FromTheWorld’s Best Seller
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me
Job 146
Best Seller Publicity, 189W. Madison St., Chicago
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K iS i l i One of the large outdoor posters calling attention to key Bible verses
she was always alert to the things of God. So, musing over the posters and their riotous display of various products, it Suddenly occurred to her, “Why not display the Word of God on streetcars and draw men to Him?” The more she mused and pondered over this the more excited she got. She began to tell others about it and endeavored to interest various organizations in assuming the responsibility. People were too busy or disinterested. In fact, many thought it was simply a brainstorm of Jo’s! But Jo couldn’t sleep nights. It had become a persistent burden to her. Finally after much discouragement, a group met at the YWCA for dinner and heard Jo’s story. And on that raw December day in 1937 Best Seller Publicity came to birth. This was only the beginning—a huge job lay ahead. But since that momentous day Best Seller Publicity, a non profit, non-sectarian work, has encircled the globe with God’s Word. The posters (which contain no church or organizational advertising) have reached eight hundred U.S. cities and appeared in five hundred foreign cities in twenty-nine languages and dialects. For the first eight years Jo Peterson volunteered her services for Best Seller while working as an administra tive assistant in a large evening high school. One of Jo’s most difficult decisions came into her life about this time. An office had been established a few years previous at 189 West Madison Street, and the work was growing. It now needed a full-time leader. Should she give up her promising and lucrative career for full time Best Seller work on a missionary salary? God had led her into this work step by step—of this she was certain —she could not say “no” to God. And she has been with the organization ever since. When the first two hundred and fifty colorful posters appeared on Chicago’s streetcars with the verse “ Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden,” they created immediate attention. Other cities clamored for them. The chaplains in the Armed Forces and mission aries requested them Adopting the slogan “ an illustration to catch the eye and a verse to reach" the heart,” Christian artists were JA N U A R Y , 1960
first contacted to help fulfil this slogan. Graciously giving their talents have been such outstand ing artists as Warner Salman,' world-famed for his Head of Christ, and Vaughn Shoemaker, twice-recipient of the Pulitzer prize, and Francis Chase, with many others, whose superb artistry has done much to “ catch the eye.” The verses—sometimes only a word or two from the Bible—have been carefully chosen “ to reach the hearts” of the multitude of commuters around the world. Perhaps the most rewarding feature of the Best Seller ministry have been the posters and billboards that have reached the foreign lands. Missionaries keep pleading for them and telling of their blessed results. One missionary feels he is doubly effective because of them. “We get sick, take furloughs, vacations, and are ham pered by varying degrees of weather. But Best Seller posters work for us twenty-four hours a day; they never get sick; never need a furlough or vacation; are never weary or discouraged; weather does not bother them. They are indefatigable missionaries.” The newest and most colorful billboard is an unusually impressive one with Sallman’s Head of Christ silouetted against a full-colored sunset, and the verse, “ Come unto Me.” Recently one hundred of them were sent to Aus tralia. A latest and thrilling phase of the Best Seller work has opened at Chicago’s backyard— or is it the frontyard! The big ships are coming out of the oceans into the rivers, up the Seaway to Chicago—not only a thrilling project for mid-America, but for Best Seller as well. In fact, Jo Peterson has already penetrated this world port with Best Seller posters. On July 25, 1959 posters were placed on foreign ships that anchored at Chicago that day. Tremendous possibilities for reaching souls around the world. “What wonders can be accomplished by those who believe in the magnetic and transforming power of a single Bible verse,” wrote a Japanese missionary. That’s why Best Seller posters make such good home and foreign missionaries and transform people wherever they go. 73
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