THE HISTORY OF DIRECT MAIL

Currently on display at the British Museum in Cairo is what is believed to be the earliest recorded piece of direct mail advertising exhumed from the ruins of Thebes. Created 1000 years before Christ was born and written on a piece of papyrus, an Egyptian landowner produced an advertisement for the return of a runaway slave, I suppose a small reward may also have been offered, but who knows?

The next time direct marketing appears is in Babylonian days when messages were imprinted upon clay tablets and sent direct to the prospect, this cumbersome marketing effort was seriously flawed due to the limited number of people who were able to read and write.

The first reference to direct mail about the time of the birth of Christ is found in one of Pliny's books in which, according to the translation, you can read, with reference to a poet : "He hired a house, built an oratory, hired-forms, and dispersed prospectuses."

the ability to write was not a popular skill even among the more highly educated in those early days, a fact which naturally accounts for the slow development of direct marketing, but was the beginnings of “word of mouth” advertising.

The world moved on nearly 500 years to about 1434 when the invention of movable type by Gutenberg was developed. It is clear to see that the worldwide popularity and growth of direct mail has in many ways been parallel with the developments in printing.

William Caxton set up his press in the year 1471 at Westminster Abbey andwas the pioneer printer in England. In about 1480 he printed the first English handbill, a fore-runner of the "flyer" of to-day, the original of which can be seen in the Bodleian library in Oxford.

The first American direct mail advertisement, according to the Philadelphia Public Ledger, was a pamphlet published in 1681 by William Penn. Following its appearance in England, where it was printed to stimulate emigration to Pennsylvania, this pamphlet was almost immediately reprinted in Dutch at Rotterdam and in German at Amsterdam.

The good direct advertiser that he was, Penn followed up his first mailing with seven other pieces between 1681 and 1690.

In England in 1673, a leaflet appeared entitled : "An Essay to Revive the Ancient Education of Gentle-women in Religion, Manners and Tongues," at the end of which there was an advertisement for a boarding school. This school probably financed the publication of the first "service" manual on record, as the advertisement and the material appearing in the book were closely allied.

At the marriage of George III's eldest daughter (about 1780) a curious handbill was given away in London, which was printed upon both sides and, according to historians, "looked like a tract(story)" Its purpose, however, was to sell a portable washing machine.

In 1825 there was established in London a burial society which distributed handbills that rivaled the recent (1920) Frank A. Campbell funeral parlour advertisements at their best.

The wording on the handbill sold the benefits of paying in advance for your own funeral!

A favourable opportunity now offers to any person of either sex, who would wish to be buried in a genteel manner, by paying one shilling entrance and two pence per week for the benefit of the stock.

Members to be free in six months. The money to be paid at Mr. Middleton's at the sign of "The First and Last," Stonecutter St., Fleet Market.

The deceased to be furnished as follows :

A strong elm coffin, covered with superfine black, and finished with two rows, all around, close drove, best black japanned nails, and adorned with ornamental drop, a handsome plate of inscription, angel above and flower beneath, and four pair of, hand-some handles with wrought gripes; the coffin to be well pitched, lined and ruffled with fine crape; a handsome crape shroud, cap and pillow. For use, a handsome velvet pall, three gentlemen's cloaks, three crape hatbands, three hoods and scarfs and six pair of gloves; two porters equipped to attend the funeral, a man to attend the same with band and gloves, also the burial fees paid, if not exceeding one guinea.

According to Henry Sampson's "A History of Advertising from Earliest Times," from which the above is quoted, this leaflet produced great results, we are told that more than 1100 people signed up! The Middleton referred to was not only an undertaker but also a dealer in wickerware, including baby cribs, a fact which probably accounts for the early copywriters  "catch phrase" ……" The First and Last."

The first reference to direct mail or to give it its formal name “a circular letter”, is found in the fifth issue of Printers' Ink in 1888, where the Gem Piano and Organ Company of Washington, N. J., is referred to as sending out a "circular to newspaper publishers in the guise of a manuscript letter." This quotation plainly shows, that the so-called "deception" of sales letters was given early consideration.

Mail-Order Business Built Largely by Direct Advertising.

As the worlds postal services became more streamlined and efficient we can see from records that the total annual mail-order business of America in 1917 was estimated by a mail-order specialist at $1,500,000,000.

Thomas G. Patten, the head postmaster, New York City, in an article in the American Magazine (late in 1920), made the statement that there were a number of companies in New York which spend annually more than one million dollars on postage alone. Of course not all of these were mail-order houses. he was quoted saying, “Seven million letters in one day from a single firm was not a record breaker”.

It was not until 1920 that any one firm specializing in the production of direct marketing assumed such importance as to justify a huge building devoted exclusively to its use.
as we said earlier, the dawn of better printing must be followed by a dawn of better direct advertising, that together they may worthily share the light of progress.

Direct marketing is recognised as a form of advertising that reaches its audience without using traditional formal channels of advertising, such as TV, newspapers, internet or radio. Businesses communicate straight to the consumer with advertising techniques such as fliers, catalogue distribution, promotional letters, and vouchers for redemption.

Direct marketing is predominantly used by small to medium-size enterprises with limited advertising budgets that do not have a well-recognized brand message. A well-executed direct advertising campaign can offer a positive return on investment as the message is not hidden with overcomplicated branding. Instead, direct advertising is straight to the point; offers a product, service, or event; and explains how to get the offered product, service, or event.

With the development of TV, radio was supposed to die. With the growth of the internet and the immediacy of information, newspapers were supposed to die. Likewise it was believed that Direct Mail would die in favour of email, but it hasn’t. While nobody can say the internet hasn’t changed the world, it has affected all the media mentioned, however true direct marketers have stood firm and remained loyal, continuing to use direct mail in partnership with other forms of marketing to build on their Direct Mails ability to make personal 121 contact and sales with their prospect.