Printers' Ink, January 1, 1908 (Vol. 62, No. 1)
The first 1908 issue of Printers' Ink, 56 pages, published weeks after the Panic of 1907.
What it is
The first 1908 issue of Printers' Ink, 56 pages, published weeks after the Panic of 1907. The cover carries the Butterick Trio's case that its three women's magazines reach 1,600,000 homes and that their reading pages prime readers for the advertising. The lead, "A Few Weeks with John Bull", finds British advertising dull and indirect, not because the public is conservative but because firms say "can't", hide facts from their agents, underpay copywriters and lack advertising managers. "A Look Ahead" prints replies from publishers across the country, asked not to colour their facts, arguing that 1908 need not be lean; farm-paper letters add that the farmer has money. An Ohio Farmer survey claims farmers buy 98 per cent of staples locally and favour advertised brands. The Roll of Honor lists papers with signed circulation statements, George Ethridge critiques commercial art, and the Ready-Made department defends printing prices.
Why read it now
Read it for two things that still decide budgets. First, the panic coverage: the journal polled publishers and told advertisers not to "reef sails". The sources had a stake in the answer, so treat it as advocacy, yet the direction matches later evidence: studies of recessions from the 1920s on, and IPA analyses by Peter Field, find that brands which hold spend while rivals cut tend to gain share. Second, the John Bull report blames dull British copy on firms that kept facts from their agents and paid writers poorly, not on conservative buyers. Swap Britain for any market said to be "different" and the diagnosis often holds; its warning about local words (boots, not shoes) applies directly to Gulf Arabic copy. The Saturday Evening Post's parable of the weekly suitor is a fair case for frequency. What has dated: Butterick's claim that women do 90 per cent of buying, stated as proved, and a farm survey drawn from one paper's own readers. Use: before cutting spend in a downturn, check whether your competitors are cutting too.
Passages worth keeping
The moral of this history is that the frequent caller gets what he is after, whether orders or a marriage certificate.
من يطرق الباب كل أسبوع يفوز قبل من يطرقه كل شهر، سواء كان يطلب زوجة أو طلبية، وهذه حجة لتكرار الظهور.
It lacks the element of Now. It does not urge the reader to act, but stands at his side and keeps silent, or tries to make him laugh.
الإعلان البريطاني آنذاك يفتقد الإحساس بالحاضر، فلا يدعو القارئ إلى فعل شيء، بل يقف صامتًا بجانبه أو يحاول إضحاكه فقط.
There are hundreds of these differences, however, and they must be closely watched, or copy may be actually unintelligible to British readers
الفروق الصغيرة في أسماء الأشياء بين بلد وآخر كثيرة، ومن يهملها يكتب إعلانًا قد لا يفهمه جمهور السوق الجديدة أصلًا.
each correspondent was especially requested not to color his statement, but to submit the facts as they exist, and his honest judgment regarding the coming year.
طلبت المجلة من كل ناشر أن ينقل الوقائع كما هي دون تجميل، وأن يضيف تقديره الصادق للعام المقبل.
It is quite true that to many people prices have little or no significance, but it is equally true that the great majority judge largely of quality by price alone
بعض الناس لا يلتفتون إلى الأسعار، لكن أغلبهم يحكمون على الجودة من السعر، ولذلك فإن حذفه من الإعلان يحرمهم من أداة قرار.
The scanned text has OCR errors. The passages are quoted from it, with only obvious slips fixed.
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