Exhibitors Herald World (Oct-Dec 1930)

December 27, 1930 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD 39 DISTRIB IITO li.* IClh NEW DETHOIT STORK In the FOX Theatre Bldg.— 2209 Woodward Tomorrow ! The Day of Days! AII16U.S.D.StoresFii the Opening Gi for a Huge Sale of Immense New Shipment I Patterned Madras and Lustrous White Broadcloth 1 1 Opening our 16th New Detroit CENT Shirt Sale in all 16 »lqi neater value! 1 White and F« .adeloth. I (or a new, greater ON£ i — Creator qoantUie*-^ pocket*, 7-button fronla rn mndrit in n«w«t Una, gray*, B'*«*» 1 AH *iiei — all ileeve l*nSth. — all* preU. S. D. .-tores ar« famou* for the. bc«C you buy the» tame (him for One Centl In nolo the Chri UNITED SHIRI E> ■ S T R. ■ B UTOP.S i Detroit — 10 in Downtown Shopping Pis GRAND RIVER W 1505 WOODWARD 2209 WOODWARD 408 MICHIGAN 9 GRATIOT AVE. 89 MONROE AVE. 227 MONROE AVE. 101 CADILLAC SQUARE At Ba-Ium H/^.t 400 WOODWARD Community Stores HICHLAM> PA Abe Slw This three-column ad was onlypart of the publicity received by the Fox theatre, Detroit, when it loaned its Fanchon & Marco stage troupe to a local shirt store. The ballet helped entertain crowds at the store's sale. The exploitation was done in connection with the current showing of "Lightnirf" a Fox picture. This Is Our Answer to You, Mr. Naify: Your Film Ad Is "Okay/9 and We Need It S. Naify, manager of the California theatre, Petaluma, Cal., submits an ad he laid out for one of his recent pictures and wants to know if it is suitable for reproduction on our weekly page of newspaper displays carried by theatres in different locales. "If it is deserving," he writes, "of reproduction on your theatre ad page, we will be delighted to see it in print in your magazine at a later date." Yes, Mr. Naify, your ad is "Okay," and if you will turn to the ad page in this issue you will find your handiwork reproduced. Here Is Another Letter Full of Ideas from ' 'Sonny * ' Shepherd Give the newspapers the right kind of publicity and they will make news out of it. That's the slogan of "Sonny" Shepherd, manager of the Biltmore theatre, Miami, and he backs up his contention by sending clippings from local papers. One of the stories is a two-column spread with the heading, "Theatre Talk Proves Costly." mighty proud of the Award of Merit foi sound which you gave me and have quite a modernistic frame made to display it. It is quite different from the ones I have seen pictures of. My house is the third in Miami to receive this award and I venture to say that none of the others have received the same amount of publicity. They may have, but I did not see it. Must Plan Ahead, He Says "During the last few years I have been managing colored theatres and have now graduated into the white houses, but the job is the same, always the need of planning a long time ahead and the same consistent plugging to draw the lines to the box office. "I now have a neighborhood house, a nifty little place, with deluxe service, and modestly advertising that we have the best sound that can be found anywhere. We lined the entire house with balsam wool and covered it with decorative drapes. Though we only seat 650, there is not a bad spot in the theatre. "The entire staff is dressed in uniform. Even the porter is garbed in white. He sweeps the cigarette butts and trash from carpets and sidewalks regularly. Schools Cooperate With Him "I work with the schools and get considerable good publicity from the school papers. I made a special price to all biology and science students for the picture 'Africa Speaks.' "I staged a potato matinee which went over big. I gave away over 1,500 pounds of spuds to the Salvation Army for Thanksgiving dinners. They sent me a nice letter which I am saving for another crash on the newspapers. "I got front page mention in the largest daily by just sending a pass to a kid who was working from morning to night and making only $18 a week. The youth was supporting a family of eight. He had no money for amusements, according to the newspaper story. I immediately offered him a pass to our shows for one month. This got into the papers. Suggests Selling Seals "Another idea that should work well right now is a stunt to help in selling seals for fighting tuberculosis. Stage a matinee and get all the kiddies to buy five seals each from a nurse stationed in the lobby. Let this be their admission to the show. Such matinees cost very little and they bring publicity you can't buy. Think of the men and women of tomorrow getting in the habit of helping fight T. B. And will the schools, the newspapers and the community boost you? Well, just try it and see ! I have not been able to use the idea yet but plan to soon. "I am taking a few hours off my sleep to write this, as it is pretty late. The last show has been over for a couple of hours, and I have just completed getting copy for my Christmas program okayed. Now I am ready to start on the New Year's exploitation. "Many thanks for the plaque and tell the boys I saw there this summer hello from me." Under this heading, the article goes on to explain that talk wasn't "cheap" in the Biltmore ; bad acoustics made talk costly. The management went to work and expended a lot of money remedying this situation and then, the story winds up, "Talk is cheap again at the Biltmore." Anyway, it made a clever news story. A cut, showing Manager Shepherd receiving the Exhibitors HeraldWorld plaque for the high grade of its sound reproduction, was run along with the story. "Sonny" Shepherd summarizes his exploitation in a letter we think is inspiring. Read it and see for yourself : "During my visit to Chicago last summer as part of my vacation jaunt, I spent an interesting hour or so in the Herald-World office. I shall always remember that visit. Avoids Stereotype Stuff "I am attaching some clippings that show if a theatre manager gets news into his publicity articles they will get into the papers. Newspapers, I have found, like news but hate the stereotyped stories from press sheets and the like. I try to avoid that as much as possible. "The stories I have inclosed will explain themselves. And I also want to say at this writing that, although I wear the same size hat as ever (for here in Miami we have cut out overhead expense, a lesson learned by staying here through the dull summers) due to the fact that I never wear one, I feel . Bereft SmATKM ARMY "Sonny" Shephard, manager of the Biltmore house, Miami, had this photograph reproduced in local newspapers along with a two-column spread of news when he ran a "potato matinee" for the unemployed. Takes Over Dayton Salem The Salem theatre, Dayton, closed for several weeks, has been taken over by W. C. Cheborough, who has installed Western Electric sound, together with other extensive improvements. The house has reopened with a split-week policy.