When shop signs began in ancient trade signs
The article traces the origin of shop signs from primitive weapon makers who marked huts with weapons to indicate crafts. It describes early signs using living symbols, crude pictures, and eventual move to names and lettering. It notes signs showing goods like swords or pots, evolving to name plus graphic indicators such as a butcher’s bull head above a shop.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John Brokentooth
London
Fotter
John
John Smith
Tags That Advertise in Hardware Stores
A St. Louis Hardware Reporter piece notes advertising value of delivery tags. A hardware firm ordered 1000 distinctive tags printing its name on one side and another in-store item on the reverse. Each thousand featured a different sale item and price. The experiment was a success with profits covering the tag cost several times over.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Hardware Reporter
St. Louis
Four Points in Ad Writing by Arthur Brisbane
Arthur Brisbane outlines four key ad writing points. First ensure visibility with a conspicuous display. Second ensure readability with simple wording. Third ensure understanding with plain language. Fourth ensure believability to convince readers.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Arthur Brisbane
Will It Come to This Do They Pay Ten Thousand A Year
A terse exchange notes a crowded church and questions its vitality while mocking its reliance on expensive advertising funds. The dialogue hints at concerns about attracting attendees versus financial demands. The remark points to a figure of ten thousand annually spent on advertising and fundraising as the implied cause of crowding.
The Growth of Advertising in Newspapers
A discussion on how newspaper advertising has continued to grow despite economic and political factors. The piece argues ads educate readers, drive demand, and keep goods moving nationally as populations rise. It notes increased activity in the new year and highlights advertising as the fastest means to unite buyers and sellers.
Church Ad Brings Convert in Philadelphia Display Campaign
A Philadelphia publicity effort by Associated Churches uses large scale church ads to draw converts. Rev J Alvin Orr reports a man joined Norris Square United Presbyterian after seeing the display, saying the ad attracted him. Letters praise the plan, with two businessmen sending checks to support continued advertising. The religious press lauds this modern tract distribution.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Associated Churches
Philadelphia
J. Alvin Orr
Norris Square United
Calcutta Daily Ad Reveals Ancestral Pindas Request
A Calcutta newspaper notice appeals to San Jagadish Chandra Bhattacharjee to return home for the Sapindakaran ceremony. The elder son must perform pindas for the deceased father to end mourning and remove ritual uncleanness.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Calcutta
Jagadish Chandra Bhattacherjee
Mahendra N. Bhattacharji
Flower beds used as ads along Orleans railway
Advertisers on the Orleans line plant bright flower beds in fields beside the railway. The blooms form the name of the goods to be promoted, following an act of parliament that made such large advertising posters illegal.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Orleans
Changeable Dresses Envisioned by Chemists in London
At the International Congress of Applied Chemistry in London Gia Como Ciamician predicts future women will wear dresses that change color with surroundings without altering the garment. He cites phototropic colors that shift with light intensity, enabling a light suit by day to become dark at night and automatic environmental conformity.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
Giacomo, Ciamician
Plea for More Hygienic Gravy at Fort Leavenworth
Inmates at Fort Leavenworth mock the kitchen in Stray Shots by urging the cook to avoid hot water in gravy and to skip uncooked flour. The piece calls for cleaner preparation of brown gravy to serve T-bone steaks, stressing care for the regiment and the duties of the cooks.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Fort Leavenworth
Notable Tuberculosis Legislation Across States
Important measures enacted this year include Colorado tuberculosis registration law subsidies to local hospitals in Minnesota and Wisconsin an act for county hospitals in Indiana and the creation of state bureaus for prevention of tuberculosis in Ohio and California.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Colorado
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Indiana
Ohio
California
No Possibility of Doubt by a Pilgrim Fragrance
A western bishop at a general convention in the east is hosted by a New England family of long lineage. They boast Pilgrim ancestry, and the bishop humbly accepts. On returning home his wife questions the claim, then wryly suggests their ancestors may not be Pilgrims, noting a faint scent of Stayflower in the tale.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New England
New York Evening Post
Elixir Babek Promises Cure For Malaria
A testimonial claims Elixir Babek cures malaria where quinine fails and can be taken by all ages. It says a patient with long malarial fever found relief after using Elixir Babek, priced at 60 cents, offered by Kloczewski & Co. of Washington, D.C.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
William I. Marr
Kloczewski & Co
Washington, D.C
Not Always But A Soft Answer Turns Wrath
A short proverb note contrasts a soft reply with escalating anger. It mentions Jim Jones reacting poorly to a playful remark about being mushy. The text also notes South Africa incubator farming of ostriches and alligators.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Jim Jones
Crust Covered Boy Cured by Cuticura in Texas Ad
Mrs Charles Poss reports her Bolton Georgia boy’s head crust cleared after using Cuticura Soap and Ointment. She notes the crust, discharge, and irritation, with a week to full cure. She also says Cuticura cured an ulcer behind her baby’s ear.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bolton, Ga
Cuticura
Dept. L
Boston
Impossible Dream in a Comfortable Theater Moment
Startled, a man muses that his legs are not cramped and he can see and hear everything while seated. He contemplates retirement to the foyer without disturbing anyone, marveling at the lights music and scenery that feel real yet impossibly convincing. The piece ends noting he is dreaming.
Romance in a Railway Car Turns on Slippers
In a railway car a sharp voiced woman taunts her husband Charles about a past romance. He denies memories, but recalls that a pair of slippers he gave her before their marriage led to their union. A young man nearby shifts his feet, listening to the exchange.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Charles
The Tender Skin of Children Ad for Tyree Antiseptic
An advertisement touts Tyree's Antiseptic Powder for summer skin ailments with quick relief for children. Priced at 25 cents at druggists or samples mailed free from J S Tyree Chemist Washington DC. The text also includes a humorous anecdote about a poet and a tramp and a joke about a diplomatic flat dweller.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Tyree
J. S. Tyree
Washington, D. C
Park Riot Over Grass Sparks Mass Meeting
A stranger watches a crowd swell around a speaker platform in a park. A local politician convenes citizens to discuss plans to save the park grass as a suffragist riot curiously shifts to civic concerns. An unrelated medicine ad for Hicks Capucine ends the clipping.
Observing Harry’s Test on Money Value Joke
A teacher tests the value of foreign money in America and asks Harry how much a guinea is worth. He answers with a quip about a dollar and a half a day, reflecting a humorous colonial era money misunderstanding. The piece ends with a whispered admonition to mind others’ faults.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
America
Harry
Everybody’s Magazine
Getting Close to Nature and Frog Culture
A brief cartoonish note compares a closeup nature image to a moving picture of frog culture and playfully imagines a talking frog film with a creak. The exchange reflects light humor about nature and animation.
Frivolous Feast Sparks Champagne Imagery
The dialogue hints at a wild celebration with champagne foaming at the mouth. A humorous note observes mosquitoes troubled by chronic insomnia in the scene.
Wonderful Porter's Antiseptic Healing Oil claims
Railroad surgeon declares a remarkable remedy for wounds burns and skin diseases. Thousands of farmers and stockmen endorse Dr Porter’s Antiseptic Healing Oil with trial promised to convince. Sold by most druggists or order by mail from Paris Medicine Co. 2622 Pine St. St. Louis Missouri.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Parcel Post
Paris Medicine Co
Pine St
St. Louis, Mo
Grove's Tasteless Chill Tonic Ad Claims Broad Health Benefits
An advertisement extols Grove's Tasteless Chill Tonic as a 30 year standard general strengthening remedy for malaria fevers weakness debility appetite loss and biliousness with purging avoided. It also promotes Laxative Bromo Quinine with a one day cold cure and urges looking for E W Grove's signature on every box.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
GROVE
E. W. Grove
Also Mentioned on This Page
Coca-Cola Company
Atlanta, GA
Attow
Coca-Cohy
South Africa
Arthur Stringer
Rockefeller
Carnegie
Perne
Quincy Street
Torkcs
Kearse
Tulf
W. H. Baker
E. D. Morgan
Hippodrome
Bidg
Cleveland
Power Gribble
Lebanon
Tels
Cedarcroft Sanitarian
Mall
Lotus Flower CO
Atlanta
Georgia
Howard Merchand
Walnut Street
Agenus
Atlanta Directory
Glenn Photo Stock Co
Ilanta
Crichton ~Shutmaner, Cor
Hunter & Pryor Sts
Chas. H. Fletcher
Castoria
Casino
Monte Carlo
Beast
Salter
Salter’s
S. Broad
Kodaks
Eastman Films
Hawkes CO
Kodak
Whitehall St
Atlanta. Ga
Jones
Mies
Elizabeth Ann
Phoebe Primm
Misa Lil White
Phe
Cnmitteae Ate
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!