Abstract :
Perhaps the major reason for the popularity of electrical advertising is its enormous “brightness” contrasts its letters of fire drawn out against the dark night sky. Its use and maximum effectiveness have been confined chiefly to those hours when there is a dark night sky; and the time clocks, turning the signs off after the people are abed, are set to turn them on again only at dusk the next day. While it is true that during the evening hours advertising is most effective — when people are most receptive — yet there are daylight hours when advertisers clamor for attention. The theater, with its matinee performances, has empty seats to fill. The real-estate development, where brightest days are best for trade, finds everyone vying for attention. The shopping district stores entice the midday throngs with as keen competition for the attention of all, those who walk or those who ride, — as at any other time. Yet, at these hours, the signs brilliant at night become mere painted messages dependent upon such secondary agencies as beauty, grace, and color to catch and hold the eye. For the filament of the incandescent lamp, although very bright, is small in size, and against the light daytime backgrounds, there is insufficient area of brightness to command attention.
