1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello, and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: a show for those interested in all the high flying 4 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 1: moments of everyday history. I'm Gay Bluesier, and today we're 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 1: looking at the story behind a clever marketing method that 6 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: turned wide open skies into smokey billboards, though thankfully only temporarily. 7 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: The day was November two, Royal Air Force Captain Cyril 8 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:47,639 Speaker 1: Turner became the first pilot in the US to use 9 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: skywriting as a form of advertising. A few skywriting demonstrations 10 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: had been given at American air shows during the nineteen tens, 11 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: but Captain Turner's flight was different. He didn't you smoke 12 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: trails to draw pretty designs in the sky. Instead, he 13 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: spelled out a rather cryptic message ten thousand feet above 14 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 1: New York's Times Square in mile high letters. He wrote, 15 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:18,319 Speaker 1: Hello US A call Vanderbilt seventy two hundred. It was 16 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,479 Speaker 1: the first time skywriting had been used to promote something 17 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: in the US, and even though it wasn't clear what 18 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:28,919 Speaker 1: exactly was being promoted, the ad worked like a charm. 19 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,959 Speaker 1: Within two and a half numbers, about forty seven thousand 20 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: people had called that phone number trying to figure out 21 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: what was on offer. The ambiguity of the message had 22 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:44,960 Speaker 1: piqued people's curiosity, thereby proving the effectiveness of skywriting and 23 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: securing its place as a new, eye catching way to 24 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: promote a product. Skywriting, or smoke writing, as it was 25 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 1: sometimes called, got it start during World War One, when 26 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: British pilots in the Royal Air Force discovered a way 27 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: to make white smoke that hung in the air. All 28 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: they had to do was run paraffine oil through the 29 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: plane's exhaust and poof instant clouds. At first, the pilots 30 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: mostly played around with the smoke during air drills, but 31 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: they quickly realized it could also be used to send 32 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 1: messages to ground forces when other methods of communication weren't 33 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,919 Speaker 1: an option. They also used it to create smoke screens 34 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 1: to obscure troop movements or to confuse enemy pilots. Once 35 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: the war was over, two r a F pilots began 36 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: working together on a way to use skywriting for advertising. 37 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: In nineteen twenty one, major Jack Savage developed a more 38 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: sophisticated method for generating smoke and controlling its release, a 39 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: mechanism which he later patented. Then, in May of the 40 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: following year, Captain Cyril Turner tested that device in England 41 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: by skywriting the word castrol, a kind of engine lubricant 42 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: used in both cars and airplanes. Savages machine worked just fine, 43 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,519 Speaker 1: but the pair's first attempt at aerial advertising didn't draw 44 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: much notice. They decided to try again about a week later, 45 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:15,119 Speaker 1: on May thirty one, Nino. That time, they'd been contracted 46 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: by The Daily Mail to spell out the paper's name 47 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: over Epsom Downs during the Derby Stakes horse race. The 48 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: stunt garnered plenty of attention that time, and not just 49 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 1: from Derby fans either. Some local school children who saw 50 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: the message outside their classroom window reportedly asked their teacher 51 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: if an angel was writing in the clouds. The technique 52 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: was so novel that it seemed almost supernatural, and if 53 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: you didn't think so, well, the Daily Mail was there 54 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: to convince you. The following morning, the paper published a 55 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: glowing account of the spectacle it had sponsored and of 56 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: the many rosy promises of skywriting. According to the author, quote, 57 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: this remarkable achievement to be repeated, whether permitting the evening 58 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: over busy London streets tells us in words, as plain 59 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: as can be, that a new era has opened in 60 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: signaling from the air, marking an advance which is bound 61 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: to produce far reaching results, particularly as regards warfare, both 62 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: on land and at sea. We can now write orders 63 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: to armies and navies on the sky as plainly as 64 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: a schoolboy writes on his slate. An aeroplane can disappear 65 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 1: in a cloud of its own making, or conceal the 66 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: ships that is escorting in a dense mist. Other wonders, 67 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: doubtless are wrapped up in skywriting. Later that year, Turner 68 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: and Savage took their operation across the Atlantic to introduce 69 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:47,279 Speaker 1: their new frontier of advertising to the American public. When 70 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: Captain Turner took to the skies above New York City 71 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: on November, skywriting was still largely unknown in the States, 72 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: just as it had been in the UK. However, the 73 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,799 Speaker 1: pedestrians and office workers and dow in Town Manhattan didn't 74 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: mistake the message for angels trying to communicate. If anything, 75 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 1: they thought just the opposite. That's because when they looked 76 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:13,480 Speaker 1: up at the sky shortly afternoon, they saw four ominous 77 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:19,039 Speaker 1: letters traced in gray smoke H E L L. The 78 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: following day, The New York Tribune described the moment of 79 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:26,840 Speaker 1: mild panic this caused in the streets below. The article 80 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: chided Captain Turner, saying, quote, there had been no advanced 81 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: notice of the performance, and that fact is undoubtedly partly 82 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,360 Speaker 1: to blame for the circumstances that several thousand persons were 83 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: distinctly jarred when they perceived, as they thought, clouds in 84 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: the sky above Lower Manhattan, which spelled startlingly the one 85 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:54,160 Speaker 1: word hell. Fortunately the soaring birdman added the letter oh 86 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:58,039 Speaker 1: before any damage was done. The article went on to 87 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: describe Turner and Savages and ambition to make skywriting a 88 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: standard tool of commercial advertising, But the article didn't mention 89 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: what product the pair were advertising during their inaugural flight, 90 00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: and that's because it was actually an ad for skywriting 91 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:18,839 Speaker 1: as a method of advertisement. While Captain Turner was painstakingly 92 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:22,840 Speaker 1: writing the message overhead, his partner, Major Savage was watching 93 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: closely from the ground. He had a guest with him too, 94 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: George Hill, the then president of the American Tobacco Company. 95 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: As it turned out, the entire stunt was an elaborate 96 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 1: attempt to persuade Hill to advertise his cigarettes with skywriting 97 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: before the demonstration, Hill didn't have much faith in the 98 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:47,920 Speaker 1: medium's potential. After all, skywriting letters only lingered for about 99 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,920 Speaker 1: ten minutes in a light wind. How many people would 100 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: even have time to see an ad like that before 101 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 1: it all got blown away? The answer, at least on 102 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: that occasion was roughly forty thousand people. If you recall, 103 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 1: the message Turner wrote that day was Hello us A 104 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: call Vanderbilt seventy two hundred. That was the phone number 105 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 1: of the hotel where George Hill was staying, Hotel Vanderbilt. 106 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 1: Hopefully the staff there had been warned in advance about 107 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: a potential flood of calls, but judging from reports of 108 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: hotel operators scrambling to keep up, I'm guessing they didn't. 109 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: In either case, though, the overwhelming response convinced Hill to 110 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 1: take a chance on skywriting. The following year, the American 111 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 1: Tobacco Company used skywriting in a successful advertising campaign for 112 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 1: Lucky Strike cigarettes. By that point, Captain Turner had become 113 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: the head pilot of the newly formed Skywriting Corporation of America. 114 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: He and other pilots flew for Hill in cities across 115 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: the country, writing L S, M F T or Lucky 116 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: strike means fine tobacco everywhere they went. In the decades 117 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: that followed, skywriting became an accepted and popular form of advertising. 118 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: It was employed by many major companies such as Ford, Chrysler, 119 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:12,520 Speaker 1: and Sonocco, but the brand that seemed to fall hardest 120 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: for the medium was soft drink giant Pepsi. In nineteen 121 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: thirty two, the company bought its own planes specifically for skywriting. 122 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:24,720 Speaker 1: During its maid in flight, the pilot spelled out drink 123 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: Pepsi Cola over New York City eight times throughout the day. 124 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: After a strong response to that campaign, Pepsi went all 125 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:36,840 Speaker 1: in on skywriting. The company eventually grew its fleet to 126 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 1: fourteen planes, which spread the good news of Pepsi all 127 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: across the US, Mexico, Canada, and Cuba. By the time 128 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: the campaign was suspended in the mid nineteen forties, Pepsi's 129 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: planes were collectively puffing out more than twenty two hundred 130 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:57,840 Speaker 1: mile high ads each year. Along the way, skywriting also 131 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:01,320 Speaker 1: became a way for people to broadcast personal messages for 132 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 1: all to see, everything from birthday greetings to political rants 133 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: to marriage proposals. The popularity of skywriting in advertising took 134 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:13,920 Speaker 1: a dive in the back half of the twentieth century, 135 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: largely thanks to the rise of television and it's far 136 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: reaching commercials. Skywriting continued to entertain crowds at air shows, 137 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: ball games, and traveling festivals, but it was no longer 138 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 1: the novelty it once was. That said, skywriting has been 139 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 1: making a bit of a comeback in recent years. Thanks 140 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,480 Speaker 1: to smartphones and social media. It's easier than ever to 141 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 1: capture and share a skywriting message, making its temporary nature 142 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: much less of a drawback. It's worth noting, though, that 143 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: a lot of the messages we see in the skies 144 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: these days aren't technically skywriting. They're examples of a more recent, 145 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: more automated technique called skytyping. Both methods send paraffine oil 146 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:00,560 Speaker 1: through the plane's exhaust to create a trail of white smoke. 147 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: One key difference is the traditional skywriting requires the pilot 148 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:08,559 Speaker 1: to control the release of the oil and by extension, 149 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: the smoke, using controls in the cockpit, but for sky typing, 150 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: the release of oil is controlled by an onboard computer. 151 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:19,560 Speaker 1: The pilot enters the message they want to type, and 152 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: the computer plots, of course, pumping out dots of smoke 153 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: to form each letter along the way. Another difference is 154 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:29,560 Speaker 1: that sky typing pilots don't fly their planes in the 155 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:33,280 Speaker 1: shape of each letter. Instead, a series of pilots work 156 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:36,440 Speaker 1: in tandem, flying across the same patch of sky and 157 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 1: parallel lines while releasing dots of smoke that together form 158 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,800 Speaker 1: the message. If you're familiar at all with old dot 159 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:47,440 Speaker 1: matrix printers, it's a lot like that. Up close, it's 160 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 1: just a bunch of broken dots, but when viewed from 161 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:53,240 Speaker 1: a distance, it looks like letters formed from solid lines. 162 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 1: As you've probably gathered, skytyping is faster, cheaper, and easier 163 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:03,319 Speaker 1: than traditional guy writing. It's also a lot less artful. 164 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 1: There's no digital assistance in old school skywriting. Instead, the 165 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: watchword is precision. The specially trained pilots have to map 166 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: out every movement they'll make in advance, each turn, roll, dive, 167 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 1: and flip of the smoke switch. Then they have to 168 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 1: carry out those maneuvers from memory while going a hundred 169 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: and fifty miles per hour at ten thousand feet in 170 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: the air. The slightest slip up could ruin the look 171 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:32,960 Speaker 1: of the entire message. If a pilot doesn't open or 172 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: close the flow of smoke at just the right moment, 173 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 1: then two letters might bleed together, or one letter might 174 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 1: end up taller or shorter than the others. In addition, 175 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,480 Speaker 1: all the letters have to run along the same straight line, 176 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,199 Speaker 1: and they have to be evenly spaced apart two. That's 177 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 1: plenty to keep track of already, but perhaps the most 178 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:54,680 Speaker 1: difficult part of all of it is that the entire 179 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 1: message has to be written in reverse. It's a little 180 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,760 Speaker 1: weird to think about, but the pilots are writing parallel 181 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 1: to the ground. They have to spell out the letters 182 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:09,160 Speaker 1: backwards so that they appear correctly, does spectators below. Similar 183 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:12,720 Speaker 1: to other forms of advertising, skywriting depends on a level 184 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,880 Speaker 1: of skill and artistry that's designed to be invisible. That way, 185 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:19,400 Speaker 1: you think about the message, not all the effort that 186 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 1: went into crafting it. However, if you take a closer look, 187 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 1: it's hard not to be impressed. Maybe even odd in 188 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:30,040 Speaker 1: the case of skywriting. It's a choreographed dance and a 189 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: painted mural all in one, and there is a kind 190 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 1: of beauty in that, even if the only real statement 191 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 1: it makes is ead at jokes. I'm gay Blusier and 192 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:45,199 Speaker 1: hopefully you now know a little more about history today 193 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:49,400 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. If you enjoyed today's episode, consider 194 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,760 Speaker 1: following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d 195 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 1: i HC Show. You can also rate and review the 196 00:12:56,760 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 1: show on Apple Podcasts, or you can write to us 197 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,680 Speaker 1: directly at this Day at I heart media dot com. 198 00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:06,400 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks 199 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:08,680 Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again 200 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in History class.