TAKEN AT THE FLOOD: The Story of Albert D. Lasker

by John Gunther ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 24, 1960

The eminent John Gunther has written a long, well-rounded biography of the amazing man who made advertising what it is today. Albert D. Lasker is known to Madison Avenue as the master of the hard sell, a man whose intense personality dominated an entire industry for over four decades. Through a life of prodigious successes, disillusion and fruitful rebirth, Albert Lasker made $45,000,000 by sheer brain power. A thwarted newspaperman, Lasker was given a position by Lord & Thomas as a favor to his well-to-do father; he came to his new job with a strong dislike for advertising and its moguls. But the dislike soon changed to passionate devotion, and by his early twenties he was drawing $50,000 a year, and while still in his thirties, he became sole owner of Lord & Thomas, drawing a million a year before the advent of the income tax. A brilliant and creative mind served him well as he changed the habits of millions of Americans. In 1910 when a superabundance of citrus fruit plagued the Sunkist Growers of California, Lasker evolved a fantastic campaign to make ""orange juice,"" then still a novelty. Some of his favorite slogans were ""Keep That School Girl Complexion"" for Palmolive Soap; ""The Grains That Are Shot From Guns"" for Quaker Oats; and the slogan of slogans, ""Reach for a Lucky Instead of a Sweet."" With clever foresight, he made smoking respectable for women, co-invented the four-door car with the president of Studebaker, and spent a large sum of money to find a way of growing grass on West Coast golf courses, previously believed impossible. He also helped defeat the League of Nations, supported One-World Willkie, cleaned up baseball, spent a year trying to save Leo M. Frank from Atlanta lynch laws, opposed Cox and then became his close friend. In spite of all of these activities and accomplishments, Lasker managed to elude the public eye. There is no question that Gunther's proficient biography will not only introduce him- but make him very familiar to the mass market that he created and manipulated.

Pub Date: Aug. 24, 1960

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1960

Categories: NONFICTION