Contest That Set Calkins' Career in Motion

As noted previously, the foundation of knowledge Calkins acquired about his profession was learned through the first weekly periodical released about advertising, Printers' Ink (Calkins, 1924). Following college, and while working as a type setter and prentice advertisement preparer for a local newspaper, one of his customers, a hardware dealer, presented him with an opportunity to compete in a contest (Calkins, 1924); incidentally, the contest was announced in Printers' Ink (Kaul, 1994). The manufacturer of a carpet-sweeper (today's vacuum cleaner) was offering a $50 prize to the best advertisement for a carpet-sweeper as a Christmas gift. To qualify, the entries had to be made by hardware dealers or their employees, and the advertisement had to initially be published in a local newspaper (obviously providing the carpet-sweeper manufacturer a breadth of valuable free advertising space in exchange for the minimal $50 reward!). The hardware man decided Calkins would qualify as an entrant since, as the advertising man for his store, he fit the definition of employee. Thus, Calkins accepted the challenge; he developed an ad extemporaneously that the hardware store ran in its usual space, and afterward submitted to the contest (Calkins, 1924). The following picture of the prize-winning advertisement is taken from Calkins (1924):

Calkins' advertisement was selected over 1,433 entries. Until some years later, the magnitude of the judge's name, Charles Austin Bates, would assume a different meaning than Calkins' simple recognition of him as an advertising leader at the time of the contest. Above all, the successful outcome of the contest stirred in Calkins his first serious consideration of advertising as a profession (Calkins, 1924).

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