Why Should Streetcar Advertising

Matter To You?

What You Can Expect To See• Part One – A Little History about Streetcar Advertising

• Part Two – A Primer on Streetcar Advertising Principles

• Part Three – A Tour of 80+ Examples of Streetcar Cards

Warning: This Presentation is Suitable for Advertising Professionals and History Buffs Only!

<Part One>Streetcar advertising had its beginning in the 1850’s to 1870’s

Here is an 1890’s era electric streetcar with advertising

cards in Memphis, TN

Photo courtesy of Memphis and Shelby County Room, Memphis Public Library & Information Center

Early Streetcar Advertising History• Late 1850’s – first trace of advertising was done by Lord & Taylor Department Store in horse-drawn streetcars in New York city• 1860 – B. T. Babbitt used the Third Avenue horse car line in New York to promote soap sales.• Early 1870’s – first systematic selling of streetcar space was done by a man named Sharp who secured the rights for the NYC Third Avenue line.• 1875 – William (Billy) J. Carleton, a conductor on the NYC Third Avenue line began by tacking up signs in his car for some of his regular patrons while he

was still collecting fares. Finally he gave up his job as conductor and devotedall of his time to advertising.

• 1886 – William Carleton moved to Boston and became the first legitimate car- advertising contractor there. He combined in efforts with George Kissam to

form Carleton & Kissam, one of the first organized selling operations. Othersthat followed were Manhattan Street Railway Advertising Co., WesternAdvertising Co., George Elliot and Michigan Streetcar Advertising Co.

Early Streetcar Advertising History (continued)

• 1892 – Barron Collier (age 19) secured an exclusive contract for streetcar advertising in his home town of Memphis, Tennessee.• 1893 – Barron Collier moved to New York City from Memphis, Tennessee and formed the Consolidated Railway Advertising Company.• 1899 – Artemas Ward who was ad manager for Sapolio, formed Ward & Gow

Ward & Gow organized a syndicate of contractors in ten large cities and started to sell streetcar space on a standardized basis; this plan met with limited success as the different contractors cut prices and

later dissolved their partnership. Out of this failed partnership, Barron G. Collier successfully organized these leading streetcar advertising companies into one single selling unit – Street Railways Advertising Company.

Barron G. Collier - Father of Streetcar Advertising

• Barron Gift Collier was born in Memphis, Tennessee on March 23, 1873. He created the largest streetcar advertising empire in the world and was a millionaire by age 26; at one time he had business offices in 70 cities and various business interests in more than a thousand cities.

Street Railways Advertising Co.

Flatiron Building, New York City -Barron Collier’s Executive Offices

By the time of World War I in 1917, the street railway industry was the fifth largest industry in the United States, employing well over 100,000 people nationwide

1905 Streetcar Map

By 1918, the U.S. had over 50,000 cars displaying

advertising cards in nearly 3,000 cities and towns in every state of the Union

By 1927-1928, there were over 40 million streetcar riders a day in the U.S.

  

Streetcar Advertising Played a Dominant Rolein Establishing Numerous National and Regional

Consumer Brands in the Early 1900’sThere were literally 100’s of product brands available with very little to differentiate one 

brand from another... 

Grocery Item # of Brands Drugstore Item # of Brands

Wheat Flour 10,000 Perfume 2,500

Canned Corn 4,500 Face Powder 1,200

Tea 1,000 Shampoo 232

Canned Peaches 1,000 Deodorant 96

Mustard 500 Shaving Cream 75

 

<Part Two>

Basic Principles of Streetcar Advertising

“A picture is worth a thousand words”

had its origin in Streetcar advertising

A streetcar advertising card usually consisted of three key design elements

1. Text/Copy2. Illustration/Photo3. Color

A streetcar advertising card must accomplish these four objectives

1. Be Seen2. Be Read3. Be Understood4. Be Believed

Barron Collier recognized early on that continuity and repetition are the fundamental principles underlying advertising success. The art of advertisingis largely based on the fundamental proposition that the public needs to be reminded as much as it needs to be informed.

• As Mr. William Wrigley, Jr (the chewing gum magnate) would say:  

Advertising is pretty much like running a train. You’ve got to keep shoveling into the engine. Once you stop stoking, the fire goes out. The train will run along on its own momentum for a while. But it will gradually slow down and come to a dead stop.

Advertising Rule: The market has not only to be sold, but to be kept sold.

Sometimes it takes a little

humor to make this point!

Barron Collier never forgot who the ultimate customer was – the streetcar rider – and he never let his advertising clients forget it either!

His company continually ran car ads extolling the merits of pursuing good advertising practices

Good Advertising Practices were emphasized to both the advertising client and to the ultimate customer – the streetcar rider through informative streetcar cards!

The demise of the streetcar industry led to the demise of streetcar advertising

The streetcar industry peaked in 1920 with streetcar ridership reaching 13.8 billion riders then declined to 11.8 billion during the pre-depression 1929 era.

In 1914, 100% of all U.S. cities relied on streetcars; in 1937, 50% of the cities had buses only. In addition, automobile ownership grew rapidly from 8.1 million vehicles in 1920 to 23.1 million vehicles in 1929.

By the 1940’s, the streetcar railway industry had declined to the point where they could be found only in very large cities.

<Part Three>

Gone - But Not Forgotten … Streetcar Advertising in America

•  See how many products or brands you recognize.

• There is a good chance you will be using some of these products before today is over!

● Foods● Beverages● Candy/Gum● Soap/Laundry● Health/Beauty● Clothing/Shoes

● Tobacco● Information/

Communications● Miscellaneous● Advertising/

Promotion

● Products● Entertainment● Finance● Services

It is almost a century later now and over 60% of the brands featured in this presentation

are still available today!

The primary focus of streetcar advertising was always about the consumer

who rode the streetcars.

And to think…streetcar advertising played a major role in establishing many of the fine products/services and brands that we all enjoy today!

Remember – A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words!

The Impact of Streetcar Advertising Lives On …

Go to www.streetcaradvertisinghistory.comto order Streetcar Advertising in America

This book would make an excellent gift for a friend in the advertising business or for clients who need

to be reminded about the value of maintaining good, consistent advertising campaigns over time.