Exhibitor's Trade Review (Mar-May 1923)

March 3, 1923 EXHIBITORS TRADE REVIEW 693 Public Relations Bureau a Success Department of Public Service, Established by Harry Crandall in His Washington Theatres, Proves Its Value in First Eight Months of Operation NO truer index to the value of a Public Relations Bureau to every exhibitor — especially the chain theatre owner — could be found than is afforded by a review of the first eight months of operation of the Public Service and Educational Department of the Harry M. Crandall theatres in Washington, D. C, under the direction of Mrs. Harriet Hawley Locher. Mr. Crandall established the department last June without any thought of its having a direct bearing on box-office statements, but with the single view of making his ten Washington houses real community centers, aiding effectively in the promotion of valuable civic betterments. The department has been consistently conducted with that end in view. Mrs. Locher's first official act was attendance at the sixteenth Biennial Convention of General Federated Women's Club at Chautauqua, New York, where her presence was announced by Mrs. Louis N. Geldert, president, as "national chairman of motion pictures for the League of American Pen Women, representing the Crandall Theatres of Washington, D. C.^' Her work in this way was given national recognition. Constructive Work Done The first constructive work done in Washington was to attain recognition of the Saturday afternoon performances in all of the Crandall residential houses as especially suitable for juvenile audiences and to organize an Advisory Board composed of representatives of every organization in the District of Columbia having direct contact with the child mind. The organization of the Advisory Board led naturally to the creation of a Junior Committee and The Trail of The Lonesome Picture A picture that goes the rounds without makiiig money for those who hook it is lonesome; hasn't any friends. YOU SOON LEARN TO PICK THE LONESOME ONES IN "VOICE or THE BOX OFFICE" A Pre-requisite to Profitable Booldng a Theatre Committee. The Advisory Board is composed of representatives of the Children of the American Revolution, Camp Fire Girls, Municipal Playgrounds, Girl Reserves, Y. W. C. A., Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts, Boys Club of Washington, Trinity Community House. From this contact Mrs. Locher organized the Capital Athletic Club, composed of girls who have won distinction in some branch or high school sport— tennis, basket ball, swimming, diving, running, jumping, etc. This club meets twice a month in Mrs. Locher's studio or the projection room of Crandall's Metropolitan Theatre and analyzes the various sports by means of pictures done in slow-motion photography. The Junior Committee was formed because it was found that the so-called "child mind" frequently was capable of making valuable suggestions toward the improvement of the juvenile bills. The Theatre Committee was formed to impart to the Advisory Board a higher degree of "showmanship" and a more intimate knowledge of the conduct of the amusement business. The Municipal Playgrounds being the only agency whose work was not impaired bjr the hot weather, the Crandall Pufetic Service Department first allied itself with them. Motion pictures were made of the playground activities in all sections of Washington and presented to Mrs. Susie Root Rhodes, supervisor. They were sufficiently valuable in her work to have been shown in all of the principal cities of the country. This led naturally to the cooperation of the Crandall organization with other activities and to the establishment of the Crandall Community Service Hour observed each week in the neighborhood theatres and devoted to topics of interest and concern to edch respective neighborhood. The formal Fall opening of the Public Service Department's year was observed in October by a reception to Mrs. Woodallen Chapman, chairman of the division of motion pictures of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. This occasion was marked by the attendance of one or more of the executives of every woman's organization in the District of Columbia, and had a far reaching effect in bringing the Crandall organization into the consciousness of a large number of residents of the Capital in an entirely new light— as an aid to civic progress, rather than merely as a comttl^rcialized amusement enterprise. At Christmas time special Crandall Community Celebrations were held in six of the theatres at which more than two tons of candy and a correspondingly large number of toys were distributed to approximately 12,000 children. While these activities were being fostered Mrs. Locher was otherwise active. During the Fall and early Winter she has made addresses before the following organizations : Zonta Club, Pocahontas Memorial Association, Sixteenth Street Highlands Women's Club, Anthony League, Unitarian Parish House, Civic . Section of the Women's Club, Adams School ParentTeachers Association, D. C. Board of the Children of the American Revolution, American and Patriotic Committee of the D. A. R., Force School Parent-Teachers Association, Trinity Church, Park View Mother's Club, Phyllis Wheatly Y. M. C. A. (Colored), D. C. Federated Women's Clubs,. Dolly Madison Chapter, D. A. R. Community Celebrations Held During the same period there have been entertained in the Department'^ studio in the Metropolitan Theatre Building, Mrs. Woodallen Chapman, Pocahontas Memorial Association, Camp Fire Girls, Children of the American Revolution, Mrs. Nanette B. Paul. Special program,s have been arranged for each occasion. Community Service Hours have been dedicated to the Juvenile Protective Association Municipal Playgrounds, Woman's Bureau of the Police Department, Mother's Congress, Visiting Nurse's Association, Infant Welfare Association, Social Hygiene. Mrs. LocheT has speaking engagements immediately ahead at the Takoma Park Woman's Club, Petworth Women's Club, Forest Glen Seminary and the College Women's Club. You Want What You Want When You Want It And that's when the THEATRE EQUIPMENT DIRECTORY Puhlished Semi-Annually hy EXHIBITORS TRADE REVIEW Comes in Handy It's a study in service ARE YOTT USING IT?