In the course of my career as an advertising man, I have met
many famous people. Some of the people were household names like Eva Gabor and
some not so famous as far as recognition goes like E. T. Klassen, the
Postmaster General under Nixon.
Prior to the Watergate break in and our being on the Dean’s
List, we had a visit one morning from the Postmaster General, Elmer Ted Klassen
who served from January 1, 1972 to February 16, 1975. Being we were a leading
direct mail agency in the country, and the notoriety and vision of the Chairman
made the visit necessary as far as the U.S. Post Office was concerned. We were
helping them launch a new campaign, and I had never seen such a big deal about
anything in that office as I did that day!
Alexis Smith was the first from the glamorous world of
Hollywood to visit us. A memo went out the day before that Alexis Smith was in
New York and that a small cocktail party reception was planned in her honor in
the conference room for the next day. For the life of me I can’t recall why or
what it was all about. I remember her being escorted through the office, meeting
her at my desk and shaking hands and I recall the cocktail reception, but not
much more. She was a striking woman: that left a delicious impression on my
young eyes. Fortunately for me I still recall her face.
Advertising is about calling attention, about singling out
and about glorifying the attributes: real and imagined, but most of all it is
about making money. I was making money, the company was making money and more
importantly, I was having fun, learning, meeting new people both rich and
famous!
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