[78-L] wanted EJs biography Edward J Smith Eddie Smith

[Donna Halper]

On 3/31/2023 9:27 PM, Kristjan Saag wrote:
> I know you just quoted the article.
> And who was cheating who we'll never now. But it's a bit worrying
> imagining a press agent/ collector deliberately lying about historical
> facts in order to get a larger audience.

Sad to say, hype and exaggeration are very old art forms-- P.T. Barnum 
may not have really said "there's a sucker born every minute" but he 
certainly shared that belief. There were MANY performers who made up 
large portions of their history, or exaggerated their achievements. Many 
movie stars, stage actors & actresses, and musicians of the 78 era found 
that a little hype went a long way. (And even an inventor like Marconi 
could be masterful at manipulating the press to get better coverage...) 
Anyway, in Smith's case, he never claimed to be a professor-- but as an 
"expert" on recorded music, and a former editor of several respected 
publications, he probably was perceived as very knowledgeable. No doubt, 
folks didn't realize he had been a publicist. They assumed he was being 
honest in the talks that he gave, and it was a much less skeptical era, 
so he probably got away with what he claimed about Jenny Lind.


-- 
Donna L. Halper, PhD
Associate Professor of Communication & Media Studies
Lesley University, Cambridge MA