Chapter XI: Appendix: Reference Lists of Train, Truck, Trolley, and other Traveling (2)

The director of this enterprise reported that it was not unusual for the “crew” to can 80 or 100 quarts of vegetables or fruits in a day and that they were kept busy every day for six weeks.

_“United States Official” Photo_

A TRANSCONTINENTAL TRUCK TOUR

Transcontinental train of the Motor Transport Corps, U. S. War Department. See page 39.]

“CARAVANS” OF TRUCKS

Since the war, much publicity has been obtained for the motor truck itself by what have been called motor truck development tours. Several such tours, each covering a number of states, have demonstrated to farming communities the use of the farm tractor, the advantages of the truck in carrying farm products to market, and various other uses of motor vehicles.

A spectacular transcontinental tour of a train of eighty motor vehicles was made during the summer of 1919 by the Motor Transport Corps of the War Department. The caravan, which spread out over three miles of road when in motion, included field kitchens, ambulances, repair trucks, and in fact every sort of motor vehicle used by the transport service in France. This trip was undertaken for both recruiting and educational purposes. The following account of its purposes and methods is supplied by a representative of the Motor Transport Corps:

The transcontinental trip has been undertaken both for military and educational purposes, as follows:

(1) An extended service test of the standardized principal types of army motors.

(2) The War Department’s contribution to the Good Roads movement for the purpose of developing through-route and transcontinental highways as military and economic assets.

(3) A demonstration of the practicability of long-distance motor post and commercial transportation.

(4) The collection of detailed data for use in connection with the technical training of the commissioned and enlisted personnel of the Motor Transport Corps.

(5) The procurement of recruits for the Motor Transport Corps.

(6) Studies in terrain observation for certain branches of the army, particularly the Field Artillery, Air Service and Engineer Corps.

(7) An exhibition to the general public, either through actual contact or resulting channels of publicity, of the development of the motor vehicle for military purposes.

The Lincoln Highway Association has co-operated with the Motor Transport Corps in advertising the passage of the train along the Lincoln Way, and through its subsidiary organizations it took a large part in making advance arrangements for the welcome to and the entertainment of the personnel of the convoy.

In addition, all the usual channels of publicity were employed in advertising the trip of the convoy, and an officer acting as advance publicity agent, preceded the train one or more days in order to give notice of its approach and to make final arrangements for its entertainment. A personal letter was written to the governor of each state and to the chief official of each town, village and city and to heads of civil and commercial organizations along the route, requesting their co-operation in making the trip a success. A recruiting officer with proper equipment accompanied the train and often went ahead to placard towns and arrange for meetings at which Motor Transport moving pictures were shown and the newly planned system of vocational training to be given in the Motor Transport Corps schools was explained. All the cargo trucks in the train carried signs describing the various phases of the Motor Transport Corps activities. The Associated Press and the Knights of Columbus had representatives with the train and there were also several freelance writers representing newspaper syndicates. All the war activity organizations, especially the War Camp Community Service, were advised of the passage of the train and did everything possible to make the men comfortable and to entertain them. As a result of all this publicity the passage of the train was marked by a continual succession of hearty greetings and hospitable entertainments. Each community, large or small, passed through did something to show its appreciation of the visit and its interest in the purposes of the trip. In many instances the entertainment program and street decorations were most elaborate.

FOOTNOTES:

[4] Not all of the touring campaigners have considered it an advantage to carry camping outfits. Some of them say that the work is so strenuous that they should have good beds at night and no responsibility for providing for their own comfort. On the other hand, in some districts camping may provide more comforts than rural hotels would.

[5] After making a study of the Cleveland trucks sent to Italy, the Chicago Tuberculosis Institute designed a lighter machine similar to that described on page 31.

[6] Health to Sell, Samuel Hopkins Adams, La Follette’s Magazine, December, 1914.

V

ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION

IMPORTANCE OF GOOD ADVANCE WORK

The methods used in preparing the communities to receive the train are as important a feature of the project as the visit of the train itself. On the effectiveness with which the advance work is done depends its opportunity to reach as many people as can be accommodated and to have the audiences made up of the most hopeful “prospects,” those most likely to act on the suggestions offered. Advance information that arouses interest will bring visitors to the train in a receptive frame of mind that makes it easier to present the message quickly.

One or all of the following kinds of advance work will need to be done in each place to be visited, according to the nature and scope of the campaign:

1. General publicity and advertising.

2. Specialized appeals directed to selected groups and individuals.

3. Arrangements for distributing attendance over the full period of the visit.

4. Arrangements for local co-operation in the above work, in taking care of visitors to the train, and in organizing or carrying out follow-up work later.

For convenience, the discussion of these matters is given in terms of trains, although most of it applies equally to motor tours as well.

GENERAL ADVERTISING

The appeal to the general public in a community may be made through news items in the papers, posters, window cards, window displays, advertisements and inserts in advertisements, and slides in motion picture theaters. Of the wide variety of methods to advertise an event, these are probably the ones best adapted to advance preparation for both large and small cities and towns. It is not the purpose here to discuss the technique of preparing any of this material. Unless they have ability and training in this field, those responsible for getting work out should call in specialists to do it, or at least to advise about it.

The purpose of advertising is more than merely to get a crowd. If there is very little competition from other events, as is often the case in small towns, it may be fairly easy to secure a large attendance. It is the business of your advertising to attract the attention of persons not yet interested in the subject matter and to arouse intelligent interest in what the train or truck will show. To design posters and prepare copy that will bring these results requires skill and practise which may sometimes be obtained as a gift but is worth paying for.

SPECIALIZED APPEAL

The special groups to whom your message is chiefly directed may be singled out from the general public and definite methods used to insure their attendance. While most of the trains are of general interest to the communities visited, the message of the exhibits or demonstrations is probably addressed primarily to one or a few groups, classified according to occupation, standing in the community, race, age, condition of health, or particular interests. Special efforts to reach these groups may take the form of letters, announcements, or brief talks addressed to schools, churches, clubs, lodges, or employes of factories and places of business. Committees on co-operation may be formed within the groups and delegations appointed to come to the train. A personal canvass may be made by letters, postcards, personal visits, or telephone messages to leaders of groups or members of special bodies.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR DISTRIBUTING THE ATTENDANCE

The tendency of the majority of the people is to select the same period in the day as the most convenient or desirable time for coming to the train. When the program is to be repeated a number of times, it is necessary to plan special methods for distributing the attendance over the less popular hours. This may be done as a feature of the advance appeal to particular groups by setting aside periods for school children, calling conferences of small bodies of people, assigning hours when delegations will be received and personally conducted, or having program features of interest to particular groups at stated hours.

ROBBERS
AT LARGE

Peach Growers of East Texas are Being Robbed by the
Insects and Diseases that attack Peaches

SPECIALISTS WITH EXHIBIT CARS

COMING
----TO----

_Winfield Texas
Thursday Nov. 20ᵗʰ_

Most complete Orcharding Exhibit Train ever carried to the farmers of
the South.
Will exhibit and demonstrate all phases of peach orchard work.

Three Carloads of Equipment and Exhibits

Carload of power and hand sprayers, a tractor and other modern orchard
equipment.

Two exhibit cars electrically lighted and equipped to show by pictures, lifelike models, specimens and slides of all the dangerous diseases and insects known to Texas orchards.

Actual field demonstrations on planting, pruning, spraying and
cultivation will be conducted in an orchard near town.

FREE--EVERYBODY INVITED

UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION
ST. LOUIS SOUTHWESTERN RAILROAD OF TEXAS
Co-operating with
THE EXTENSION DIVISION OF THE TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE.
UNITED STATES AND STATE DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE

For Further Information, See Your County Farm Demonstration Agent

POSTER ADVERTISING THE COMING OF AN EXHIBIT TRAIN

This is the type of poster that is frequently sent out in advance of agricultural trains. The posters are usually on white paper or card with black letters. The news value of the material on the poster doubtless secures readers who would not be inclined to give attention to so much reading matter if it conveyed only educational information.]

ARRANGEMENTS FOR LOCAL CO-OPERATION IN MANAGEMENT

The co-operation of a local committee is needed in advertising and running the show. The extent of this co-operation will depend upon the size of the staff in charge of the train, size of the community, and the nature of the program. The duties of local committees as described in reports of various campaigns include:

1. Co-operation in advertising the coming of the train.

2. Making or checking up arrangements for the proper placing of the train.

3. Arranging for a reception committee and helpers, as described in the section on attendance (pages 55 and 98).

4. Securing such additional equipment as is called for by the program, such as a meeting hall, motion picture or stereopticon machine.

5. Arranging such entertainment as may be needed by the train staff in the way of living quarters or meals, or both. The importance of providing for the comfort of the speakers and explainers who work under a severe strain can hardly be overestimated.

GETTING THE ADVANCE WORK DONE

The advance work is usually carried out by correspondence with a local committee or individuals, or by sending an advance agent to make the arrangements. Many tours of trains have been carried on without an advance representative, in some cases because the expenses seemed prohibitive or because of the difficulty in securing a suitable person for this work. When well-organized local groups in communities to be visited are already interested in the aims of the tour, it may be comparatively simple to handle the advance work through correspondence. But usually it is far more desirable to send an advance representative.

Arranging for local co-operation by correspondence is a slower method than working through a personal representative. The headquarters staff also have a more difficult task in preparing publicity material and letters that will arouse the same enthusiasm that the agent can instil through his direct contact with editors and other community leaders.

An example of the use of letters in place of an advance agent is the following which was sent to health officers as one of a series addressed to leading citizens by the West Virginia Public Health Council:

My dear Dr. ----:

The “Health Car” now touring the state under the auspices of the West Virginia State Department of Health, in the interest of health education and child welfare, will arrive in your city at 8.30 o’clock on Saturday P.M. and will remain till 1.20 P.M. o’clock on Tuesday.

The car is a vestibuled railway coach entirely remodeled and contains a chemical and bacteriological laboratory, a health exhibit of posters and electrically driven models and a picture machine. These, with the explanation given by a Health Instructor on the car, serve to impress on the minds of the people the principles of the promotion of health and prevention of disease.

May we count on you to secure the interest and co-operation of the medical, dental and nursing professions in your community, for a public meeting at an hour which you, in consultation with the Superintendent of Schools and a president of an influential woman’s organization, may decide? We are also very desirous of securing the attendance of the Mayor and Town Council and any other citizens who do, or should, feel responsibility for community welfare and the conservation of child life. We have also written the Superintendent of Schools and your newspapers, realizing that the medical profession, the educational people and the press are the agencies our Government is counting upon for co-operation in constructive, peace-time work.

The Health Car Corps will communicate with you immediately upon arrival in your city to learn of your plans for the utilization of their time and effort while with you. We are anxious to make their stay in each community count for the highest possible things in the interest of the public health and welfare.

The car is supplied with a number of good Health Films which we will be glad to show, free of charge, to the public if arrangements can be made with some one who has a full-sized picture machine and a hall at his disposal.

Sincerely yours,
S. L. JEPSON, M.D.
_State Health Commissioner_.

The following report from the director of the Texas Peach Demonstration Train, described on page 13, is fairly typical of advance work done in local communities without a personal representative:

Articles announcing the tour of this train have been sent to all the large newspapers in the east Texas territory, also to the county newspapers. Individual letters have also been sent to the large peach growers, urging them to attend these meetings. In counties where there is a county demonstration agent, a great deal is being done to bring the matter to the attention of the farmers. Large posters have been put up a couple of weeks in advance of the train all through the different towns at which stops are to be made. The chambers of commerce and business organizations have been called upon several weeks in advance and furnished with full data, and they are doing all they can to make the meetings a success. The county judge in each county has given his co-operation by declaring the week in which the work is being conducted in his particular county as Horticultural Week.

The chambers of commerce have, in many instances, made arrangements for special features in connection with the visit of our train.

QUALIFICATIONS OF THE ADVANCE AGENT

The personality and previous experience of the person needed to carry out advance work form an important factor in the success of the whole undertaking.

The agent should be able to work successfully with local committees, since much valuable publicity will be secured through their efforts. That is to say, he should be adaptable, clear, definite, and orderly in his statements and in handling a meeting, and be able to inspire enthusiastic interest in carrying out the plans he outlines.

His training and experience at best should include knowledge of publicity or advertising methods, experience in working with volunteer committees, and general information of the subject matter of the campaign. Of these three, given an alert and intelligent worker who has a moderate amount of what may be called “publicity sense,” an understanding of how to organize volunteer workers is probably the most necessary element in his or her equipment. For he may acquire in a comparatively short time a working knowledge of the subject, and may call in outside assistance in preparing the news stories and advertising plans that he carries with him. But every local committee presents new and unexpected problems, and no amount of coaching can provide what is gained by experience in adapting plans and methods to the peculiarities of a local situation, winning over a local chairman who has prejudices or skepticisms, or simplifying or expanding plans of work to fit the resources of the town as the agent may estimate them in the brief time that he remains.

THE JOB OF THE ADVANCE AGENT

The first advance work is done by the committee or individual who directs the whole enterprise from some central point, notifying local persons of the purpose and the date of the agent’s visit. If there is already a local representative of the movement in the community, arrangements may be made which will save the agent much time in seeing the editor, minister, school superintendent, and others on his list whose co-operation he must secure. If there is no local representative, letters should be sent directly to the persons upon whom he expects to call.

The agent’s visit should be timed long enough in advance of the coming of the train to allow for carrying out the publicity plans, and near enough so that there will be no chance for interest to wane in the interval. A ten-day start has been found satisfactory, especially when the way has been paved for his visit and publicity and advertising materials are ready for use. If an agent travels in an automobile, he is better able to adapt his time to local needs and still keep ahead of the train, than if he is dependent upon railroad schedules.

The Child Welfare Special of the Children’s Bureau was preceded by an advance agent and the method is described in the bureau’s report of the tour as follows:

The advance agent, who travels two weeks in advance of the car arranges the itinerary, attends to the publicity, and organizes local communities to take charge of the work. Her first step is to call together a county child welfare committee. With their aid an itinerary is mapped out, and then local committees are organized in the communities to be visited. So far as possible, the agents work through the local child welfare committees formed during Children’s Year.

These committees are asked to provide a suitable location for the parking of the Special--a spot that is centrally located, well shaded, and near a public room that can be used both as an exhibit and waiting room. They are also asked to make a canvass of their districts before the Special arrives, so that everyone may understand the purpose of the conference. Each committee member has her field of work clearly defined. A number of women are asked to serve as hostesses during the conference, receiving mothers and babies, giving them numbers for examination, and explaining the exhibit material.

The agent then distributes her cuts and other publicity material for the newspapers, printed instructions for the child welfare committee, copies of announcements that ministers are asked to make from their pulpits, and posters advertising the coming of the Special. She visits city and county officials, social agencies, editors, physicians, clergymen, farm advisers, county demonstrators, business men, and other representative citizens to explain the purpose of the visit of the car.

As a result of this work of the advance agent, the staff finds everything is in readiness on the arrival of the Special.

The Land Clearing Special of Georgia, a recent enterprise of the State College of Agriculture, was preceded by an advertising campaign designed to make the Land Clearing Demonstration the big event of the season in each stopping place. In addition to the usual methods of newspaper publicity, posters, and letters, twenty automobiles carrying signs announcing the demonstration, visited the rural districts for a week preceding the event. Telephone owners were called up on the telephone and invited, and arrangements were made to have factory and train whistles blow when the demonstrations were about to start. Information about this plan was widely spread.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ADVANCE WORK FOR LOCAL COMMITTEES

With time for only a day or part of a day’s stop in a town the advance agent has little opportunity to explain fully to the co-operating committee all the details of advance preparation expected of its members. To meet this situation, the directors of the Pennsylvania Food Conservation Train with the co-operation of the present writer prepared and multigraphed a set of instructions for local committees. The agent distributed copies of these instructions to the members of the executive committee in each town during the meeting that was held on the day of his visit. Not all of these directions were suited to every community visited, and frequently suggestions from the local committee were added or substituted. This set of assignments is quoted in full below. The features of the assignments especially worth noting are:

1. That written instructions or suggestions in addition to the agent’s personal explanation leave less to chance in getting the plans carried out.

2. That the directions are exceedingly simple and flexible.

3. That each separate assignment was printed on a separate sheet so that it could be placed in the hands of the person who was to carry it out.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT FOR LOCAL CO-OPERATING COMMITTEES REGARDING THE PENNSYLVANIA FOOD CONSERVATION TRAIN

Food Conservation Train Coming to ... On ... Quota of Attendance ...

You know the old saying, “If you want to get a thing done, do it yourself.”

But there is a new one that is much more appropriate in wartime when we should all be working together to win: “If you want to get people interested, give them something to do to help.”

There is something for everybody to do to make the Food Conservation Train a success.

=Dividing the Work.= The following list of assignments should be divided among as many dependable people as you can find. Try some new people who have not had a chance to help before.

Each assignment is described on a separate sheet, a copy of which may be given to the person taking the assignment. If necessary, one person may take several assignments.

=Assignments= =Name of committee chairman=

1. Reception committee.

2. Newspapers.

3. Advertising.

4. Attendance of special groups.

5. Churches.

6. Schools.

7. Attendance of foreign born.

8. Speaking.

9. Personal canvass.

10. Motor service.

11. Miscellaneous.

RECEPTION COMMITTEE

A reception committee usually of from six to ten members should receive the visitors at the train. It is desirable to have four members on hand, usually from ten to twelve o’clock, and six members from two to five o’clock to welcome delegations, distribute literature, give information, and explain exhibits.

The committee will be given a list of expected delegations so that their leaders may be known and introduced to the train staff.

The committee will find that the train offers an excellent opportunity to tell visitors of local activities for food conservation and to invite their co-operation.

It will be well to have the whole reception committee at the train a few minutes before its first opening at ten o’clock so that they may become familiar with exhibits and have time for a brief conference with members of the staff.

COMMITTEE ON NEWSPAPERS

The advance agent will bring with him material for the local paper, to which will be added the names of committee members and of persons who are helping the committee.

Other material that should be of interest to the local papers includes:

1. A list of special delegations from lodges, churches, business groups, and others that will visit the train.

2. Accounts of talks given by Four Minute Men and others about the food train and food conservation.

3. An account of the work that is being done for food conservation by the local committee.

=Editorials.= Editors may be glad to take advantage of the presence of the train as an occasion for an editorial on some local aspect of the food situation, as encouraging the use of home products, regarding the food hoarders, and so forth.

=Out-of-Town Papers.= The newspapers in the territory adjacent to your town will carry some news of its coming. In addition to news sent to those editors from state headquarters they will be interested in your local plans and the names of your workers.

ADVERTISING COMMITTEE

One of these assignments could be given to each of several members of a committee. The more workers there are the more enthusiasm there will be.

=Posters.= There are probably several persons who would gladly make posters announcing the train if they were asked. Give them the facts and let them work out their own ideas. Have these posters shown in store windows and in public buildings. See that all posters sent from the Philadelphia office are placed where they will do the most good.

=Window Displays.= Invite merchants to have window displays on food conservation and help them with ideas. The sheets issued by the Retail Store Section of the Food Administration contain pictures of windows that are easy to copy. Be sure that the window display contains an announcement of the food train.

Ask every merchant who has a sign writer or who makes his own window cards to make up in his best style a card or sign announcing the coming of the train.

=Slides in Moving Picture Theaters.= See that slides are displayed in the moving picture theaters announcing the coming of the train. The following makes a satisfactory slide:

SEE THE PICTURES AND WAR RELICS
AND
LEARN WARTIME COOKERY

FOOD CONSERVATION TRAIN

_FREE_ _FREE_

12th St. SIDING, PENNSYLVANIA R.R.
10-12 A.M. 2-5 P.M. JULY 15

=Mention in Advertisements of Local Merchants.= Local food dealers, especially those selling substitutes, should be interested in getting their customers to see the exhibits and demonstrations. Ask them to mention the train in their newspaper advertisements preceding its arrival.

In addition to the usual advertising space of food dealers your newspaper may be able to have a special page of food advertisements with a large announcement of the train in the center.

Other advertisers may also be willing to mention the food train and may find a way to work it into their advertisement as follows:

On your way to the Food Conservation Train on Tuesday, don’t fail to drop in and see our new assortment of men’s neckwear, etc.

COMMITTEE ON SPECIAL DELEGATIONS

Since only a certain number of the people can see the train during its brief stay and ALL the people should receive its message, it is important that special delegations be arranged for, with the understanding that the delegates will pass on the message brought by the train to members of their organizations.

Morning attendance is lightest. As many as possible of these special groups should be arranged for during the morning.

The director of the train and the chairman of the reception committee should each receive a list of delegations that expect to attend, also the hour when they will arrive.

If any special group promises to come at a given hour, have a committee member meet them and introduce them at the train. People will be more likely to come if they feel some special attention is being shown them.

The following groups are suggested; others may be added or substituted as the committee may decide:

=Officials.= An official delegation made up of members of council of defense, city officials, chamber of commerce, trades assembly, Red Cross and other war agencies, newspaper editors, and others. This delegation should be the first to come in the morning after the reception committee arrives.

=Schools.= Special arrangements for the attendance of school children in the morning are suggested on a separate assignment sheet, with the heading “Schools.”

=Churches.= See the assignment on Co-operation of Churches for a suggestion for having delegations from church societies.

=Restaurants and Hotels.= Managers and cooks of hotels and restaurants should come in a body at a special hour so that information and answers to questions of special interest to them can be arranged.

=Food Sellers.= There are exhibits of special interest to food sellers, and these persons can be very helpful in passing on information to their customers. All should be asked to attend in a body if possible. Can you arrange for the stores to be closed at a certain hour?

=Employes.= Employers might be willing to excuse some of their workers in stores and factories, especially if they are near the train, for a brief visit. If a factory delegation can be arranged for at the noon hour a special session may be arranged for them.

=Clubs.= All fraternal orders, civic, social clubs, and labor unions, should be especially urged to be represented. The men’s organizations will be especially interested in the war relics and in the maps showing important facts about food distribution.

COMMITTEE ON CO-OPERATION OF CHURCHES

The Food Conservation Train aims to teach the message of brotherhood--of sharing our food with those whose need is greater than ours. All the churches will be glad to help make it a success if you tell them what to do.

=Announcements.= Ask ministers to have announcement of the train given at all services during the week before it arrives. Announcement forms are supplied.

=Delegations.= Invite church societies to send delegations to the train. Be sure that the women who plan church suppers, bazaars, and food sales are appointed among delegates. They will receive valuable suggestions.

It is important that men’s classes and societies send delegates.

=Sermons.= Ask ministers to preach sermons on the Sunday before the train arrives on our obligation to feed the world from our generous stores of food. They may obtain helpful information from (insert name of a food administration bulletin giving general information about the food situation), of which copies may be had from (name of local official or committee).

COMMITTEE ON SCHOOLS

School children can be of great assistance in spreading the news of the train.

=Invitations to Parents.= The teachers may be asked to have the children write invitations to their parents to visit the train as an exercise in composition.

=Attendance of School Children.= Groups of older school children (attending high school) should come with their teachers in squads of about thirty or forty at fifteen-minute intervals during the morning. Domestic science classes should come in a body.

Drawing and manual training classes may be asked to study the exhibits with a view to reproducing them at a later date for the benefit of parents and friends.

COMMITTEE ON ATTENDANCE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE GROUPS

Remember those who do not speak English. We particularly wish to reach them. The following steps are necessary:

=The Leaders.= The committee should see and actively interest the clergymen. If they approve, they can do much to interest the members of their congregations.

In the same manner, interest the chief foreign business men. Find out what leaders among them have been revealed by the Liberty Loan and other campaigns, and reach them.

=Workers.= Let every employer having foreign workers and every woman employing foreign domestics advertise to and through them.

Arrange special hours for groups by languages and be sure to have an interpreter or a speaker in their own language.

=Be Democratic!= Above all else be democratic in your dealings with these foreign-born workers. Make them feel that they are asked to take a part in a common experience, not that the native born are “unloading” something upon the foreigners. Keep yourselves in the attitude of being willing to learn as well as to teach.

COMMITTEE ON SPEAKING

Use the Four Minute Men in advertising the train. Call upon others who can speak. Tell them what the Pennsylvania Food Administration is trying to do with the train and ask them to speak for you.

The director and staff of the train are willing to address noon meetings with the object of urging attendance at the afternoon session. Factory employes can be reached in this way. Arrange with the manager of any local corporation, particularly one employing girls, to have such a meeting.

Try to have a speaker at any gathering that is held during the week or ten days before the train arrives.

PERSONAL CANVASS

=The Men.= If your men are not as eager to conserve as the women, get them to come to the train and we can help you to interest them. The exhibit car especially contains war relics, pictures, and maps of interest to men. Invite as many men as you can reach personally or by telephone.

=The Farmers’ Wives.= The best publicity to farmers’ wives is personal. Let the committee take the telephone book, divide up the names of the farmers, and see that each farm woman is ’phoned to at least three days before our coming. Have letters sent to farmers’ wives several days before train arrives. (Forms supplied.)

If you know of interested women who are lame, or otherwise shut in, send someone for them in an automobile.

=Last Minute Calls.= Personal telephone calls on a day before the train arrives are an indispensable means of insuring attendance. Get some of the older high school girls to divide up the telephone directory among them and call up the numbers systematically from their own homes. They should simply announce that the Food Conservation Train is going to be in town to-morrow and give the time and place where it may be found. If the train has been generally advertised a large attendance can be insured by this method. It reminds people.

=Motor Service.= In order to reach the people of outlying districts, it is possible to organize a girls’ motor service. Have the automobiles go to an advertised point where they will pick up all who desire to go to the train. They can make several trips in morning and afternoon. It would be well to have automobiles doing this work carry banners advertising the train and its special work.

VI

THE MESSAGE OF THE TOUR

The message of the campaign includes the ideas, facts, and plans to be presented to the audiences. The choice of a topic or its scope, what to say about it, and how much, are questions deserving more thoughtful consideration and real work than is usually given to them. The most important and the most difficult thing in preparing the message is to have constantly in mind a picture of the way in which it is to be delivered. If, for example, the project takes the form of an exhibit and lecture train in which visitors will spend part of their time listening to a talk and the remainder passing through several cars to examine displays, we should, as we plan the message, try to picture the train on the siding at, let us say, Jonesville. We should also visualize the numbers and types of people likely to come, how they will divide their time between the talks and the exhibits, how long they will stay, or how long we will wish them to stay, what they know about the subject already, and what they will want to know, what they could do with this or that kind of information, and how much and what part of the message they are likely to remember. If the campaign is carried on with a truck and its program includes a demonstration which only a few people can see, and a motion picture and lecture program for much larger numbers, there are two problems; first, visualizing the small groups for the demonstration, and second, the larger audience for the more popular program.

Reports of topics and methods of presenting them that have come in from many and varied traveling campaigns indicate that much more attention could be given to this question of preparing the message, and that frequently topics have been selected and the form of presentation worked out with only a very hazy visualization of the conditions and the people to be encountered at Jonesville and other points along the route.

CHOICE OF A TOPIC

Experience leads most directors, sooner or later, to choose a single topic that is definite and concrete, rather than a group of topics or one that is broad in scope. This limiting of the topic is all the more likely to be important where the subject of the campaign is unfamiliar to the prospective audience. The titles given to many of the agricultural trains indicate that their directors have found the concrete and single topic satisfactory. Trains have been called the “Stump Pulling Special,” “Wheat Special,” “Better Seed Car,” and “Dairy Train.”

In the health field the topics have often been very general, as “Child Welfare” or merely “Public Health.” One public health car, which seemed to be fairly typical, carried exhibits on the prevention and cure of tuberculosis, care of babies, the duties of the school nurse, food adulteration, communicable diseases, playgrounds, venereal diseases, and a description of the functions of the State Health Department. The more inclusive and thus less specific the topic the more vague and general will be the talk about it afterward by those who visited the train.

A reason sometimes given for presenting varied and general topics is that the purpose is not so much to give definite information which will be remembered and acted on, as to impress people with the scope and importance of the subject. For example, the visitors to a public health car in which many phases of the subject are touched upon may carry away a conviction that public health work is important to the community and should be supported although their ideas of it were very vague. This result may satisfy the purpose of some campaigns, but more often directors who present a variety of topics hope that something about each will be remembered; and there is reason for believing that their hope will not come as near to realization, or at least that the information will not be of as great utility, as it might if the subjects were fewer and more specifically treated.

Another argument frequently brought forward in favor of including several topics is that all sorts of people will visit the train or truck, and while one will be interested in one subject others will be more interested in something else. When those in charge of the program are meeting only a few people at a time, they can talk separately to each visitor about special problems, but the brief stops made on most tours require the message to be presented to a large group at one time or at least in quick succession, so that in practice it usually happens that all the visitors see and hear the same things. In this case the more closely a single and concrete topic is adhered to, the more hopeful campaigners may be that what is said or displayed will be remembered.

An equally important reason for limiting the number of topics is the desirability of having your whole audience get the same message. In connection with the Wheat Specials, for example, not alone should the farmer and the farmer’s wife and the farmer’s children be informed about the wheat problems of the locality, but the local banker and business man stand in need of much the same information. The preacher and the doctor will help to spread the doctrine, and the school teacher can make good use of what he learns. The more nearly the entire community, young and old, understands and is interested in the same message, the more likely that the desired results will follow.

Occasionally two or three topics may be presented on the same train by having separate cars for each topic and a separate audience for each. Thus, on one train a car containing household labor-saving devices was designed to interest the wives of farmers, and a pure-seed car the farmers. Or several topics may be combined in such a way that they are made parts of one large idea. Health topics might be brought together under “The Health of the Family,” and divided into instruction about the care of the baby, the child at school, the teaching of social hygiene to older boys and girls, and the sanitation of the household. But even when thus closely related to the family interests of the visitors, this group of topics is still too varied to permit any one to make a strong and lasting impression.

WHAT TO TELL

Having chosen a topic, there is sure to be so much to tell about it that careful selection again becomes necessary. The best guide in preparing the subject matter of the program is the visualization of expected audiences already referred to. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the relation of the subject matter to their interests, circumstances, and habits will largely determine their response to the suggestions given. Often this relationship exists, but is not explained clearly enough to be readily understood. The fact that the traveling campaigners come from a distance, bringing new ideas expressed in an unfamiliar way, leads an audience to look upon the whole project as something which is no doubt very interesting to see and hear about, but of no immediate concern to themselves. It is worth while to make a very special effort to overcome this attitude of aloofness and to make the audiences see that what you are bringing is something that they have been wanting all the time, without their fully realizing it.

A conspicuous title sign holds together a number of objects and captions illustrating one idea. The exhibit gains greater unity and separation from other exhibits by being enclosed on three sides.]

MAKING UP THE PROGRAM

The term program is used here to include the combined activities and displays that make up what is presented to visitors at each stopping point. It may consist of music, talks, demonstrations, motion pictures, or displays of posters and objects, or several of these features combined, with varying emphasis on one or the other form.

It may be held inside of railroad cars or in an open space, using for a stage a flat car, the rear platform of a passenger car, or a temporary structure. Or it may be given in a hall in the town. Sometimes the program includes both indoor and outdoor features.

It is usually a good idea to arrange what might be called a “unit” program that will include everything that it is desirable for a given visitor or group of visitors to do, see, and hear in order to fully understand and enjoy the message. This unit program has an important place in the arrangement of itinerary, schedule, and the arrangements made for the attendance. For example, if the unit program lasts an hour we have a means of deciding the number of times it needs to be repeated in order to reach the desired number of visitors. If it lasts two or three hours we are likely to find that in our advance work we will need to make a greater effort to attract a carefully selected audience, since the longer the program in most cases the fewer the people who could enjoy it even once. The suggestions below have to do with some of the factors to take into account in selecting and combining features of this unit program.

Features intended wholly or mainly as attractions, such as music, or dramatic or comic films, should not be placed in competition with educational features for getting attention or holding interest. They may be said to compete when they distract attention from the main topic or take up an undue share of the time of visitors, or are so much more popular in form than the educational topics as to be more talked about and remembered afterward.

The program should be arranged so that the one idea or set of facts which it is the purpose of the tour to deliver holds the center of the stage at all times, and so that it commands attention whether it takes the form of a talk or exhibit, or both. As has already been said, the main idea should not be overshadowed or lost sight of through the rivalry of other attractions. Finally, so that there may be no doubt that it is understood and remembered, the main idea should be repeated in different forms, in talks, demonstrations, exhibits, and printed matter.

If the visitor is obliged to stand during all or the greater part of the time he is not likely to give more than an hour of interested attention to talks and displays. Many will give much less. The actual period that the average visitors will remain under certain conditions is soon learned by experimenting, and each feature should be timed so that a satisfactory presentation of the subject can be assured for the majority of them.

However attractively the subject is presented through motion pictures or other displays, a good talker is about the most important element in getting the idea across to the visitors. Whether the speaker accompanies his talk with slides or objects, conducts a demonstration, explains exhibits, or makes running comments on motion pictures, his ability to be heard, to hold interest, and to express himself simply, briefly, and concretely will often be the chief factor in the success of the program. Lecturers for traveling campaigns should be chosen as much for their ability as speakers as for their knowledge of the subject matter.

PROGRAMS OF EXHIBIT TRAINS

The following plan for a program was announced for one of the Liberty Loan trains:

Aerial bombs will be sent off as train reaches stop.

Liberty Loan representatives in charge of train will make brief address and ask local committee of three to come onto the platform.

Five-minute address by the local chairman or someone selected by him.

Talk by returned soldier.

Address by experienced speaker with principal object of urging necessity of subscribing to Loan.

Invitation by Liberty Loan representative to inspect exhibition.

The trains for which this program was planned made short stops and the talks were given from a platform or from one of the flat cars. A large crowd could be reached by a single speaking program. In this case the speaking was the important feature, and the exhibits of war material were an “attraction” rather than an educational feature. It satisfied the purpose of the tour to have most of the time devoted to speeches, followed by a rapid view of exhibits.

The extension division of the Texas State College of Agriculture reports the following program method:

Immediately upon going into a town, the people were loaded into the lecture cars and three lecturers would alternate for a twenty-minute talk on different subjects in each car. Where outdoor meetings were held the exhibit cars were closed upon coming into town and general lectures were first had from the platform car, then the live stock were led onto the platform car where special demonstrations were given. As soon as this formal program was completed the specialists were stationed back through the exhibition cars and the crowds were allowed to enter the front of the train and pass gradually through the entire train, making such inquiries of the specialists as they cared to while going through the exhibition car.

Here again the speaking and the outdoor demonstrations are evidently regarded as the important features. Such a plan should not be considered if the exhibits are of real importance. The audience that has been standing during the program of perhaps half an hour or more, and has then waited in line to go through the train, is a tired audience and not nearly so responsive as though its members came fresh to the exhibits. It is also true that when the program is so arranged that the whole crowd is ready at one time to start through the train, there is much more difficulty in managing the people and much more dissatisfaction on the part of those at the rear end of the line. It is difficult to get careful attention for exhibits from people who are being moved ahead to make way for an impatient crowd standing in long lines behind them. The managers of trains will do well to decide in advance whether the speaking or the exhibits constitute the really important feature of the program. If it is the exhibits, then the speaking should be made incidental, perhaps, by having a ten-minute talk given from the platform at regular intervals as a new group is to be started through the train.

A PROGRAM COMBINING DEMONSTRATIONS AND EXHIBITS

A method of dividing the time between demonstrations in two cars and an exhibit car was worked out satisfactorily on the Pennsylvania Food Conservation Train. All the audience passed through the train in the same direction, starting at the same point, except that at the beginning of the session all the cars were filled at once to avoid delays. When the first car was filled a talk on canning started. No attempt was made to demonstrate a complete process, but different vegetables or fruits were in various stages of preparation continuously, so that a fifteen-minute illustrated talk brought out the points that required emphasis. After about five minutes of questions and looking at displays of equipment and canned articles, this crowd moved on to the next car, while the first car was filled again with the next group of arrivals. In the second car a similar program was given on uses of wheat substitutes. In the third car two explainers met the audience and explained the exhibits found there. As the topics in all three cars were closely related (the demonstrations showing how to save food and the exhibits showing why food saving was necessary), an hour spent in three cars gave variety enough to keep interest awake and still kept closely to the one big idea--“Save Food.”

A day coach used for a canning demonstration on the food conservation train of the New York Central Railroad and the New York State College of Agriculture.]

Crowd listening to a speech at the War Trophy Train which toured Kentucky as a feature of the Fourth Liberty Loan campaign.]

OUTDOOR SPEAKING AT TRAINS

If speaking to a general audience is the important thing, a talk from the outside of the train would seem better than crowding people into the cars; but even outside speeches from the platform or a flat car, or an especially built platform at the train present many difficulties. The location of the train frequently does not provide good standing room for the crowds; there is frequently distraction from the noise of other trains and persistent rainy weather must be reckoned with also. It is very important to have speakers with good outdoor voices, for the effect on the audience of straining to hear a speaker is irritating and leaves behind a bad impression.

VII

EXHIBIT CARS

TYPES OF CARS

Practically every type of car from the Pullman to the flat car can be fitted up to suit some exhibit or demonstration purpose. The Pullman, with its broad windows and attractively finished woodwork, makes a more pleasing setting for displays than the day coach. The day coach with seats removed and shelves built in for the display of exhibits has been the most generally used type of car. Photographs of the Pennsylvania Food Conservation Train show day coaches with interiors fitted up with counters, platforms, and cupboards with dimensions based on a careful calculation of the desired use of every inch of floor and wall space.[7] The baggage car is more nearly ready for use in an emergency since it does not need to be dismantled, but it is neither so well lighted nor so well finished as the coach. The flat car is well adapted to a display of large and heavy equipment, or for demonstrations that, require a platform to display them to an audience standing near the track. On agricultural trains, demonstrations of milking or judging live stock have been given on flat cars. On the Liberty Loan trains flat cars were employed to show cannon, machine guns, tanks, and other large equipment. In the photograph opposite page 80 a flat car is shown fitted with a framework for a tarpaulin for protection against weather. This is a necessary precaution in using flat cars.