One Hundred Alphabets for the Show Card Writer
A portfolio of hand lettering for store window cards and price tickets, compiled by the Chicago publisher of the monthly Merchants Record and Show Window from work it had printed over the previous two or three years; this is the fourth edition, with copyrights from 1913 to 1919.
What it is
A portfolio of hand lettering for store window cards and price tickets, compiled by the Chicago publisher of the monthly Merchants Record and Show Window from work it had printed over the previous two or three years; this is the fourth edition, with copyrights from 1913 to 1919. A two-page introduction argues that the show window is the store's best advertising medium and that the public judges a store by it, then sells the journal: seasonal issues printed well ahead of each season, about forty halftone plates an issue, three dollars a year. The plates follow: alphabets in many styles, some labelled Single Stroke, Easy and Neat or Two-Stroke Roman, then sample cards for Easter openings, spring suits, January white sales and Christmas shopping. The last page lists the publisher's other books for display men, card writers and advertising men.
Why read it now
The premise holds: the sign at the point of sale is a medium, and short card copy does selling work. Anderson and Simester (Harvard Business Review, 2003) found that sale signs lift demand even when the price is unchanged, and that the lift shrinks as more items carry signs, which is a caution for stores that tag everything as special or unusual value, as many of these cards do. The introduction's seasonal rule, print the Christmas material two months early, is still how retail calendars work. The legible card fragments show copy worth studying: an invitation to make your own comparisons, and a promise to put things right with a refund or an exchange. What has dated: the hand-lettering craft itself, replaced by printers and screens, and cards aimed at the thrifty housewife. To use it: for a retail client's Ramadan or back-to-school season, draft shelf and window cards two months ahead, each with one item, one reason, the price and a returns line.
Passages worth keeping
The show window is now recognized as the store’s best advertising medium, and the display man as one of its best producers.
أصبحت واجهة المحل أفضل وسيلة إعلان لديه، وأصبح منسق الواجهات من أهم من يجلبون له الزبائن.
In these days of modern methods a retail business stands or falls accordingly as the show window attracts or turns away prospective customers.
نجاح المحل أو فشله اليوم يتوقف على قدرة واجهته على جذب الزبائن أو صرفهم.
It is a recognized business fact that the public has come to judge the store by the show window.
الناس يحكمون على المحل كله من واجهته.
The information, suggestions and illustrations are published just at the time they are needed.
تصل الأفكار والنماذج إلى القارئ في الوقت الذي يحتاجها فيه، أي قبل الموسم لا أثناءه.
The scanned text has OCR errors. The passages are quoted from it, with only obvious slips fixed.
What it teaches best
Read the original archive.org
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