Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1924-Mar 1925)

March 7, 1925 EXHIBITORS HERALD 43 Killing Two Birds With Only One Shot Killing two birds with one shot is considered quite a feat, even for a seasoned hunter. When a mere beginner turns the trick of bagging a whole flock at one volley, he is entitled to a full measure of credit. Metaphorically speaking, the hunter in this story is A. Z. Kinder, manager of the Curran theatre, oldest established motion picture house in the city of Boulder, Colo. The birds he brought down were all members of the good will family — undoubtedly the choicest fowl a business man can have to decorate his table. The weapon he used was progressive advertising, and best of all, it was paid for by the other fellow. What he did, in a nutshell, was to pack his show house to the doors with youngsters under 14 years of age on two successive Saturday mornings. Why he did it, how he did and what profit it brought him and his house can best be shown by starting at the beginning and telling the story. Boulder is a city of 12,000 people. It is an educational center, being the seat of the state university. It has no factories and no pay roll to speak of. It has hourly interurban service to Denver, only 30 miles away, which means that people get into the picture houses of the larger city quite often and are, therefore, not critics of the backwoods kind. Boulder has two picture houses, located on the same street and within 100 feet of each other. For ten years the Curran, which was originally constructed as a legitimate drama house, was conducted by K. & F. Amusement Company. In December, 1924, it was purchased by three citizens of Walsenburg, Colo., Paul Krier, Paul Wayt and N. F. Kastner. All are business men of the latter city. They own picture houses in their home city, but are not actively identified with their management. When they bought the Curran they were unacquainted with Boulder. As manager of the house they selected Mr. Kinder. He was even more ignorant of the theatre business than they and, like them, knew no one in the city where he was to serve. He had previously been identified with a Walsenburg bank in the capacity of assistant cashier. His problem was manifold. He had to learn the inside of his own business. He must get to know the people he served and acquire their good will. He had to sell both the business and himself. For the personal element enters largely into the matter of patronage in cities the size of Boulder. He succeeded, in the short space of two months, by taking advantage of local conditions ; by boosting Boulder business and showing the way to longer established residents in the matter of community spirit. It so happened that about the time Manager Kinder took over his new and strange duties, Boulder was engaged in a trade-athome campaign. Having no payroll of any size and being so close to Denver, the problem was an The Story of How a New Manager Got the Solid Backing of the City for His Theater. By C. H. Vivian THE PARTY WAS A HUGE SUCCESS This morning a great crowd of children attended the Curran-News-Herald party as guests of the Curran Free Movie, And hundreds of them had Clover Leaf Butter wrappers for attendance tickets. THE PARTY WAS A GREAT SUCCESS N«t «aJ)r froD vUndpolii( of luimbtrii, kut it (aaght those chiMten rlridly the lesBos of trsde-at-faome; and in a way that Iher jrin not iwaii, but-lielp then to be loyal Bouldcriten. Then too CloTer Leaf Apple Blossom Butter made mony new friendfr— for once they aae It— 4hey will call for it by name thereafter when orderlog frnm their grpeer. FRESH EVERY DAY GET THE HABIT THE aOVER LEAF CREAMERY PEARL. PHONE 1400.W ABOVE: theatre. Sample of free advertising given acute one for the merchants. Bread, butter, ice cream and other articles of food were being trucked out from Denver and were leading the home products in sales. The clothing man’s wife was buying her dresses in Denver and the milliner’s husband was getting his suits from the same city. BELOW : One of several press notices published in dailies. HERE’S THE SECRET, KIDDIES— BRING A BOULDER BREAD WRAPPER FOR CURllAN’S FREE MOTION PICTURE SHOW SATURDAY Well, youngsters, here are the conditions on which you may see a motion picture program FREE at the Curran theater Saturday morning, us guests of the Curran and of The NewsHerald: Be at the theater at 10 o'clock and have in your hands, ready to give to the door man, wrappers of BOULDER-MADE BRjEAD. Just sneak out in the pantry and grab a wrapper off a fresh loaf of Sanitarium, City Bakery, Masop’s, Garrett’s, or Temple Bakery bread and carry it down to the Curran. 'This will act as a ticket of admission and you may walk on in and see a dandy complete motion picture show for nothing! There are no strings tied to this offen except that you be under 14 years of age and that you bring with you this label of Boulder-made bread. That ought to be easy to get, for of course your folks buy only bread made in our own local bakeries, so Just ask mother tonight to save you a wrapper — it will mean two hours* entertainment for you. The Curran and The News-Herald are doing this Just to stimulate home trade and they are willing to let you in on the fun in doing it. Ted all your boy and girl friends and make a regular party out ,of it. If you have two wrappers, you can invite your best girl or your beau to go with you — that will please the Currau management. So remember the lime, place, and conditions: Saturday morning at 10 o’clock, Curran theater, Boulder bread wrappers, and you must be 14 rears old or under! Business failures were getting too numerous. There arose a hue and cry through the press, at luncheon clubs, in the Chamber of Commerce and on the streets to keep Boulder money at home. But everybody was waiting for the other fellow to start doing it. * ♦ * One of the two daily papers — the New s-H e ral d — was particularly wrought up about the matter. It devoted much space, both in the news and editorial columns, to exhorting the people to support their own stores. When one bakery failed and another was taken over by its creditors, bread became the center of attention. The local post of the American Legion named a committee to call upon every grocer in the city and attempt to secure their signed promises to handle nothing but Boulder bread. During the height of this movement, Mr. Kinder suggested to the News-Herald that they combine forces to put on a free show for the kids of the city on a Saturday morning. In view of the trade-athome furore, he proposed that the price of admission be made a bread wrapper from a loaf of bread made in Boulder. The idea was eagerly adopted by the newspaper. On the following Tuesday it carried a two-column blackface type news story on the first page announcing : "Here We Are, Kiddies! Free Show Next Saturday at Curran For All Under 14.” There followed a 300-word story dealing with the subject, stating: “Manager Kinder of the Curran and the News-Herald are doing this to boost the trade-at-home policy in Boulder, and this show next Saturday is only the first of a number of shows of this order. So watch for Thursday’s News-Herald and find out what article is designated, then get a label off one and go to the Curran free Saturday morning !’’ Notice that the name of the theatre and its manager appeared prominently in both the headline and the story, and grasp the significance of this in light of the fact that front page advertising space could not be purchased. On the following Thursday another news story appeared on the front page of the paper, which entered 2,000 homes in the city. This story was again set in twocolumn, blackface type and was longer than the first announcement. It told the kids that their admission ticket would be the wrapper from a loaf of bread made in Boulder. A third story appeared on the front page of the paper on Friday morning. When Saturday morning came, ('oungsters began to foregather at Curran entrance from all directions. Half an hour before the time set for the show to start the foyer was packed. The capacity of the Curran for adults is 800, but 1,200 youngsters were jammed inside. One hundred and fifty of the group had no bread wrappers, but they were admitted just the same. {Continued on page 90)