Year book of motion pictures (1935)

through the hoop gets a prize. Surround the tank with your theater display or stills. The trick is that the fish can't swim through the hoop because a circular piece of glass, which might be taken from an alarm clock, prevents them. The glass is securely fastened in the hoop, which should be of wood. GROUP PHOTOS Secure a prominent store window, and in it place a shapely and attractive girl in a white bathing suit. She forms the eye-appeal. The girl takes photos of those looking in the window. State in your window card that five photos will be displayed daily in the theater lobby. Those finding themselves in a photograph are entitled to free admission. The girl only takes about two dozen photos during the day. The other snaps are with an empty camera. TRICK JAR A wide-mouthed jar is placed in the window and filled with soda or other charged water. A handful of mothballs are tossed in. These rise to the surface and drop back to the bottom of the jar with what seems to be an uncanny effect. It reallv is very simple. The balls attract small bubbles of gas, liberated by the water. When a sufficient number is collected the ball is buoyed to the surface, to sink again when a sufficient number of bubbles have burst. When the gas is all out, the water must be merely replaced with a fresh supply. Keeping the bottle cool will retard the action. Heat will hasten the release of the gas and the consequent movement of the balls. BATHING STYLES Always good on a feature with bathing or summer apparel. The department store arranges a display of its modern bathing costumes, contrasted with the kind that mother used to wear. A good display will show a sample of each costume down through the years, properly labeled. The striking variations from year to year make a display that will always arrest attention. WINDOW SKETCHER Properly built up by the department store, this can result in strong publicity for both store and theater. The department store engages an artist to appear in a window at certain hours. The artist makes sketches of the star of the feature, models of the store's new style creations, and every once in a while sketches one of the onlookers. Stills and cards in window tie up your feature attraction. SIGN-BUILDER With an attractive girl in the window on this one, you are bound to attract attention. The girl is placed in dealer's window, operating an easel with a beaver board three by four feet. The girl has cutout letters, 12 inches high, made of colored cardboard, which she pins on the board till the title of your feature is spelled out. There is a sign alongside tying up with your theater. The girl varies her work by displaying a variety of signs on another easel plugging the store's products. While the onlookers are reading these, the girl picks the cardboard letters from the first sign, and repeats the performance. NOVELTY SIGN Secure an empty store with a deep show window. Screen the window so that the rear is in darkness. Adiust a si?n with the title of your comin<? attraction painted in red flitter on a b'ark background. Entire display should be lighted by a baby spot from the front. Before the spot put a color wheel with alternate mediums of red and green revoIve<1 by a small motor. When the green soot hits the sistn the lettering will disappear, since the preen and red make an aporoximate black. With the rpd spot the lettering will show up brightly. This can be elaborated upon bv two sets of letters, in red and green, which alternately appear and disappear. AIRPLANE ACES Cash in on the popularity of airplane travel and the interest in airplane modeling. Tie up with a department store and displav a number of models made by amateurs. Cooy in the window should read that the winning displays will be exhibited in the lobbv of your theater and that free passes will be given the victors. Have as judges some local aviator and the head of the toy deoartment of the store. Be sure to mention that each model will be returned to its owner at the end of the contest. This eives the merchant a chance to not only displav his other toys in the window, but the children will enter the store to secure the return of their models. AMATEUR DISPLAY Arrange with a local art or picture-framing store to display in the store window, display cards made bv local amateurs. The previous week, run a slide on your screen announcing the contest, which should be for art work on the following week's attraction or a coming attraction. Amateur artists are told to put their ideas of the proper art display on 20x40 cards. YOUR VACANT STORE If you have a vacant store in your building, you can turn it into an asset with neat and attractive displays of stills and other press matter. Sloppy windows have the opposite effect. Give the spaces a little thoupht and a lot of time in the dressing. Call upon some feminine mind to give the essential touch to the display that will attract women, It is also advisable to include some of the moving displays mentioned in this Manual from time to time in the window. 753