230
NOTES AND QUERIES. 112 s. i. MAR. is, me.
THE NEWSPAPER PLACARD.
(11 S. xii. 483 ; 12 S. i. 13, 77, 129.)
displayed in very bold type. If there are
several prominent items of news, additional
bills are issued. This is a change of practice
| which has been adopted from the example
of the evening newspapers. The morning
dailies used to cram as many events as they
could get on one bill. The old Echo, and
then The Star, adopted the plan of one or,
PERHAPS a few notes on the modern history very rarely, two items on a bill, the object
of newspaper placards may interest the first being to force the passing eye to read the bill,
inquirer. Thirty years ago several London That it is sound from a business point of view
daily newspapers, and many provincial ones, i s proved by its almost, though not quite,
printed their contents bills on waste copies universal adoption by the morning papers,
of the paper, cut up into the required size. One result of the adoption of big type for
The Daily Telegraph, The Morning Advertiser, bills is the search for shorter words. Thus
and The Standard, I recall. The Manchester " Bulgars " is constantly preferred to " Bul-
Courier used to print on waste copies in blue garians," and " Huns " to " Germans."
ink, which had a very clear effect, but the " U-boat " is used instead of " German sub-
general appearance of placards printed on marines," and " Premier " instead of " Prime
" waste " was dull and smeary, and it has Minister." ""Commons " and " Lords " are
been entirely given up in London and by bluntly introduced, and words like " peer,"
most provincial dailies. Recent letters in actor," " Turks," " lady," " girl,"
The Newspaper World have suggested that smash," have always a warm welcome
the practice should be reverted to for the f rO m the contents-bill writer because they
purpose of saving paper. This would be are short.
impossible for most daily newspapers, be- From the evening papers came the cause they print contents bills on a rotary political and punning contents bills machine, which must be fed by a con- which were such favourites at pre-war by- tinuous roll of paper. Old newspapers elections. A very early specimen was The could only be fed on to a flat press by hand, Star's whoop over the defeat of a candidate and their production would be so slow as to na med Brooks in the Rossendale by-election render the output inadequate. Coloured o f January, 1892 : " Brooks's soap won't paper has been extensively used for bills wash " the reference being, of course, to a by the London evening papers. The West- well-known soap advertisement. Another, minster Gazette adopted green paper, The issued on the day of the election for St. Pall Mall Gazette orange, and The Star pink. George's East, in 1895, was worded : " Put All these are now being printed on white your Marks against Benn." The candidates paper, owing in the two former cases to the were Mr. Harry Marks and Mr. (now Sir difficulty of obtaining the tinted paper. John) Benn, and in the election petition The Globe is still, I believe, using pink paper which followed it was sought to show that for its bills. this was an election placard which ought
The Times has always issued contents bills, under the Corrupt Practices Act to have had but until recent changes in its ownership the imprint of the printer on it. The election they were little seen. Smith's bookstalls judges, however, held that it was not an and a few West End newsagents were the election placard, but a newspaper advertise- only places at which I ever saw them. Now ment.
the reduction of its price to a penny, and its Shortly after the present war broke out consequent appeal to a larger public, has The Evening News signalized the German resulted in The Times being sold by news- outrages in Belgium by a poster containing agents who never saw a copy ten years ago, the two words " Mad dog ! " while another and not only at shops, but at the " pitches " I was worded " Never aeain ! " After of London "street vendors, The, Times bills
are regularly displayed. They were formerly
in black ink, but now are printed in violet
ink. (The Daily Mail prints its bills
in red ink, The Morning Post in blue ;
The Daily Express uses green ink.) For-
merly The Times bills contained half a dozen
items of news in small type ; now they are
generally confined to one item of news
was worded " Never again !
recent air raid the delay of the War Office in
circulating news was satirized by the same
paper with a poster entirely blank save for a
line in small type at the foot" Official."
Several newspapers have signalized the visits
of foreign dignitaries by issuing posters of
welcome in their language. Another idea
was thejissue of posters on light or dark blue
paper on the day of the Boat Race, which
