1

A canvas made, not only of homes, but of dealers. Competition is measured up. Every advertiser of a similar product is written for his literature and claims. Thus we start with exact information on all that our rivals are doing. Clipping bureaus are patronized, so that everything printed on our subject comes to the man who writes ads.

What's the meaning of canvas here? And what's the meaning of measuring competition? And more importantly, please explain about this sentence: "Every advertiser of a similar product is written for his literature and claims. also I don't understand the meaning of "Clipping bureaus are patronized"

Improve this question
1
  • A canvas is the traditional substrate on which a picture is painted, and metonymically can be used to refer to the painting itself. Here it is used as a metaphor for "a creation".
    – Colin Fine
    Aug 24, 2020 at 14:49

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

This is very likely to be a translation that has not worked well. I will guess what it means. Others may understand differently and I am interested to know what they think.

A canvas made, not only of homes, but of dealers.

= A market in which we are thinking not only of the homes of people but also of retailers who sell to homes.

Competition is measured up.

= We look at our competitors and assess them.

Every advertiser of a similar product is written for his literature and claims.

= We look critically at all advertisements from, and claims made by, suppliers of similar products.

Thus we start with exact information on all that our rivals are doing.

= Thus, we know the details of what our rivals and competitors are doing.

Clipping bureaus are patronized

= We use clipping bureaux (offices, agencies) to collect relevant printed material from newspaper, magazines and other sources.

, so that everything printed on our subject comes to the man who writes ads.

= So, the man who produces our advertisements knows everything that has been printed about similar products.

Improve this answer
2
  • It was great. Thank you so much. But this a part of a book named Scientific Advertising that is written by Claude C Hopkins (the father of new advertising) and it not a translation from other languages. Is it written so badly?
    – Ali Motavaze
    Aug 24, 2020 at 15:40
  • You are welcome. Not a translation - astonishing; I would not employ Claude to write a thank you letter, but I am sure he knows his business and his linguistic niche far better than I do!
    – Anton
    Aug 24, 2020 at 21:26
0

The paragraph talks about gathering information about the competition from a variety of sources, using synonyms to avoid repetition.

A “clipping bureau” is a a company that gathers articles and ads (originally from print media, where they would literally clip them from the page) and organizes them by subject, so you can, for instance, ask them for everything related to a particular product or company.

“Canvas” is commonly used where “canvass” is meant:

From dictionary.com:

canvass[ kan-vuhs ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to solicit votes, subscriptions, opinions, or the like from.
  2. to examine carefully; investigate by inquiry; discuss; debate.

verb (used without object)

  1. to solicit votes, opinions, or the like.

noun

  1. a soliciting of votes, orders, or the like.
  2. a campaign for election to government office.
  3. close inspection; scrutiny.
Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .