Two almost identical ads apart from the Dept.HT/ ....... Could someone please explain what that is about.
The Dept.HT/PL and Dept.HT/1H5 are codes used by Tilley to track which ads are resulting in people writing in for a catalogue. If they placed an ad, with the code in the address, Dept.HT/PL, in the Times and had 50 people write in for a catalogue they would know how effective or not is was placing advertising in the Times. If they placed an ad, with the code in the address, Dept.HT/PL, in the Telegraph and had 500 people write in for a catalogue they would know that advertising in the Telegraph was far more effective than advertising in the Times.
@Anthony I made a mistake with the Telegraph example. Dept.HT/PL should be Dept.HT/1H5. It should be Dept.HT/PL in the first instance and Dept.HT/1H5. in the 2nd instance.
This is an old common method of determining the value of advertising. It was used a lot in US ads where quite often the company name is the only truth. We see many ads where the street or number doesn't exist which I assume meant that the Company name is in effect a Post Box and the rest of the address just for revenue evaluation. ::Neil::
A quick survey of my Tilley adverts clipped from magazines reveals:- Dept. HT/IH appeared in 'Ideal Home' and Dept. HT/P appeared in 'Punch'. i.e. latter letters are simply abbreviations for the publication concerned. I've got an ad with Dept. HT/PP but there's no indication which magazine it came from - maybe 'Practical Plumbing' or something. However, I've also got several ads with Dept. F.S. which appeared in 'Farmers Home' so the system may have changed somewhat. I've also got some very early ads for the R1 with 'Dept. 2' in the address. Later ads appearing in 'Punch' show another system - 'P' alone or followed by a number e.g. 'P10' (3/12/1956); also 'P.C.2' (3/12/1958). I wonder if the system changed when the showrooms changed - Sackville Street and Jermyn Street for instance. Probably another Tilley mystery we won't fully get to the bottom of...
F.S. could refer to Farmer and Stockbreeder. Father bought this magazine rather than the perhaps more well known Farmers Weekly, there was a short section towards the end which dealt with matters more indoor than out,* I'm not 100% sure but I've a sneaky feeling that it may have been 'Farmers Home' . * One article I remember which I assume appeared in an Autumn issue was about dissolving readily available chemicals e.g. copper sulphate chrystals in water (there were others which I can't remember) and giving your logs a good sprinkling. Once dried, the residue left on/in the logs would ensure a variety of coloured flames when the logs were put on the fire. Ideal for Christmas ! edit: The Farmers Home. The Farmer & Stock Breeder. (Supplement) March 1937
@David Shouksmith and @Henry Plews, thanks for your input. Farmer and Stockbreeder I am not familiar with but 'Punch' I have found some good stuff in. I have just finished sorting out dates of address of factories and offices and it has turned out to be very handy for dating catalogues that bit more accurately. There is always something that makes the dates not work out but its just a matter of sorting the wheat from the chaff. Perhaps this advertising code will help too.
Hopefully you understood my 'Times' and 'Telegraph' were just examples. I didn't mean to imply that those codes were actually used in the Times and the Telegraph. My input was to explain how they used the codes, not what codes they used.
Thanks Henry - that explains that one! I shall amend the annotations on my adverts accordingly... I've just had another quick look through my Tilley adverts. I should have spotted that only those offering catalogues to the public incorporate the 'Dept' codes into the address. General advertising not offering catalogues has the plain address at the bottom. That would be logical... That would be correct - the transition metals e.g. copper and nickel have coloured salts and give coloured flames when burned. Copper will give blue and nickel will give green. I think this is the basis of how the Tilley 'Leak Detectors' worked although I'm not sure of the exact chemistry involved there. Other metals which have coloured flames include sodium (yellow - chuck some salt on the fire) and calcium (red) - Merry Christmas!
