The Omaha Sunday Bee.
PART THREE
HALF-TONE
PAGES 1 TO 4.
TOR ALL THE NEWS THE
OMAHA DEE
BEST IN THE WEST
VOL. XXXIX NO. 33.
OMAIIA, SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 30, 1910.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
WRITERS WHOSE PRODUCTIONS ARE ALWAYS IN DEMAND
Men Who Prepare the Advertisements for, the Big Stores of Omaha end How They Work to Attract and Eold Public Attention to the End that the Goods May Be Sold
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mXA SMITHS ElCHAmO). SKANKEY I iirkm cKSUs hm
UNLON .iflC -R.-R. THnMPSKN.BELDEN I SHOP.
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DBEXIL, SHOE bo
of
ia
by
new, but
DOWN in the big depart
ment stores where
the tide of shoppers
ebbs and fl o-w s
through the channels
and avenues of trade is one
salesman with whom the buyer
never comes in contact.
This man Is the' advertising
manager the "silent sales
man" of the big store. There
are clerks hundreds of them
in many establishments busy
at all hours handling the goods
of their employers and the
money of their customers. These
talesmen are constantly before
the public, but the "silent sales
man" is hidden away in a little
world of his own, surrounded
by newspapers, and cuts, and
drawing materials, grinding out
the "copy" for- the advertise
ments that sell the goods.
The "silent salesman" Is, after all, the man who ar
ranges the sales, for he is the man behind the "copy"
the man who toys with the wants of others and aims his
ads at the things with which to supply those wants.
A bit of cleverness, an attractive cut, a few catchy
words or some knock-down prices, cunningly arranged by
the ad writer, lure the buyer to the bargain counters. The
advertisement simply plays with human nature , in the
little game of give and take, for he seeks to snare the
minds of his readers In the net that holds the things that
they need and want. He works on the minds of hi3 read
ers, and they, in turn answer the call of the man behind
the ad.
Here in Omaha is a clan of advertisement writers who
silently and assiduously work on the "copy" that appears
in the big newspapers. Their work goes on and on like
an endless chain. Every day in the year they have some
new idea to create, some new article to exploit, new
prices to announce, new patterns to show. The life
the dally newspaper is but ephemeral. Each day it
born and each day it dies. It is read strenuously
strenuous people; they eagerly grasp it. glance it through
and cast it aside. Hence, the ads that these men write
live but a short time. Each day there must be something
the newspaper and advertising go on.
How many people are there who understand the work of the
advertisement writer? Maybe you never knew that such a man
really lives. Step into any of the big stores, if you will, and try to
locate the advertising manager. You may search the entire store and
not find him unless he is pointed out to you.
Back in his den the ad, writer is-nt work. He Is working out the
"copy" that he knows is the soul of the advertising that must appear
in the paper. He knows that advertising without good copy pithy,
catchy, clever, attractive stuff is like the Indian in front of the
cigar store; it locates the store, but does not say anything. His office
is the clearing house of prices. Lists of articles come in with their
prices appended. The same evening or the next morning these
articles aro enumerated in the columns of the paper, alluringly ar
ranged with a bit of "business English" and a picture or two. All
this catches the eye of the reader and the ad writer has done his
work. In the hall of fame are men who have worked themselves there
by various and circuitous routes. Likewise in the advertising game
men have won out in different ways.
Robert Manley, advertising manager at the Brandeis stores, has
been doing the ad stunt for seven years in Omaha. He was once a
newspaper man and served the days of the cub reporter on the Chi
cago Tribune, and has sat with the police at Central station through
the long hours of the "dog watch." He knew that advertising paid
long before he got any pay for it himself.
Cn the other hand Richard D. Skankey, advertising manager of
the Thcmpson-Bclden company, worked himself up through the reg
ular aisles cf trade. He was born in Omaha and earned his first
dollar in the store, where he is now chief of publicity. He has served
in every department of the big store has watched it grow and
knows every nook and corner of the big establishment like a skillful
mariner knows his ship. .
Robert A. Smith, advertising manager for the Union Pacific rail
road, holds a position that is uniquely differe nt from the usual drift
of ad writers. He has nothing to sell but railway tickets. All over
the lines of the Union Pacific, the Southern Pacific, the Oregon Rail
way & Navigation company's lines and the Oregon Short Line, his
ads appear. Mr. Smith has been writing copy for the Harrlman sys
tem since 1892, when he entered the passenger department, although
he has been In the railroad whirl since 1885.
W. T. Bourke is still another type of the ad writer. Mr. Bourke
li the proprietor of the Men's Fashion hop on Fifteenth street, be
tween Farram and Harney. He is the type of proprietor-ad writer
Tor he iJ his own publicity agent. Mr. Bourke came to Omaha from
( hicago. For ten years he was with the Browning-King company,
r.M then bronched out and hustled for himself. He has built up a
large trade by close attention to business and ia a regular and con
sistent newspaper advertiser. His ads tell the story.
Edward S. Thompson of the Walk Over Shoe company, John A.
Bryans of the Fry Shoe company, Robert S. Haaker of the Regent
Shoe company, Robert R. Rosenzwelg of the Drexel Shoe company,
Frank B. Palmer of the Shoe Market and Frank Wilcox of the Sorosls
Shoe company are specialists in handling leather goods. They know
that patent leathers and calf skins are more popular In Omaha than
wooden shoes and they write ads to mitch. They form a sextet that
can sing meaning ballads about the shoe Industry.
Fred Paffenrath, with Nlcoll the Tailor, and Ellis H. Wilson of
the MacCarthy-WlIson Tailoring company, represent another class of
ad writers. They know what the men-folks Ilka to w.r
VTint pictures of the latest styles and quote prices that attract
"ier or taitor maae nothing. Air. ranenrath has been in business
In Omaha for twenty-one years. Dresher, the tailor, also belongs to
this class of advertisers. Arthur Met. Edgar A. Higglns and- Wil
liam Kennedy are the three lolly brewers. Mr. MeU tells us of the
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J W STEWART
MILLER STEWART
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WALK-OVER SHOE STOft
TAILOR,
mum
c F.W. Harwood.
A-E. Wilcox.
BROWNING KlNCr.
vTf-r . 3$- Co sv .TTRA"MT1T?1C.
11
ALBERT EPHOLM PHA? I.VAKirV
ff o SUNDERLAND & XZTA
H0KT0
"BEKGr CLO.
X,;
1 Tf
SUNDERLAND
VSIWEERLAND BROS. Y
HIGGJNS.
they
the
healthful properties of MeU beer and why it is better than any other; ,
Mr. Higglns says the same things about the Storx beer and Mr. Ktsu--ne'ly
says that Luxtis is the "Beer You Like." Anyway, they know
the lest way of advertising good beer and how to make lips water for
the pale beverage. Beer is one of the most widely advertised com
modities on the market, not local beers alone, but the brews of all
cities.
Albert Edholm of the Edholm Jewelry company, C. B. Brown of
the Brown Jewelry company, S. W. Lindsay, T. L. Coombs, lobeph
Frenxer, Abraham Mandelberg, Fred W. Brodegaard and the Ryan
Jewelry company all believe in regular and consistent advertising.
Glistening, dazzling and shimmering ads bring trade and these men
are types of Jewelers who write their own ads. Many of these tirms
have long been established in Omaha.
Frank W. Harwood of the Thomas Cusack company, formerly
the Omaha Gunning system, also has aomethlng of a unique place
in the field of ad writers. He has no commodity to sell, except space,
but he does the publicity work for other people. Mr. Harwood has
been following the advertisement game for three years In Omaha.
He is the secretary of the Omaha Ad club and was one of the
"boosters" to go to the Louisville convention and came back with the
scalp of the "next convention dangling from his belt He helped ad
vertise Omaha and is going to bring about 1,000 ad writers to the city
next summer. In this category comes also T. Tony Jacobs. "He
Writes Ads." He writes them for himself, but ho makes a business
cf writing them for other people. When he writes an ad he always
asks the Question, "Does it have pull?" "It's necessary," ho says.
Another group of ad writers are the men in the larger depart
ment stores. This group Includes such men as John W. Stewart of
Miller, Stewart & Beaton, Fred M. Hall cf tho Peoples store, Luton
L. Baum of the Nebraska Clothing company, Nathan Ilorton of tho
Berg Clothing company, Robert Cowell of Thomas Kilpatrick & Co.,
Charles L. Vance of Hayden Bros., Charles T. Walker of the King
Swonson company, Richard E. Wilcox of the Browning King com
pany, Harry Hanna of the Bennett company, Wilbur G. Brand of
Orchard & Wilhelm, Robert Manley of the Brandeis stores, Richard
D. Skankey of Thompson & Belden and J. C. Johnson of Schmoller &
Mueller.
This big group of men feel the pulse of the big throbbing stores
beneath their sway and then record the status of events In the news
papers. They are advertising managers everyone of them they
possess business ability that must be' marked; they have originality
and when they have evolved plan! they put them Into operation.
Although there are many in the same field, e'ach one knows that he
must be a little different from "the other fellow." Each of these
men knows that when "copy" is sent In "results" must come back.
They have studied the Wana
maker style of department store
advertising and from that have
developed along their own lines
of originality.
. Ralph A. Sunderland of the
Gunderland Brothers company
has a line of his own to adver
tise, different from the depart
ment store ad writer. The
Sunderland Brothers company
handles building materials, coal
and wood, but advertising helps
them, too.
In the line of exclusive gar
ments Orkln Brothers and the
Wolff store, both on Douglas
street between Fifteenth and
Sixteenth streets, are consistent
advertisers. The Orkin Broth
ers write their own ads and
Miss Wolff likewise writes her
own copy. Right in that same
I handles musical instruments. This is the A. Hospe com
pany, and William Zitzman is the man who handles the
.advertising for the firm. A store similar to that of
Orkin Brothers is that of The Elite Cloak company, for
whom Henry A. Grohosky does the advertising stunt.
Many are the steps that the price list takes before it
finds its way into tho columns of the paper. The ad
writer gets them personally from heads of department!
or from his own personal knowledge. Then he must pre
pare his copy. This he arranges in the form of a
"dummy," a little chart that shows bow the ad will ap
pear in print. This dummy ho sends to the newspaper
office, measured to space, and later receives it back with
a proof of the type for corrections or alterations. Cuta
and drawings muBt be provided for in the given space.
Much, however, depends upon the early work of obtain
ing announcements of prices and goods from the various
parts of the store.
Having received these announcements from the de
partment heads, it is the business of the advertising man
ager to assemble them in effective and attractive style,
introducing the page advertisement with- catchy head
lines and with an Interesting style of "talk" which will
attract and hold the Interest of the reader at once. It Is the scheme
of the ad writer to group this Introductory "talk" around some par
ticular article that is seasonable and timely. Another thing the ad
writer tries to do is to be different from "the other fellow." Ha
seeks originality, but one thing, however, he keeps in mind, and that
Is that prices interest the public.
The advertising of yesterday is not the advertising of today.
Men not very old have witnessed the entire development of modern
advertising from being an untrustworthy instrument of quacks and
charlatans to its place as an engine in the conduct and expansion of
business. "Human Interest" must pervade the advertising copy.
The man who writes tho copy for the newspaper realizes this. He
knows that his copy must center about something of popular Interest.
Re follows, as a rule, the newspaper style and presents his wares in
the manner in which they will catch the eye of the reader and make
him look. The sagacious merchant no longer fills his newspaper
space with extravagant claims regarding "quality" and "cheapness."
He leaves "Barnum" buncombe and bluster for others, and does not
waste costly space In generalizing. If he makes any statement about
his goods it is definite and specific. His announcements are made
with the understanding that he may be called upon to "make good."
He must stand behind his advertising. The necessity for utilizing
space in this way becomes more apparent as the price of. that space
increases. -
The public is interested in prices and no one knows this better
than the merchant or the advertising manager. When the want has
been created in the'mlnd of tho reader through the advertisement
the next question that Interests him is the price he must pay to have
that want satisfied."
When a firm uses a page or half page in tho local papers the ad
vertising manager must fill it with the kind of copy which can be
called "salesmanshlp-on-paper." He therefore calls upon the heads
of departments for a written statement or announcement of what
each department has to offer for the purchasing public on the day
that the advertisement Is to appear. The head of each department
is supposed to be a specialist in his line and must know the weak
places under him that need to be built up.
First of all, in writing an ad he tries to attract attention. Many
are tho devices used in attaining this end. It may be big type, a cut,
attractive headlines or tantalizing prices. Jingles, such as the
Sunny Jim variety or those cf the Phoebe Snow of the Lackawanna
railroad, are ads that attract at a glance.
Then the ad writer knows there must be interest. He tries to get
the attention of tho reader and then tries to interest"'hlm. He offers
Information that may prove of Interest.
Once tho reader is Interested In the article, the writer tries to
create a desire on tho part of the person to want that article. The
value lis made manifest that Is, the good that would result from the
possession of the article. Often a person does not realize that he
really needs a thing until ho Is told about It. Then the ad writer
works on the mind the convictions. By his copy ho endeavors to
convince the reader cf the advantago !u owning such thing and
what it means to him to be without it. This the reader must decide
for himself. If he wants tho article advertised and realizes that he
needs it, it is but the matter of a moment to resolve to purchase It.
This decision is what the ad writer endeavors to obtain in his copy.
. Tho successful advertising writer must havo that quick, precise
sense of knowing just what to talk about and Just what not to talk
about. He must have a good knowledge of "business English" a
command of snappy, pithy, catchy words that tell tho story. The
advertising writer must be concise. Every word occupies space and
he must reckon carefully on space. He must put himself in the
reader's place, so that he will know how the reader will construa his
"talk."
Above all, he must be a business man.
