Ballyhoo (Apr 21, 1954)

Page scan 0005 from Ballyhoo

Record Details:

Title:
Ballyhoo
Date:
Apr 21, 1954
Volume:
Ballyhoo (Apr 21, 1954) Ontario 'B' District
Leaf #:
0005
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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TLVOLE 2 HAMILTON When things start getting a little dull around here, we're always sure of a pickeme-up in the form of a "MeDonough Special" ... not to be confused with a "Molotov Cocktail" ... joke $ ! $ This weok was no exception, and I have before me as fine an example of salasmanship, both specific and Publie Relations, as I have had the pleasure of seeing in a long,long time. The NeDonough toueh is in evidence throughout ..o0 See what you think of it eo. You may remember the terrific job Hamish did on his first annual newsboys! show, just about a year ago ... Well sir, our boy has gone and done it again, and it must have been good ... The local Spectator ... by no means a softie ... contributed something in the neighbourhood of 2,000 lines of space to his effort .o. and that, friends, is a reali something. The attraction was SHANE ... the sscond time around, and here's what developed ... Stories of the show, and pictures of Spec carriers ran in the paper's pages for seven full days in advance of the party ... most of them on pages normally reserved strictly for news columns ... A few of these breaks were ooo A three column shot of the managing editor with three of his carriers inspecting a one-sheet of SHANE ... A two column pic of Brandon de Wilde, with clever copy "This youngster symbolizes those lads who through rain and snow deliver the Spec" .,. et6. A full quarter page ad inserted by tho Spectator, with more than half the total space devoted to art from the feature ... A three column pic of the circulation manager presenting some of the lads with prizes oo. and on, and on, and on. 1500 throwaways were mailed to all rural and Metropolitan carriers oo. Copy on these heralds was then used as a 700 line ad ooo FREE o.. in the Spectator, three days before SHANE opened, Jim arranged for a wire to be sent the publisher over Alan Ladd's signature ... this was blown up and placed in the main window of the Spectator ... after being used as material for @ good news story in its pages ... The Spectator classified dept. carries daily spots over both local radio stations ... At the GoM.'s instructions, for three days in advance and during the run every one carried SHANE plugs .o. During the show, the Spec presented $150.00 worth of prizes, and bought $100.00 worth of confections at the theatre counter. ‘The newspaper also paid all costs in connection with this special showing, including ali union and house salaries, The Steel Company program "Hamilten Album" over GC K 0G devoted its entire 15 minute program tothe Newsboys! party, with full theatre and attraction credits. One of CKOG's top sport announcers did a fiftean minute interview with the boys from the theatre stage, and aired it on Saturday night. The same station carried a Wayne and Shuster parody of SHANE, md the station G.M. arranged to give Jangs spots before and after the program. The Orange Crush "Hi Sheow® carriad announcements of the show with full credits ... There's lots more, but I'm running out of paper 4... Hew von ike? Canerpatuiatiang Jim ... Break ata???