among those who didr
remember that Gold Medal he
first asked the question. And WI
can forget the ''tattle-tale gra,
banished By Fels-Naptha-tl
five o'clock shadow" removed
Gem blades = Woodbury's "sk
YOU love to touch" and the lie
caressable miss, immortalized
a Listerine ad, whom even h
best friends wouldn't tell?
Though many think that CO
slant repetition and catchy pror
Use, untrammeled by fact, a
the main requisites for a success
full advertising slogan, some fir
90 to laborious lengths to ba'
ND the truth of their slogan claim
Thus Macy's in New York w
slash the price of any item viii,
is being sold in another store f
less. underscoring its famous co
tention that "it's smart to
thrifty" J. c. Penney Compan
with nearly 100 stores in
states. goes to great lengths
back up its slogan, always fiji
quality" The company not on
refuses to sell seconds or 9th
substandard merchandise, but al
maintains an active gadget-fill
quality testing laboratory inclu
ing a cabinet-size "sun" that ties