Broadcasting (July - Dec 1942)

IRWIN ALOIS OLIAN ON THE 14th floor of the Ambassador Building in St. Louis, are spacious offices of the Olian Advertising Company which had their origin in a hobby. Early in life, Irwin A. Olian developed the habit of analytical reading — and has made it pay dividends. That's the secret of his subsequent success — analysis. Through formative years which took him to the U of Michigan in 1923, Olian experimented with words, sentences, paragraphs, pages and during his college career developed the hobby which persists to this day: classifying ideas as he reads them; making his mind an idea and phrase index. This fondness for words and their uses led him to the School of Journalism in Ann Arbor. Then 20, he had decided upon a career in either this field or advertising. As it turned out, he has enjoyed success in both. Now, this accent on study smacks of the bookworm. Quite on the contrary, Irwin Olian found plenty of time to be a "regular" — won the captaincy of the University tennis team, a row of cups, assorted block letters and other coveted campus honors. Born in St. Louis Dec. 19, 1906, he attended schools there and received his degree from Michigan in 1927. Upon graduation, he received an offer from Ldberty magazine. This post engaged his attention for the next four years. Then convalescence from an operation in St. Louis brought about a decision to remain in that city. He became assistant manager of promotional advertising for Famous-Barr, one of the city's great department stores, for three more resultful years. Next his name was found on the stationery of the Gardner Advertising Co. for another three-year period. The next upward rung in the ladder was a return engagement in 1939 with Famous-Barr — this time as boss of institutional advertising. Irwin Olian's story, as you have noticed, has as its main theme concentration upon words and thoughts and their useful classification. And what is his pet topic? "Genius in advertising". He delights in debunking it! "Advertising ideas are made, not born," he declares. "No need for rumpled hair, hangover, and waiting for the lightning to strike. Advertising ideas can be manufactured. Yes, I said 'manufactured' by cold analytical processes." Let his company's accounts bear out this observation — National Waste Paper Conservation Campaign, Columbia Brewing Co. (Alpen Bran Beer), General Grocer Co. (American Lady and Topmost foods), Alton Box Board Co., Edison Bros. Shoe Co., Dixcel Gasoline, Glen Echo Wine, Union-May-Stern. Get bachelor Irwin Olian talking about effective use of abbreviations in a publicity campaign; get him discussing the transition of visual advertising to broadcast technique. He'll talk straight from the shoulder! And get him seated at the Steinway — he knows how to mix those 88 notes just as he does those scores of classified ideas which serve his clients so well. Howard P. Dimon HOWARD P. DIMON, for 15 years theatrical and radio editor of the Atlantic Citn/ Press Union, died suddenly of a heart attack while enroute to a Boardwalk theatre last Tuesday. Mr. Dimon was 65, and previously had been a clerk at Traymore Hotel for .5 years, ran the Old Colony Club for 10 years, and owned a Boardwalk bookshop for five. KBON Names Executives PAUL R. FRY has been named business manager of KBON, Omaha. Marie Maher will be station director. Mr. Fry, former promotion manager, formerly was with KOWH, Omaha and the Omaha World-Herald in sales and promotional work. Mrs. Maher has been in radio and newspaper work for the past ten years. NOTES ALLEN J. DeGASTRO, sales manager of the CBS Latin American network, has resigned, the reason given by the network being that the sale of time to advertisers wishing to promote their products in the Latin American markets has been "suspended for policy reasons and indefinitely postponed". The Latin American network will continue to operate on a noncommercial basis, CBS stated. ADRIEL FRIED, formerly sales promotion manager of KROW, Oakland, Cal., has been appointed general manager of KLX, that city, owned by the Oakland Tribune. Charles Lloyd, program director, has been acting manager since Preston Allen was called to active service as lieutenant-commander in the Naval Reserve last year. As announcer, producer and account executive, Fried has been associated with various California stations, including KYOS KSAN KDON. Before entering radio he was account executive of San Francisco advertising agencies and for a time wrote for national publications. CLIFF RAMSDELL, associate editor of Tide, has taken over radio news, previously handled by Reginald Clough, now editor-in-chief. LOREN STONE, assistant manager of KIRO, Seattle, has assumed the additional duties of commercial manager, replacing J. A. Morton, who left to do national sales work at CBS-KNX, Los Angeles. WALTER G. TOLLESON, account executive of the NBC-KPO, San Francisco, has joined the A. E. Nelson advertising firm in that city. W. (DOC) LINDSEY has left C.JKL, Kirkland, Ont., to become manager of CKWS, Kingston, Ont., the Northern Broadcasting Company's new station. .JOHN MARTIN, advertising manager of Massey-Harris Co., Toronto (farm implements), has been appointed coordinator of all government advertising. He will be located at Ottawa as executive secretary of the Interdepartmental Publicity Committee. MARK CRANDALL, on leave from sales staff of KFEL, Denver, for the duration, is chief of the OWI Denver office. DOROTHY BROWN, of the Chicago office of Howard H. Wilson & Co., station representatives, on July 20 married John Murphy of Chicago. BILL SCHROEDER, sales manager of WCAE, Pittsburgh, has made his first solo plane flight. READ H. WIGHT, for the past eight years manager of the Chicago ofiices of World Broadcasting System, has been elected vice-president and member of the board of WBS. AL LEARY, manager of CKCL, Toronto, has been promoted to captain in the Royal Canadian Army Signal Corps, Reserve Force. C. WILLIAM CLBWORTH, former vice-president of Electrical Publications Inc., and previously assistant manager of McGraw-Hill electrical and radio publications, has joined Sutton Publishing Co. as district manager in New York and New England for Electrical Equipment. KEN GIVEN, formerly with WTAR, Norfolk. Va., has been named president and general manager of WLBJ, Bowling Green, Ky., in a reorganization effected Aug. 1. Jake Causey, recently with WBIG, Greensboro, N. C, has been named advertising and sales manager. Mr. Baker SHOVSE REALIG^S DIVISIONS AT WLW CREATION of a new public relations division at WLW, Cincinnati, combining the power of three departments, was announced last week by James D. Shouse, vice-president of Crosley Corp. in charge of broadcasting. Chief of the new division is Roger Baker, baseball announcer of WSAI and WLW, and former tobacco trade extension representative. In the new division will be the publicity department, headed by Bill Barlow; the special events department, under Jim Cassidy; and the talent booking department, directed by Bill McCluskey. By the new arrangement, activities of these departments will be coordinated in one division, acting as a master unit in matters and entertainment in which the public is contacted directly. Announcing the change, Mr. Shouse said "I believe that, bearing in mind the particular abilities of the men involved in this reassignment, we can expect to materially strengthen the public relations. It is an important part of radio, and I do not believe that any station in the country — not even excepting the networks — can show as strong an alignment of abilities in this field as can be found in this group. Patrick to Navy DUKE M. PATRICK, partner in the Washington law firm of Hogan & Hartson handling radio cases, on Aug. 1 reported for duty in the Navy Department as a lieutenant commander. He was assigned to Naval Communications. Mr. Patrick was former general counsel of the old Radio Commission. Karl A. Smith will handle the firm's radio matters. Mr. Patrick Walter D. Humphrey WALTER D. HUMPHREY, 66, a principal attorney of the FCC, died Aug. 1 in Tulsa, Okla., after a lingering illness. A pioneer Oklahoma lawyer, Mr. Humphrey was a member of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission for eight years, was one of the organizers of the Oklahoma Tax Commission, and a member of the 1907 Oklahoma Constitutional Convention. He had been with the FCC since Feb. 25, 1935. Surviving are his widow, two daughters in Tulsa and a sister. Charles W. CorkhiU CHARLES WILLIAM CORKHILL, 58, former manager of KSCJ, Sioux City, la., died July 25 of a heart attack. Formerly in the organ and piano business, Mr. Corkhill managed KSCJ until two vears ago when he formed a radio advertising firm under his name. In addition to his widow he is survived by four sons and three daughters. BROADCASTING • Broadcast Advertising August 10, 1942 • Page 33