St. Nicholas/Volume 32/Number 2/Advertisements/Back/Advertising Competition

St. Nicholas League Advertising Competition No. 42.
A Competition that is ABSOLUTELY NEW.

To all schools—teachers and scholars:

All the advertising competitions printed in St. Nicholas have practically been planned to teach the St. Nicholas readers how to advertise. This object has been accomplished. The recent contests show that the young workers have learned what advertising means.

Now we feel that it might become tiresome to have the same kind of competition month after month, and, since their instructive purpose has been fulfilled, let us have something new. A bird that has learned to fly does not wish to return to the nest; a baby that has mastered the art of walking never wants to creep; even our patient St. Nicholas competitors, having learned how to make good advertisements, have perhaps begun to wish for a change, The former prizes have been simply little stimulants, administered like spoonfuls of a tonic, to interest and encourage the young advertisers.

In this new field we are going to offer prizes of substantial value for more advanced work.

Every school in the United States is invited to send in answers to the one hundred questions printed below.

There is no restriction as to obtaining aid in answering the questions; on the contrary, each school is urged to secure the help of any one who is interested in their winning one of the prizes offered for the answers.

Teachers and parents and grown-up friends are asked to help their children to win the principal prize. The answers must be submitted in the name of the teacher, but any prize won shall belong to the school, until some other disposition is made of it.

The following are the Prizes:

FIRST PRIZE—The Century Dictionary, Cyclopedia, and Atlas, bound in ¾ morocco, 10 volumes, not obtainable even through clubbing rates at less than $90.

SECOND PRIZE—The same set, but bound in ½ morocco, value more than $60.

THIRD PRIZE—Books, to be selected from the catalogue of The Century Co., at the prices there given to the value of $30.00.

FOURTH PRIZE—Ten subscriptions to St. Nicholas for one year to any ten addresses of scholars in the competing school.

FIFTH PRIZE—Eight subscriptions as above.

SIXTH PRIZE—Six subscriptions as above.

SEVENTH PRIZE—Four subscriptions as above.

EIGHTH PRIZE—Two subscriptions as above.

NINTH PRIZE—One subscription as above.

TENTH PRIZE—One subscription as above.

It must be understood that every competing paper must be submitted in behalf of a school situated in the United States. Answer must be submitted before January 25, 1905,

As the purpose of this competition is to show the breadth of the field covered by modern advertising, with each set of one hundred answers to the one hundred questions must be sent in one hundred printed advertisements, each one of which must be related to the subject of one of the questions.

Thus in addition to answering question No. 1, in regard to the proportion of water in the human body, it is necessary to send an advertisement relating to drinking-water, table-waters, distilled water, or some other closely related subject. This advertisement may be clipped from any periodical, and should be numbered “No. 1” to correspond with the question to which it refers.

The choice of these advertisements and their value as illustrating the answer will be considered in awarding prizes. Competitors may he glad to know that they can obtain either the advertisements or any information about them by writing to those who deal in the manufactured goods.

We repeat that assistance may be obtained from any one in answering the question. But each answer must be accompanied by a printed advertisement relating to its subject. This advertisement must be sent in complete. It is suggested that a slip of paper be gummed to the advertisement and that the question (which need not be copied on the slip) be answered thereon.

Thus, a set of competing answers would be as follows:

I. A statement signed by the teacher of the school that the answers are submitted on behalf of the school, giving its name and address,

II. A set of one hundred advertisements to each of which is attached a numbered answer to one of the hundred questions.

The list of prize-winners will be announced in the advertising pages of the St. Nicholas Magazine.

“A CENTURY OF QUESTIONS.”

1.	Suppose all water extracted from the human body, how much of its bulk would remain?
2.	What has a vacuum to do with canning food?
3.	What is meant by a cereal?
4.	What advantage is there in whole-wheat flour?
5.	What is meant by pickling?
6.	Explain the action of soap.
7.	What is the effect of exercise on the muscles?
8.	Why is outdoor air better than that indoors?
9.	Name a popular outdoor recreation for the young.
10.	What are the requisites for a walking tour?
11.	Explain the advantages of woolen for clothing.
12.	How closely should one follow the fashion?
13.	What clothing is most healthful?
14.	Explain three requisites of a good shoe.
15.	Tell the advantages and disadvantages of water-proof shoes.
16.	When is jewelry in good taste?
17.	What is meant by “loud” dressing?
18.	How much care should be given to the personal appearance?
19.	Should one seek to avoid eccentricity in dress?
20.	What two methods gf washing clothing are most popular?
21.	Name three systems of heating houses, and give their advantages.
22.	What is combustion?
23.	What is indicated when smoke is profuse?
24.	How is coal formed?
25.	What becomes of coal when it is burned?
26.	How much air is needed for each person an hour?
27.	Why does ice by melting keep things cool?
28.	How is heat kept out of a refrigerator?
29.	What are the advantages of living in a temperate climate?
30.	What benefits are found in sea and mountain air?
31.	Explain the difference between an architect and a builder.
32.	Why do trolley-roads cause house-building in suburbs?
33.	What is the difference between real estate and personal property?
34.	How many 25 × 100 lots in an acre?
35.	What is a gambrel-roof?
36.	What is the advantage of a potter's wheel ?
37.	What is meant by seasoned wood ?
38.	How is cut-glass made?
39.	What is the advantage in using silver for tableware?
40.	How is steel tempered?
41.	Whats the reason for putting chimneys on lamps?
42.	Why does the filament in an electric lamp remain unconsumed?
43.	How is power from an engine converted to electricity?
44.	How is electricity used for heating?
45.	What is acetylene gas?
46.	How is plate-glass made?
47.	Why should light for reading come over the left shoulder?
48.	What is the benefit of a “Southern exposure”?
49.	How is a candle made to snuff itself?
50.	What is meant by actinic rays?
51.	Why does a bicycle balance best when in motion?
52.	How does a bicycle-rider gain both in speed and in power?
53.	What are the chief methods of propulsion used for automobiles?
54.	What is a storage battery?
55.	What is a gasoline engine?
56.	What is meant by “skidding” in an automobile?
57.	What is a “limited” train?
58.	How is an engine reversed, in a locomotive?
59.	Name and define five (5) varieties of carriages.
60.	How does the rule of the road differ in America and England?
61.	Name ten (10) literary books you think should be in every home.
62.	Why is a book of maps called an Atlas?
63.	What is the use of a Gazetteer?
64.	What is the best use to make of old magazines?
65.	At what age should a child go to school?
66.	How many hours a day should a child study?
67.	Is it best to give boys a military training?
68.	Is a vertical or slanting handwriting better?
69.	Should nature-study be taught in schools?
70.	What indoor games are best for children?
71.	Give some of the chief methods of life-insurance.
72.	What does “adjusting a loss” mean, in fire-insurance?
73.	How are savings-banks restricted in their investments?
74.	What is meant by a United States bond?
75.	What is a loose-leaf ledger?
76.	What is the vertical-filing system?
77.	Explain a few uses of the card-index.
78.	Name a few modern improvements in office-desks
79.	How is manifolding done on a type-writer?
80.	How, besides printing on a press, are circulars duplicated?
81.	To what class of instruments does a pianoforte belong?
82.	What is the principle on which automatic players work?
83.	Why are there no frets on a violin finger-board?
84.	What is meant by a “half-tone” plate?
85.	What is a “direct process” plate?
86.	What is the substance that is darkened in developing an exposed plate?
87.	What is the focal length of a lens?
88.	What is the purpose of a diaphragm in a camera?
89.	How does a phonograph reproduce sound?
90.	What principle underlies the fountain-pen?
91.	What is a choke-bore shot-gun?
92.	What is the use of rifting?
93.	What is an automatic revolver?
94.	What is meaant by bolt-action, in firearms?
95.	What is the meaning in golf of “two up and two to play”?
96.	What is the use of a clock?
97.	What is the use of jewels in a watch?
98.	How can a clock be made to run a year with one winding?
99.	What is meant by inoculating the soil?
100.	What is ginseng?

Report on Advertising Competition No. 40.

The idea of this competition was to relate the experiences of the family of Uptodates with modern advertised articles; also to invent acharacter, a member of the Uptodate family, which would be unique and would advertisean especial article, as the “Belle Chocolatière” advertises Baker’s Chocolate

This last idea was not so well carried out by the young competitors as the judges expected, most of the answers having to do with the ad

ventures of the whole family. One of the prize answers is so good in its meter, idea, and advertising qualities that we print it for all the competitors to see.

It is by Geddes Smith and received the first prize:

THE STORY OF THE UPTODATES.

My name is Robert Uptodates
I take my train at half-past eight,
And I am never “just too late,”—
I use an Elgin.

And I am Madam Uptodate;
Our Browning Club is held at eight,
For me the me the meetings never wait,—
I use an Elgin.

And I ’m Rob, Jr., Uptodate;
I go to school at half-past eight,
And tardy marks are not my fale; —
I use an Elgin.

My name is Helen Uptodate;
At music-lesson, game, or féte,
I ’m proud to say, I ’m never late,—
I use an Elgin.

This is excellent, you see, in the swing of the meter, and in the name of the advertised article coming in as a refrain at the end of every verse, making it almost impossible to forget that they “use an Elgin.”

It is a pity that each verse could not have been illustrated by the author with appropriate pictures, but we must not expect too much.

Another verse by Alma E. Barger was very good in its directness, and the meter is good also, except in the third line, where she found the name Royal Baking Powder rather hard to work in.

Mrs. Uptodate’s biscuits were heavy as lead.
No thought of good powder had entered her head,
Till once, in the store, Royal Baking Powder she saw,—
Since then they have had heavy biscuits no more.

There is something very amusing about the following bright little jingle:

The Uptodates’ baby, Rowena,
Grew leaner and leaner and leaner;
 But when Mellin’s was tried
 On her little inside —
Well! you really just ought to have seen her!

Perhaps the vagueness of the last line adds tothe interest, and this, combined with theromantic name of Rowena, is really very funny.

The following verse by Jennie Bockelman,which took a second prize, is good advertising, because it makes Lowney’s Cocoa sound very attractive; but we would suggest that it would have been better to have made a pretty little cook instead of the ignorant, vulgar-looking woman in her picture. This, too, would have carried out the idea better as showing that she was a woman of good sense.

LOWNEY’S COCOA.

With gifts and with pleadings, that, alas! were in vain,
Mrs. Uptodate begged the wise cook to remain;
But all came to naught till she happened to say,
“You can have Lowney’s Cocoa for breakfast each day”
Then the cook gave a grin: “Now that sounds more sane;
I can’t withstand that, so I think I ’ll remain”

Mrs, Uptodate’s attitude of tearful entreaty in the illustration is very well drawn, and we congratulate the artist upon the arrangement of the figures in her picture.

The advertisement of Sorosis shoes by Iris Heap, in which a mother punishes her little girl by not allowing her to wear her Sorosis shoes for two days, suggests very cleverly the ease and comfort of those shoes.

An advertisement submitted by Helen Reeder, where the two people go out to skate, and come home half frozen, suggests an awful fate when Miss Margarita Uptodate advises John to “take Lowney’s ere it is too late.” We shudder to ask too late for what? Perhaps Lowney’s Cocoa was the means of saving the life of the unfortunate, frozen John!

The following verse, and the picture of a neat, shining kitchen which accompanied it, is a good advertisement because it makes the reader feel the benefit of having the housework all done so quickly and so well. The meter is not very correct, and if the composer had beat time to her verse it would have helpedher to obtain a good meter.

It is ten o’clock, and wash-day, too,
But Mamma Uptodate has no work to do;
Her wash, you see, has all been done,
And now it’s drying in the sun.
Now, how can this wonderful thing be so?
Because she used Pearline, you know.

A few words of advice to the young competitors may prove useful.

Some of the answers of only two or three lines were more interesting and better advertising than others of pages long. Remember that literature is not desired, but simple, good, practical advertisements that could be printed on a page of a magazine. Meter is more important than rhyming, and if you cannot combine them write in blank verse. Be careful to avoid vulgar expressions and objectionable

slang, so that your advertisements may appeal to people of gaod breeding.

It is with pleasure that we welcome among the prize-winners an English competitor.

On the whole, this competition has proved interesting and, we hope, of real value in training the St. Nicholas readers in the great art of good advertising.

Prize-Winners in Competition No. 40.

Five First Prizes of Five Dollars Each.

Geddes Smith (14), Orange, N. J.

Ella E. Preston (16), Davenport, Iowa.

Agnes Cole (16), Elizabeth, N. J.

Alma E. Barger (14), New York City.

Shirley Willis (16), St. Louis, Mo.

Five Second Prizes of Three Dollars Each:

Jennie Bockelman (15), Atlantic City, N. J. ::Olive E. Lane (14), Bristol, Conn.

Margaret W. Peck (14), Bristol, Conn,

Katherine Gay (13), New York City.

Helen G. Waterman (13), San Diego, Cal.

Five Third Prizes of Two Dollars Each:

Florence Hanawalt (15), Chicago, Ill,

Kate Sprague De Wolf (15), Jersey City, N. J.

Dudley T. Fisher, Jr. (14), Columbus, Ohio.

Annie F, Goldsmith (14), Salem, Mass.

Hazel Pike (51), Santa Barbara, Cal

Fourth Prizes of One Dollar Each:

Mildred 8, Copeland (16), New York City.

Blanche Leeming (14), Michigan City, Ind.

Ethel B. Greig (16), P. Q., Canada.

Iris Heap (13), Landon, England.

Elizabeth Stockton (15), Bristol, Conn,