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The Man Who Invented Friendship
Merle A. Potter is the most famous American you have never heard of.
He was a newspaper man and a showman, a historical researcher and a
soldier, a radio talk show host, a humanitarian, a diplomat and an
impossible ham. His newspaper columns were read throughout the upper
Midwest, his good works spanned two continents and have lasted
seventy years. Army generals slapped him on the back, fired him, and
then rehired him. He came to know German nobility, stared into the
face of absolute evil and found goodness in the vanquished enemy. He
sponsored dozens of newspaper contests, tried to give away a monkey
and relentlessly organized charity drives. In return, all he asked
was that in the first paragraph of any article recalling his many
activities, the name - Merle A. Potter - should be prominently
featured.
He knew movie stars and everyone knew Merle. He was a most
improbable choice to be the first U.S. Army military governor of Bad
Kissingen and he accompanied combat units in vicious assaults. In
the rear areas, Merle Potter put on soldier talent shows in bombed
out theaters. He started a German - American friendship society that
evolved into the Association of German - American Cubs, an
organization that exists to this day. Yet for the hundreds of
thousands of words that he wrote, and the millions of people who
were entertained, for the countless lives that he touched, for all
the good works and all the people who would remark, “ ohh that Merle
… what will he do next? “, Merle A. Potter is an American hero
unsung.
Few things are certain in life,
we shall be taxed, at some point we shall slip the bounds of this
surly earth … and that in every library in the state of Minnesota,
there is a copy of Merle A. Potter’s book. From the newspaper morgue
clip files, the used bookshops and the internal records of the
German - American Clubs, let’s give Merle his do. Could we do less
for the man who invented friendship? Merle Addison Potter was
bright, a man of convictions and strong opinions and in the end, a
man who would realize he might be wrong and should change his mind.
Merle, we know you ‘re playing cards with Gable, Bogart and Lorre
but turn an ear as we finally sing your praises!
Merle A. Potter in the Pre War Years
Merle Addison Potter was born in Corwith Iowa in 1894. His middle
class family had the resources to send Potter to the Shattuck
School, a private military high school in Faribault, Minnesota. He
made friends here who would influence his career many decades later.
Following graduation, he enrolled at the University of Minnesota in
Minneapolis and was a member of their first journalism class. During
his junior and senior years, he was the Managing Editor of the
university newspaper. Here, he met the woman who would become his
first wife, Lucy Howe, a classmate and they were married in 1917, a
year after graduation.
Merle initially tried his hand in retail back in Iowa. Neither
selling tires or lumber seemed his true calling and with four years
of journalism training, Potter soon found an entry level position
with the Mason City Globe Gazette. Running copy from reporter’s
desks, fetching coffee and the dozens of other jobs associated with
the position of “ office boy “, may have been a great ground level
starting point but Potter had bigger ideas and for two years, he
published his own newspaper apparently as a very limited edition,
The Waukon Standard.
In 1925 Potter’s father in law died and he and his wife returned to
Minneapolis. Probably with the help of friends from journalism
school days he landed a job with the Minneapolis Journal newspaper.
The newspaper business was a crowded field in the upper Midwest in
the 1920s. Between Minneapolis and Saint Paul, no fewer than six
separate newspapers were published. The dailies hit the street at
all hours. There were morning editions, newspapers that printed only
afternoon runs, some covered the Twin Cities and immediate suburbs
exclusively, some offered state and regional coverage. Long before
television, newspapers and radio were the primary sources for daily
news and entertainment.
Merle Potter had that unique skill in writing of a breezy style,
solid research and a keen ability to, on occasion, never let some of
the facts get in the way of a good story. He was that type of guy
who would say, “ I’ll buy you a beer, then you buy me a beer … and
then we’ll get the bartender to pick up the tab.” and then he could
pull it off. The blood beat, dreary statehouse coverage or farm news
were not his calling. Potter would ultimately find his printed voice
as a movie and theater critic, a position for which he would readily
admit, he had no formal training. His first notoriety with the
Journal, however, came as a teller of stories recalling anecdotes of
Minnesota history.
101 Best Stories of Minnesota
If ever there was a man born for the task, it was Merle Potter as he
plunged into the strange, odd, funny and sometimes just plain weird
history of the land of 10,000 lakes, one million Swedes and the
occasional Ukrainian. It is not apparent whether Potter or his
editors came up with the original idea, but the readers loved it.
Potter’s history column was prominently featured in the Sunday
edition of the Minneapolis Journal .
Scoundrels were celebrated, the thieves, heroes, gun runners, Indian
affairs agents, shady ladies and pious souls all were recalled with
varying levels of accuracy and very little political correctness.
Once the story went to print, if some of the facts were off, readers
never hesitated to write in with the “ true “ version and Merle
saved all the letters.
At least a part of the research related to the stories was original,
Merle Potter appears to have spent much of the late 1920s
crisscrossing the state gathering the facts at hand, historical
societies - libraries - fishing supply stores, anyone with a good
story to tell found a willing listener in Potter. An affable public
speaker, as the stories gained a popular following so to did his
public speaking career and for a small fee, the Blue Earth Ladies
Luncheon Society or the Finnish Farmers Fraternal Front could get
Merle, in his trademark suit and wire rim glasses, recalling Anoka’s
Rum Rebellion. Long before Garrison Keillor, Merle A. Potter was
blazing the trail.
In 1931, Potter went to print with the book 101 Best Stories of
Minnesota based on the best of his Sunday columns, fact corrected
and buffed up for the hard cover market. With a populist touch and
pre publishing marketing savvy, Potter hit upon the idea to get
people talking about the book even before it was on the shelves. In
what would become a trademark Potter ploy, he announced a contest to
find a young artist to assist in the artwork that would help tell
the stories. The much heralded winner was a local student at the
University of Minnesota and the book was a success throughout the
upper Midwest. Within six months, a second edition was ordered.
Sometime thereafter, a local Saint Paul artist created a beautiful
illuminated map of Minnesota illustrated with cartoon vignettes
borrowed from The 101 Best Stories. It is believed that the poster
became a limited edition print, Merle and a friend came upon the
idea of selling the map as a jig saw puzzle. It was not a huge
success but this was the height of the economic depression and every
few dollars counted.
In 1958, the book was republished as part of the Minnesota
Centennial Celebration. If you are interested in a sample story,
check out the Park Rapids Saloon Raid.
The broadsheet newspapers in the Twin Cities were engaged in fierce
competition to get the big story fast in the 1930s. This was not
limited to just “ hard “ news, celebrity journalism and widespread
popular interest in the affairs of Hollywood and the stars was a
fast growing phenomenon and there were a lot of theaters and movie
houses in the Minneapolis and Saint Paul and an audience wanting to
know what the critics thought. A newspaper man who could generate “
buzz “ before the word was coined, was a precious find.
Merle A. Potter flatly admitted that he had no specific background
in live theater criticism or movie reviews, but he knew what he
liked and was generally plain spoken about it. This was a perfect
match for his reading audience but many writers could do this. With
the notoriety provided by the Journal history stories and book
success, Potter realized that a story about the movies was good, a
story that featured his name prominently was better and if it all
could be linked to a contest, instant success!
Interestingly, in Merle Potter clip files and article morgues
throughout Minnesota, not too many of his reviews were saved. Now
and then, a surviving opinion piece on a movie or a rather long
winded review of a play. What was saved by librarians were dozens of
newspaper clippings of Potter sponsored contests, promotional events
and charity shows. There may have been Ed Sullivan in New York City,
but the upper Midwest and the Twin Cities had Merle Addison Potter.
The Birth of the Buzz
Potter continued his work with the Journal through the late 1930s
until the paper was purchased and shuttered by the rival Minneapolis
Times -Tribune. A brief period without the spotlight and then Merle
burst upon the local stage. The “ Trib “ hired Potter and offered
him a wide ranging Hollywood - Minneapolis gossip and review column.
Apparently, the marching orders were, “ if there is no news - invent
some news - just get that Potter name in big print on the page “.
Soon there were contests everywhere:
What are the Years Best Movies: 100 winners based on their
selections coming closest to Potters selections.
How Shall We Rate the Movies: the winning system was an ’A ’ based
system - one A was bad - AAAAA was great.
First Baby Girl Born In Minneapolis Contest: Potter surrounded by
prizes waits for the New Year and the first little girl born in the
Twin Cities.
Then there was the famous Name My Column contest: the actual ground
rules for the contest are lost but Potter wanted something short and
pithy. He certainly was not short of ideas but really wanted to draw
the public in and well over 125,000 entries were received. Potter
was the sole and absolute judge with prizes provided by local
merchants in exchange for an in print plug. Here, a very partial
list of what was at stake: a $50 dollar sack of Occidental flour,
Emerson radio, Dinty Moore ham, a new men’s or lady’s hat, a men’s
or lady’s wallet, lady’s beauty treatment and … far down the list
but there nevertheless, a free goat, a free live hog and, in a cage,
a gift from the comedy team of Laurel and Hardy, who had passed
through the Twin Cities, a monkey purchased from the local zoo.
Potter realized, the monkey in many ways, was the star of this show
and as the contest progressed, the animal was prominently featured.
Then a crisis, it escaped and was running free in the huge Orpheum
Theater. This propelled a few more columns, should a new contest be
started for the person who captures the beast? It all ended well in
the end. The winner of the column naming contest was a very
photogenic local young woman prominently displayed with a delivery
truck full of prizes, across a full page in the Tribune. There were
photos featuring the girl, the goat, hog and the delivery truck, and
even the girl and the monkey. The winning column name: Your Times.
There were newspaper junkets to Hollywood with the critics from the
surviving Twin Cities papers boarding a railcar together for a few
days of cards and gossip before arriving at the Mecca of media buzz.
There was a much publicized feud with a local stage actor; Potter
wrote he could do just as good a job in the role. After many columns
celebrating the made of print spat, Potter got his chance. He would
play the role of Jeter Lester in Tobacco Road and everyone would let
the audience decide. Newspaper were sold, the crowds loved it and
there were handshakes when it was all done.
There were short articles featuring photos of Potter and various
stars as they visited the Midwest to publicize new releases. There
were Potter sponsored and hosted talent shows and a very memorable
series of Christmas movie cartoon shows for local children hosted by
the owners of a Minneapolis movie theater chain. As expected, Potter
was the Master of Ceremonies, all widely publicized in the Tribune.
Potter even organized a local talent pageant that visited the
Minnesota State Prison during the holidays to bring some cheer to
the otherwise gray lives of the inmates. Dawes Potter, one of
Merle’s sons, recalled many years after these events, the Christmas
shows for both the children and the inmates were among his father’s
favorite memories of the time.
In this immediate pre World War II period, Potter became involved
with a grass roots charity drive in the upper Midwest that aimed to
bring relief to the people of Finland who had suffered greatly
during their war with the Soviet Union in 1939. It was an activity
that offered limited publicity but affected Potter greatly.
Merle A. Potter was in print, on the local radio and feted by the
National Association of Motion Picture Critics. He was even
appointed as the upper Midwest Regional President of the
organization This was very much the high point of his career. And
then it suddenly ended. Newspaper consolidation in the Twin Cites
occurred again with the rival Minneapolis Star purchasing the
Tribune and surprisingly killing Potter’s column. Although the
depression was ending, Potter was without a job and prospects with
the surviving Twin Cites papers did not appear good. He accepted a
job in 1940 with The Minnesota Amusement Company, a theater and
movie house holding company run by a prominent businessman Benjamin
Berger.
Berger was a wildly successful businessman in the Twin Cities.
Beyond the theaters, film distribution business and local
restaurant, he owned in later years both the Minneapolis Lakers,
forbearer of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minneapolis Millers, a
semi pro hockey team. He was a leader in the local Variety Clubs
that had often featured Potter as a speaker so when he heard Merle
had lost the newspaper column, he offered the job of managing a pair
of Berger theaters. Merle accepted but it was not a good match.
Success was measured by box office receipts against theater costs
and Potter, as good as he was with publicity, was not a ledger sheet
kind of guy. As America entered the second full year of World War
II, Potter was looking for an exit and in Berger’s biography, Merle
A. Potter is not mentioned |
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Our earliest
image of Merle A. Potter as an adult, 1930.
-- Dawes Potter |
From the 1911
Shattuck yearbook, a view of the Crack Squad with Cadet Potter at
center, back row.
--Shattuck
School |
An early 1930s
image with Merle Potter, second from left, and other movie
critics boarding a train to New York City on a press junket.
--Stefanowicz |
In Hollywood
with Clark Gable.
--Stefanowicz |
Gable in costume straight from the set while filming China
Seas with Potter.
-- Dawes Potter |
Kids, dogs,
babies - Potter with local Minnesota actress and four footed co - star.
--Stefanowicz |
Publicity
still from the First Baby Girl Born After the New Year in Minneapolis
promotion.
--Stefanowicz |
Merle Potter
loved working with kids, this photo recalls a production of Rip Van
Winkle staged at the University of Minnesota featuring local school kids
with Potter giving pointers.
--Stefanowicz
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Potter in Hollywood on the set of one of the Blondie movie
shorts. These two reel movies were very popular and the
Journal tied the movie ads to the comic strip of the same
name that ran in the ‘ funny papers ‘. Arthur Lake and Penny
Singleton are the featured actors.
--Stefanowicz |
The Jeeter
Lester stunt with actor John Barton as Jeeter at left, then Potter and
the director Rick Lee. Potter challenged Barton to let him play the role
one night and Barton accepted.
--Stefanowicz
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Barton and
Potter, both in costume in the play Tobacco Road.
--Stefanowicz
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Potter with
Hollywood actors as they passed through the Twin Cities. From left, Buck
Herzog, Potter, Dorothy Lamour and Keith Wilson.
--Stefanowicz
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This photo was
not in the best of condition, Bob Hope at left tugs on Potter’s ear,
then Merle and unknown actress in Hollywood.
--Dawes Potter |
The things a
newspaper man had to do to land the story! Potter with Alan Dinehart and
Glenda Farrell enjoy breakfast while waiting for the morning papers and
breaking reviews of the new play ‘ Thanks for My Wife’.
--Stefanowicz
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Another
successful promotion as Potter escorts the two first place winners of
his Talent Hunt radio contest to Hollywood and on to the set to meet
Spencer Tracy.
--Stefanowicz
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Merle with a
group of satisfied customers at one of his annual Children’s Christmas
Movie Parties in Minneapolis.
.--Stefanowicz
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Potter feted
by the National Movie and Theater Critics Organization at an awards
ceremony.
.--Stefanowicz
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Potter handing
out checks to the winners of his radio based Movie Quiz promotion in the
late 1930s
.--Stefanowicz |
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