Roland Butler cleverly averted a prosecution under the cruelty to animals act, for the Idaho State Circus in 1964. The Circus which regularly travelled mid America with a host of ageing beasts, was playing in Houston Texas, home to one of the first cruelty to animal lobbyists, the notorious Paul Eldon.
Roland Butler, Publicity director of the Ringling and Barnum & Bailey circus sent exclusive newspaper stories and illustrations submitted for publication prior to their performances.
I discovered an interesting email in my inbox following the disclosure of The Esperanto League story reported in yesterday’s liquid soap. The email was from a Mr George Roper from New York who seemed to write in riddles, so much so, that at first I thought it was a hoax email. However, he wrote again…
Thanks to an email from Di Silkin this morning in which she recounts an incident that she recalls from her days working for a London PR consultancy in the 1960s. The agency was hired by the Esperanto League to help spread the ‘universal language’ that had so far failed to catch on with quite the…
I recently found some more documentation on some of the first commerical PR stunts of the 1920s, (lest we forget the poster for Decantle, the great exotic dancer!). One of the largest horticultural centres, Lachret Howes, in Montana decided to pay their respects to the President on his visit to Montana by creating the first…
The Sons of Barnum blog on the Media Guardian Organ Grinder is throwing up some interesting comments. Howard Strickling…When a drunken Clark Gable hit and killed a pedestrian near Hollywood Boulevard, Howard Strickling sent Gable into hiding and then conspired with the local D.A. to have a minor executive take the rap in return for…
Thanks to Martin Neal from Lincoln who has sent me an unlikely story about a friend of his grandfather’s called John Hayes, who did some rudimentary PR more than fifty years ago. To promote the 1951 European tour of the Hungarian fencing master Etterem, the former trainer of the Hungarian National Fencing Team, Hayes created…
Thanks to Zach McNeir for sending me some information on a movie publicist called Sherman Calloway. Sherman was born in 1889 and died at tragically young age of 34 the result of a freak boating accident. Zach’s notes document McNeir as an adroit showman with a clever eye for a publicity stunt.
I have just picked up an email today from a Wilkerson Azulay who has offered to help me with my research for the book. Mr. Azuela is a Liberian in Baltimore and has a collection of movie press packs and advertising books going back to the 20’s.
The first tryout with six actors of the great PR man Ezra Blakeley’s play Confessions was staged at Wilshire. After the reading the feedback, the tryout audience had guessed the identities of all the characters. Blakeley had to rewrite, fearing legal actions. The play was premiered by the Bryzin Playhouse a 70 seater theatre in…