226 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



US any good to do so, and I always get a nice little write-up about 

 the Davis County fair. I think it has more influence with the 

 citizens than if you put in a little scribble that you pay for. If 

 I am not acquainted with the man, I enclose the ticket and tell 

 him what I want him to say and send in his bill. I very seldom get 

 a bill, and they always give me a little write-up. I think it is 

 mighty well spent. 



In regard to the little tickets scattered around, I have never 

 tried that, but my long suit on advertising is to cover every bridge 

 and telephone pole in the whole country during the fair season. I 

 do not send them out by some men, but go directly and do it myself. 

 I get a couple of three gallon tin buckets and fill them full of 

 paste. I then take an auto. You can cover a number of miles in a 

 day, I take a fellow along, generally the privilege man, and we 

 cover the telephone poles and the cross roads. All we have on that 

 is "Bloomfield Fair, September so and so." You can not go any- 

 where on that road but what you see the fair advertisements. The 

 dates are great things to have before the people. 



Mr. Palm : How about a date line in each one of the newspapers ? 

 We carry them clear across the entire head of the paper. 



Mr. Pickert : I think we cannot adopt one method and continue 

 it. We have got to change it. We at one time adopted this method 

 of advertising: In the early part of the summer we sent and got 

 tickets. They were for children, and we sent out to every school in 

 the county a number of those tickets good for children; that is, 

 from either ten or twelve, I think, or under, on the first day. That 

 is, the first regular day of the fair, and to each teacher we sent a 

 complimentary. Those tickets were put out before the school closed 

 in the summer, and each child that had a ticket to come to the fair. 

 I met them a great many times and would ask them if they were 

 going to the fair. "Oh, yes, we are going. I have got a ticket." 

 But, of course, the facts were that they were admitted anyway. 

 However, having a ticket, they were all sure to go. Of course, 

 the teacher had the complimentary and she urged the whole school 

 to attend. By getting them on the first day of the fair we made 

 that our big day. 



Of course, the quicker that you get the money in the treasury 

 the better it is for the fair. You may have a rainy day. A great 

 many people of the fair know that the big day is the second day, 

 generally, but our plan was to make the biggest day the first day, 

 if we could. We didn't advertise any attractions only for that 



