Ballyhoo (Dec 1961)

Page scan 00011 from Ballyhoo

Record Details:

Title:
Ballyhoo
Date:
Dec 1961
Volume:
The Showman (Dec 1961, no date)
Leaf #:
00011
Language:
English
Collection:
Canada, Global Cinema, and Hollywood Studio System
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
Media History Digital Library, Greig Dymond in memory of David Dymond, Paul Moore and Jessica Whitehead
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:

Ballyhoo

  • Ontario 'B' District Ballyhoo, editor: Dan Krendel (1952-55)
  • Profit Blitz for ‘Fitz’, editor: Dan Krendel (1955)
  • National Ballyhoo, editor: Dan Krendel (1956-57)
  • Time Out for Ticket Talk, editor: Norman Barker (1960-61)

Ballyhoo (1952-61) was published by Famous Players Canadian Corporation as a mimeographed internal sales and theatre managers’ newsletter. Editor, Dan Krendel, had been division manager of the Ontario ‘B’ District since 1942, and initially created Ballyhoo in 1952 to circulate weekly updates for a regional sales contest. Ontario ‘B’ District Ballyhoo continued until 1955 as a tool for sharing and incentivizing new sales techniques and publicity methods as the movie business declined in the face of television and the baby boom.

In Fall 1955, Profit Blitz for ‘Fitz’ was a nationwide sales contest, named for Famous Players’ president J. J. Fitzgibbons, honouring his 25th year as head of the business. Dan Krendel was made National Drive Captain and edited a weekly newsletter for the campaign.

From 1956 until at least 1957, National Ballyhoo was published weekly with Krendel as editor. He continued the style and content developed earlier for his Ontario ‘B’ District, but now extended vastly for a chain-wide coast to coast scale. Ballyhoo’s sharing promotional tools came at a time of contracting box office as television and automobile ownership became prevalent in the mid-1950s.

By 1960 until at least 1961, Time Out for Ticket Talk continued as a mimeographed newsletter, edited by Norman Barker of the head office publicity department. Time Out was compiled on a less ambitious scale than Ballyhoo. Compared to the earlier national compilation of local publicity gimmicks, Time Out often contained only a single memo or reproduced local story, and was often undated and only informally edited.

– Paul Moore, March 2024

Date Added:
August 01, 2024
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11 ON THIS BASIS. EASY CREDIT HAS BEEN THE KEY TO EXTRA SALES IN MANY INDUSTRIES. AS A THEATRE MANAGER I WOULD TAKE AN ACTIVE PART IN COMMUNITY AFFAIRS, CREATE A PROFILE OF GOOD PUBLIC RELATIONS IN THE AREA AND JOIN AND WORK IN SERVICE CLUBS, GO AFTER SPECIAL GROUP ENTERTAINMENT, PROMOTE SHOWS FOR CHARITY WHEN AND WHERE POSSIBLE. SPEND SOME TIME IN FOYER EACH NIGHT AT BUSY TIMES, SHOW A PERSONAL INTEREST IN YOUR CUSTOMERS AS PEOPLE, MAKE ALL THE FRIENDS YOU CAN. THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE IN SMALLER TOWNS. MANY OF THESE IDEAS ARE OLD ONES BUT STILL GOOD FOR EXTRA SALES. SHOWMANSHIP DEMANDS THAT YOU PROMOTE ALL THE TIME NOT JUST A FEW WEEKS IN THE YEAR. GO ALL THE WAY....GO ALL THE TIME. NOW WHAT ABOUT THE COST OF ALL THIS PROMOTIONAL EFFORT? EXTRA INCOME FROM MORE SEAT SALES WILL PROVIDE EXTRA DOLLARS TO COVER THE COST OF PROMOTION WHICH ARE ALWAYS IN RELATION TO TOTAL DOLLAR SALES. WITH GOOD SHOWMANSHIP YOU WILL PULL THE CROWDS THEN YOU CAN GET THE EXTRA 10 OR 15 CENTS MORE PER SEAT ACCORDING TO CONDITIONS. A POOR ATTENDANCE WILL TEND TO KILL EVEN A GOOD PICTURE. WORD OF MOUTH ADVERTISING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DEVELOP. YOU MUST SPEND MONEY TO MAKE MONEY IN THIS FAST CHANGING WORLD. WE TALK OF THE ABILITY OF INDUSTRY TO MEET THE CHANGING TIMES -TAKE A LOOK FOR A MOMENT AT THE BANKING INSTITUTIONS OF CANADA, NEW BRANCHES, LIGHT, COLOUR, PLEASANT SURROUNDINGS IN TUNE WITH TIMES, SERVICE WITH A SMILE, ETC. A YEAR END STATEMENT OF A LEADING BANK CARRIED THIS MESSAGE ON ITS FRONT PAGE. "CANADA, A PERIOD OF GROWTH" IF I WERE ASKED TO SAY WHAT HAS CONTRIBUTED MOST TO OUR SUCCESS SINCE 1945 I WOULD NOT QUOTE ONLY FROM CANADA'S GROWTH STATISTICS,