Publix Opinion (Jul 18, 1930)

a \ PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF JULY 18rx, 1930 d au le PALMER, JOURNALIST AND PUBLICIST! __ IN NEWSPAPER GET BUSY TODAY ON PLAN ' ‘ WORK FROM INFANCY “T used to be a newspaperman myself once.” How familiar is this pitiful attempt on the part of everyone who has ever written a letter to an editor, sent in a bit of society gossip or visited a city room, to detach for himself a shred of that enveloping power and_ glory which is the Press! Yet this superficial presumption, like the smeared, murky veneer of metal polish, only makes the sterling silver underneath shine the brighter; once it is rubbed away. For there are a few real newspapermen. For instance, Samuel D. Palmer, Publix advertising executive, was born and bred in the newspaper game from the time patrons paid. for their subscriptions and ads with bushels of potatoes until he was graduated from metropolitan dailies and trade publications into the old Paramount Publicity department. Mr. Palmer’s family has been in the newspaper business for over fifty years. His father was a newspaperman of the old school and was the publisher of a paper in Ogdensburg, N. Y., where Sam was born. While attending public school and high school, young Palmer pottered around his father’s office doing everything from Sweeping up to writing, printing and selling ads for the paper. Upon his graduation from high school, he entered Union College where he specialized in English courses and track athletics. After a diploma had put an end to his college days, Palmer came to New York. Deciding to turn his past newspaper and writing experience to profit, he entered the Ben B. Hampton Advertising Agency. In the office of this cdéncern at that time, he found himself associated with men who have Since risen to the highest places in film advertising, journalism and production. Among them are William A. Johnston, publisher of the Motion Picture News; Joe Brandt, of Columbia pictures; Jack Cohn, one of the executive heads of Columbia Pictures; E. A. McManus, formerly head of all Hearst motion picture interests; G. P. Metzger, of Hanf-Metzger, Ne.; Ben B. and J. D. Hampton Who afterward became prominent Producers of motion pictures. Working shoulder to shoulder with €se men, the young newspaper —! Recent complaints 1 is/an increasing pu Clharles Rogers’ nickname. fan-mail and in other ary grave danger that con ul work a serious 5 Accordingly, Mr. Lasky ; “J think the time has has screen, in publicity “Will you therefor: Jo all departments concer jjone so.” ata I realize that “Buddy” has sh Rogers’ name an Ine entirely and at once. “a should bef ite) lay down the nam ; P it entirely by September pers’ pictures. ¢ : med, — ‘RUDDY’ NOW ‘CHARLES’ eceived by the studio indicate that there blic distaste for the name — This complaint is being revealed letter a tinued use of the name “Buddy handicap to one of our arrived for us to definitely bill » ” ARLES ROGERS, peuday’ as CB and wherever we ¢ e issue the n | theatres may be Cre However; I think our own thea defin ftely ner more and more and to elimi These Publix personaliti depend upon theirs. To nog te alities and problems our tasks enjoyable. an tmportant part of KNOW YOUR ORGANIZATION! pend upon your effort, just as you lo k and understand each other’s personwill lighten the burdens of everyone, and make For this reason, PUBLIX OPINION is devoting us space to these brief biographical sketches. SAMUEL D. PALMER Associate Advertising Director to go back to Ogdensburg and take charge of the family paper there, the Republican-Journal which, under his capable hands, became the man from upstate acquired a wide knowledge of the advertising business, particularly in its relation to the motion picture industry. When he felt that he had sufficient experience, he left the advertising agency to become advertising manager of a large wholesale clothing concern. | Newspaper Virus Gets Him | All newspapermen will tell you that the lure of the city room is a virus which gets into the blood and is difficult to dislodge. It was not long, consequently, before the nostalgia for the smell of wet printer’s ink and the rapid, concentrated thinking necessary to meet dead-lines began to invade him. So he went back to “the racket” on the editorial staff of the New York Evening Mail. <A year or so later, the illness of his father made it imperative for him “Buddy” as s to the studio and there is a popular stars. sent the following to me: using this name on the ontrol the situation. ecessary instructions and advise me that you have become pretty well associated loath to drop the ted for the immediate present 4st in all their advertising of CHARLES E. McCARTHY. |and newspaper publicity, ete. most prominent and influential newspaper in northern New York. Then came the war, with its poison gas which ‘‘got’’ more than 2,500 small-town newspapers. The Republican-Journal managed to survive, but good sense seemed to dictate a change of occupation. So Palmer returned to New York to engage in motion picture publicity work. He had charge of newspaper publicity for Universal. From there, he went to the copy desk of Motion Picture News. At about this time, John Flinn, Director of Advertising and Publicity for Paramount was looking about for a good man. Upon making inquiries, the name Sam Palmer kept coming up constantly, so he sent for him and asked Palmer to go to work for him on the next day. Palmer’s boss on the News, Bill Johnston, hated to lose him, but wouldn’t stay in his way because of the excellent opportunities offered by his new position. So that is how Sam Palmer came to Paramount. This was in May, 1918. He has been with the company ever since and is one of the oldest employees, from the viewpoint of actual years’ service, in the organization, At that time, the Department of Advertising and Publicity of Paramount was not nearly as imposing as it is to-day. There were only five men in the entire department, situated in the old headquarters at 485 Fifth Ave. Palmer was an all-around man there, doing general publicity, taking care of clip sheets, trade Danse pon the reorganization of the department, he was placed in charge of trade paper publicity. He stayed on that job until Harold Franklin, of the theatre department, assigned him the task of getting out a weekly technical review of what went on in all New York theatres. With the establish ~ FOR THANKSGIVING PARADE TO LIFT DECEMBER SLUMP _it may sound foolish to start talking in July about a stunt that will ba an ace campaign-backbone effort for your pre-Christmas anti-slump campaign, but Your Editor has fielded an idea today that seems worth while. ment of the Theatre Managers School, he succeeded Jack Barry as editor of the Close-Up, house organ of the theatre department and fore-runner of Publix Opinion. When Publix was organized with A. M. Botsford as General Di rector of Advertising and Public ity, Palmer was placed in charge of publicity, Lem Stewart in charge of advertising and Ed Olmstead in charge of exploitation. When the unit shows were started at the Rivoli, Palmer handled the publicity and exploitation and with the concentration and specialization made necessary by the gradual growth of the department, he was later assigned to his present post,in which he has charge of all trailers in Publix theatres (except feature trailers which are booked automatically) and acts in a general supervisory capacity in the matter of all unit show publicity. His series of New Show World Trailers, approximating short features, which he issued last year are still regarded in the circuit as having reached the peak of showmanship ingenuity and creative thought in trailer construction. Uses Past Knowledge Sam, as he is known by his friends—and they include everyone who has ever had any dealings with him—is one of the best liked men in the Home Office. He says. very little but he listens and sees plenty. Every bit of information that his retentive and wellorganized mind has accumulated in his rich newspaper and motionpicture business experience, he has known how to translate and harness to his present duties. Like most people who are sure of their own powers he never blusters, argues or seeks to intimidate but is always amiable, gentle and of an even disposition—despite the fact that he is a golf player, who, in his own words, likes the game but can’t play it. Another engrossing interest of Mr. Palmer is dramatics. He was for several years president of the community theatre in Jamaica, L. I., and during the past few years has permitted himself to be the target of bouquets and cabbages in several productions of the Maplewood Country Club. Sam is married and has three fine children, the oldest of whom has just finished his freshman year in Union College. The other two are attending high school. He is an inveterate bridge enthusiast which enables him sometimes to ride free on the Lackawanna lines but mostly forces him to pay the commutation of his neighbors. His friends in show business are legion. He is one of the oldest members of the A.M.P.A. At the first annual dinner of that organization he attended, only 14 men sat around the table. At the last annual banquet, there were fifteen hundred. Unlike the thousands of “I used to be a newspaperman myself once’ men, by the important post he has attained in the Advertising and Publicity Department of Publix, Samuel D. Palmer has definitely proven that the same resourcefulness, brains, ingenuity, quick thinking to meet deadlines and putting on a show every day exists both in the newspaper and the theatre business, and that the two professions, like the legendary Judy O’Grady and the Colonel’s lady, are sisters under the skin. If you'll look in your issue of Publix Opinion of December 6, 1929, you'll see a story about the Macy Department Store parade down New York’s Broadway on Thanksgiving day. That parade had three million onlookers, and made twenty million word-ofmouth advertisers, what with the incidental newsreel and newspaper publicity. The whole idea was to make the New York populace conscious of: the fact that the Christmas shopping season was at its best, on the day after Thanksgiving. The parade of giant-size toys, was merely a medium for putting the idea across in the most sensational manner. You Can Do It At that time, in reporting it in Publix Opinion, Mickey Finn, our irrepressible office-demon, regretted that such parades could not be tied-up with the theatre. Mickey’s wisecrack started the idea. The parades can be promoted in every town, under the sponsorship and subsidy of ALL the merchants in your town. If the Christmas’ shopping season can be moved up to start December 1, instead of December 15, it will leave the public with time to go to your theatre instead of staying away during those two horrible red, profitless weeks before Christmas. So if you’re wise, you’ll get out your last year’s pre-Christmas campaign as carried in Publix Opinion from November i to January 15, and make a list NOW of the things you’re going to have to effectively conquer the Christmas slump for you next December. Get That Parade To get your Merchants’ association to stage a parade, and make Early Shopping Whoopee, you’ve got to plant the idea now, They'll stall and fuss, but they’ll have plenty of fussing and stalling time, if you get them started early enough. Let them stage the parade. You only give them the idea, and prod them and compel them to do it up right —two or three bands, ballyhoos, etc. Then when the parade actually occurs, you slide in xa marching section which is divided into properly placarded squads, each of which announces a different one of your BIG PRE-CHRISTMAS SHOWS. If you plant this idea now—and every week or so, prod somebody vigorously to get committees working, and have the parade all ready to run, you'll be able to report to Publix Opinion that you promoted a Thanksgiving Day Parade for Early Shopping, that started off your anti-Christmas slump in riproaring fashion, Your Editor dares anybody to write to him and say this can’t be done. We’re going to carry an August list of those Publix managers who write in and say that this is the tip-in-time they took. ICE TIE-UP WORKS Publicity staff of the Metropolitan, Boston, successfully duplieated an ice company tie-up tip from Publix Opinion. Backs of cards signalling housewives’ desire for ice, in windows of homes, carries theatre institutional cooling copy.