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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (March 28, 1931)
And Advertising was widely em ployed in The Statesman issues of half a century and more ago but but its form varies greatly from the style now employed by business" firms. Especially noticeable Is the ab sence of many advertisements of" more than one column in width, the column rule being quite sacred and not usually broken. Advertisements were more in the nature of professional cards, stat ing the name of the establishment, the location and the brand of mer chandise handled, rather than de scribing.' as new, the merchandise and inducing customer approcal through the quality of the goods r it3 reasonable price. Same ad ran Through Many Issues Often the same ad ran through ccores of issues of the paper. Many advertisements were on the front page in all the issues. The typography, in the States man of the 'SO's, was generally con sidered excellent although it is in strong contrast to the type of to day. The letters wer condensed, the use of a "series" of type, con stituting a harmonious;. family of faces, was not widely employed. Simpson Once Statesman Chief; Prepared Epitaph for Newspaper Sam L. Simpson began his editor ial career as editor of The States man in 1866. He was a polished writer, but the paper failed to flourish and at the end of the year the property was sold and the pa- per merged with the American Unionist, whose proprietors were W. A. Willis. Simpson later was editor of the Corvallis Gazette. In Albany in 1870 he penned his fa mous poem," Beautiful Willamette." Under the heading "Valedictory," Simpson wrote in The Statesman of December 31, 1866. "With this issue terminates the existence of-The Oregon States-, man, the oldest newspaper but one in the state. Sixteen years ago its publication was begun when -the present editor was still puzzling over the ' mysteries of a pictorial primer .... "The Statesman is dead let us write on its melancholy tomb those generous words of the Latin max im Nil nisi bonum " 'And no further seek its mer its to disclose, Or draw its, frailties from their dead abode.' "As to myself, I shall not be gar rulous. A few months ago, I mounted the tripod of the States man, with many misgivings for the future and no little distrust of my own abilities for so arduous and ex alted a work. . . . 8AM L. SIMP SON." Name Resurrected By S. A. Clarke However in those years follow ing the war, the Unionist seemed to have as hard a struggle as The Statesman, and when S. A. Clarke bought the Unionist in 1869 he promptly changed the name back to "Statesman," remarking: "There is a prejudice exisiting in some minds against the Union ist, caused by circumstances that we cannot control and are not re sponsible for. It is not necessary to argue the causes producing it, but the fact is undeniable, though not felt immediately at home, where our circulation and business have largely increased within six weeks. It seems impossible to con Pv-xfAocinnal furrla Onp an'Twn-f!nl limn Advertisements With t ew nctures Infrequent Changes, Prevailed in Earlier Issues The use o'f capital letters was much4, mpre common than today, the printers of a half a generation ago being unimpressed by the cur rent' view that capital .letter lines are far harder to reed than lines of capitals and small -letters. Occasionally an advertiser used an illustration in his ad but most of the advertising pictures were confined to a staid finger, pointing to some line which the merchant wished advertised. Patent med icine advertisers illustrated their products with small drawings as did such products as Royal Bak ing powder, still a market favor ite. Hackneyed Terms Formed in use Some of the more aggressive merchants were beginning to use seemingly striking terms to call the reader's attention to their pro ducts. "When you come down, drop in to see us," read the invitation of Creasman & McCully, in the first two-column request for con sumer patronage. "Good goods; low prices," "The best is the cheap est," "Positively at cost" were some of the phrases often employed by the advertisers of the day. Illustrations were used only oc- vince people at a distance that the new management is not in the least connected with the old. So for the purpose of completely iden tifying the paper with its new con trol we assume again the name of Oregon Statesman, to which we are as much entitled by purchase as that of Unionist. The latter will be kept in view for a few month (in a subdued form) to prevent misun derstanding." Versatility Shown in Clarke's Career S. A. Clarke, who owned and ed ited The Statesman, restoring the old name from, the "Unionist" in 1869, was a gifted writer who was active in Oregon affairs for many years. He came to Oregon in 1850, was responsible for the incorpora tion of Portland in I851,drawing the plan of the city. . He bought a donation land claim at . Salem in 1852 and continued to" reside here for many year thereafter. In 1864 he served as editor of the Oregon, returning to Salem and editing The Statesman from 1869 to 1872. He was appointed coun ty clerk of Baker county when it was created; hunted gold in Cal ifornia, operated a sawmill in Port land. During his whole life he was con stantly engaged in literary work, producing poetry and prose articles for the western press and for east ern magazines. He was a contri butor to the Sacramento Union, New York Times and other publi cations. He wrote a history of Oregon in pioneer days. He served for a good many years as librarian of the general land of fice at Washington. His death oc curred, in Salem, Aug. 20, 1909. Mrs. Sally Dyer is a daughter and W. Connell Dyer a grandson of Mr. Clarke. TELEGRAPH SENSATION "We string together the follow ing paragraphs, which serve to show the intense enthusiasm which the intelligence of the successful laying of the Atlantic cable has excited throughout the Atlantic side." Statesman, Sept. 28, 185S. Charter Member By Kent Cooper General. Manager, Associated Press "TT gives me - pleasure JLto congratulate The Statesman on its 80th birthday. Eighty years is a great age for any newspaper in this coun try, and, I dare say, few, if any newspapers on the Pacific coast excell The Statesman in - that respect; "The Statesman is a charter member of The Associated Press and has well-played its part in the development and progress of that great cooperative institution." casionally. Such cuts as were em ployed were to emphasize the lines of type rather than artists's con ceptions of the products available. Prices figured in very few ads, merchants apparently being unwill ing to let the world know their ex THE BREAK WITH LANE Let the individual concerned be- who 'he may Gen. Lane, Messrs. Smith or Grover, or any of their successors, we' shall be swift to give utterance to our opinions, and to the reasons which have produced them. When the time occurs that a public serVant, whoever he ,may be, of whatever name or faith, for the purpose - of perpetuating him self in office - neglects ' or violates his trust, betraying the interests of the people, and the voice of this press, is sealed -in silence, its col umns will have passed from our control." Statesman, Jan. 4, 1859. COPY OF TELEGRAM Corvallis, Sept. 11, 1809 Received at Salem To". S. A. Clarke, Editor Unionist, Please send me by Sunday's stage to Eugene your Sunday's pa per & latest. Portland paper they will be our latest news for several days. Schyuler Colfax TOO MANY NEWSPAPERS "There are now six papers in Oregon; she cannot afford that number a living support, and some of them must die." Statesman, Oct. 13, 1855. EARLY . MRS. HAI.HVKT. ROUTE . SAT.VM. PRIZES THFXK TOKEN OP . E A RXV ' OIW:0!T KSU STATESMAN TMVfc. Till; TUP UNh WAS lilVKN KOIt THE KK'.OND VULUMfc Of 1UU STATESMAN IS "'05;' the LUWtK ONE WAS fcl(j EL' IS foi BL AS AH EL EUSH. HIMSELF. ' ' . , ...... '. t -. . of TheOregon Statesman act selling price on-goods. - In a two-column advertisement of a sale, A. Mayer, then located next to the pesjtoff ice, tell his customers that he will sell articles such as lace curtains, ginghams, towls, napkins, etc., "at cost," but in few instances does' he quote his actually selling price. Calico was offered at 20 yards for one dollar, Cabot A muslin at seven and one- half cents a yard, and piquot un bleached sheeting 9-4, at 24 cents a yard. . ' ' ' . ' ' Yaquina - Bay Route To Gslden Gate For $14, passage could be secured from Salem to San Francisco, the passenger going by railroad . from Corvallis to Yaquina bay and thence south by steamer. In glow ing terms this new service is de scribed as "Oregon Only Over Pacific Popular Picturesque Rail road Route Ranges." The Yaquina route south was held to be 225 miles shorter and 20 hours shorter in time than, any then available.! Professional tcrds of lawyers, physicians and dentists, occupied column one on the front page of The Statesman in the '80's. These ran without change. Usually the text of the advertisement stated ON NEW RAILROAD "In our humble opinion, then, the Pacific Railroad will be con structed or, rather -the construc tion will be commenced-' whenever the requirements of population and commerce render it a social and commercial necessity ..... The track, of the Pacific Roalroad must be laid upon a more substantial foundation than a political 'plat- form. Buncombe resolutions will not raise its embankments or bore its tunnels, nor buncombe speeches set its cars iiy motion." States ma May 24, 1859. STAUNCH FOR UNION VDouglas and Fitzpatrick willre ceive the vote of Oregon by a de cisive majority. . This youngest of the Sisters will be among the last to desert the sheet anchor of 'our liberty and- safety, the ' Union "and Constitution. She will adminfster a stern' rebuke to- the ambitious demagogue chosen from her bord ers, the shameful instrument of Treason and pisunion." States man, July 24, I860. THE FLOOD "Great Loss of Life and Property The flood reached its greatest height at Salem about six o'clock p.m. Tuesday. It was , five feet above the highest water that has been known since the settlement of the country I the freshet of 1844 being-the next highest .seen by Americans; although it is said that a similar one was witnessed by the Canadian trappers." Statesman, Dec. 9, 1861. RECEIPTS FOR STATESMAN -W G?-7 only the name of the professional man, his location and the type of work handled by occasionally a practioner lapsed into several sen tences describing the services he offered. "Nitrous oxide gas, vit alized air, . chloroform, her, used for painless extraction of teeth," declares one dentist He adds:' "All work guaranteed and prices rea sonable." ' ' i ' Acrostic Style of Writing Employed Different devices in the use. of type were employed. If the typo grapher could hit upon an acrostic to tell his story he used it. One shoe merchant noticed that Boots and Shoes could be formed into a square and he pronfptly placed an ad running "B-o-o-t'-s" across the, top and one side with shoes across the other side and, the bottom. There was no typographical prohi bition, as now exists in most mod ern advertising, against running lines up and down from the usual long side of the paper. A favor ite device wasj 'to use a large in itial letter for (starting a word and to make it suffice for several words joined by the. common initial STOCK SOLD IN. WOOLEN PLANT Canal From Santiam Under Way in '56 to Bring .Mill its Water i "Considerable progress has been made we understand in obtaining subscribers ; to this company, and the enterprise promises to be pop ular and successful. Those ap pointed at Dallas to locate the fac tory have selected a site in the south part of Salem . . . With com paratively trifling expense water , can be brought from the Santiam river thro Mill creek . to aalem, making one of the surest, safest, most economical and valuable water r, powers ; in any country."- States man, April 8, 1856. " ' - i j"Tho Willamette Woolen Man ufacturing company have located ' their works, soon to be erected on Boon's island, Salem,' on most con venient and valuable grounds, don ated by our' liberal and enterprising fellow-citizen, John D. Boon .... We understand that the company have some eighteen ' or twenty hands at work on the canal near the Santiam river,, and expect to comple.te their works for the in troduction of water early next month.' Statesman, Sept. 16. 1856.. IT WAS WALLA MET "The collegiate oepartmenjt of the Wallamet University has. been or ganized." Statesman, Marj 1 1G, 1858. . I ---- - 1: '