Lancaster High School - Mirage Yearbook (Lancaster, OH)

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MIRAGE 13 ADVERTISING. Luaretta Harbison. I B—......... -7-..... E WE have all read during the last few years in various maga- zines of the “Beautiful American Crusade” against offensive advertising. The thought was originated by the American Civic Association for the purpose of fighting the defacements of our landscapes and thus beautifying America. Beauty, we know in many parts of the world is an asset of very highest value. Switzer- land has become rich, not because of its soil, but because of its landscapes. A country can make no better and surer investment than to secure beauty of arrangement and environment and also ample grounds for pleasure and recreation. This obnoxious method of advertising of which I have spoken, is objected to by anyone who has given it a second thought. It is objected to by the police officials, who say that bill boards are a menace to the li fe, health and proper- ty of the country. They are also unsanitary because behind these one usually finds rubbish of all kinds. (One city Memphis, made it a law that all bill boards should be built three feet above ground.) Value of real estate is often decreased because of these offensive boards. Moral agencies object to them because they are used to adver- tise sensational plays, liquor, tobacco, etc. They are also objected lo because they obscure the beautiful scenery and detract from the beauties of nature. It is said that advertising in this manner is merely a habit, as far as the advertisor is concerned. He is persuaded by the sign man and yields to his persuasion. One advertising agent says: “Bill board advertising is of the poorest quality as far as the results are concerned and no critical advertisers who require tests to show value, continue to use the signs along the railroads, and in other so called good locations. I believe sign money is money wasted.” Why not. take this money that is probably wasted in such a manner and ad- vertise through the papers and mails, which in the long run, is much more reasonable and profitable? What of Lancaster and this county? What of our business men and their attitude toward this proposition? Why not beautify our town and join this crusade against ugliness? Surely Lancaster could not be better situated, surrounded as it is with its beautiful hills and fertile valley. Ours is a great opportunity

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12 MIRAGE tEIje ifooi-IBall After Whittier. (By Webb Vorys) Blessings on thee, little man, Rough-shod boy with face of tan; With thy padded pantaloons, And thy hoarsely shouted tunes, With thy red lips redder still; Where some “rough” has tried to kill, Yet, with sunshine in thy face, As thou tak’st again thy place; From my heart I give thee joy, I was once a foot-ball boy. Prince thou art—no learned grace, Can aspire to take thy place; Let base learning call in vain, Thou hast glory to attain, Thou hast gains, which must be run, Thou hast games, which must be won, Outward glory, inward joy, Blessings on thee Foot-Ball Boy. Oh, great joy for little pain, Oh, the honors that you gain, Health that mocks the doctor’s rules, Knowledge never learned in schools; Of the runs around the end, Of the goal you must defend, Straight buck, cross buck, forward pass, Plays now scattered—now en masse; How to block and how to fall, How to carry on the ball; Where the signals quickly call, When and where to use your skill, When you make a doctor bill; Which is weakest in the fray, Where to send another play; Where you can make one more gain And in joy forget all pain; When to call aloud for time, ’Ere you buck across the line, Making plays without a name, Till all other sports seem tame; For eschewing book and task; Rule books answer all you ask; Pride of victory now beams,— From your heart a letter gleams, Part and parcel of your joy, Blessings on thee Foot-Ball Boy.

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14 MIRAGE but it seems necessary just to make men realize that attractive country and town beauty are true economy. Which community attracts a population of a permanent and desirable character? Isn’t it the one with the tree lined streets, offering an inducement for wholesome, out door life, rather than the factory town, whose ugliness drives its citizens into the saloons? What is there in our town to impress a stranger? Do loo3e papers litter our streets and parks? Have the signmen been per- mitted to tack upon our fences, trees and houses their ugly an- nouncements? Look at the entrances to our city by railroad and drive. Are they pleasing, or do they show to the stranger the worst of our community? There wras once a time, when in the radius of ten or fifteen miles of Lancaster one could drive and see an unmarred picture of nature, which was a delight to the eye and a rest for the mind. We can’t say this today. Everywhere our eyes meet offensive signs, offensive especially because they obscure nature. The Earl of Balcarries says: ‘‘What we claim is that the land- scape does not belong to the man who chooses to pay a few shillings for it per annual, but it is an asset of the people at large. The same principal applies to open space and places.” After such a statement, do we not feel that we owe it to the sense of our city pride to blot out the extravagant and offensive pos- ters spread over our fences and walls? As wre walk through our wide streets and admire the beautiful homes with their surrounding lawns, w'e feel indeed that we have something to be proud of until wre come to an unsightly signboard inserted between two of these well kept homes. This is probably erected before a vacant lot and usually to obscure that which .s behind it. Why not clean up and beautify these vacant lots and not merely conceal what we are ashamed of by no less objectionable bill boards? Besides these wre have other obnoxious signs. Until recently, even Mount Pleasant, the standing stone of the Red Men, has failed to escape, and its noble front has been marred by a blot of black and w'hite paint. Then our beautiful drives, for which the county is noted. We start out forgetting the sordid side of life and are admiring the beauties of nature. Here is a green meadow, dotted over with stately trees, through it flows a brook, and beyond are grazing cattle, and still in a most prominent place, a wooden man carrying a suit case, hurrying to some store for bargains. How our thoughts drop to the