Ballyhoo (Jan 14, 1955)

Page scan 0003 from Ballyhoo

Record Details:

Title:
Ballyhoo
Date:
Jan 14, 1955
Volume:
Ballyhoo (Jan 14, 1955) Ontario 'B' District
Leaf #:
0003
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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I've been tossing a lot of bouquets at you fellows lately ... well-deserved enes I'm sure, but seems to ne like the odd one among us has been getting a free ride ... coasting along on the strength of what this group as a whole hag been doing ... Maybe it's time to let fly a few brickbats, and if one lands out your way, no use ducking ... it'll have your name on it. For sustained effort I've never seen anything te mateh our BALLYHOO contests ... I make no apelogics for driving you follows on to bigger and botter selling, livelier promotion, greater publie relations ... Merchandising is an important part of our jeb ..0 If we want to "eat regular® we must get customers into our theatres ... and if we want customers, we've gat to make sure that enough natives know about our wares te £111 all those seats we've got dusted off. it°s not enough te sit back and read about the terrific jobs being done by a Bob Harvey, or Art Cauley, Mei Jollay, George Forhan and a couple of ethers ... I want to be able to write as mueh about every one of you o.. and f& ean'é do it unless you exert the same effort ag the lads whose names have beceme synonymous vith good showmanship. We're into our third month of the current drive oo. BALLYHOO 5.0.S. Let's make 4% one of the biggest Bailyheo months to date, I ean't do it for you ... All I know is what I vead in your reports ef activities. Let's quit coasting, beys, and do some real, honest-to-goodness pushing oo Our Spotlight 4s on SHOWIANSHTP and on YOU. coo