STEVE HANNAGAN - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 02/26/1938 - HFSID 31790
Price: $90.00
STEVE HANNAGAN
The legendary publicity agent suggests to newspaper columnist Louis
Sobol that he change his writing style!
Typed Letter signed: "Steve", 1 page, 8x10. New York, N.Y.,
1938 February 26. On his publicists letterhead to Louis Sobol, New York
Journal American, in full: "I suppose I am being frank and
presumptuous in writing this letter, but it's my feeling and here it is: A long
time ago, if you recollect any of the things people say to you, I told you that
I thought you wrote long better than short. By that I mean that you are, in my
estimation, not so well adapted to the short, smart crack as you are to the
longer human sentence paragraph and subject. To my mind the best things you have
done have always been the longer things. Therefore, I am firmly convinced that
if you devote three-fourths of your column to the longer type of material and
only one-fourth to the dot and dash type you will soon find a continuity of
interest among readers that you will not attain in any other way. If you respect
my opinion and don't agree with it, I'd be glad to take the time to argue with
you specifically and in detail with any weapon you choose - tongue or
typewriter. Cheerfully yours". Steve Hannagan (1899-1953) was a
United Press correspondent before being hired by Miami Beach as its publicity
agent. Hannagan's efforts, during which he coined the term
"cheesecake" to describe bathing beauties, were successful enough that
Hannagan was able to found his own publicity agency. Next W. Averill Harriman,
then the young head of the Union Pacific Railroad, hired Hannagan to promote
America's first European style ski resort (and with it railroad usage.)
Hannagan gave this new resort its name, Sun Valley; it opened in 1936. He
attracted many other clients, including Coca Cola, and developed a reputation in
the press for honesty. Hired by Las Vegas in 1949, he promoted tourism by
what came to be called "the Hannagan method": cruising the city and taking
pictures of attractive couples on vacation, and then sending these photos to
local newspapers. Hannagan apparently worked himself to death, felled by a heart
attack while on a business trip to Europe. Louis Sobol wrote an
entertainment column, "New York Cavalcade," for the Hearst newspapers. Whether
he solicited Hannagan's critique of his literary style is uncertain. Multiple
mailing folds. Paper clip imprints at top left corner. Lightly toned. Top right
corner torn. Otherwise, fine condition.
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