BILLBOARDS, the general term which in the United States and Canada designates advertising by means of painted or proc essed bulletins and posters. In Great Britain the term "hoardings" is used rather than billboards. This name was derived from the hoardings upon which posters were so frequently placed. From the indiscriminate pasting up of advertising sheets which were left unattended and soon became ragged and unsightly, bill-post ing has been developed into an extensive and highly organized busi ness. Painted bulletins usually consist of steel or wooden panels, framed and held in position by specially constructed forms. The usual practice is to repaint these every four months and contracts with the larger posting companies are uniform as to this clause. They are not of uniform size but are constructed to fit the space available. Rates are governed by the size and the number of peo ple likely to see the notice.
Posters are paper sheets printed or lithographed. In the United States and Canada they are uniform in size. There are two differ ent units: the more popular one is the "24-sheet" poster which is about 9 by 2 5 f t. including the frame around the panel; the smaller unit, called the "3-sheet" poster is approximately 3 by 7 feet. Although there are many concerns that are engaged in bill-posting they are so organized that practically the whole of North America can be covered through the association of bill-posters so that the advertiser will have but one contract to make and one bill to pay.
The charge for bill-posting is also highly standardized. Each city is divided up into a number of equally prominent showings and these are designated in the business as "standard set show ings." The "regulars" are charged from $7 to $7.5o a month, the advertiser supplying the lithographed sheets. "Specials" are stands located where traffic is heavy and these are often illumi nated at night. The rental for the specials is from $2o to $3o a month. In New York city 200 regulars and 124 specials are required for an "intensive showing" in Manhattan and the Bronx. It would be possible for 14 advertisers each to employ an inten sive showing at the same time in this district. They would reach approximately the same number of people and would he charged the same price. If it were desired to make a smaller investment, a "representative" or "half" showing could be taken, which would be of course ioo regulars and 62 specials. A few boards are sold as miscellaneous, primarily to local advertisers.
Few branches of advertising have made such improvement in their methods of doing business in the last few years as bill posters. Formerly, the obtrusive sheets were pasted on buildings, fences, hoardings and even on freight cars, water tanks, etc. The public rebelled against this unsightly display which caused the bill-posters to unite and reorganize the whole business. Now posters are not placed on residence streets; they are not allowed to become ragged or soiled. The bill-posters agree to keep the poster in presentable condition for the term of the contract and will replace the paper without cost if it becomes unattractive for any reason. Copy is carefully censored and no objectionable pic tures or messages are permitted. With the reorganization of the business, the volume has been greatly increased. The two leading bill-posting companies of the United States and Canada now do an annual business in excess of $5o,000,000.
Bill-posting is a form of advertising popular with advertisers who wish to appeal to the masses. Particularly is this true if the product can be attractively presented by a picture and a few words. With the more rapid forms of transportation, the copy has been condensed until so to 20 words is now regarded as the maximum length of a profitable message. One American adver tiser spent $3,000,000 on billboards in 1927. This provided a full showing for the whole country. (See POSTERS.) (H. E. A.)