Fox West Coast Theaters Now (April 16, 1930)

Tons of cool fresh air are pouring into the FOX PALACE . . . $60,000 worth of machinery work- ing to keep you cool and comfort- able . . . tons of steel turning heat and humidity into summer resort weather . . . come to the PALACE and laugh in the face of the weather man. CO act and our current show. Our own art department will have charge of the layouts, in- suring us of the space we are looking for along the “Keep Cool’’ Theatre idea. In addition to the newspaper advertising, arrangements have been made for window displays in all of the stores using Hages' Ice Cream, which means over one hundred stores in the city. Cards and cut-outs, featuring A1 Lyons and the Fox THE- ATRE prominently will be used on mirrors and fountain backs. All of the Hages’ trucks will carry banners with pictures of A1 Lyons and copy which will carry out the “Keep Cool” Idea and which will be tied in with o n by april showmanship council NOW often, the theatre name is omitted, using only the slogan. 0 In LINE with planting the idea of having “the coolest spot in town,” or any such slo- gan, a Limerick Contest tieup with the newspaper is a good bet. Each limerick should con- tain the theatre name and slogan in some manner, and the limer- icks can be judged daily, over a period of days or weeks, with the paper running the winning limerick daily. Pass tickets will be all that is necessary, or a mer- chant tieup can be made. A co- op page, with the paper lining up Frigidaire dealers and Ice plants, ice cream emporiums, etc., can be arranged giving the theatre a banner head for its Keep Cool campaign. Another idea, with papers that play that way, is to make it a half-page co-op ad, with the rest of the page devoted to news stories and pix about the cooling plant, and the co-opers. 0 A TlE-Up with a Dixie, Eskimo Pie or similar ice cream bar manufacturer, to give away such bars at special mati- nees, kiddie shows, Mickey Mouse clubs, etc., is a good hot weather draw, and many other angles can be evolved, such as bannering the delivery trucks, and a special show for all the • WHEN “Broadway” played the FOX JONES THEATRE in Canon City, Colo., Dave Morri- son tied up with one of the department stores and secured a striking window with the sky-line of a big city forming the central background against which the merchant displayed his wares. It is striking for its simplicity and dignity. a white uniformed usher with paper cups, is all that is needed. An embellishment would be to have the cooler in an ice cave effect, under colored lights, a few igloos and scenic back- ground, or as far as one's im- agination might be permitted to go. 0 In HOUSES not equipped with ice plants, a deal can be arranged with a local plant to provide 100 pound cakes of ice gratis. Here at the McDonald we use ice in that manner, put- ting the ice right ahead of our air washer, which cools both the air before it strikes the water, and keeps the water cooler. The ice man gets screen mention, but not about furn- ishing us ice, as we don’t care to spoil the ideas of those who may think we have our own plant. We do manage to keep the house cool, however. • A GOOD gag for a hot day is to tieup with the ice com- pany and have coins and passes frozen in a large cake of ice. The cake is placed on the side- turning on the water this sum- mer. The water must be kept in a spray, if it falls over the edge of the marquee, else many pe- destrians would start using the other side of the street, or the back of your neck to walk upon. • Decorating the front of the house is important, and the foots, and pit, can be turned into an everglade at little or no expense. Cans of water, con- cealed in the trough, and in the pit, will serve to keep ferns and sprays of naturals in good con- dition, and there are always the artificial flowers for those who can afford to buy them. 0 ONE OF the best and most inexpensive cool effects is that achieved by dressing all em- ployees in whites just as the heat wave breaks. The whites take blue spots beautifully, and do much to add to the general scheme of coolness within. 0 To Those who have been good and hot (here on earth) and have then been subjected to a loud racket, noise or such disturbance, the thought of soft- ening down the musical num- bers by the organist, stage band or orchestra should make a hit. Unless patrons inside the the- atre are actually cooled off, and the music strikes up double forte for any length of time, the patrons are bound to squirm in their seats, begin to feel un- comfortable, and finally realize how hot they really are. A few words with the musicians can forestall all this, and in turn, help to cool off the hot cus- tomers, along with the plant. says hartman 0 This is a campaign that has already been set in San Diego, but which could be used in other places just as well. A tieup has been made with Hages Ice Cream Company for a three months’ campaign on a A-l Lyons Sundae. This cam- paign is to be used to sell the idea of “Keep Cool” and to publicize FanCHON AND MAR- CO and the FOX THEATRE. It starts with a newspaper adver- tising campaign wherein the Hages Ice Cream Company rttns a series of ads starting out with 2 columns, 8 inches, over a period of 6 days. Then it grows to a quarter page for 6 more days; a half page for a like per- iod and finally winds up in full pages. This will be used in all three of the local newspapers. We are privileged to use space to sell our FANCHON AND MAR- 0 WHEN assigning the show- manship council the task of ad libbing on Keep Cool it was our belief we had given them a rather tough job. That they handled it like veterans of the theatre is evidenced in the ma- terial and ideas they present. A report is not given you from each member. Wire advice from Seattle indicates Fitzgerald was one of the first to mail in his material, but it seemingly was lost enroute. You possibly know from re- ports in showmanship pages of material emanating from the Midwest Division that H. E. Jameyson’s forte is newspaper advertising. All single column keep cool ads, with sketches, sprinkled over these two pages are contributions of Jameyson. 0 INSIDE the under edge of the marquee, an icicle valance, of compo board, painted white on both sides, and covered with metalic Snow Flitters, gives a cool and inviting appearance to from a distance, also keeping the inside around the box-office dark, permitting the use of baby spots, fastened up under the marquee, to give cool colors a play on the box-office display frames, etc. 0 AUGMENTING the marquee icicle effect, a compo board border is imposed over the top of the lobby frames, transform- ing the whole lobby scheme in- to a glistening cool haven that is nothing if not inviting. Cool copy is inscribed across the tops of these border masks, the let- ters, of course, with a snow- capped effect. 0 Whenever a radio program is broadcast from the theatre, or for the theatre, every men- tion of the theatre name is fol- lowed with the slogan, such as: “FOX McDonald, the Coolest Spot in Town;” and, quite says brown 0 As SOON as the novelty of the first Spring weather has worn off, we will break out in the dailies with a story of a complete Renovation of our Cooling Plant, detailing num- erous newly devised improve- ments that are being put in, giving us “one of the most modern cooling and ventilating systems in the state.” This will be followed a few days later by other items concerning the progress of the renovation, and a final story telling of the com- pletion. This will all be in advance of our actual Warm Spell, so we cannot stress too much on the subject of Keep Cool, but merely plant the idea that we have completed steps to keep our theatre comfortable in all weather. We will have started Spring cleaning and painting, or redec- orating by this time, and will plant several news stories on that, augmenting the favorable impression of our cooling plant stories. The painting and changes in the physical appear- ance of the house give the pa- trons something actually visible to the naked eye, and tend to back up both stories, giving us a lasting impression “When Summer Comes.” As the days near, we con- tinue to transform the appear- ance of the house, inside, grad- ually working out to the lobby as the first touch of real warm weather starts. ice cream employees, to show them how cool the theatre ac- tually is. 0 This One has whiskers, but is always an appreciated gag, the idea being to give patrons coming in off the hot street a big shot of ice water, which helps cool them off, and is taken as a special service on the part of the theatre. A large cooler, with the ice free for credit given the ice plant, and walk in front of the theatre, with a card explaining that those present at the time may have the coins and passes after they have melted out. The bot- tom of the cake should have a picture, 11x14 or 8x10 still, of the current show, visible to those watching the stunt. 0 A SPRAY of water, shooting straight up from the top of the marquee, and falling in a fine mist on the pavement and possibly the sidewalk, (if the mist is fine enough) is a good cooling bet, giving both a cool atmosphere and the suggestion. We used the steam idea on Hot For Paris, and have left the spray pipes around the top of the marquee with the idea of Our mammoth cooling plant is hit- ting on all six . . bringing cool comfort to fevered brows . . the FOX GRANADA is oozing over with “coolth” . . . come and soak up your share! the entire front. If the under side of the marquee has a border of lights, set the valance inside of the lights, thus illuminating the snow effect so it can be seen APRIL 16TH 19 3 0