Pioneers of promotion : how press agents for Buffalo Bill, P.T. Barnum, and the World's Columbian Exposition created modern marketing / Joe Dobrow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dobrow, Joe, author.

Contributor:

Anne and Joseph Trachtman Memorial Book Fund.

Series:

William F. Cody series on the history and culture of the American West ; 5.

William F. Cody series on the History and Culture of the American West, v.5

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Advertising.

History.

Marketing.

United States.

Burke, John M., -1917.

Burke, John M.

Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor), 1810-1891.

Barnum, P. T.

Handy, Moses P. (Moses Purnell), 1847-1898.

Handy, Moses P.

Marketing--United States--History--19th century.

Advertising--United States--History--19th century.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiv, 391 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Norman, OK : University of Oklahoma Press, [2018]

Summary:

The average American today is bombarded with as many as 5,000 advertisements a day. The sophisticated and persuasive marketing tactics that companies use may seem a recent phenomenon, but Pioneers of Promotion tells a different story. In this lively narrative, business history writer Joe Dobrow traces the origins of modern American marketing to the late nineteenth century when three charismatic individuals launched an industry that defines our national culture. Transporting readers back to a dramatic time in the late 1800s, Dobrow spotlights a trio of men who reshaped our image of the West and earned national fame: John M. Burke of Buffalo Bill's Wild West, Tody Hamilton of the Barnum & Bailey Circus, and Moses P. Handy of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Drawing on scores of original source materials, Dobrow brings to light the surprisingly sophisticated techniques of these Gilded Age press agents. Using mostly newspapers--plus a good deal of moxie, emotional suasion, iconic imagery, and to be sure, alcohol--Burke, Hamilton, and Handy each devised ways to promote celebrities, attract huge crowds, and generate massive news coverage. As a result, a plainsman named William F. Cody became more famous than the president of the United States, a traveling circus turned into the Greatest Show on Earth, and a world's fair attracted more than 27 million visitors. Tapping his practitioner's knowledge of marketing and promotion, Dobrow reintroduces readers to Buffalo Bill and his Wild West show, P. T. Barnum and his circus, and the greatest of all world's fairs. Surprisingly, the promotional geniuses who engineered these enterprises do not appear in history books alongside other marketing and advertising legends such as Ivy Lee, Edward Bernays, or David Ogilvy. Pioneers of Promotion at long last gives these founders of American marketing their due.--Publisher website.

Contents:

Author's note

Burying a legend

The big tent of P.T. Barnum and Tody Hamilton

Boom or boost : promoting the West

The hero Cody and the mythmaker Burke

The news maker, Moses P. Handy

Birth and growth of the wild west

Evolution of a marketing virtuoso

The battle for the World's Fair

The department of publicity and promotion

1893

Denouement

Legacies

Epilogue.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Anne and Joseph Trachtman Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9780806160108

0806160101

OCLC:

1029072497