The world renowned venue at Olympia in London saw the Bertram Mills Circus grace its doors in 1919. Members of the Mills circus agreed to a publicity stunt which involved catering for the whole Bertram Mills Circus. As it was nearly Christmas, the team put on a lavish Christmas lunch with all the trimmings. The…
These days it’s almost impossible to promote anything to kids, alcohol, cigarettes, chocolate, burgers, chips are all no go areas, but not so in the 1920’s. Jim Moran was hired to promote a now defunct brand of beer. In true Moran style, he took a pantomime horse into numerous bars across California as a guerrilla…
The great Jim Moran was offered a fine sum to take on the publicity for a toy shop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and he at once came up with an amazing stunt to promote the store. Christmas was looming and as thousands of children were awaiting the descent of Santa down their chimneys, Moran decided…
Delving into the lost history of publicists, I have found that there was a rather amusing trend which involved inventing individuals to stand up a story. In the 1950’s, publicists used this ploy to establish relationships or trysts with non existent folk. It seems rather strange that these individuals were never exposed as fakes, but…
Students of Hollywood spin should perhaps study the influence and power of Hedda Hopper. Perhaps not as potent as Louella Parsons, she certainly made her mark during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Hedda, along with Louella Parsons raised the gossip column to an art form and had the power to make or break careers. Louis…
Following on with the weird and wonderful in circus PR, I was told about a rather audacious act by the famous German publicist Wolfgang Mayer. Mr Bertram Mills, a known circus proprietor, returned from Africa in 1930 with a host of thrills and freaks for his Olympia Circus. Bertram employed Wolfgang Mayer to publicise the…
The internet is littered with mythical tales of early Hollywood scandals that never saw the light of day; rape, abortions, drug abuse and suicide amongst others. Back then, the media was corralled by publicists and many deals were struck with high-ranking officials in the police department to keep most of them – from the least…
The deeper I research the history of the lost Hollywood publicists, the more I feel like I’m staring down the barrel of a shotgun or looking into a dark well. Trawling through libraries, websites and text books, I have quickly realised that history, in the PR arena, is something that doesn’t get the respect it…
The sexiest dude of the silent movies hyped by non other than the great Harry Reichenbach. How I would have loved him as a client, but unfortunately the publicist and the star fell out. Its suggested that there was a mighty crash of egos.
What is often forgotten about the Hollywood movie business in its early days, is its absolute excess on every level. Cecil B De Mille was noted for his flagrant behaviour and he was best known for his biblical epics, such as King of Kings and The Ten Commandments. Because of the biblical subject matter, De…