Ballyhoo (Oct 22, 1954)

Page scan 0002 from Ballyhoo

Record Details:

Title:
Ballyhoo
Date:
Oct 22, 1954
Volume:
Ballyhoo (Oct 22, 1954) Ontario 'B' District
Leaf #:
0002
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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Perhaps the mest important single item under discussion was the type ef service we render our patrons .-., especially as related to the expanding services being offered their customers by the air-lines railreads, food markets etc. Even the humblest theatre can be made the most pleasant, with proper service ».. You've got to keep selling your SERVICE from the moment a customer enters your theatre until he is well on his way home ... Let's not just talk about it ... the time has come when we have to DQ SOMETHING about it. Your screen attraction is important ... vitally so, and no one in his right mind would dream of denying it, but think how easily an otherwise very pleasant visit to your theatre can be ruined by indifferent service ... a surly cashier, indifferent doorman, sloppy or thoughtless ushers. Jf your washrooms are anything short of immaculate, there's a good chance that your femme trade will start shopping elsewhere for the servics which they had been Led to expect in your house. A pleasing screen presentation is also part of your service ... a very essential part. Make sure that you know what's on your screen, and the best way of presenting it to your patrons. Your projectionists can be of great help to you, if you'll only give them a chance ... and speaking of projectionists, do you know if the boys in your booth are subscribers to "International Projectionist?" They showld be ... in arder that they may keep right on top cf the many important changes developing in our business from day to day ... and that they may have a practical working knowledge of the many new processes being evolved. Talk to them about it, and show an interest in their end of your operation. When did you last sit through a complete program in your own theatre? It is absolutely imperative that you sit right through the first showing of every change of program ... check the sound, and check what you see on your screen. Your sterecphonic sound must be properly monitored ALL THE TIME ... to make sure that the preper sound levels are maintained constantly. ALL this comes under the heading of SERVICE ... and much more. Make sure that your theatre is properly heated in the winter ... properly ventilated and cooled in the summer ... from the moment the first customer enters, until the last one has left. The customer may not always be right ... but make him feel good by letting him think that he is ... and he'll come back for more and more ... and help to keep you and me in business for a long, leng time. "WHERE ONE MISTAKE IS MADE BY NOT KNOWING ... TEN ARE MADE BY NOT LOOKING ... AND FOR TEN WHO LOOK, ONLY ONE OBSERVES" ... J.3.F. GHECGK LOCAL PAYROLLS Have you any idea when the big plants, industries, department stores in your area pay their staffs? You can very easily obtain that vital information ... and it may be that this information can and sheuld influence our method of booking your theatre. It's up te you to tell us ... we Gan't go by guess-work. Start Laying out a chart today, and have all that information availabla when you're called on to produce it.