As an example of the courteous treatment I have invariably received at
the hands of the newspaper editors I cannot refrain from giving the
following incident which occurred when the show was in North Carolina.
In a town in that State one paper, through an oversight, had been
skipped altogether in the distribution of the advertising. When the
second brigade of the advertising army arrived in town, it found that
the issue of this paper had already been mailed to its subscribers.
Nothing daunted, however, this agent arranged with the publishers for a
special issue which, teeming with praises of the Coup show, was issued
and mailed to all subscribers. As a result excellent houses greeted us
when we exhibited in the place.
The rivalry between the great shows extended to the newspaper
advertising as well as bill-posting department. I remember that once,
at Pittsburg, the opposition was very strong, and I had as press agent
a brother of the man who held the same position in the employ of my
rival. They were both excellent newspaper men and thoroughly understood
their business. We would take whole columns in the newspapers, and my
men with the show would telegraph to the papers at Pittsburg after this
manner:
"WILKESBARRE, Pa.
"The W. C. Coup show did a tremendous business here to-day; the
largest and best show ever seen here."
These telegrams would be used to head our other notices in the
Pittsburg papers, and whole columns would follow, setting forth the
merits of the show. With more solid indorsements these telegrams so
worried my agent's brother that he was at a loss to know how to
overcome them. He finally hit upon a novel and dashing plan. After our
columns had been set up in the various papers, he would then engage the
adjoining columns. In this space, in display type, he denounced our
telegrams as bogus, stating that he had seen his own brother write them
at the hotel. This announcement completely took the wind out of our
sails.