Background

Earnest Elmo Calkins was born on March 25, 1868 at Geneseo, Illinois, United States; the son of William Clinton Calkins and Mary Harriet Manville. His first name was suggested by a sentimental aunt to signify that he was a pledge or "earnest" of others to come; his middle name recalled the hero of a romantic best seller of the post-Civil War period, St. Elmo. Shortly after Calkins was born, the family moved to Galesburg, Ill. , a country town then emerging from its pioneer state. Calkins' father entered the practice of law and became city attorney, but was chiefly remembered by Earnest for his skill at pinochle and billiards, his frequent absences, and his somewhat uncertain provision for the family's needs.

Education

Earnest attended public school in Galesburg and graduated with the B. A. from Knox College in 1891, but profited little from his formal education because he could not hear his teachers, participate in classroom work, or enter into extracurricular student activities. Reading omnivorously, Calkins in effect educated himself.

Career

Once he finished college, he became a typesetter at the local paper, earning $USD10 (or about $272 in current dollars) per week. It was supposed to be his life's vocation. He was stimulated by the first publication devoted to advertising, a small periodical named Printers' Ink. Calkins gleaned ideas from the magazine, reinforcing his notion that the design of typography was important, He mustered up the courage to suggest a few of his ideas to the local merchants up and down Main Street in Galesburg, who welcomed his input. He experimented with type and layout in those local advertisements.

Calkins founded his company while writing copy in New York for $35 a week. In 1902 he and Ralph Holden decided to try their luck opening up their own small advertising shop. With Calkins’ talent, they soon became successful. He was the brainchild behind the "Force Food" character, Sunny Jim, and "Miss Phoebe Snow from Buffalo, " the young woman dressed in white in the Lackawanna Railroad ads.

The agency itself became an innovator for its time. Under the skillful direction of Calkins, it was credited with devising the first complete plan for an advertising campaign. Also, it was the first firm to merchandise an advertising campaign to salesmen and dealers and to have an internal typographical and art department.

When Calkins died at age 96, Advertising Age headed his two-column obituary, "Giant of Creative Advertising, " commemorating a man whose brilliance shaped advertising’s formative years.

Achievements

• He is known as one of the founders of Calkins and Holden advertising agency. In 1925 Calkins received the Edward W. Bok gold medal for his pioneering efforts in raising the standards of advertising. Calkins’ various accomplishments earned him Harvard University’s Edward Book medal, which was inscribed, "to the individual who has done the most to raise the standards of advertising. "

Works

More photos

• book

  • They Broke the Prairie (Prairie State Books)

    (        First published in 1937 in honor of       the G...)

  • The Business of Advertising (Classic Reprint)

    (FOREWORD TIn: fir:sL c(litiotl of (I ~Iodcl'l A(h'crli~jl...)

  • Louder Please! The Autobiography Of A Deaf Man

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • The Advertising Man
  • And Hearing Not: Annals of an Adman

Views

Quotations: The famed copywriter Earnest Calkins once said, "Advertising is the supreme flowering of a sophisticated civilization. "

Personality

Calkins was a handsome man of dignified bearing. Outgoing by nature, he was barred by his deafness from the easy social intercourse he greatly desired, but he reached out through correspondence and his writings to those who shared his interests and to those who shared his handicap.

Quotes from others about the person

• He was also praised as "the one who more than any other single man brought dignity and stature to our business" by the Art Directors of New York.

Connections

On May 5, 1904, he married Angie Cushman Higgins. They had no children.

Father:

William Clinton Calkins

Mother:

Mary Harriet Manville

Wife:

Angie Cushman Higgins

colleague:

Ralph Holden