are given great prominence-a condition which ought to be reversed.

Such, in brief, are my ideas concerning the arrangement of an up-to-date drug store. They can

be varied and enlarged according to conditions and individual preference. I venture the assertion that a store arranged upon the above plan would prove a profitable and pleasing innovation.

THE FOUNDATION OF ALL ADVERTISING.

To the time-worn phrase, "There are but two kinds of advertising, good and bad," a line might be added that would read: "There is a kind that costs money and one that does not." The kind that does

not cost a direct outlay of money is-Reputation. It is the reputation of the store regarding its being well fitted and always clean and neat, concerning its location, the trade it caters to, and the way it fills the demands of that trade. It is the reputation of the goods the store carries, of their quality, of their price, of their newness, of the completeness of the stock, and of the quality of always being supplied with goods and never "just out" of anything. It is the reputation of the treatment that the people receive, whether good, bad, or indifferent. It is the reputation of the proprietor and his clerks, not only while in the store, but while away from it.

The social actions of proprietor and clerk, their personal appearance, and their conduct are all noted and commented upon, and if all these and many other things are good, then the advertising value to the store is good; if they are bad, then the advertising value to the store is worse than bad-for it is peculiarly true that although this form of advertising requires no direct outlay of money, it has a capacity of reacting more strongly than any other. If that for which we pay is bad, we can at the worst only lose its cost, but if that for which we do not pay is bad, we go on losing day by day an incalculable amount by the trade it continually takes from us and keeps from us. If the public gets an impression that the store is a bar-room-an impression formed by loud talk and the clinking of glasses behind the prescription case, by seeing men stagger from the door, or by their talk-no amount of paid advertising will counteract the effect.

If a customer makes several calls upon a drug

gist and never gets what he wants, some other store will be advertised. Again, every one connected with the store may be perfect when in the store, but when outside forget himself and commit all kinds of errors. In this way he unthinkingly advertises against the store more effectively than could its rivals by spending hundreds of dollars to draw trade away. Hence, when it is decided to go into an advertising campaign, particular care should be taken to have it built on the solid foundation of a good reputation, and then every dollar spent in the future will be left free and unencumbered to bring back its

returns.

DIVIDING THE ADVERTISING APPROPRIATION.

The amount of money which the store is to spend for advertising should be allotted and divided before any of it is really spent, for advertising is as deep and interesting a game as chess and as fickle as fortune herself. Haphazard methods will not win. During the first year of a store's existence there is little or nothing to base a calculation upon, so it will be best to make just as large an appropriation as one feels he can afford; then the next year the amount can be estimated from the profits, and the percentage ranges all the way from 5 to 50, just as one feels he can afford. If the store has made no profits then the manager must determine the amount by his resources, but in this case it should be as large as possible in order to help things to a profit basis. After the aggregate amount is determined it should be proportioned to the different forms of advertising, something like this:

This schedule is made particularly for the country druggist, of course. Some of the mediums mentioned are not available for the use of the city druggist; but he can easily rearrange the schedule to suit himself. It is merely meant to be suggestive.

COUNTER SLIPS.

Counter slips are effective, inasmuch as they are easy to distribute, almost sure to receive at least a glance by those who receive them, are inexpensive, and permit of great possibilities. They are kept on the counter, put in every package which is wrapped up, and are therefore almost sure to be looked at when the package is unwrapped. Their cost is small -usually about $1 for first thousand, and 50 cents for each additional thousand. There should be several slips. It is best to have at least one calling attention to the prescription department, one to the non-secrets of the store, and one to your own toilet preparations. Then you can use the prescription slip in wrapping prescriptions in order to make a bid for future ones, and the non-secret ones in wrapping patents because they will go to people who are interested in that class of goods and will tend to draw them to articles in which there is more profit. Thus it is also with the toilet article slip, although it can be used to advantage in every package which goes to a woman. Much better results will be obtained with these slips if used in this way than if they are used with no system. While the three slips will be enough for all practical purposes, others can be added as one wishes; but no matter how many kinds there are, they should all be distributed with the same idea that is, they should be gotten into those hands where they are most likely to receive attention.

DODGERS.

Dodgers for house to house distribution are, as a general thing, of little value to the druggist unless for a special sale or at a particular time-say the holiday season or the opening day of the soda fountain. Dodgers are only of value to bring quick action, and quick action is hardly a possibility in a drug store with its stock of staples and few leaders. It is for this reason that the druggist will scarcely realize on the investment, but when dodgers are used, however, they should be so worded as to be easily and quickly read and understood by all classes. There should be good catchy headlines, and the dodgers should be of such a convenient size and so cheap as to permit their being used in large quanti

ties, not only in the houses, but dropped upon the street, the idea being to catch the attention of people, not only when they read the thing, but as they pass along and simply glance at it. They should at least be able to recognize that it is an advertisement of Blank's drug store.

SMALL BOOKLETS.

Small booklets are among the nicest forms of advertising for the drug store. In cost they can be almost anything that one wishes, but a fair average would be from $7 to $30 a thousand, depending upon the size, quality, quantity, amount of illustrations, and binding. A very fair and exceedingly profitable method of starting a system of this nature would be to issue two such booklets a year, one devoted to spring and summer, and the other to fall and winter. In the first the druggist could advertise such things as spring medicines, preparations for use during the house cleaning season, stationery, remedies for sunstroke and other summer complaints, perfumes, soda water, and other side lines, etc., etc. In the other he could exploit hot water bottles and kindred articles, cough syrups, plasters, toilet articles; in fact, there is hardly a limit to the number of things which could be spoken of. There are two things, however, which should receive particular attention in both books: there should be a short, comprehensive article about the store in general, and there should also be one about its prescription de-. partment. These booklets can be made of solid advertising, or they can be made to contain family recipes, jokes, anecdotes or pictures, as one thinks best. They should be distributed carefully so as to get them well out and yet prevent waste. This can be done either by means of a mailing list, or by "house to house" distribution. There should also be a supply at the store to give out as one sees fit.

NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING.

Of all the difficult advertising problems which confront the drug man, that of newspapers is probably the most perplexing. The largest part of the difficulty is in deciding whether to use the newspaper at all or not, and he must decide this by the size of his city or town, his location in it, the class of trade he expects to attract, the size and nature of his business, the sort of competition he must meet, the nature and cost of the advertising, etc. And when he has decided to try it, he is met with another question-How much space will he use? This he must decide by almost the same standards; for the

average druggist, however, we would say about 2, 3 or 4 inches of single column space would be about right. This he should contract for to be at the head of the column next to solid reading matter of local interest; then he will have his ads. in the best possible space to be seen, no matter how large or how small the paper may be, or how limited its circulation. If the druggist feels that he wants more space let it be double-column instead of single, but in the same location. The ad. itself should be changed at least every other day, and it is well to keep at least a week's supply of advertisements prepared ahead. Interesting as it unquestionably is, the art of newspaper advertising is a subject which would require days to do justice to, for the reason that little can be definitely said about it, although a few general rules might be mentioned. The heading should be conspicuous, catchy, yet not trashy, and should convey some information-if possible, just enough to make one curious as to what is to follow. The body of the advertisement should be so worded as to be perfectly clear to a person of almost any degree of education; it should read freely and be not too long: it should be to the point and be the truth, the idea being to take each individual into a confidential talk. The results that will be achieved will be much greater than when attempts are made to mislead, and there will be no harmful reaction. There should be but one subject discussed in each advertisement, and if it is thought wise to continue the subject longer than the customary period of running a given adv., it should be rewritten, for in its new form it may catch some people that the original adv. did not.

PROGRAMMES AVOID THEM!

Programmes as gotten out by churches, schools, societies, etc., are of little or no account as advertising mediums, but the real question is whether or not one can afford to have the rather unwelcome advertising which the committee in charge will give him by talking about his being too mean to patronize them. On this account it is sometimes best to take a small space rather than antagonize such people, or one may get out of it and at the same time do himself some good by a subterfuge—that is, by explaining that, while it is against his policy to do such advertising, he would like to donate in some other way by giving a prize, or an article to be sold, if there is to be a bazaar. If it is a "social," send lemons along or a cake; and if it is a concert, offer to perfume the hall, providing the committee will add a line to the programme announcing the fact. The per

fume will not cost very much; and often the druggist can get the manufacturer to donate it! The work can be done in the afternoon by saturating pieces of blotting-paper with the perfume and putting them around the house, and then by spraying some in the air through an atomizer just before the doors are opened.

PERSONAL LETTERS.

Personal letters have found favor in many places and have brought good results. They may be typewritten and copied; they can be printed in imitation on the store's letter-heads, or they may even be written out in longhand if the supply wanted be not too large. The best time to use them is probably at New Year, or when one is closing his yearly business. This affords a ready excuse for sending them. One can state the fact, thank people for their business in the past, ask for an extension of it in the future, and add anything else that he wishes. Such letters are also an excellent means of informing one's best customers, or any one interested, of the receipt of a new lot of goods that may strike their fancy.

SAMPLING PREPARATIONS.

Nearly every store has preparations of its own, some of which could be advantageously sampled. They can be put up in packages ranging from one drachm to two ounces, and if it is not desired to have special labels, etc., printed for these samples, a regular stock label could be used after writing "Sample of" before the title, fastened around the package with a rubber band.

DISPLAY CARDS.

Display cards are useful for a great many purposes in advertising, and will well repay one for the trouble of learning to make them-for almost anyone can learn if he will but spend some spare time on the task, say his winter evenings, although if one does not care to learn himself, there is usually some one who will do the work for little or nothing. It is also well to have something on the card to catch the eye; this may be a little fancy or comic ornament or picture. Those of actresses and scenes cut from magazines do nicely. The cards themselves are made from 6 to 10 ply cardboard of any color desired, and are obtained from the printer or a paper store, and cut to any desired shape and size. They are to be used as price cards and to call attention to articles in the store and in the windows. A nice place to use them is also over the shelving or any other place in the store where they are likely to be conspicuous,

but care must be taken in the latter instances to change them frequently, else they soon lose their effect on the regular customer. Permission can also frequently be obtained to place such cards in conspicuous places around town, say in barber shops, hallways, etc. Sometimes it is necessary to pay for this privilege, especially in the larger places, but it is better to forego their use rather than pay very much, as their value is not great.

Street-car advertising is closely related to display cards, but does more good for the reason that more people can see it, and as the majority of them have nothing to do but look around while on the car they are likely to pay more attention to it than they otherwise would. It is best to advertise only on those lines which either pass or come close to one's store, and if a considerable number of cars are run it is not necessary to use space in more than half of them, as that number will catch the people.

ROCK AND FENCE SIGNS.

Rock and fence signs are good if their location be good and if there be enough of them so that the traveler over the road will eventually say, "That Druggist Blank must have pretty much of a store, for I see his signs everywhere." This is the purpose of such signs-they are simply a reminder of the store, for their very nature requires that they be lettered in such large characters that but few words can be given, any specific advertising therefore being out of the question. Objections are often raised by the farmers to allowing their property to be used for such purposes, but they are usually willing to make a bargain, and if the location is of value the druggist should lease it, thereby insuring himself that his sign will stay in its place. An arrangement can sometimes be made to give a certain per cent off on all purchases instead of paying a cash rental. This is satisfactory to the land owner and brings the druggist his trade at but a slight cut. Billboard advertising in the city is something on the same order, but is usually too expensive for the average druggist to indulge in. If he does it at all, however, he should pay the price and get the best, not only as to workmanship, but as to locations.

ADVERTISING NOVELTIES.

Under the head of novelties in advertising we can class all those things gotten out by the advertising concerns, such as calendars, blotters, paper weights, match-safes, rulers, lead-pencils, and many others too numerous to mention. With some people

these things are of great value, while to others they are of little or none; or it may be that what is of value to one person will be of none to another, so that no rules of guidance can be given. There is one thing, however, that can be done, and that is to aim to have everything so good that it will be kept by the person to whom given. On this account it is sometimes better to spend one's entire advertising appropriation on one good article than to divide it among several which bear the trade-mark of being cheap and trashy. For instance, a man may buy calendars for $25 a thousand which at the best will be kept but a few days and do practically no good whatever; while if, instead of doing this, he would get, say, 250 calendars that cost $250 a thousand he would have something so nice and pretty that anyone would be glad to have it and keep it. True, such calendars would cost 25 cents apiece, which is a good deal for some druggists to put into such a thing, but this objection could be largely overcome by only giving them away with every dollar purchase. The profit on the sale will pay for the calendar; the scheme will, moreover, bring many new customers in order to get a calendar; and then the calendar itself will be kept by people and thus remain a permanent advertisement. And so it is with all novelty advertising: either stay out of it altogether, or else do it so well that what you have will be eagerly sought for and kept. Otherwise the money spent will do no

good.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?—A GOOD DEAL!

It is an excellent idea for the druggist to have a distinguishing mark about the name of his storefor instance, "The Owl Drug Store," or "Blank's Crescent Pharmacy," etc. "Blank's Crescent Pharmacy," for example, has crescents on the windows; a large sign of that shape lighted by electricity hangs at night over the door; all the advertisements, such as newspaper announcements, pamphlets, etc., have the crescent prominently displayed; the druggist's novelties are made in the shape of a crescent, and he has nicely lettered tin signs of the same shape tacked up in every possible place, not only in his city, but for miles around. In time every one from his city thinks of Blank's and his pharmacy whenever they see a crescent, no matter where it is or what it represents; and this is the value of an advertising mark -to so familiarize the public with it that the man and the store which it represents will at once be recognized in an advertisement whether the text is read

or not.