Show A CAMPAIGN BAXXEIt FACTORY I low Most Elaborate Designs Are Rushed Through nt Railroad Speed Already the campaign banner is swinging swing-ing midair across the avenues and adorn ins the vafious political headquarters Very few peojKt ° asthey gaze on these works of art have any idea of their manufacture man-ufacture sirnpjy knowing that they appear ap-pear after the selection of the candidates for presidential honors and associating them with fireworks brass bands and oratory or-atory The making of campaign banners is however an extensive business several firms devoting themselves exclusively to their manufacture I Is true that banners ban-ners are sometimes gotten up by sign painters and the small shops that spring up for the occasion but they are not to 0 classed with the banners turned out by these regular factories A visit to one of these establishments reveals some interesting facts On the cheap banner only the names and sehtiments the candidates appear but the large and costly ones have the portraits of both nominees painted in ovals separated by fanciful designs I Shields eagles and figures of Liberty are the most popular The emblems are wonderfully I won-derfully and fearlessly gotten up the eagle performing feats that would tax a contortionist airily balanced on a shield his talons fled with enormous bunches of arrows a penant expressing his political po-litical opinions floating gracefully from his beak or with a shield suspended from his neck he takes his wild flight across the rising sun The Goddess of Liberty and other designs are executed in an equally striking manner The first clas campaign banner is the nroduct of the combined efforts of three menthe portraf palnter the sign painter paint-er and the sailmaker In making the banner the work is divided up The pain j I ing which is done on sized muslin maybe may-be accomplished in two ways I the man is an expert he takes a large circle of pasteboard having the features cut out and traces the general outline and size of the head usng a photograph to finish the oortrait from But the usual method is by the use of stencils each stencil being for a different color The large pieces of muslin tacked on boards are ranged in a row around I I the room and men with pots of paint pass from one to the other with great rapidity Painter No 1 lays in the hair No2 follows with the flesh tint No 3 i outs on the shirt and collar and No 4 the coat thus the foundation is laid for the artist who comes along with his huge palette and completes the portrait Meanwhile the sign painters perched on stools and boxes are putting on long strips of muslin The Peoples Choice and other equally I flattering sentiments The sai makers cut a roll of square meshed net into different banner sizes binding them with a thick rope covered with canvas No stencils are used for the emblems they are spontaneous bursts of the artists ists imagination He can indulge his taste in eagles as fierce and warlike as I he pleases and Liberties as defiant This II i is not all A banner one pain > ted is not a I loss even if it remains on the firm I hands As the artist remarked Putting o or taking off a mustache or beard rearranging re-arranging the hair an extra touch of fat or lean as the case requires is a small matter accomplished by a few strokes of the brush The sign pointer is equally handy at altering the political mottoes The banner takes some days to dry and a week to finish A section is placed paint downward on the floor and the net put over it The same design is arranged on top Ova and the sailmaker sitting on the floor sailor fashion sews it all together Then salor banner is ready to be raised I with wild cheers and a fare of red lire |