Edward Bernays's 1929 “Torches of Freedom” March: Myths and Historical Significance

Abstract

Edward Bernays's 1929 “Torches of Freedom” March has long been considered a textbook example of the effectiveness of a pseudo-event and media manipulation to advance a cause. However, an examination of news media coverage shows that that although descriptions of the event as being carefully staged are accurate, the idea that the news media fell for the event in a significant way is a Bernays-driven myth. This article argues that although there was indeed significant coverage, it was not nearly as celebratory as Bernays claimed. Moreover, the coverage indicates that the impact of the event was likely never as extensive or persuasive as Bernays and some have suggested.

Notes

“American Women Keep Knees in View, Defying Paris Edict,” Charleston Daily Mail, April 1, 1929.

Adam Curtis, “Century of Self,” television documentary series, DVD (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2002). Transcript available at https://dotsub.com/view/9cfe48bd-cc34-4aac-8d12-1723727de8da/viewTranscript/eng (accessed on February 4, 2013); 1929: Torches of Freedom, the Museum of Public Relations, accessed February 4, 2013, http://www.prmuseum.org/video-and-audio/.

Edward Bernays, Biography of an Idea: Memoirs of Public Relations Counsel Edward L. Bernays (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965), 387.

Larry Tye, The Father of Spin (New York: Crown, 1998), 33.

Bernays, Biography of an Idea, 386; Tye, The Father of Spin, 33: See also Karen Miller Russell, “Public Relations 1900–Present,” in The Media in America, 8th ed., ed. Wm. David Sloan (Northport, AL: Vision, 2011), 449; Caryl Cooper, “Public Relations, 1800–Present,” in The Age of Mass Communication, 2nd ed., ed. Wm. David Sloan (Northport, AL: Vision, 2008), 381; Amanda Amos and Margaretha Haglund, “From Social Taboo to ‘Torch of Freedom’: The Marketing of Cigarettes to Women,” Tobacco Control 9, no. 1 (March 2000): 4; Stuart Ewen, PR! A Social History of Spin (New York: Basic Books, 1996).

Bertha Hunt, the group's spokeswoman, worked as Bernays's secretary. With the exception of Nancy Hardin, there is no clear evidence that the other marchers were paid or how much they knew about the tobacco client, though the writers of several newspaper articles and columns indicated payment without citing any sources. The women were, however, clearly recruited. Bernays provides the text from a telegram sent by Ms. Hunt to “thirty debutantes” inviting them to participate (Biography of an Idea, 387).

Janice Hume, “Memory Matters: The Evolution of Scholarship in Collective Memory and Mass Communication,” Review of Communication 19, no. 3 (2010): 181–196.

Pierre Nora, Realms of Memory: Rethinking the French Past, trans. Arthur Goldhammer (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996), xxiv.

Ewen, PR! A Social History of Spin, https://home.bway.net/drstu/chapter.html.

Hume, “Memory Matters,” 189.

Bernays, Biography of an Idea, 387. Bernays also makes this argument in a video interview that can be found on the Museum of Public Relations website: http://www.prmuseum.com/bernays/bernays_video_torches.html (accessed February 4, 2013).

Jill Edy, “Journalistic Uses of Collective Memory,” Journal of Communication 49, no. 2 (2006): 71.

“Knees Freedom Is Again Proclaimed,” Lincoln (NE) Evening Journal, April 1, 1929; “Paraders Ignore 10 Girl Smokers, New York World, April 1, 1929.

Ewen, PR! A Social History of Spin, https://home.bway.net/drstu/chapter.html.

Edward Bernays, Crystallizing Public Opinion (New York: Liveright, 1923); Edward Bernays, Propaganda (New York: Routledge, 1928); Edward Bernays, Public Relations (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1952); Edward Bernays, The Engineering of Consent (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1969).

The notice provides details about Bernays's career, noting that he worked for the Committee of Public Information during World War I and then opened an office in New York City. A nephew of Sigmund Freud, Bernays was famous for using psychology in his campaigns. “Edward Bernays, ‘Father of Public Relations’ and Leader in Opinion Making, Dies at 103,” New York Times, March 19, 1995.

Ewen, PR! A Social History of Spin.

Tye, The Father of Spin, 33. The three newspapers cited to support Tye's assertion that the event was “covered in nearly every newspaper in America” were the New York Evening World, the Shreveport Times, and the New Mexico State Tribune. His other sources are the Library of Congress Bernays file, Bernays's autobiography, and a Bernays oral history report, likely the 1971 report held at the Columbia University Research Office, 473. Tye also references a United Press report but does not provide a citation.

Tye, The Father of Spin, 31.

Edward Bernays collection, Library of Congress, American Tobacco Company files (Box I: 84-101). The collection includes typewritten notes about the event.

Ibid.

Nancy Hale, who later became famous for her contributions to the New Yorker, married Taylor Scott Hardin in 1929 and moved with him to New York City, where she worked at Vogue, first in the art department and later as a writer and editor under the pen name Ann Leslie. It therefore seems reasonable to assume that she knew Edward Bernays through his media relations work. See the biography section of the Five College Archives and Manuscript Collections, Nancy Hale Papers, 1908–1989; http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmith/mnsss26.html.

Edward Bernays to Mrs. Taylor S. Hardin, May 10, 1929, Edward Bernays collection, Library of Congress, American Tobacco Company files, April–June 1929 (Box I: 84-101).

Unaddressed and undated note signed by Edward Bernays, Scrapbook 1, Edward Bernays collection, Library of Congress, American Tobacco Company files.

The majority of newspapers cited in this research were identified from the Bernays scrapbook; however, few of the clippings contain page numbers. Most of the newspaper names and dates are written, stamped, or typed and attached to each article.

To supplement the scrapbook contents, searches of ProQuest Historical Newspapers, Google News Archives, and Newspaper Archives Online were made using the search terms “torches of freedom,” “Bertha Hunt,” “Taylor S. Hardin,” “T. S. Hardin,” “Easter parade,” “New York City,” and “1929.” A total of thirty-five stories were returned; however, electronic copies of many articles published in 1929 were not available. In most cases, the stories accessed were from wire sources.

Tye, The Father of Spin, 30.

Allan Brandt, The Cigarette Century (New York: Basic Books, 2007), 82.

Ibid., 85.

Bernays, Biography of an Idea, 387, 86.

“Paraders Ignore 10 Girl Smokers,” New York World.

“Random Notes: Editorial Page of the Bakersfield Californian,” Bakersfield Californian, April 11, 1929.

“Being Different,” Ottumwa (IA) Courier, April 17, 1929.

For example, see “Smoking among Women Is Increasing,” San Antonio Light, January 7, 1929, 2; “Modern Woman Comes into Her Smoking Right,” Kokomo (IN) Daily Tribune, December 1, 1921, 9; “Woman No Longer Hides Her Cigarette: She Now Finds She Can Smoke Anywhere,” New York Times, August 28, 1927.

“Seaside Women Smoke,” Washington Post, June 22, 1915.

“Every Fifth Woman Smokes, Alderman Wants It Stopped,” Boston Daily Globe, December 25, 1925.

“Install Smoking Bench for Women,” News Journal and Guide (Norfolk, VA), July 25, 1925.

In his 1984 work on advertising history, Michael Schudson observed that although it was still uncommon, women had been smoking in public long before 1929, and that the trend was reflected in the advertising of the day. Schudson argues that although Bernays “takes credit for having significantly promoted smoking among women by this feat … his self-congratulatory claim cannot be taken at face value.” Michael Schudson, Advertising, the Uneasy Persuasion (New York: Basic Books, 1986), 197. In a footnote, Schudson remarks, “Bernays takes pride in having arranged for ten women to light up cigarettes, their ‘torches of freedom’ in the 1929 Easter Parade in New York. He smugly recalls that this created a storm of interest and front-page news stories and photos. Yet women smoking cigarettes in public had been making the front page for years without the help of Edward Bernays.”

The Jackson, Jackson, & Wagner agency website refers to his early work with Bernays. See http://www.jjwpr.com/JJW-Patrick-jackson.html.

“Century of Self.” Footage likely taken from the 1999 documentary The Smoking Years, about the history of smoking in Britain, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2171641/.

1929: Torches of Freedom, the Museum of Public Relations.

“Smoking Quarters for Women Indorsed for Lyric Theater,” Baltimore Sun, January 7, 1925; “Women's Smoking Room Opened in Woods’ Theater,” Chicago Daily Tribune, January 29, 1920; “Women's Smoking Room in Theatre,” New York Times, January 29, 1920; “Broadway Theater Will Open Smoking Room for Women,” Washington Post, January 9, 1922; “New Chicago Music Hall. It Will Have a Woman's Smoking Room and Cost $3,000,000,” New York Times, August 24, 1910.

1929: Torches of Freedom, the Museum of Public Relations.

Ibid.

“Easter Sun Find the Past in Shadow of Modern Parade,” New York Times, April 1, 1929.

This and other wire articles mentioned in this article likely ran in many more newspapers than those whose clips appear in the scrapbooks.

Bernays's scrapbooks include press release articles from thirteen sources (page numbers are not indicated, and several lack titles and dates). Some of these include: “Girls to Smoke during Parade,” Oakland (CA) Tribune, March 31, 1929; “NY Girl ‘Tells World’ She Will Puff on Fifth Avenue,” Providence (RI) Journal, March 31, 1929; “Ten Happy Girl Smokers Join 5th Ave. Easter Parade,” Pendleton (PA) Public Ledger, April 1, 1929.

8

United Press, “Girls Will Puff Cigarets [sic] in Easter Parade Today,” (newspaper name not legible), Denver, Colorado, March 31, 1929.

“Girls to Smoke during Parade,” Oakland (CA) Tribune, March 31, 1929.

Several of the articles appeared under feature titles with other short blurbs such as “Brief Happenings Overnight,” “News in Brief,” or “Flashes of Life.” Some of the papers and headlines include: “Smoke Cigarets in New York Easter Parade,” Sioux City Journal, April 2, 1929; “Girls Smoke in Parade,” Stevens Point (WI) Daily Journal; Portsmouth (OH) Daily Times, April 2, 1929; “Easter Parade Smoky,” Bismarck (ND) Tribune, April 1, 1929; “They Want Equal Smoking Rights,” Lawrence (KS) Daily Journal-World, April 1, 1929; “Equal Rights,” Bee (Danville, VA), April 1, 1929; Lowell (MA) Sun, April 1, 1929.

The photo of the Hardin couple appeared in newspapers across the country. Some of the cities represented in Bernays's scrapbook include Lincoln, NE; Springfield, MI; Atlantic City, NJ; Salem, OR; Helena, Bozeman, and Lewistown, MT; Valdosta, GA; Spokane, WA; and Grand Junction, CO. The Edith Lee photo appeared once as a stand-alone image: “Cigarette on Easter Day!” Detroit News, April 14, 1929. In the Bernays scrapbook, the three-photo spread of the Hardins, Lee, and a crowd photo appeared in nine newspapers, including those published in Bayonne, NJ; New Haven, CT; Napa, CA; Pottsville, PA; Anacortes, WA; and Warsaw, IN.

“In Gotham,” Montana Standard (Butte, MT), April 1, 1929; “Gay Colors Noted in Fashion Parade,” Washington Post, April 1, 1929.

“Easter Sun Finds Shadow in the Past.” New York Times, April 1, 1929.

“Paraders Ignore 10 Girl Smokers,” New York World, April 1, 1929. The AP photo of the Hardins appeared with one wire story in the April 1, 1929, Boston Globe: “American Women Want Freedom of the Knees.” The caption read: “Mr. and Mrs. T.S. Hardin in the Easter fashion parade on Fifth avenue. Both are smoking ‘fags.’”

The newspapers were published in New Haven, CT; Napa, CA; Detroit, MI; Anacortes, WA; Bayonne, NJ; and Warsaw, IN. Other newspaper titles were not legible.

A second photo of the same couple appears on the Museum of Public Relations website with the following caption: “Mrs. Taylor-Scott Hardin parades down New York's Fifth Avenue with her husband while smoking ‘torches of freedom,’ a gesture of protest for absolute equality with men,” accessed January 25, 2013, http://www.prmuseum.com/bernays/bernays_1929.html.

Betsy Schuyler, “Dash and Daring in Fashion's Spring Parade—New York's Smartest Greet the New Season,” Lowell (MA) Sun, April 5, 1929; Betsey Schuyler, “New York's Fashion Parade Was Marked by Dash and Daring,” Charleston (WV) Daily Mail, April 9, 1959; Betsy Schuyler, “Dash and Daring in the Fashion's Parade—New York's Smartest Set Greet Spring on ‘The Avenue,’” Olean (NY) Evening Times, April 8, 1929. Other newspapers running the articles were located in Charleston, SC; Huntsville AL; Waterloo, IA; Poughkeepsie, NY; Sheridan, WY; Ft. Smith, AR; Eaton, PA; and Wichita, KS, among others.

“Modern Crusaders Smash Sex Taboo,” Waterbury (CT) American, April 9, 1929.

New York Herald Tribune, New York World, New York Times, New York Evening Graphic, New York Telegram, New York Evening Post, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, New York Journal, New York Sun, and New York Daily News.

Paraders Ignore 10 Girl Smokers,” New York World.

“Girls Parade and Smoke, Easter Crowd Cares Not,” Evening World, April 1, 1929.

“Paraders Ignore 10 Girl Smokers,” Beacon (NY) News, April 1, 1929.

“Paraders Ignore 10 Girl Smokers,” New York World.

“Torches of Freedom,” Buffalo Courier, April 5, 1929.

Evelyn Seeley, “New York's Rich and Poor Greet Smiling Easter, Each Avenue Having Own Crowded Style March,” New York Telegram, April 1, 1929.

Harry Ferguson, “Park Ave. Easter Parade Defies Paris: Knees Come Out Openly against Edict,” Albany (NY) News, April 1, 1929. Newspapers in Charleston, SC; Lincoln, NE; Canton, IL; Oklahoma City, OK; and Boston, MA, also ran the same article.

“Knees’ Freedom Is Again Proclaimed,” Lincoln (NE) Evening Journal, April 1, 1929.

Marjorie Dorman, “Modernism, High Keynote of Easter Parade, Goes around Globe in ‘Talkies.’ Fashionable Thousands Display Many Departures from Usual Holiday Vogues—Girls Smoke on Avenue, Men Forsake Gardenias for Carnations,” Brooklyn Eagle, April 1, 1929.

Ishbel Ross, “Sunny Easter Fills Churches and Fifth Ave,” New York Tribune, April 1, 1929, 1. Similar to Hardin, it is likely that Ross knew Bernays through his wife and business partner, Doris Fleishman, who had once worked for the Tribune and moved in the same professional circles as Ross.

“Smoking Girls Hail Easter; Sensation of Avenue Show,” Evening Graphic (New York, NY), April 1, 1929.

Letter from E. H. Gauvreau to Mrs. Taylor Scott Hardin, April 8, 1929, Edward Bernays collection, Library of Congress, American Tobacco Company files (Box I: 84-101).

“Women Oppose ‘Taboo,’” Oregonian (Portland, OR), April 1, 1929; “By Chicago-Tribune leased wire.” The article also appeared in newspapers in Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA; Gifford and Reuben, ID; Seattle and Richmond Highlands, WA; and Portland, OR.

Walter Winchell, “Your Broadway and Mine,” Journal (Nejack, NY), April 8, 1929. The second newspaper is from Elmira, New York, with no title or date listed. The total number of newspapers that ran the column cannot be determined. However, a June 1929 Time article indicated that the column was widely read, leading to the Mirror offering Winchell more money (five hundred dollars per week) and fifty percent of syndicate receipts. See “The Press: Turn to the Mirror,” http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,723704,00.html, accessed July 17, 2014.

Gilbert Swan, “Life in New York,” Meridian (CT) Journal, April 11, 1929; Gloversville (NY) Herald, April 13, 1929.

Driscoll's column appears six times in the Bernays scrapbooks: Berkeley (CA) Gazette, April 17, 1929; Davenport (IA) Democrat, April 12, 1929; Fort Wayne (IN) News Sentinel, April 10, 1929; East St. Louis (IL) Journal, April 10, 1929; Waukegan (IL) News, April 11, 1929. During the late 1920s, Driscoll worked for the McNaught Syndicate.

“Women Smokers ‘Planted,’” Wilmington (DE) Journal, April 17, 1929; Topeka (KS) Capper Weekly, April 13, 1929; and Mulberry (KS) News, April 19, 1929.

Bridgeport (CT) Times, April 15, 1929.

“Eager Advertisers,” Argus (Seattle, WA), April 6, 1929.

“Voice of the People: Declare for Equal Sex Rights: Women Stage ‘Fag’ Parade,” Woodland (CA) Daily Democrat, April 10, 1929.

“Smoking on Street Gains as Fad among Smart Women of Boston,” Boston Globe, April 15, 1929. Examples of the response to the Globe editorial include Charlie Gillson, “To Smoke or Not to Smoke Is Question,” Everett (MA) Evening News and “Items in News of the Day,” Bozeman (MT) Chronicle, April 30, 1929. The writer noted that the enclosed articles “make good propaganda for cigarette makers and tobacco manufacturers.”

Newspapers from the following cities were represented in the Bernays's scrapbooks: Woodland, Ventura, San Francisco, and Santa Paula, CA; Denver, CO; Eldorado, KS; Burlington, IA; Hackensack and New Brunswick, NJ; Wilmington, DE; Sioux Falls, SD; St. Louis, MO; Haverhill, MA; Birmingham, AL; Macon, GA; Brooklyn, NY; and Bridgepoint, CT.

Thirty-eight editorial responses appeared in Bernays's scrapbooks. Examples include “Flaming Torch of Equal Liberty?” Brainerd (MN) Dispatch, April 11, 1929; “The Cigaret Bootlegger,” Boise (ID) Statesman, April 10, 1929; “Hop to It, Gals,” Tyler (LA) News Telegraph, April 12, 1929; and “Heroic Adventuring for Trivial Ends,” Kalispell (MT) Interlake, April 19, 1929.

Woman's Inequalities,” Shelbyville (IN) Democrat, April 9, 1929.

Editorial, “The Other Fellow,” Oakland (CA) Tribune, April 15, 1929.

“Women's Cigarettes as Torches of Freedom,” Hayward (CA) Daily Review, April 16, 1929.

Tye, The Father of Spin, 27.

Brandt, Cigarette Century, 82.

Different newspapers reported different numbers of marchers—between six and twelve, with most leaning toward the lower number. Some or all of the women also had male escorts, but most likely the men were not included in the marcher count.

“Youthful Nancy,” Louisville (KY) Times, April 17, 1929.

“Century of Self.”

W. Joseph Campbell, Getting It Wrong: Ten of the Greatest Misreported Stories in American Journalism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010), 189.

“25 Years Ago,” Iola (KS) Register, April 21, 1954. “Echoes of the Past: Twenty-five Years Ago,” Stevens Point (WI) Daily Journal.

“People in the News,” Titusville (PA) Herald, January 27, 1984; Clayton Haswell, “Father of PR Informs, Educates,” Farmington (NM) Daily Times, November 13, 1983; Kenn Peters, “‘Father’ of PR, Edward Bernays Thinks It's Time for Some Changes,” Syracuse Herald-Journal, April 20, 1984.

Edward Bernays, “‘Father of Public Relations’ and Leader in Opinion Making, Dies at 103,” New York Times, March 10, 1995.

Jennifer B. Lee, “City Room: Female Smokers, and a P.R. Coup,” New York Times, October 11, 2008.

Campbell, Getting It Wrong, 192.