The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-07-24
Free Advertising.
How Weber and Fields Worked 1t to
the Limit.


! As an example of what can be done
| in the matter of securing free advertis-
| ine. .he maneuvers of Lew NJ. Fields
and Joseph Weber during the past three
or four months ought TO be great OBJ
| ject lesson to promoters of publicity.
| Had the mere announcement been made
| that the old Weber G. Fields partner
| ship was at an end and that next sea
son there would be two permanent or
ganizations instead of one. the matter
would have been duly recorded in oil
the papers, there doubtless would have
been printed some sketches of the fam
Gus Broadway institution, and then.
save for the regulation announcements
og the two new organizations. the mat
ter would have rested.
But Weber g. Fields were too acute
to allow their affairs to be thus cur
sorily dismissed They both understand
the cash value of publicity thoroughly.
and they determined to make the very
best use Of their opportunity. There
fore the intimation that this firm would
dissolve after a career of more than a
quarter Of a century was allowed 10 slip
out, quite accidentally. When ii was
made public the company was on its an
nual tour of the provinces" and spe-
cific indignant denials were telegraph
ed from practically every water-tank
between Jersey City and San Francisco.
Between each denial, however, there
was fresh assertion of the truth of the
tale, each conf1rmatory statement be-
ing just a tri1e more circumstantial and
more nearly authoritative than its pred
ecessors. In the course of six OF eight
weeks there was not a playgoer in the
country who was not made aware of the
subject, and who had not had his or her
curiosity more or less excited.
Finally the troupe reached New York
on its return trip. and the time came 10
admit the truth officially. This was oc-
casion. Of course, for some hundred ad-
ditional columns OF newspaper talk
Then came the opportunity for a few
weeks OF farewell" performances. With
all this preparatory fireworks il was
obvious that the old Music Hall near
Twenty-sixth Street would be too small
TO accommodate the crowds and the en-
sagement was played at the New Am
sterdam, That the advertising had been
well done was evidenced by the Ca
pacity" audiences that were drawn to
that immense playhouse for a fortnight
or more.
But this did not end the matter. as
there yet remained the fertile topic of
what those two ex-partners would do
after they had chosen separate paths
The news of these new ventures was
handled in quite as expert a fashion, and
If there is any amusement-seeker in the
East who. doesn't know that Fields is
TO have theater uptown in Gotham
and that Weber is TO have one down
town, 1t is certainly no ones fault but
his own. In this latter phase OF the
matter, to date, Fields, has had rather
the better Of the argument His trump
card is Marie Cahil. and II has been
case OF first she couldn't, then she
wOuldn't-and then she did. Nor is the
last word printed yet. If we can judge
by past performances. There is still
lot Of unused ammunition. and no doubt
II viii be utilized with all due apprecia-
ton of its value.
1t is TO be understood clearly that
there was and is a very considerabi Ie-
Ultimate news interest in all this. 9th
erwise. with all the booming in the
world, such results would have been i'm
possible. The moral Is, OF course, that
there are tricks IN all trades--even in
the theatrical and advertising business
and that skill and gumption bring their
own reward.-Philadelphia Record.