Ballyhoo (Apr 18, 1955)

Page scan 0003 from Ballyhoo

Record Details:

Title:
Ballyhoo
Date:
Apr 18, 1955
Volume:
Ballyhoo (Apr 18, 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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| Ky CI’ CY Aww AW Lif i HOW DAM s/f Aw IW\y — (Gare re eae ee TS sd ee ee . Leoks like just about three weeks to go before we wind up our current S.0.S. driva ... count up our scores ... name the winners, and awaré the prizes. Gueas this is aes goed a time aa any to serve notice on you guys that the end of eur S.0.S. does NO® mean the end of BALLYHOO. On the contrary, it will mark the beginning of a concentrated drive to iick the ever inereasing summsr opposition ... to make our theatres the nest comfertable in our semmunitias .., to keep eur customers coming to the theatre showing the "Best show in town ...” Our theatres. Get the idea? BALLYHOO will be going eut every week as per schedule, and we'll report the goings on in our theatres, publicity-wise and in every other respect, just as we have been doing for nearly four years. We will expect a tightening up of all your selling efforts cco even though you may not be competing for prizes and points. We'll expect a report from you each and every week, just as during the term of our S.0.S. outiining your publicity and public relations activities. Welll expect visual svidence in support of sll your claims ... Weill expect you te bo just as geod a Showman during the summer months as during the more favourable winter season. Don't think I ean make it much clearer, but will have more to say on the subject in subsequent issues. In the meantime ... You still have three weeks to go in this drive, so let's wind up this deal with some real DRIVE, and wind up our S.0.S. in a veal blaze of giory.