Ballyhoo (Apr 25, 1955)

Page scan 0006 from Ballyhoo

Record Details:

Title:
Ballyhoo
Date:
Apr 25, 1955
Volume:
Ballyhoo (Apr 25, 1955) Ontario 'B' District
Leaf #:
0006
Language:
English
Collection:
Hollywood Studio System, Global Cinema, and Canada
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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CAPITOL = PETERBORO eeu Len was playing a sub run of DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS, and really went all out on it. He arranged with ¢ H EB X to run a simple contest ... invite people te phone and tei them who the five top stars in the pieture were, for guest tickets as prizes. The results were good, and after each announcement, Len reports, the theatre received a minimum of fifty calls. Not bad. Hope all fifty followed up with purchases ef tickets to see the pic ... A large, four by six foot banner vas mounted between two peles and carried up and down the main drag by twe boys ... SIX, ene column, and TWO, two column seenes wers published in the pages of thea Review and Lakefield News ... The News again came through with a good five celumn banner ad across the bottom ef their "Hidden Names” contsst page. His next attraction was TROUBLE ALONG THE WAY, and I see ene of the best full co-op pages I have ever seen in the Examiner, Feurteen merchants co-operated, each referring in seme way to the pic title, and Len wound wp with a torrifie ad for himself too. I also see snaps of four good windows oo. in Lowe's Paints, Goodrich Tire Go., Larry Electric Service and Cavanaugh Appiitanee Stere. And that winds up Len's selling activities for thia week, SENECA = NIAGARA FALLS Jack was playing 3 RING CIRCUS, and I see that he promoted the Planter Peanut Gompany’s "Mr. Peanut” whe covered the main drag, followed by a parade of small fry, handing out peanuts, and naking a pitch for the Senecats attractiono fue mounted one-sheets were placed on either side of a Local €.N. Express truck for one full week im advanee ... Good displays ia the winiows of two down town stores. TIVOLI = HAMILTON Don's tieoup with tho Spectater on their special "De it Yourself" page still paying off in goed banner space at the bottom of the weekly pags, in return for a display in his lobby ... “Housewives Matinee" over G HM lL, and “Cali the Tune” over G K O C 3ti1]2 plugging the Tiv's attractiens. This I really like ... one of Don's projectionists, Vie Baldassari was recently inducted Late one 25 Year Club, which gives him 100% coverage in the vooth ... all four men are now members. With the help of Jehnny Rebinsen on the Spectator, Don was able to plant an excellent story, and a terrific four-colunmn pieture of the feur men. Swell public relations. ORPHEUM = S00 Olga was playing RUM FOR COVER, and I ses snaps of four excellent andows oo. Greenwood's Hardware, Berlangette’s Cleanere, Golden Grain Bakery and Bob's Hardware. All excellent l-sheet displays.