With respect to quantities, the following table will give an idea of the sheetage required to effectively cover the twenty-five largest towns in the kingdom on a moderately strong scale. When a commanding display is required, double, and in some places treble, these numbers could be allotted, and on the other hand a useful display on a more moderate scale could be made for specific purposes by a judicious selection of areas and districts. The sheet here estimated for is the double crown, 20 inches by 30 inches, and it will be remembered that the ordinary large poster is a 16-sheet bill.
Electric Signs.—This class of advertising comes entirely under the head of publicity. It acts as a reminder of the goods advertised, and does no educative work. For articles consumed in the winter it is particularly applicable, and for those appealing to the man in the street, such as tobacco and whisky, it is a very effective advertising medium. All the original signs were made by the Electric Sign and General Advertising Co., of Cowcross Street, E.C., NS ho hold the patents for flashing signs patronised by the chief advertising houses. Bovril was_, the first advertiser to make use of these signs, and for a long time monopolised the idea and secured the premier positions in London. Following Bovril came Edwards' Desiccated Soup, with its pictorial signs, which are still a feature of the Metropolis ; and during the last few years NesW, Anderson, Lipton, Dewar, Oxo, and several other firms have taken up the flashing signs, and with slight variations from the old Bovril pattern, have made a feature of them in their advertising.
The chief difficulty of electric sign advertising is the procuring of good sites. The positions must be prominent ; but the flashing must not be strong enough to cause conflict with the police, or a summons will assuredly ensue. Rentals from X:20 to 1150 for sites are freely asked, and as so much depends on the position it is generally a case of take it or leave it.
The signs vary in cost according to the size and number of the gilt letters, the number of lamps, the intricacies of the design, and the difficulties of erection. An ordinary sign of, say, ten letters, each letter six feet high, with red, white, and green lights changing automatically, might cost, with fixing, something in the neighbourhood of 1150. The annual expense, in
addition to rent, would be perhaps X50 for maintenance and current. The flashing has two great advantages— one is its arresting effiect, being much more noticeable than a stationary sign, and the other is the great saving effected in the annual consumption of electricity, the cost for current being approximately half that for a sign kept constantly alight. The more recently devised electric signs are a considerable advance on those of older patterns, both in novelty and in attention-arresting. power. It is impossible to pass one of these new signs without being struck by its force as an advertisement.
Railway advertising is a complex subject. Every line has its own conditions and its own rates. In the main trunk lines there are two forms of advertisements : the iron plates in the open, and the framed and glazed advertisements under cover. To be viewed from the train there ere many bold advertisements of the former type, the largest iron plate ordinarily made in one piece being S feet by 4 feet. Under cover in the stations, small plates, iron or tin, and coloured show-cards or small framed advertisements are suitable and effective, if striking enough to interest the traveller waiting for his train. Contracts for railway advertising are expensive unless made on a substantial scale; when a rental of sixpence per foot per annum, increased on sonic lines to a shilling, and even more for preferred positions, may be taken as a general index to the cost of a scheme. The plates are extra ; their cost depends upon the size of the order and the number of colours. An average price for estimating purposes might be taken as 9d. per superficial foot.
The London Tube advertising is of a different character. Here the chief features are framed cards in the lifts, bills in the corridors, and posters on the station walls. The old underground stations take advertisements like the main trunk lines with respect to cost. There are several rates of charges and no uniformity of system.
For retail houses on the line of routes the tubes are undoubtedly good taivertising, and for proprietary articles they should only be omitted from a general scheme when other forms of advertising are for any reasons preferable.