TH E K I N G ’ S BUS I NE S i
THEBATTLE OF
THE BILLBOARDS
John A . Witmer
America’s entry into the war chal lenged Best Seller with a breath-tak ing opportunity. Although the Com mittee never had been able to keep up with the civilian demand for posters, it prayerfully accepted this new challenge. A letter of invitation to chaplains brought hundreds of re quests for p o s t e r s . By the end of hostilities, nearly 2,000 posters were going every month to training camps, rest areas, hospitals, combat head quarters, and naval ships in every theater of operation. Posters in the Russian language were placed on Russian m e r c h a n t marine ships. Replicas of the posters the size of calling cards, in the native languages, were d i s t r i b u t e d to*German and Italian prisoners of war. Postwar plans for a world-wide campaign have been given a new impetus by the possibility of free access to every country. A financial shortage is all that holds up the printing of posters in Spanish for dis play in Central and South American countries. Two typical cities' that have or ganized Best Seller Committees are Los Angeles, California, and Van couver, British Columbia. Posters now appear in more than 1,000 busses and .streetcars in Los Angeles. Vancouver boasts complete coverage of every public vehicle in the city, including three suburban communities, all the ferries, and an interurban railroad. The committee there uses 520 posters monthly. The newest project in Vancouver— one which is catching hold in many cities—is Best Seller billboards; there are six of these. In Humboldt, Iowa, the Best Seller billboard is on the main highway to the town, the proj ect being sponsored by. the local ministerial association. Owned by the local theater, the b i l l b o a r d was donated to. the churches. The Iowa Public Service Company furnishes the lights to illuminate the s i g n at night. The man to whom the property belongs allowed the land to be used without change. The actual posting is done at cost and is paid for by all the churches. Billboards are also being used in Sydney, Nova Scotia. In Muncie,
Best Seller Booth at 1945 Missionary Rally, Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles I NTERNATIONAL hostilities have ceased, but in the world of ad vertising, the battle of the bill boards is still in progress. Strategic headquarters for the forces of the S c r i p t u r e advertising are located at Best Seller Publicity, Inc., 189 W. Madison St., Chicago, Illinois, with commander - in - chief, General Secretary Josephine Peterson. In ad dition, there are organized divisional •headquarters in one hundred cities in the United States and Canada. Best Seller was conceived in a flash of inspiration, and born in ah en vironment of prayer, determination, and hard work. These characteristics have marked the progress of its suc cessful campaign ever since. Thé inspiration came one evening when Miss Peterson, a young evening school art instructor, was riding a Chicago “L” to work. Scanning the - row of advertising posters opposite her with a professional eye, she mused upon the quirks of human nature. “From a survey of the street car posters, a stranger would con clude that all Americans are physical wrecks and social misfits. There’s an answer for every ' h u m a n problem here,” she thought, chuckling men tally. Then her .attention was arrested. A glaring exception stood out. No cure was offered for the disease of sin, no advice 'on how to renew broken fellowship with God. The transit ads had an answer for everything—every thing except man’s salvation.
Best Seller in Hawaii In that moment, the Lord called Miss Peterson to a new work for Him, and put into her mind a plan for it. As she rode a Chicago “L” that night, she determined, by God’s grace, that the Word of God must go up there by the side of the commercial adver tisements. The first Best Seller offensive was launched in Chicago in February, 1938. It was not as easy as it sounds. Almost six months before the first experimental group of posters ap peared in '250 streetcars, Miss Peter son and her committee had plannefi their, ^attack, their “D-Day” being preceded by a barrage of prayer. That first hesitant step of faith brought an immédiate response from both Christians and non-Christians. Today, more than 2,000 posters on Chicago public' v e h i c l e « silently preach the Gospel to 3,000,000 riders each week. This modern a p p l i c a t i o n of Jehovah’s command to Habakkuk to “write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, .that he may run that readeth it,” steadily spread to many of the cities throughout North Amer ica. The Best Seller Central Com mittee took special precautions to in sure permanent growth by ruling that in every city and town a responsible Jocal committee must be organized, and a reasonable- income guaranteed. Posters are not sent until these reg ulations are complied with. Each local committee is autonomous
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