Broadcasting Telecasting (Jul-Sep 1960)

OUR RESPECTS TO . . . Barton Arthur Cummings ■"Thirty or fony years ago, Wall Street was the whipping boy. Today it's Madison Avenue.'' This observation sums up the concern that Barton A. Cummings, president of Compton Adv., holds for "the disturbing 'image' about the advertising industry that is being built up and reinforced by the 'thought leaders" of the country." In recent months Mr. Cummings" speaking engagements have centered upon the "unfairness" of many educators, religious leaders and political officials who constantly take pot shots at advertising. Mr. Cummings. who has assumed a leading role in the American Assn. of Advertising Agencies" project to cope with this problem, acknowledges there are "no easy solutions,'" but hopes AAAA can devise "certain approaches that can help clear the air."' It is understandable that Bart Cummings would be a stalwart figure in a project to uphold the advertising business. He was born into an advertising family; his entire business career (except for a strange interlude when he slit the throats of beef cattle) has been in advertising, and, finally, he has reached the pinnacle of success in a comparatively short span of years. Barton Arthur Cummings was born in Rockford, 111., on Feb. 4, 1914. His father. Earl Cummings, was the founder and owner of a local advertising agency who was content to earn a modest living and spend his life among longtime friends and relatives in Rockford. Too Small ■ But Rockford was not young Bart's oyster. His friends recall that he was "the leader" in school and community activities. He was the "takecharge guy," amiable but firm, with a no-nonsense approach to any activity he undertook. He was drawn to advertising because of his admiration for his father, but old friends say he was determined to make his mark on a canvas much broader than Rockford's. Throughout high school and later at the U. of Illinois, Bart Cummings was the "golden boy." He was an ail-American football player at Illinois, but also was president of his fraternity. Phi Delta Theta, and a member of two honor societies. Sachem and Ma Wa Da. He received his degree from Illinois in 1935 and worked several months for his father's agency as a copy writer. But Mr. Cummings was scanning a wider horizon. He told his father he wanted to try his hand at advertising with a larger organization. He ap proached a family friend in Chicago, who was associated with Swift International, and was told that if he agreed to work for six months in Argentina at Swift's plant there "to learn the business from the bottom up," he would be transferred later into advertising and sales. Bart Cummings liked the idea. He traveled to South America on a freighter, and went to work at Swift's — slitting the throats of beef cattle. Deal's Off ■ When the six-month period ended, Mr. Cummings became disconcerted when a transfer to the advertising department did not materialize. He broached the subject to his superior but was told that he was scheduled to remain in the production department. He protested but was advised that the executive who made the promise to him had died. Mr. Cummings returned shortly afterward to the United States and headed for New York. During this late fall of 1936, he started making the rounds of advertising agencies. He was accepted as an office boy-trainee at Benton & Bowles. He progressed rapidly at B&B. He moved from office boy to traffic clerk to copy writer and in 1941 was appointed a copy supervisor. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, he went to Washington to work with the Office of Price Administration and the Office Compton's Cummings A bum steer didn't stop him of War Information, where he did considerable writing for economist Leon Henderson. It was during this period that Mr. Cummings' skill at administration was noticed. He joined the Navy in the fall of 1943 as a junior grade lieutenant, attached to the amphibious forces of the Seventh Fleet in the Pacific. He was released as a lieutenant commander in the fall of 1945. Moving Up ■ The tempo of his career quickened after the war. He joined Maxon Adv., New York, as an account executive on Ford in late 1945 and a year later was elected a vice president of the agency. In the fall of 1947, he moved over to Compton Adv. as an account executive on Procter & Gamble, and his upward climb continued. "You knew almost from the start," a veteran Compton executive comments, "that Bart would end up as president of the agency. He seemed to take hold naturally and everybody took to him, liked him." By 1952 he was a vice president and a director of the agency, participating in general administration and working with clients on products and services of a variety of advertisers. In January 1955. a month short of his 41st birthday, he was elected president of Compton. Friends and colleagues agree there is no simple explanation for Mr. Cummings" success. But they point to such attributes as his physical vigor (he is 6 feet, 5 inches tall, trim and athletic), sustained drive and ambition, straightforward charm and native intelligence. In speech and manner, Mr. Cummings is unpretentious and forthright. A long-time business colleague thinks Mr. Cummings' forte is "his terrific feeling for people, his understanding of their needs and wants." There is no gainsaying that Mr. Cummings is the fair-haired boy who made good. A look at Compton's billing chart shows that business was at the $43 million level when Mr. Cummings assumed control in 1955. This year Compton's billing should be in the neighborhood of $90 million. Mr. Cummings married the former Regina Pugh of Brooklyn in 1941. They make their home in Scarborough, N.Y.. with their three children — Ann 19, Peter 17 and Susan 16. Mr. Cummings is active in the AAAA and enjoys hunting and fishing in the Adirondacks area in northern New York where he has a big log cabin. BROADCASTING, September 26, 1960 117