At the 1904 World's Fair in Saint Louis, Missouri, American DeForest President Abraham White organized a sweeping and impressive promotion, in order to establish American DeForest as the preeminent radio company in the United States, while at the same time selling lots and lots of stock of dubious value. White would achieve both goals.

Included as part of the company promotion was this four-page bulletin, showcasing the company's radio tower, which had been set up on the Louisiana Purchase Exposition fairgrounds. (The observation tower had originally been built in 1893 at Niagara Falls. However, because ice from the tower kept falling on an adjacent glass-roofed museum, it was declared a nuisance and ordered to be torn down by December 31, 1903. Abraham White purchased the dismantled tower, and had it moved to the Saint Louis fair.) This publication's purple prose -- the bulletin was printed in purple ink -- included statements such as: "It is safe to say that within a year the revenue accruing to the American DeForest Company from this source alone will surprise the most enthusiastic stockholder." However, the surprise awaiting enthusiastic individuals unfortunate enough to have bought American DeForest stock, would be how little revenue the company actually would take in over the next few years from ongoing operations. And notably omitted from this overview of the company's future were its stock fraud and patent infringement lawsuits, and eventual bankruptcy.
 
The De Forest Wireless Telegraphy Tower: Bulletin No. 1, Summer, 1904, pages 1-4:

ground picture
BULLETIN  No.  1.
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World's  Fair  Stations.
        The American DeForest Wireless Telegraph Company has now ten operating stations at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and installations are now being arranged for at Chicago, Memphis, Omaha and Kansas City. On the front page of this bulletin will be seen a reproduction of a drawing of the main tower of the Company. From this tower a continuous stream of messages is being aerographed to different parts of the fair grounds and to various points of the City of St. Louis.
        The DeForest installations at the World's Fair have been installed at considerable expense to the Company, but it is proving a very lucrative investment, as contracts are now being made for the supplying of World's Fair bulletins to the newspapers of the prominent cities and towns within a radius of two hundred miles of St. Louis. It is also the intention of the Company to make these stations the nucleus of a complete wireless system to operate between Chicago and New Orleans, in fact the apparatus is now being manufactured for Texas and Mississippi Valley stations.
        It will be very gratifying to the stockholders of the American DeForest Company to know that a complete set of DeForest Wireless apparatus has been installed in the U. S. Government Building at the World's Fair and is now being operated under the direct supervision of a representative of the United States Patent Office. The importance of this will be apparent when it is known that out of 700,000 inventions, seven of the most notable were selected and that one of these was the DeForest System of Wireless Telegraphy.

DeForest  War  News  Service.
        One of the most interesting and important features of the Russo-Japanese War has been the successful use of Wireless Telegraphy. In several instances it has been instrumental in bringing about Japanese victories. Both the Russians and Japanese armies have made constant and successful use of it. In February last, the London Times closed a contract with the American DeForest Company to install its apparatus upon the Steamship "Haimun" and at Wei-Hai-Wei, and on March 31st the Company commenced the transmission of messages. Since that date over 10,000 words have been aerographed, giving in several instances the only accurate description received by the Press of engagements between the Japanese and Russian Fleets. These messages in nearly every case were transmitted from distances ranging from 150 to 200 miles and were taken up by the responders without any difficulty whatever.

DeForest  System  and  the  Modern  Newspaper.
        One of the surest evidences of the practicability of Wireless Telegraphy is shown in the urgent desire of the leading newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic to adopt it as a permanent adjunct to their business, it being the best and most economical means of supplying bulletins of important events.
        Less than two years ago the American and English Dailies refused to consider the free use of a prominent wireless system; now the same papers are paying handsomely for its use. Since the recent practical demonstration of the efficiency of the DeForest System in the transmission of Russo-Japanese War correspondence for the London Times, New York Times and Philadelphia Public Ledger, the Company has been receiving daily requests for installations by prominent newspapers throughout the country. So far the construction department has completed three; namely, the La Presse of Montreal, Canada; St. Louis Star and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The two last named are receiving daily wireless bulletins of important events transpiring at the World's Fair grounds.
        In commenting upon the service furnished by the American DeForest Company, the St. Louis Star has the following to say:
        "As fast as copy could be filed at the tower, it was flashed through the air almost instantaneously to the Star Wireless Station. Messages were transmitted at the rate of 40 words per minute and not a hitch occurred. This enterprise has proved remarkably successful."
        The above facts will give some idea of the marvellous growth of the DeForest System. This, however, is just the commencement; other installations will follow just as quickly as the orders can be filled. It is safe to say that within a year the revenue accruing to the American DeForest Company from this source alone will surprise the most enthusiastic stockholder.

On  the  Great  Lakes.
        The construction department is working day and night in rushing forward the apparatus for the numerous stations to be erected at the prominent cities from Rochester, on Lake Ontario, to Duluth, at the western end of Lake Superior. Stations have already been completed at Buffalo and Cleveland, and in the recent tests held under the supervision of Dr. Lee DeForest, no difficulty was experienced in establishing communication between these two points, a distance of 180 miles. The equipment of the first of the Cleveland & Buffalo Steamships is under way. This line of Steamers will be in constant communication during the summer with the DeForest stations from the time they leave Buffalo until they reach Detroit.

Havana--Key  West  System.
        The Havana station has been finished and the work on the Key West installation is being rushed to completion. From present indications the Company expects to be in active competition with the cable companies before the end of the present summer. The present cable rates between those two points is 10 cents per word, and as the rate decided upon for aerograms is 5 cents per word, it is safe to say that the revenue to the American DeForest Company from this source will be immense. The Company has decided to follow the Havana-Key West system by installations at various points in the West India Archipelago, as it is not only an ideal but very profitable field for wireless telegraphic work.

Central  and  South  American  Stations.
        The highly successful operation of the American DeForest Wireless stations at Boca del Toro, Panama, and Port Limon, Costa Rica, by the United Fruit Company, is already bearing out the prediction that the Central and South American Republics would soon discard cable communication on account of its cost, and supplant it with Wireless. In this connection the following paragraph from the "Syren" of New York is of interest: "The Government of Panama has granted to the United Fruit Company a concession covering a period of fifteen years for the operation of a system of wireless telegraphy between Panama, Colon, Boca del Toro, and the Bay of Limon, and the Central and South American countries." Arrangements are now being made for the equipment of the entire fleet of 75 steamers of the United Fruit Company with DeForest apparatus.

Subsidiary  Companies.
        No stone has been left unturned to make the DeForest System a universal success. The fact that Subsidiary Companies have been formed and are now forming in all sections of the globe shows a growing confidence in the superiority of this system. Up to the present two Subsidiary Companies have been organized, one operating in Canada and the other in Great Britain. Thirty-three and one-third (331/3) per cent. of the stock of the Canadian Company, and nearly one-half of the capitalization of the English Company reverts to the American DeForest Wireless Telegraph Company (Parent Company). In addition to above, negotiations are now under way for the forming of companies in Central and South America.
        As the DeForest System has created an unprecedented record in the wireless telegraphic field--such growth being the result of intrinsic worth--it is a foregone conclusion that this success will also new organizations, and for this reason will prove not the least of the many sources of revenue of the American Wireless Telegraph Company.

Crowning  Triumph  of  the  DeForest  System.
        Much has been said pro and con regarding the relative values of the different systems of wireless telegraphy now in use. If, however, the judgment of the officials of the United States Government Naval Equipment Bureau can be taken as a criterion, all argument upon this question is at last settled, as after a series of competitive tests including all prominent wireless systems, a contract has been awarded by Admiral Manney, Chief of the Naval Equipment Bureau, to the American DeForest Wireless Telegraph Company, for the equipment of five of the largest wireless telegraph circuits in the world. The service which the American DeForest Company guarantees to establish will create new records in space telegraphy, inasmuch as the messages must not only traverse the ocean, but considerable parts of land in the West Indies. Under the contract the above Company agrees to maintain thorough service on the following circuits:
        Key West to Panama, 1,000 miles; Porto Rico to Key West, 1,000 miles; Guantanamo, or the South Cuban coast, to Panama, 720 miles; Pensacola to Key West, 450 miles; Guantanamo, or South Cuban Coast, to Porto Rico, 600 miles.
        Under this agreement the Government agrees to operate in harmony with all stations and vessels equipped with the DeForest System, and all DeForest aerograms will, when required, be received without charge at the Government Stations.
        The vast importance of this contract will be apparent, as it greatly augments the present revenue of the Company, and entails the equipment of the entire fleet of 240 Battleships and Cruisers of the U. S. Navy with the DeForest System, conclusively stamping its superiority.
GREATER   NEW   YORK   SECURITY   CO.,
100  Broadway,  New  York.


One  of  the  many  sources  of  Revenue  of  the  American  DeForest.
Port Limon station

        UNITED   FRUIT   COMPANY,
GENERAL  OFFICES,  131  STATE  ST.,  BOSTON.
COSTA  RICA  DIVISION, 
JOHN  M.  KEITH,
MANAGER.
Wireless. Limon, C. R. April, 23d, 1904.      

MR.  A.  C.  BARNHART,
                      Representative American DeForest Wireless Telegraph Co.,
Port-Limon, C. R.
Dear Sir :--
        It affords me great pleasure to inform you that the thirty days' test of the Limon-Boca del Toro plants has proven successful, and that the installations are accepted by the United Fruit Company, dating from to-day ; under the conditions agreed upon between the two Companies.
        All business has been promptly and satisfactorily handled.
Very truly yours,                                              
(Copy.)M.  MUSGRAVE,  Superintendent.      
Interior View