Posting bills in San Francisco in the 1890s
This photo is of Siebe and Green, who were bill posters in San Francisco, California in the 1890s. I found it on the Duke University site ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions) and if it seems a bit puzzling to you that they were bill posters, I think that I can explain. I've always had a fascination with advertising, and graphic design.
Nowadays when you hear the word "bill" you think of something that you may have gotten in the mail, which means that you owe money. But in the days of Siebe and Green (I'm not sure which one was which), a "bill" also meant something that nowadays we'd call a "flyer". And by the 1890s these giant "flyers" were being printed, and were plastered up all over the place, on walls, on the sides of barns, on fences, you name it. It was called "posting bills", and if you're old enough, you may remember seeing things stenciled on walls that said "Post No Bills". It had really become a mess by the 20th Century, and cities passed laws to control it.
Posted bills were the "pop up ads" of the day. They were big business, and serious eyesores, especially since they were just left up until they fell down in tatters. At least the ads on your computer don't fall down and make a mess all over the city streets! There was someone who had to clean up the mess, along with the messes left by horses, but it cost the city, and the taxpayers, a lot. So this kind of thing didn't last very long. Let's take a look at the bills that were posted.
Behind the Duke watermark you can read: Kidneys, Liver and Bowels, Cleanses the system effectually, overcomes habitual constipation permanently; Buy the genuine - manf'd [manufactured] by California Fig Syrup C__; __t of Business, __ng Monday Jan 4th, Loans - Suits etc- , (I think that the next line says Two days at a tremendous sacrifice); and then there's a picture of an orchestra.
I get a big kick out of these old ads, and they would look great in my garage, but you gotta remember that back then they were as welcome as any ad is today, that is, they were eyesores.
Post no bills!
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