care everything you write and when you come upon a passage that seems in your judgment to be remarkably brilliant, strike it out." It is to be hoped that Johnson did not intend this to be taken literally, but rather as counsel of uncompromising criticism of one's own work. We can derive some reassurance from the reflection that it was the same oracle who said that a man may write at any time if he will set himself doggedly to it.

Another danger confronting the writer who, determined to get away from the beaten track, develops a style or form of construction that he hopes will appeal through its novelty, is that of distracting the reader's attention from the subject presented. Most of George Meredith's novels are written with such sparkling brilliance, they abound with such dazzling literary pyrotechnics, that the amazed and often-puzzled reader constantly finds his interest straying from the story. Mere

dith's remarkable genius never earned him a large reading public. Had he applied his methods to advertisement writing he would have failed utterly from the selling viewpoint, for he would have hidden the thing advertised under the cleverness of his manner of presenting it. That is a fatal mistake. The history of advertising contains many such. Sunny Jim set the whole world talkingabout Sunny Jim, not the food that raised him.

A new and distinctive style is successful only if it be natural, sensible, and without obvious straining after effect. Elbert Hubbard hit on a method that gave the happiest combination of brilliance in manner and interest in matter. Arthur Brisbane's success is a triumph of the power to convince evolved on striking lines. But the imitators of Hubbard and Brisbane who have tried to "go one better" have in only too many cases failed to do more than make themselves ridiculous.

The writer who has developed "something different" that is being justified by results cannot be too conservative in his handling of it. Many an able man has lost all sense of proportion in attempting to improve a good thing of his own, and in that way has gone down to disaster. Some years ago a certain English journalist of unusual power and popularity carried to the point of absurdity a style that in its earlier form had won for him an enviable reputation. A characteristic passage that I have in mind was somewhat as follows:

"This House-this House of Lords-defies the will of the people. The will of the British people is flouted by the British House of Lords. What must the people do? They must sweep away the House that defies them · the House of Lords. Sweep it away. The aristocratic House of Lords;' the reactionary, undemocratic, antiquated House of Lords. It must be swept away. Away with the

Lords."

Repetition has its value when used with discretion, but when carried to its utmost limits becomes an object of jest and, like all other similar extravagances, obscures the innate merits of the proposition.

UNNECESSARY TO HAVE GOOD COPY

LONG

The interest, distinction, charm and power that can be put into advertising copy is most effective when it combines originality with common sense, literary strength with human appeal. The exigency of space or the advisability of brevity is no bar whatever to the alliance of rhetoric with good selling argument; indeed, some of the best advertising matter now being printed is sparingly worded. A simple but admirable piece of writing is an advertisement of the Kodak Company:

There's winter sport, too-in a
KODAK

Outdoors with skates and skis and coasting, when the trees are snow laden and great drifts tell the tale of last night's storm, there are pictures well worth taking.

And indoors there are group pictures and home portraits, by daylight or flashlight; and in the long winter evenings, when rain and sleet make the outdoors impossible, there's good fun in developing and printing. Every step is simple by the Kodak System.

Almost anyone, in addition to the sportsman and the snap-shot fiend, who sees that advertisement will read it with pleasure. It has human appeal and is picturesquely descriptive. In the fewest words possible it conjures visions of glowing pleasure and quiet happiness and intimates convincingly how each can be largely increased. Pictures (i. e., the selling point) of the greatest personal interest are most skilfully interwoven with thoughts of wholesome joy. The advertisement as a whole brings home to the man who does not possess a camera some realization of what he is missing, which must be precisely what the copy-writer tried to do.

Advertisements published by the Gorham Company create an atmosphere that is strongly appropriate to the nature of that firm's business. In one of them, headed "The Things That Endure," the reason why antiques are generally preferred to modern articles is indicated in choice words, and then comes this:

"The Gorham silverware which you buy to-day for your home will grow into your life like a habit, minister to the present and memorialize the past, and it will not fade like old books, nor wear out like old furniture, and it will survive old friends."

That paragraph expresses thoughts that will appeal to people of refinement who appreciate the styles of the great bygone craftsmen. It suggests to well-to-do readers that perhaps there is wanting in their homes something betokening cultivated tastes, something of rare and permanent charm and value that the Gorham Company understands and can provide.

An instance of adding to the strength and distinction of copy by means of a terse, judicious observation is provided by an opening paragraph in one of the

Ampico advertisements. Consider how much inferior the following would be without the last sentence.

"Until you have heard the Ampico, probably nothing that we can say will convince you that a of the perfect reproduction at last been pianist's art has Belief waits always achieved. upon the evidence of the senses. Entirely different, but equally good in its way, is this:

"SHAVING STRATEGY "Don't try to bluff your beard -trick it. The Williams' Big Stick is a paradox. It's husky to look at, but it yields a lather so soft and gentle that it sneaks in on Mr. Beard unawares and puts him in the discard."

Men who shave are always eager to learn of something that will increase the ease or, if you prefer it, lessen the discomfort of that operation. Soap is a serious problem for the shaver and this copy treats of its most important consideration in an attractive and unusual manner.

Prominent among the cleverest advertising of the time is that of a number of periodicals.

One smart-set periodical, for instance, publishes some wonderful copy. The sparkle of the world that amuses itself, and to which the appeal is made, is reflected in the following:

as

It

be no

After visiting fifty leading manufacturers, Mr. McKelvie found that business is good and that there seems to Bereason why it should not continue to be good in the future. cause of the new situation, however, growing out of the fact that the country is at war, there is a vague fear for the future among certain manufacThe successful business men, he prophesies, will be those who exhibit a faith in the future by extending their efforts in selling and employ the most efficient methods for taking advantage of the fear and inaction of their competitors.

turers.

manner he con

"I know that when men are afraid to go forward in the customary of promoting their business," tinued, "either business is not good or they are afraid of the future, and at the present time the latter is undoubtedly true.

"Therefore I say that the next year They or two will show who the really big business men of this country are. will be the ones who will correctly analyze the outlook for the future and will have the courage to act upon their convictions.

"In my talks with men I found a that business very general feeling With abundant 'ought to be good.'

crops and unprecedented prices, and the lessons of prosperity following the entry of Canada into war as a basis for judging what may happen to this counAnd so try, the average man is inclined to say 'business will be good.'

un

doubtedly it will be for those who have the courage to act upon that belief."