CIRCULARS AND CIRCULARIZING, a means of ad vertising and selling which has reached large proportions as a result of rapid printing and postal extension in the past half century. This consists of descriptive circulars and other forms of advertising literature sent through the mails to bring about sales direct to possible customers. It has long been widely used in France and the United States, in connection with catalogues mailed on request by department stores, seedsmen and manufac turers of various articles that can be economically shipped.
With the development of the mail order houses, particularly in the United States, the use of this method of advertising has greatly extended. Catalogues of I,000 pages or more, sometimes are sent broadcast to urban and farm dwellers alike, who give orders for clothing, pianos, agricultural implements, household utensils, and a great variety of other articles. The number of mail order houses in the United States is estimated at 125, with yearly sales approximating $5oo,000,000. With the extension of the parcels post and favourable postal rates, this form of advertising has been widely adopted by manufacturers. (W. S. HI.)