Roy Gover was in the Belli Building in the early 1960s. He was a super layout artist, but is now known for his personality and his paintings (available on Etsy). Roy was living in Tamalpais Valley, Marin County, with Rex Simmons at that time. Rex and Roy had already worked together in London and their first pranks were there — like airbrushing white paint on the toes of the shoes of the artist who worked behind them — and — shooting paperclips across to a neighboring window where a conference was taking place.
When I met Rex, these stories were told to me:
I was not a witness, the locations of several office-pranks were located at ADS (Allen, deSt Maurice & Scroggin Advertising).
Garlic in the airbrush — George Cohoat photo retouch artist at ADS Advertising.
How this jape was performed, I’m only guessing, that when a bit of garlic juice was added to George’s air brush, it might have been after a big Italian lunch for them all, so that the pungent smell was in the air. George got back to his work. it was lucky that George didn’t lose his job. The airbrushed photograph went out the door and was delivered to the client for its final approval. It was on time and visually, it was perfect! No one knew of its clients reaction to its smell!
Here you see Rex, and that’s me (party, party), and George Cohoat.
Two other pranks in that advertising agency’s art department, went like this:
There would be a box of chocolates, given for the enjoyment of ADS art department of maybe six persons. When there was just one chocolate left in the box, Rex would skillfully take his exact knife and carve out the bottom of the chocolate — scoop out the sweet center and then fill the space with the contents of a ketchup packet placing it back in the box, the whole department would wait — until someone from the rest of the agency would waltz in saying “Awww, look, just one tiny piece of chocolate, left.” — a second more —-and then — “GAAAAA!“
Salt in the sugar packet was the other. The victim, also the next unsuspecting person — at the coffee maker.
These photos show Rex of the conniving mind. This occasion was a painting party (about ten of us) at Dave and Jan Nelson’s home. Dave was the lettering artist at Logan, Carey since 1958! (I could say that all the bottles behind Rex were there because the cabinets were also being painted.)
Another prank that Rex played, was in the late 1960s. The agency was on Kearny Street at Maiden Lane. An Account Executive at that time was Jim Nichols (who many years later became the Staff Commodore Jim Nichol (1978) St. Francis Yacht Club).
Rex got Peter Guilliam, his neighbor and good friend, to make constant phone calls to Jim Nichol, claiming to be his old friend with wife traveling west to visit at the Nichol’s home.
Rex was sitting not far from Jim when the calls came in. Others in the agency were also in on the ruse.
Jim could be heard trying to jump into the phone conversation, but Peter would talk over him, describing the wife and kids and the relationship that didn’t make any sense to Jim.
All was revealed at some point.
One evening, as a guest of Kirsten (Sinclair) Nusser — my friend and fellow graphic artist at Vicom Associates — I happened to see Jim as he was leaving the SFYC. I stepped up to introduce myself by mentioning Rex. Jim laughed at the memory brought up by Rex’s name.
(I have no photos of Jim Nichol.)
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Vic Marcelli remembers this one:
Dear Annie & Dick,
Annie, you might remember I shared an office with Rex Simmons, two down from yours at Vicom/FCB. I’d never met one as charismatic as Rex, we hit it off immediately. He was a prankster you know and shared an example he’d perpetrated at a previous Agency:
The ‘RoloRex’ Caper
Seems an associate (Larry Nielsen) in the next cubicle had played a prank on Rex and he (Rex) was determined to return the favor. Rex waited for the right moment, Larry’s vacation, then nabbed his Rolodex.
Rex then meticulously, over counties hours, duplicated and substituted every Rolodex card, same handwriting, pen style, color, even stains. then placed the substitute back. For several days after Larry returned, Rex could barely conceal his giggles at the frustration emanating from the adjoining cubicle at every wrong number dialed. Rex had changed one numeral in every phone number on the Rolodex.
Warm Regards,
Vic Marcelli
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Hi Ann,
One of our clients at Scroggin, Reed Advertising hosted an annual Christmas Party. With a gesture that seemed flattering to me at the time, Scroggin said he wanted me to represent the agency that year at the client’s Christmas Party. He gave an excuse why he couldn’t make it and said it would give me and the client a chance to socialize outside the agency environment. I graciously accepted and felt honored, since I was still the new kid in the agency. I had only met the client a few times when presenting some layouts. I told Scroggin that my wife had made another commitment and couldn’t accompany me. He said no problem. It was being held at their Sausalito offices and manufacturing facilities. What I didn’t know was the ad manager was a heavy drinker and partier. After awhile, she was sloshing her drink all over her shoes, her dress, my shoes and my sports coat and slacks, giggling most of the evening as she tried to use me for support and balance. By the time the party was coming to a close, I was propping her up to keep her from falling over onto me or the floor. She was absolutely plastered, and as I soon discovered the other guests were trying to avoid her. I was caught between trying to avoid her and risking offending her, or play along the best I could, without getting too soaked in alcohol or encouraging her attention. At that point, the latter seemed to be the wiser option. Fortunately, I didn’t get stopped on the way home for a DUI. When I returned to work the next week, Scroggin and Reed were trying to keep a straight face but couldn’t, after asking me for a report on the evening. They both were in on it, and laughingly commented, welcome to the A.E. world, informing me it was my initiation for future client relationships. After that, I became much more cautious.
Those years at Scroggin, Reed Adv. gave me a good foundation in handling my own business. One bit of advice that Scroggin gave me early on, was, “Never ASSUME anything, it makes an ASS out of U and ME.” It also worked for me many times when freelancing.
Tom Watson
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Funny story:
It was in about 1964. Woman’s Day was celebrating its annual “Hard Cider” party in Mill Valley. Herb Briggs was down by the stream behind a tree relieving himself from several cups of the cider. Priscilla Hokanson came wandering down to the stream, and when Herb looked up, he saw her and jumped into the stream, breaking his leg. Paramedics were called and Herb was taken to a hospital to be treated. Priscilla never saw Herb until he yelled when he hit the rocks.
Richurd Somers
(Y&R S.F., N.Y. & L.A. 1963 – 1968)
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I am thinking about one time when we (the writers) took everything off the walls of every art director’s office in the Creative Department at McCann-Erickson. Larry Duke, Boyd Jacobson, Jim Millman, John Holmes, etc. etc. came back from lunch to find their offices completely empty. This was a major event for Boyd Jacobson because he had stuff on every wall and the ceiling of his office.……now it was a clear, white space.
We even cut styrofoam the size of his door and masking taped it over the opening. So when he opened his door to step into his office, he walked into a slab of styrofoam.
Without reacting to this event…Boyd calmly took an exacto knife and cut a “doggie door” at the bottom…and crawled into his office.
Thanks.
Stay well,
Todd Miller
Since once again, the art directors let us down, Don Hadley and I were forced to create our own layout.
Botsford Advertising — 1972 (Another 3‑hour lunch.)
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Oh, geeez. When did this happen? I guess sometime in the early ‘70s. So, I was working as an AD. for an agency in downtown San Francisco.
My boss and current Creative Director was kicked upstairs and became Master and Commander of Creative Services or something like that which meant we didn’t see him much any more.
As a result, they hired a replacement CD and we called him “The New Guy”
After several weeks, we noticed The New Guy never went out for lunch break. He always had lunch in his office brought in by his female friend. His girl friend? Who knows?
Anyway, after several weeks of in-office lunches, the grownups upstairs got wind of the in-house lunches and raised objections because the lunch delivery person was actually employed by an agency that was one of our largest competitors.
The execs were so shocked at the possibility of big industrial spying going on here.
They swiftly brought the hammer down and decreed that no employee of ANY other agency will ever be allowed on the creative department’s floor. EVER! Period!! NO EXCEPTIONS!
Problem solved.
The following day, on my way to the elevator, out of the corner of my eye, l noticed a sailor with a big mustache. He was walking in the crowd and heading for our office. I didn’t think much of it until I noticed the sailor was carrying a picnic basket. Then it hit me. That sailor was not exactly in a regulation uniform. In fact he looked more like he was out of a Gilbert & Sullivan Operetta.
It was our industrial spy (girlfriend) heading towards the New Guy’s office.
Yup, I was right. When I came back from lunch, there was a sailor having lunch in the New Guy’s office.
PROBLEM NOT SOLVED.
But a wonderful display of creativity and the
Costume was glorious. Actually, I don’t think many people really noticed but they didn’t fool me!
I was never sure if the issue was solved or not
but I never saw the sailor again and the New guy
soon left the agency. Perhaps to join the Navy.
Bill Stewart
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In the early 1960s, Dick Moore and Fred Meinke had an art studio, Meinke Moore Studio. Originally on Commercial Street, the last location was at 1841 Powell Street. Dick recalls that Fred “Mink” Meinke could play classical music on his air-brush. Included is a photo from 2001 of Dick and Fred, when Fred created a series of stained glass windows for his church.
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And one, last, photo-retouching story was a job that I witnessed as it was delivered to Bob Buechert when Klempner Advertising was located in SF at the Wharfside Building. The photograph by Vano Wells Fagliano Photography, Inc. was of a subject showing tubing on medical equipment. Th
e photo needed correction only in the area showing the tubing.
We never knew who had their hand at the correction, but what Bob and I viewed was —-white paper cut to the narrow width of the tubing and pasted onto the photograph. We couldn’t believe it! Luckily, there was time to have it all done again, correctly. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -
Hi Ann,
Here’s one for you…
I think it was about 1966 I was working at DFS with Gig Gonella. Gig had done a four color newspaper ad for a new client and it was on such a tight schedule that the agency was not able to see proofs before it was sent to the publication and was processed into the paper for the following day.
Finally, after 5 o’clock the proofs arrived at the agency and the proofs on gloss paper looked great but the proofs on newsprint looked horrible !
It was a four color photo ( I can’t remember the product ) but I think it was a hi key photo with a lot of subtle aspects ( I think it was a woman’s cosmetic of some kind) and like everything Gig did it was very classy and elegant however it looked terrible on newsprint.
The agency “suits” We’re freaking out as it was the first job for an important new client.
Someone came up with the idea of going to the ad managers house in Burlingame at about 5:00 am and grabbing the guys newspaper off his front lawn and taking out the page with the bad ad and replacing it with the 4 color proof on gloss paper from the engraver and folding the paper up and putting it back on the guys front lawn.
Gig and the account rep were chosen to be the guys to do the deed.
When everyone started to show up for work at 8:00 or 9:00 Gig and the account guy were already there and they were dressed like Ninja’s in all black.
Maybe it was one of those “you had to be there“ things but we all thought it was hilarious ( at least the people in the creative dept. ) Naturally all the suits were still freaking out.
Later in the day the ad manager from the client called to say how fabulous the ad looked. ( little did he know )
Chris Blum
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(Herb Briggs in the elevator. This has been told, previously.)
The creative section of the agency — the copywriters and artists — spent a great deal of time thinking up pranks. Any secretary who went down the hall to the creative department always watched carefully before passing a doorway. Fixative, that could be lighted with a match and
projected into the hall like a flame thrower, was a favorite weapon to be used on passing secretaries. We hardly looked up from our typewriters when we heard screams. Herb never failed to call his good friend, Mik Kitagawa, on Pearl Harbor Day, rail at him about the Japanese attack, and hang up without identifying himself.
One memorable day, several of the creative staff got together, duct taped Herb to a desk chair, rolled him to the elevator, left him inside to be seen by everyone, and pressed the “down” button. This lasted for at least 10 minutes. We gathered around the elevator door, laughing and shouting encouragement to Herb when the elevator opened at our floor; waving when the doors closed.
Lee Riney
(There are no photos available of Herb Briggs.)
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(Also previously reported on Geezers’ Gallery.)
Oh, yeah! One story about my tie: I was repping artists in Chicago, with a studio. Some of the guys grabbed me and put me on the big paper cutter and cut my tie off. I left it on and got a lotta laughs from art directors that afternoon. Things like this happened often. They were a crazy bunch.
Murray Hunt
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Well, this is more humorous rather than “funny”…
When I was at Artworks my biggest client was Crown Zellerbach. I was the rep and the designer.
Some of my design samples for CZ:
Don McKee found out my middle name was “Starr” so had cards made with that name on them. Two of the contacts at CZ jokingly called me “Brenda” (as in “Brenda Starr” comics/ reporter) And they never called me Gale, so when a third contact met me she kept calling me Brenda…NEVER knowing my real name. (The other contacts thought that was funny)
Gale McKee
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Hi, Ann.
I wish I had a picture, but my favorite insane moment was when IVAC first came to our agency. When we had pitched to them, they seemed like nice affable people. Not stuffed shirts. We were looking forward to our interactions with them as a client.
But there was a problem when a large group of them came to our office at 901 Battery to give us in-depth input on their product line. One after another, they got up and put us to sleep. The products were fine. We needed the learning, but the atmosphere was stifling.
Judy Craig was sitting across from me at the conference table. We looked at each other with a “we gotta do something about this” look. So I nodded to her to leave the room. We each exited our side of the conference room and met to work out some way to liven the place up.
And we did. We switched clothing, her pearls and all.
We went back in as Tom Spooner was up at the board. It took him about four minutes or so to realize that something big was wrong here. He stopped, shook his head and proclaimed “What!”
I spoke up in a clear straightforward manner to say the the meeting was very boring and we simply had to make it more human. The IVAC people laughed, applauded and it was smooth sailing for the rest of the meeting, our lunch together and a great long-term human relationship.
Sometimes you have to do things like that.
Best,
Les
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Wow! I was there at the agency when all that Les described above, happened — I did not know.
Yes, this client, IVAC, did turn out to be a long-term of creativity for Lester and his art department. We were initially into a campaign starting with Uncle IVAC, My layout of one portion of the poster was approved and then the finished poster was sent to request testimonials regarding the advantages of IVAC in hospitals. A follow-up poster, (first a caricature of one of IVAC reps, then finished art of another. Each seemed like great persons, possibly they had been at the (above) meeting. Some of the assignments that followed, are also shown here.
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Below, for our 2022 page. i show the “then” and “now” images of the eight of our membership who sent in their remembrance of either a prank or unusual workplace scenario.
Ann Thompson
