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The Firehouse Salon
Some of us are driven by a creative desire not to be bored. We call such people Tediophobes. If that is you, then welcome to the madcap world of The Firehouse Salon. Conversations at the intersection of creativity, curiosity and making a dent in the world. Originally inspired by our BBC Radio 4 documentary 'The Socrates of San Francisco'.
The Firehouse Salon
Ep 12 - Dear Miss Afflerbach
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"This is a story about an ad. It also says a good many implicit things about the ad-reading public...
You can take a look at the ad here
The ad is question sang the praises of a certain make of shirt, and it appeared in the New Yorker. In order to demonstrate the excellence of the shirtmaker's workmanship, a handkerchief-sized piece of shirting mysteriously equipped with buttonhole and pocket was offered free to readers who would write in and say what they thought the thing was for. Suddenly the "Shirtkerchief" was famous and Miss Afflerbach was deluged with mail. At last count, 11,342 people had written in - a record-breaking response in The New Yorker's experience..."
Howard Luck Gossage, 1960
This podcast episode documents that marvel.