Ballyhoo (Nov 4, 1955)

Page scan 0006 from Ballyhoo

Record Details:

Title:
Ballyhoo
Date:
Nov 4, 1955
Volume:
Ballyhoo (Nov 4, 1955) Profit Blitz for 'Fitz'
Leaf #:
0006
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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ee € ropa le. e@ unos, ly Pade” 1955 $10,000 IN CASH PRIZES HONOURING 25 YEARS OF INSPIRED LEADERSHIP IN FAMOUS PLAYERS INVESTIGATORS! REPORTS National Drive Captain DAN KRENDEL In last week's bulletin we covered some of the more common faults found with your fronts and boxoffice ... and they weren't restricted to isolated instances, Could have been talking about YOUR theatre, Have you taken a good look at your front ALEC 556 Have you replaced those duds? Your opal glass in good shape? No broken or missing pieces? Have you bought yourself a can of paint and touched up the frames ... doors, and marquee? That's why we're passing this information along to you fellows ... For YOUR guidance, and to assure you and us, that the next report on the theatre you are responsible for will be 100% ... Good, that is. This week we'll take a little space to glance through the investigator's eyes at your cashiers, doormen and other personnel, They are your key people ,.. They occupy important positions of trust ... THEY can make or break you. How well do you know them? Let's see if the following COULD have happened in your theatre ... CASHIERS 1, The cashier spent most of her time in the lobby, enjoying the show ... returned to the boxoffice only when she observed patrons waiting to purchase tickets. 2. No change on hand ... told customer she couldn't change a ten dollar bill, 3. Gashier was too busy typing to bother selling tickets. 4, Box office door left wide open, and cashier visited at frequent intervals with doorman and confection girls. Dd. Student tickets sold to anyone asking for them ... No form of identification required, 6. Tickets returned to cashier in exchange for higher-priced ones, instead of being cancelled, sold to next person asking for that price. 7. No small bills on hand at opening ... cashier had to make change of a 5,00 bill in silver. 8. Cashier observed counting a stack of bills and silver on boxoffice counter, in plain view of all passers-by ... This certainly is inviting trouble ..,