Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1877 — HOW TO ADVERTISE. [ARTICLE]

HOW TO ADVERTISE.

The Views of a Successful lousiness Alan. At the recent semi-annual meetiug of the National Association of Stove Manufacturers, in Detroit, Sherman S. Jewett, of Buffalo, President of the association, made an address which was remarkable lor its sound sense and, business-like utterances. From the many good points in his speech we select a few paragraphs on “ aclvertising. ” They are all the more valuable to tradesmen, merchants and manufacturers because they are the utterances, not if a newspaper publisher or an advertising solicitor, but of a business man, a man who looks upon and uses advertising solely as an aid to his business, and who, with a business man’s caution and good sense, selects only the best possible system, the system which will most thoroughly advertise his business and bring him in the surest returns. Business men should read Mr. Jewett’s views : “The tawdry lithographs so ireely used by manufacturers neither express good sense nor. good taste; they Buffer even by the comparison with the comic valentine, for although the latter is essentially vulgar, and frequently a hurtful missile iu the hands of a foolish or malicious person, it means something—it has about it some touch of humor—it tells for what it was designed—but the stove manufacturer’s valentine—l mean his red and yellow lithograph, lias no redeeming qualities about it. At best it but announces the thoughtlessness or want of dignity of its author; and if it does not hint with a certain degree of p< sitiveness at the probable inferiority of his wares, it is less injurious than 1 have been inclined to regard it. “ Fence advertising cannot be too emphatically condemned—to characterize it as vile is scarcely to do it adequate justice. It is primarily objectionable because it brings the manufactures we wish to advertise into doubtful company on the public highways ; and every prudent business man must know, if lie has given to liis advertising the careful attention it deserves, that the money devoted to papering fences is utterly wasted. The showman who expends SIOOIOOO a year in glittering and gorgeous illuminations illustrative of liis exInuvetless zoological resources and arenic wonders, has warrant for his monopoly of the boards, in the fact that a large proportion of his patrons is made up of those who, with open mouth and staring eyes, prosecute their studies in the shadow? of the fences. But the same manager, you will observe, employs

other means by Avhich to reach the public— appliances upon which he relies for his best effects. His business requires him, by one method and another, to reach every class of the community, and printer’s ink is made to render a varied and invaluable service at whatever cost. I know a gentleman Avho expends $150,000 annually for advertising, but you cannot find his name on the fences ; lie is the best advertiser in the country, but there is nothing comical or grotesque about his way ®f doing business. Now, the members of this association who patronize the fences are overshadowed by the great showmen and are compelled to keep company with the small vendors of thin nostrums, the proprietors of some three-legged calf,' directors of a fat woman, the patentee of some A’illainous bitters, or the compounder of pills that are warranted to cure all the ills that flesh is heir to. I have seen the names of good firms brought into this disagreeable relationship, and have felt sorry for them. Those in want of any of the products of our factories are not influenced by this sort of advertising. “ The glaring poster neither inspires confidence nor conveys the information the public desire; and if we would make the best possible use of our money in giving publicity to our claims as manufacturers, we should patronize able and responsible neAvspapers. The newspaper is immeasurably the best medium open to our trade: the most liberal and expert advertisers testify to its value; and in the employment of its columns Ave Avould find a means of escape from the wasteful, undignified and ineffective methods to which so many now resort in their eager desire to secure attention and patronage.”