Philadelphia isn’t all that far from Madison Avenue, literally and figuratively. And in The Philadelphia Inquirer, there’s a look back at the era of “Mad Men” in the city:
Gene Shay, 75, started out as a copywriter for Firestone & Associates while simultaneously spinning records on local radio. One story he tells illustrates that even in genteel Philadelphia, competition was competition.
“Ad executives from four different agencies were taking the train to New York, all with appointments at different times but at the same place,” says Shay, of Penn Wynne. “They all sat together, and two guys made the mistake of visiting the club car – and two other guys threw their portfolios out the train windows.
“I wasn’t there, I just heard about it,” Shay says. “I could believe it, but it sounded extreme.”
Every major city in America had an advertising scene of some sort. It’s interesting to hear the old stories get unearthed.