Boxoffice (Apr-Jun 1947)

This is how the Mickey Mouse members turn out for special events at the Alabama Theatre. The youngsters jammed the theatre to the rafters when this photo was taken, at the last anniversary party. Down in Alabama, they've learned how to make a Kiddy Club click, but it has taken years of patient planning and plugging to promote one of the most successful kid programs in the country. youngsters is in excess of what they can get elsewhere. “Especially during the school season, children have 1,001 things to do on Saturday morning. But it’s up to you to get them into that theatre and keep them satisfied.” WHAT is the value of a kiddy organization to a theatre? According to Fred McCallum, present “Uncle Mickey” for the club, it’s three-fold. “From a business standpoint,” McCallum says, “our Mickey Mouse club serves three distinct purposes: “1. It promotes good will in the community. “2. It assures us patronage from the members after they are grown. It builds theatre attendance from the time the youngsters are first old enough to attend a public place and it has been proven in our theatre that our members continue to return through the years, even after they are grown. Birmingham's Mickey Mousers Have a Birthday 15 Years of Catering to the Kids By EDDIE BADGER UMMER is the ideal time to form that kiddy club to boost juvenile attendance. That is the suggestion of officials of the Alabama Theatre in Birmingham, Ala., where the world’s largest kiddy club is starting its 15th year. But if you want to have an outstanding organization that will keep the juveniles coming back to your theatre week after week, you’re in for a lot of hard work. It’s not easy, according to these executives, and you may be in for a lot of disappointments right from the start. It was a hot summer day on June 3, 1933, when 167 children showed up at the Alabama to form a Mickey Mouse club. But from that humble beginning, this Wilby-Kincey circuit house has watched its membership swell. By Oct. 7, 1937, there was a total of 11,600 members. Today the registered membership is in excess of 27,000. The club’s special parties draw as many as 7,000 to 8,000. One man who can give other managers some valuable hints on perfecting their kiddy organization is George J. Nealeans, jr., the “daddy” of the Alabama’s club. Nealeans has since left the theatre game — he’s now in the food service equipment and supply business in Birmingham. But he still retains some pleasant memories (and recollections of some headaches, too) regarding the birth of a promotional venture that was destined to make theatrical history. “No kiddy organization,” Nealeans says today, “is any stronger than the amount of enthusiasm that is put into it. Making a success of your club means a whole lot more than just doing something on Saturday morning. To be sure, you have to be a ‘parent’ to your audience on Saturday, but you also have to keep busy all week long dreaming up new stunts. “Kiddies are just as ‘show-wise’ as adults, but they have to have their thinking done for them. In putting the club across, you have to build something that in the minds of these George J. Nealeans, originator of the Mickey Mouse club, who recalls some of the early headaches in starting the kiddy organization. “3. It gives us priceless ‘word of mouth’ advertising, as kids are one of the best sources for spreading information at home and in their neighborhoods.” The club provides a direct financial return, too. Nealeans recalls that in the first year of operation, Saturday morning ticket sales between the hours of 9 a. m. and noon soared $16,000 more than in the previous year. Cost of operating the club for that first year was only $300. Candy and popcorn sales also are increased by the club. A good kiddy club program does not consist merely of a picture and handful of children to get up on the stage to sing and dance. Nealeans recalls spending hour upon hour in the Birmingham public library, seeking types of games and contests that would make every club member, no matter how little his talents, a potential participant. Nealeans offers several bits of advice about staging contests, but the principal one can be expressed in five words — “Keep ’em simple and safe.” Anyone starting a club will want to take every possible step to avoid liability on the part of the theatre. For that reason, the Alabama has steered clear of such stunts as apple-dunking, jumping over candles and those of a similar nature. Good contests are watermelon and cracker eating, marshmallow eating, drinking out of a baby bottle, and the like. QF course, prizes must be donated and that’s where the local merchant comes in. The Alabama Theatre has enjoyed excellent relations with local stores, but at the same time has kept the club from becoming too 16 BOXOFFICE :: June 21, 1947