Kroger Babb
Howard W. Kroger Babb was an American film and television producer and showman. His marketing techniques were similar to a travelling salesmans, with roots in the medicineshow tradition. Selfdescribed as Americas Fearless Young Showman, he is best known for his presentation of the 1945 exploitation film Mom and Dad, which was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2005.
Babb was born in 1906 in Lees Creek, Ohio, USA . He earned the nickname Kroger either from his childhood job at the grocer of the same name or from his fathers preference for B.H. Kroger coffee. Babb held a number of jobs during his youth, gaining a mention in Ripleys Believe It Or Not for refereeing a record number of youth sports games. He started out with jobs in sportswriting and reporting at a local newspaper in his 20s, and even showed signs of his later work while showcasing Digger ODell, the living corpse, but first achieved success after his promotion to publicity manager for the ChakeresWarners movie theaters, where he would create different kinds of stunts to lure audiencesfor example, a drawing to award two bags of groceries to one ticket holder at selected theaters. Another gimmick was to find a furniture store window where a bedroom suite was on display, and there Babb would place a large sign reading Win a bedroom suit . This always ensured a packed house, and the lucky
Source: Wikipedia