Compton Advertising, inc.

Variant names

Biographical notes:

Blackman Company: The Blackman Company was founded by Oscar Blackman and Frank Hermes in 1908, and became known for its 60-year handling of the Procter & Gamble company beginning in the 1920s. In 1935, the company was purchased by its employees Richard Compton (President), Leonard Bush and Alfred Stanford, and two years later was renamed Compton Advertising, Inc. After a period of marked growth during the 1950s and 1960s, Compton merged in 1977 with the Saatchi & Saatchi agency, and was ultimately bought out by that company in 1982. In 1984 Compton was renamed Saatchi, Saatchi & Compton; in 1986, the company was renamed Saatchi & Saatchi.

Blackett-Sample-Hummert: The Blackett-Sample-Hummert Company was founded in 1923 in Chicago. Beginning in the late 1920s, the company became known for its work on behalf of Procter & Gamble soap products, producing daytime radio dramas promoting the products; these became known as soap operas . Some twenty years later, in 1948, the company relocated to New York City, a hub of television broadcasting. The company eventually became known as Dancer Fitzgerald Sample and was purchased by Saatchi & Saatchi for $75 million in 1986. The two companies merged soon after to form the subsidiary company Saatchi & Saatchi DFS Compton.

From the guide to the Compton Advertising, Inc. Records, 1919-1956 and undated, (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University)