VII
EXHIBIT CARS
Types of Cars
Practically every type of car from the Pullman to the flat car can be fitted up to suit some exhibit or demonstration purpose. The Pullman, with its broad windows and attractively finished woodwork, makes a more pleasing setting for displays than the day coach. The day coach with seats removed and shelves built in for the display of exhibits has been the most generally used type of car. Photographs of the Pennsylvania Food Conservation Train show day coaches with interiors fitted up with counters, platforms, and cupboards with dimensions based on a careful calculation of the desired use of every inch of floor and wall space.[7] The baggage car is more nearly ready for use in an emergency since it does not need to be dismantled, but it is neither so well lighted nor so well finished as the coach. The flat car is well adapted to a display of large and heavy equipment, or for demonstrations that, require a platform to display them to an audience standing near the track. On agricultural trains, demonstrations of milking or judging live stock have been given on flat cars. On the Liberty Loan trains flat cars were employed to show cannon, machine guns, tanks, and other large equipment. In the photograph opposite page 80 a flat car is shown fitted with a framework for a tarpaulin for protection against weather. This is a necessary precaution in using flat cars.
An experienced director of exhibit trains writes: “An especially built and designed car for the purpose is well worth its additional cost. Such cars as I have seen provided by the railroads for temporary service in exhibit lines have all been old, small, and often broken-down baggage or passenger cars, in every way unsuitable for a purpose where the most extreme dimensions available still leave the exhibit and circulation space contracted. Cars should be built on the largest frames and the most extreme dimensions that the railroads, as governed by their tracks, bridges, and tunnels can handle. Windows should be set high in the car walls, giving a high source of light and maximum wall space for exhibits, and should be larger than those in the ordinary coach to secure better ventilation. The doors should be built wider than the usual car door.” The plan calls for small and compact living and office quarters at one end. The director also adds that the installation of an engine to furnish lights and power for working models is an important item of equipment. One engine is sufficient to run lights, fans, and models for several cars. In these days of portable electrical outfits, this item is practicable and fairly inexpensive.
Traveling Accommodations for Staff Members
The kind of living arrangements provided for the lecturers and assistants will depend, to some extent, upon the frequency of the stops and the number of persons traveling with the train. Several of the more elaborately equipped trains have carried a Pullman sleeping coach and a diner for the staff members. If there are frequent stops, it would seem that at least sleeping quarters on the train are necessary. Meals are sometimes arranged for at stopping places, and in this case the advance agent is responsible for seeing that good meals are assured. When stops of a full day or more are made, the staff members sometimes find rooms and meals in hotels en route. Whatever the arrangements, as is stated elsewhere, they should insure the greatest possible degree of comfort to the staff, in order to offset the severe strain that this kind of campaigning inevitably involves.
Treatment of Car Interiors
The two chief difficulties with exhibits on trains are keeping them clean and so securing them in place as to withstand the jarring motion. Washable surfaces on floors, shelves, and walls are essential. Exhibits should be either of the kind that are easily kept clean or else placed under cover or frequently replaced. No decorations such as draped bunting, which collects and holds dust, should be used. Clusters of small flags hung straight from chandeliers are attractive and non-dust collecting decorations. Small objects should be either securely fastened to shelves or packed away while the train is in motion.
Flat Cars Used for Displaying Captured German Trophies
A section of a Liberty Loan War Relic Train. Canvas covers can be thrown over the framework to protect the exhibit from the rain. This framework also provides a support for arc lights, so that the exhibit can be displayed at night.
Exhibits
Having selected the subject matter, you have a choice of presenting it through exhibits, demonstrations, talks, or all three.
For still exhibits the use of models, objects, cartoons, posters, transparencies for the windows, and brief slogans or statements on placards have been found most suitable. As is brought out in a later section under methods of display, the dimensions of a car place severe limitations on the forms that may be used to advantage, and the same principle applies to the selection of these as to the content of a train exhibit.
Just as there should be few ideas so there should not be too many sizes, shapes, and forms of exhibits which confuse the eye in the way that variety of topics confuses the mind.
Because of the necessity of moving people through the cars rapidly enough to make way for others to follow, it is essential that whatever is displayed may be quickly seen and understood. This limitation rules out many forms that might be shown satisfactorily in halls. Anything that is expressed chiefly by words may better be left to speakers and printed matter for distribution as there is not time to read words and figures and, indeed, visitors have little inclination to do so. Diagrams, particularly those presenting detailed facts, also call for close examination and delay the progress of visitors. One train exhibitor of experience says: “One of the greatest dangers to be avoided is an excess of charts and small type. The exhibit should be such that the crowds can be kept moving through the car and, nevertheless, be able to seize the principal points intended to be taught.”
A description of a part of a single health car in one report includes “75 wall charts illustrating the cost in human lives of tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and diarrhea. Each series of charts has grouped about it from two to twelve models. Several hundred photographs show occupational conditions favorable to tuberculosis.” Such a collection as this is suited only to intensive study and not at all to a popular traveling exhibit.
Methods used to attract attention to one thing should not distract attention from other things. For example, in a certain health car a bell struck every three minutes tolling the one hundred and seventy-five thousand deaths annually from tuberculosis. This is a striking and effective way of making people heed a startling fact, but unfortunately every time the bell rang in so small a space as the car it interfered with the study of other features being presented.
There is little opportunity to get attention for detailed or complex displays, no matter how attractive and interesting they may be. The following is taken from a description of a mechanical device shown on a train through which visitors were always moving rapidly because there was a long waiting line: “A model block-signal system about 25 feet in length, illustrating the protection provided by a clock-signal system was in full operation. This model had two sidings and was designed particularly to show single-track operation. Intermediate signals were shown between the clock signals by means of lights.” The information that this model conveyed illustrates very well the kind that is too complicated to be understood without a careful examination and some explanation by an attendant.
You must, therefore, in planning the form as in planning the content of your exhibit, keep your eye steadily on the picture of the Smiths and Browns at the train as it stands on the side track in Jonesville with many people moving through the cars. You can test the practicability of your devices and other displays by asking yourself these questions concerning the probable reaction of Brown and Smith:
Will it attract their attention?
Will it arouse their interest?
Will they remember it?
Will it bring a response from them?
These are generally recognized aims of advertising, and they apply equally to exhibits which are, after all, a form of advertising.
Use of the Space for Display
For displaying exhibits to moving audiences, the use of the space should be so planned that it is easy to keep visitors moving in a given direction and at the same time make it possible for them to grasp quickly the meaning of what they see.
The majority of those who have reported on their experience with trains agree that it is very important that visitors should move in a single direction. This is beyond question desirable unless small audiences are expected; but as is stated elsewhere, capacity audiences are the aim of most enterprises.
Having agreed on a one-way movement, there is, however, still considerable disagreement as to the best arrangement of material—whether on two sides of the center aisle, or along the center of the car with an aisle on either side, or finally, with exhibits displayed on one side only with a single aisle.
Interior of Health Exhibit Car
An example of the display of exhibits on both sides of a center aisle. If there are many visitors going through the car at one time, they must move slowly along the narrow aisle, looking alternately at an exhibit on one topic on the right, and one on another topic on the left. Both physically and mentally this method of viewing exhibits is likely to be tiring. One would expect the average visitor to carry away a confused impression of the facts and ideas presented.
A Well Arranged Exhibit Car
A car interior on the Pennsylvania Food Conservation Train designed to overcome as many as possible of the difficulties in train exhibiting.
The curved space, too high to attract attention easily, is used for a symbolic frieze in colors, the design, in three parts, being repeated five times and running the length of the car. The same space was used less successfully, as shown in the cut opposite page 70, for reading matter which was read only when the explainer called attention to it. The framed captions and the pictures below them are approximately at eye-level. Variety combined with a symmetrical arrangement is obtained by placing a large poster over every fourth window, while the transparencies on the remaining windows allow plenty of light to enter.
Exhibits are displayed on one side of the car only. An economical use of the 9-foot width of the car is obtained as follows:
Raised platform for the explainer, 20 inches wide.
Counter, 28 inches wide.
Aisle for visitors, 4.5 feet wide.
The use of vertical space is also carefully planned and is roughly:
Counter height, 40 inches.
Upright board at back of counter, 11 inches high.
Combined height of pictures and captions, 36 inches, with lower edge about 48 inches from the floor.
The first method, that of displaying exhibits on two sides of the center aisle, makes the progress of the visitor very slow and awkward, for he must continually turn from one side to the other as he goes unless, of course, he violates the rule of moving in one direction only and in so doing comes back along the same aisle. Not only is it awkward to turn continually from side to side in viewing exhibits but it is difficult to arrange material so that the visitor can in this way follow an idea logically. His attention is alternately given to the topics on one side and the other, unless by some elaborate system of arrangement the story moves from one side to the other. Another difficulty is that the explainer has no place to stand except in the aisle, holding back the visitors. The very narrow middle aisle left by counters or tables on two sides is still another disadvantage. Moreover, favored with space at the expense of visitors, the exhibits are less likely to be seen and their value is thus lowered.
Displays along the center of the car with an aisle on each side might be satisfactory in some cases, especially if all the material is in the form of models or objects and there is no need to use the walls. This method allows for the movement of visitors in single file down one aisle and back the other, or for two parallel lines to move in a single direction on both sides of the display. Some who have tried this method found that visitors did not look at the walls but gave their whole attention to the center of the car.
Food Conservation Train of New York State College of Agriculture
Exhibits in the center of the car with a narrow aisle on each side. See page 86. The objects on the floor obstructing the aisle were probably placed in the aisle only for photographing.
Jars of fruits and vegetables are attractively displayed at the right height, and with light shining through to bring out color and clearness. There is a welcome lack of crowding, and desirable simplicity in the car as a whole.
The third method, that of placing exhibits on one side only, seems to have been found the most satisfactory. In this way both wall and floor space on one side may be used to their full advantage, while the visitors looking in a single direction move fairly rapidly. A space may be left for the explainer between the wall and the counter, as shown in the picture opposite page 85. Also, she may move the length of the car and back without difficulty, having the counter between her and visitors.
Arrangement of Railroad Car Interior
Simple and attractive arrangement of exhibits on the Wisconsin Pure Seed and Home Power Special. The exhibitors showed unusually good judgment in their use of wall space. The information given is brief, to the point, easily read, and well displayed. The disadvantages of displaying the exhibits on both sides of the narrow center aisle, discussed on page 84, are illustrated here.
Placing Exhibits
The first consideration in placing exhibits is that they shall be at the right height. The best space on walls is that on a level with the eye. The eye will travel up and down in following a display that has caught the visitor’s attention, but isolated placards, pictures, or objects placed too high or too low to be within easy range have small chance of being observed.
The wall spaces of a car are considerably broken, as may be observed in the photographs. The curved space is excellent for decoration or for brief slogans, but should not be depended upon for anything requiring detailed examination. The upper part of the window space is usually most nearly at eye level, but windows are needed for light and it is wise not to cover with displays that shut out the light more than a half or a third of those on one side and none at all on the other. One needs to reckon with the possibility of trains often being placed close to the exhibit cars, or the cars being placed beside buildings that cut off the light entirely on one side. Probably the best use of windows is for cartoons or posters made on transparent paper or cloth, or on the familiar glass transparencies. The space below the windows is too low for wall displays. The illustration of the Pennsylvania Food Conservation Train opposite page 85 shows a good use of windows and wall space. Another photograph opposite page 87 also shows an interesting use of space.
The counters, shelves, or tables should be so built as to bring the objects on them as nearly as possible on a level with the eye, at the same time without cutting off the view of wall exhibits. The height and dimensions of the counters shown opposite page 85 were worked out carefully to meet this condition.
It is always a good thing to have a railing separate visitors from the exhibits as more people can see them if all are held back from pressing too closely.
Another important consideration in placing exhibits is that they should not be crowded. When objects or placards crowd one another it becomes impossible to look at one thing without having others in the margin of vision interfere with concentrated attention. The first impression of a crowded car is one of bewilderment. The visitor is obliged not only to grasp new ideas and facts presented in an unfamiliar form, but to select among a large number those of special interest to him.
Arrangement of Subject Matter
Because of the small space and necessarily quick movements of visitors, it is especially important that exhibits should be arranged in some logical sequence. Visitors are sometimes called upon to perform amazing feats in mental acrobatics, leaping from one topic to another with breathless speed. For example, in the exhibit pictured opposite page 84, we see a poster about baby deaths resting on a model of a school building with a placard nearby urging the use of schools as community centers. Across the narrow aisle is a model obviously unrelated either to community centers or baby deaths. The sequence of ideas should be such that each new thought is made easier to understand and more interesting because of what went before it, or each separate exhibit should be clearly related to one central idea. Thus, in the first exhibit of the Pennsylvania Food Conservation Train the series of topics was developed as follows:
Not only the sequence of ideas but the separation between two topics is important. This can be accomplished by a visible separation, allowing a distance of at least six inches between exhibits relating to different topics; better still, by putting up actual barriers between the exhibits, as is done in the exhibit opposite page 70. The barrier has the advantage of holding the eye at one spot, so that there is no temptation to desert one exhibit for the lure of a bright color or a curious device farther on.
Another consideration in arranging material is that groups relating to one subject should be so placed that their relation to one another and to the whole be quickly recognized. Sometimes exhibits that belong together are separated because variety of size and shape makes it inconvenient to work out a suitable arrangement. It is worth while to plan carefully in advance the kinds of exhibit material that will harmoniously illustrate a given topic; also to have the sizes and shapes conform to the dimensions of the space reserved for them.
Some Observations From Practical Experience
In a letter describing the exhibit car of the Canadian Forestry Association, Mr. J. R. Dickson, who was in charge of the car, makes some interesting observations regarding the arrangement of exhibits based on his experiences. He writes in part as follows:
The people, especially at crowded hours, all tend to travel through an exhibit car in one direction and this is very desirable inasmuch as the man in charge of the car can regularly escort through it group after group of eager sightseers or inquirers after knowledge and keep up a cross between a lecture and a conversation with them, answering their questions and drawing their attention to all the pertinent points in the exhibit which they might otherwise overlook.
To accomplish this plan of car lecturing most effectually, the entire exhibit should be arranged so far as possible in a natural sequence, beginning at one end of the car and ending at the other. This of course is where a single aisle is provided down one side of the car. Such a scheme makes one’s talk logical and so helps to impress the lessons of the exhibit in such a way that they are remembered easily and intelligently....
On entering the car the first object to attract the visitor’s eye was a large map of Canada, showing the forestry belt of 400,000,000 acres, over 90 per cent of this timber land being publicly owned. When told that each citizen of Canada, man, woman and child, owned on the average fifty acres of this national resource, the imagination and the pocket-nerve of the visitor were at once stimulated and he or she was thereafter taking a personal interest in the whole exhibit.
The visitor next turned to a nursery of small pine and spruce illustrating the essential beginning of all our forest wealth and also suggesting the basic importance of land classification in order that every acre may be put to its best use. Then our modern methods of protecting both such young growth and the resulting mature timber were examined and explained, and the great need for good laws and the generous expenditure of public money in order to safeguard their forests, was readily seen and agreed to....
Before leaving, the visitor ... was handed a copy of the last Canadian Forestry Association Journal, and given a brief description of the nation-building work of this society, together with an addressed card inviting him to join.
Finally he inspected a cabinet filled with highly finished samples of Canadian woods, and the last thing his eye rested upon and which impressed itself on his memory as he left the car, was this bold fire warning: “A tree will make a million matches; a match will burn a million trees.”
Arrangement of Car for Demonstrations
When an audience is to be gathered in a car to witness a demonstration or hear an illustrated talk, the first requirement is that the speaker can be easily heard and each process plainly seen by everyone in the car. The second is that the audience shall be comfortably seated if the demonstration is to last longer than fifteen or twenty minutes. This is about the limit of time that an audience will stand without becoming restless. The illustration on the opposite page shows an interior especially constructed for cooking demonstrations, or rather for brief object lessons, as a feature of the Pennsylvania Food Conservation Train. The demonstrator stands on a platform raised a foot higher than the floor. A counter extending the length of the car curves out at the center to leave a space for the platform and small kitchen. The maximum space for a standing audience is provided, and all are within easy range of the speaker’s voice and near enough to see the objects in her hand. The space below the counter is lined with cupboards. A similar arrangement might be suitable for any demonstration or illustrated talk in which few objects are used, provided the counter is raised high enough to show the entire process. If the extension of the counter along the sides were left out the space could be used to seat an audience around a raised central platform.
Car Especially Designed for Cooking Demonstrations
A demonstration kitchen, Pennsylvania Food Conservation Train, with a raised platform for the demonstrator. The extension of the counter at either side of the kitchen provides exhibit space. Discussion on page 92.