Echoes of the past: The challenge for window displays in the 1930s

This week’s Echoes of the past features a useful book written for budding practitioners in the 1930s. The slim volume was sent from the son of Douglas Still, author and editor of The Optical Economist at the time, and regular contributor to The Optician.

The Optical Practice Builder addresses many issues still relevant to start-ups today, although content on dynamic window displays and advertising are a real blast from a more regulated past.

Human interest headlines are suggested for newspaper advertisements in one of the chapters. Examples used in other industries included ‘Everybody’s Doing It’ for telegrams and ‘Give your Brain a Chance’ for milk. Optical advertisers were advised to give a direct or indirect reference to eyes and vision, together with an attention-grabbing illustration.