Ballyhoo (Oct 19, 1956)

Page scan 0001 from Ballyhoo

Record Details:

Title:
Ballyhoo
Date:
Oct 19, 1956
Volume:
Ballyhoo (Oct 19, 1956) National
Leaf #:
0001
Language:
English
Collection:
Canada, Global Cinema, and Hollywood Studio System
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
Media History Digital Library, Greig Dymond in memory of David Dymond, Paul Moore and Jessica Whitehead
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:

Ballyhoo

  • Ontario 'B' District Ballyhoo, editor: Dan Krendel (1952-55)
  • Profit Blitz for ‘Fitz’, editor: Dan Krendel (1955)
  • National Ballyhoo, editor: Dan Krendel (1956-57)
  • Time Out for Ticket Talk, editor: Norman Barker (1960-61)

Ballyhoo (1952-61) was published by Famous Players Canadian Corporation as a mimeographed internal sales and theatre managers’ newsletter. Editor, Dan Krendel, had been division manager of the Ontario ‘B’ District since 1942, and initially created Ballyhoo in 1952 to circulate weekly updates for a regional sales contest. Ontario ‘B’ District Ballyhoo continued until 1955 as a tool for sharing and incentivizing new sales techniques and publicity methods as the movie business declined in the face of television and the baby boom.

In Fall 1955, Profit Blitz for ‘Fitz’ was a nationwide sales contest, named for Famous Players’ president J. J. Fitzgibbons, honouring his 25th year as head of the business. Dan Krendel was made National Drive Captain and edited a weekly newsletter for the campaign.

From 1956 until at least 1957, National Ballyhoo was published weekly with Krendel as editor. He continued the style and content developed earlier for his Ontario ‘B’ District, but now extended vastly for a chain-wide coast to coast scale. Ballyhoo’s sharing promotional tools came at a time of contracting box office as television and automobile ownership became prevalent in the mid-1950s.

By 1960 until at least 1961, Time Out for Ticket Talk continued as a mimeographed newsletter, edited by Norman Barker of the head office publicity department. Time Out was compiled on a less ambitious scale than Ballyhoo. Compared to the earlier national compilation of local publicity gimmicks, Time Out often contained only a single memo or reproduced local story, and was often undated and only informally edited.

– Paul Moore, March 2024

Date Added:
April 11, 2024
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EXECUTIVE COVERAGE It has often been suggested ... in somewhat light vein, I grant, that we move our managers out of the privacy of their enclosed offices and place them in a glass enclosure right in‘the foyer or lobby in plain view of their ticket-buying customers. It's not such a crazy idea. The most important single function of a theatre manager is to BE on the floor of his theatre where he can keep a constant eye on what goes on around him ... and meet personally the people who pay his salary ... his patrons. It is the only way in which he can know at first hand what his customers want in the way of screen entertainment ... and what they don't want, and why. It is the only way in which he can tell whether the members of his staff encourage attendance ... or discourage it. There is certainly no better way ... or if there is, then we haven't heard of it yet eve for the manager of a theatre to really learn the business of managing his theatre in all of its many and varied facets. You simply can't operate your theatre from behind a set of closed doors fellows ... it just isn't possible. That's why so much emphasis is placed on executive supervision ... and we don!t mean supervision by proxy ... by your assistant, or an office girl, or the doorman. We mean you .-. the executive in charge. Your office is there merely as a convenience for you to do your paper work in ..during non-operating hours. When the theatre is open for business, let's get out on that floor ... and STAY THERE ... and know what's going on around us, and let our customers know that we consider them important enough to justify our personal attention. You'll be surprised how many of the important veople in your town will start calling you by your first mame os. ana get a kick out of it. So guys .«.let's make EXECUTIVE COVERAGE mean exactly that ... and you know what? You're liable to get to like it. eXeXeoXeXoXeo STANDARD TIME We're all back on Standard Time now, and that brings to mind many important seasonal. '!musts!... The days are getting shorter, and it gets dark out a lot earlier than a month or so ago, and before too long it will be dark enough out at five or five-thirty to justify turning on your marquee and display lights. Remember fellows ... your front is your merchandise display case, and there are an awful lot of potential customers in buses, street cars and automobiles who pass your place of business on their way home from work .e. when it's dark out. Make sure that there is someone around to turn on your lights in good time t of these ticket buyers. 5 pecces. oa In some highly industrial towns the ma re oe : ; 2OWN nage . sure that their lights are turned on for an hour or sPaat tee Coe mornings, to catch the folks on their way to work ¥