Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1941)

(Continued from preceding page) selling questions to the listeners, as the signature and sign-off. Our audience has become auction conscious in these few weeks, as is evidenced by the overwhelming demand for admission tickets and the very satisfactory return of cards, showing store traffic participation. Our commercials are designed to tell a story in a short time; they are long on quality and selling. We show the advantages of the Phelan One-Two House Painting System, how the first coat seals the wood or old surface so that the life-giving oils of the second coat cannot be sucked into the wood and how the high quality protective finish of the second coat beautifies as it protects. Strong emphasis is placed upon "your Phelan dealer," and no program is presented without suitable plugs for the experienced painter. The Phelan Quiz Auction is a success. It has been successful since it first took the air; in fact, it was successful before it hit the air, because it was merchandised! Thin-cheeked, ??ion as tic, handsome Holland Everett Engle zvas born April 26, 1907, in Fairmont, W. Va., the son of Olive and Harry Engle. Men of the cloth seemed to run in his family: One grandfather was a Methodist minister, ' another an elder in the Baptist Church, his own father was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church. But young Engle in his junior year at college heard a different call — the microphone. Since then he's had his finger in many a major radio pie. He's managed stations WMMN, Fairmont, W. Va.; WWVA, Wheeling, W. Va.; WBBM, Chicago, III. As a free lancer, he worked on such programs as PVrigley's Myrt & Marge, Mars' Milky Way Winners. In 1936 he was named radio director of Erwin, PVasey Qsf Co., Chicago, took over complete direction of the Carnation Contented Hour. Now radio director of Cramer-Krasselt Co., Milwaukee, Engle directs production of NBC-Blue's Ahead of the Headlines. Married since 1929, he's the father of two boys, seven and three years old. (g ailing In 1939, the Yellow Cab Co. Ad Exec Henry J .Kaufman Washington, D. C. is recognized as the city containing the most taxicabs per capita. Yellow Cabs are recognized as the best known throughout the country. Yet, in 1939 The Yellow Cab Co. had but 18 of the city's 5,000 cabs. Local franchise holders of Yellow had permitted competition to run away with the market. At that time several enterprising young men, recognizing the importance of the Yellow franchise in a city filled with visitors and strangers from sections where Yellow had maintained an important position, bought the Yellow franchise. The new owners had a double job to perform— selling the public and their own personnel at one and the same time. While Washington affords rather compact traffic areas, providing ample cruising space for street pick-ups, this pick-up business is concentrated during the rush business periods of the day. The new owners of Yellow realized they had to create a 24-hour business to make the cabs profitable to the drivers who were buying them. The former Yellow management had allow^ed their "call" business to drop as low as their number of cabs. The new drivers wouldn't "play" the phone stations, because there were too few, and "Hobart 1212" was seldom dialed by the public. Yet, phone business was the only business for early morning and night drivers. The Yellow Cab Co. quickly installed additional call-boxes in key spots throughout the city. Our agency was engaged to help solve the problem of immediately establishing Yellow Cab's phone number in the public mind. Our job was to provide a plan whereby cab drivers would be inspired to give callboxes the attention that w^ould insure prompt 168 RADIO SHOWMANSHIP