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typewriter! We personally did all the work--not only on that first
issue, but for several years! That first issue consisted of about
250 copies, and the entire cost of paper, printing, and postage was
$5! Now we are printing 75,000 copies, with a national
circulation, at a cost in excess of $2,000 per issue! (including
$750 postage).
For years we had to work in a little cramped inside office,
with no outside windows--no sun-light, no ventilation, except thru
a transom into a hall. I would write the articles, design the
headlines, cut the stencils. Hour after hour, day after day, Mrs.
Armstrong faithfully ground away at the old-fashioned mimeograph we
were able to buy (very much second-handed, of course) a few months
after the first issue. She folded, addressed, stamped and mailed
the copies, steadily increasing in circulation month by month.
After some four years we were able to begin to have The PLAIN
TRUTH printed. But we could not turn out, yet, the attractive up-
to-date magazine of my dreams. We had to economize every penny.
We had to print it on the least expensive paper, and at lowest
possible printing cost. Even so, we always tried to make The PLAIN
TRUTH as attractive, as readable, legible, as possible with the
money we had to use. Up to now we still had to follow this policy.
But now the circulation has grown until it has become a large
publication. Soon it will be requiring THREE TONS OF PAPER for a
single issue! In a magazine of this large circulation, the cost of
more attractive and effective design--illustrations, maps, etc.,
--more attractive headings and typography--becomes a very small
fraction of the total cost. Consequently, plans are now being made
to print The PLAIN TRUTH on a better grade of paper, fully
illustrated, 16 pages, two colors, and soon to come out EVERY
MONTH. This could not be done during war-time because of paper
shortage and other restrictions. These shortages and restrictions
are STILL in effect, but we expect them soon now to be lifted. And
when they are, I have faith that at last a dream of many years will
be realized! And I believe you'll be as enthusiastic over the NEW
Plain Truth, when you see it, as I know I shall be.
The May-June number is now in process of preparation, and will
have to appear just as before. I hope to have it off the press in
three or four weeks. But, SOON, now, we hope to be sending you a
larger, more attractive, more interesting PLAIN TRUTH. Yes, I'm
sure you'll like it!
A NEW EMERGENCY! U R G E N T !
Now before closing, I have to tell you the receipt of money to
carry on his great work has been falling off alarmingly the last
two weeks. Again it has brought the work into a CRISIS--a very
serious emergency!
Frankly, I know of no other work anywhere like this. It is
altogether GOD'S WORK, proclaiming GOD'S Message, conducted and
financed GOD'S way, as we find it revealed in His Word, the Bible.
The NEW Testament commission to all Christians--who, combined,
form the true Church of God--is, "GO YE into all the world and
PREACH THE GOSPEL." The sad truth is too few even KNOW the true
Gospel today! God's way is for the Gospel to be GIVEN, free,
without any price or any charge.
For that reason, I cannot beg for money over the air. For
that reason, there is no subscription price on the PLAIN TRUTH.
For that reason, we send out by the tens of thousands attractive