Harry Bruno facts for kids
Harry Augustine Bruno (born February 7, 1893 – died 1978) was a very important person who helped make aviation (flying planes) and boating popular. He was also a pioneer in public relations, which means he was one of the first people to help companies and famous individuals share their stories with the public.
Harry Bruno was born in London, England, on February 7, 1893. His father, Henry Augustine Bruno, worked with marine insurance, which covers ships and cargo. In 1907, his family moved to New York City. Harry was inspired by a writer named Elbert Hubbard, who taught him the importance of friendship. Sadly, both Hubbard and Harry's parents died when the ship RMS Lusitania sank on May 7, 1915. Harry was also close to his brother, Frank Bruno, who worked in newspapers. In 1972, Harry married Evelyn Denny Witten. He passed away on March 21, 1978, in Southampton, New York on Long Island.
In 1910, when he was young, Harry built a glider with his friend Bernie Mahon. He even flew it for 265 yards on Christmas Eve! Harry and Bernie first worked on Wall Street, but Harry wanted to do more. He took a course by mail to learn about advertising. He then got a job at the Herald newspaper in Montclair, New Jersey, and later became an assistant editor at the News and Graphic in Greenwich, Connecticut.
When World War I started, Harry trained to be a pilot with the Canadian Royal Flying Corps. His flight instructor was Vernon Castle, who was also famous for his dancing.
After the war, Harry worked for a while at a car advertising company. But his real passion was aviation. At that time, the demand for airplanes had dropped a lot after the war ended. Harry got a job promoting aviation for the Manufacturers Aircraft Association. He worked hard to organize air shows, highlight record-breaking flights, and encourage people to invest in flying. To make air travel safer and more common, he saw the need for better airports, lights for runways, navigation tools, and accurate weather forecasts. He also believed that pilots should be officially licensed.
In 1919, a big coast-to-coast air race was organized. At the New York air show in 1920, Harry even hired a model to pose in silk pajamas next to a plane, calling it the "first sleeper plane" to get attention! Harry Bruno was also one of the first members of a group called the Quiet Birdmen, who were pilots and aviation enthusiasts.
In 1921, Harry teamed up with Inglis M. Uppercu, an airplane maker. Uppercu's company, Aeromarine, changed Navy seaplanes into planes for passengers. Harry organized special trips for reporters to create excitement and make people want to fly. In 1922, Aeromarine started the first regular flights from New York to Miami, Key West, and Havana. This service was even called "The Highball Express." Aeromarine also offered two daily trips between Cleveland and Detroit. To get more people interested, city officials, club leaders, and reporters were given free promotional flights. Harry and pilot Durston G. Richardson even won the Glidden trophy after a 7,500-mile tour of the Great Lakes. By the time Aeromarine closed in 1923, Harry was known as a top aviation promoter.
Harry was hired by Anthony Fokker, a famous airplane designer, to promote his planes at an air show. Fokker had been associated with Germany during the war, so this was a tricky job. Harry used his skills to make Fokker's planes the star of the show.
Bruno also helped promote skywriting, where planes write messages in the sky. He had a pilot write the telephone number for the Vanderbilt Hotel in New York City. He also helped Sherman Fairchild turn aerial photography (taking pictures from planes) into a successful business.
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First Agency: Bruno and Blythe
Harry Bruno started his own company, Bruno and Blythe, with his friend Dick Blythe. One of their first big projects was the Ford National Reliability Air Tour, a race from Dearborn, Michigan, to Omaha and back. Harry also worked part-time as a program director and announcer at a radio station. In 1925, Bruno and Blythe organized air races at Mitchel Field on Long Island. To get the attention of people on Wall Street, they even staged a fake air battle over the area with "giant cannon firecrackers"!
They worked with Charles Lawrance, who built a powerful 200-horsepower engine called the Wright Whirlwind. This engine was air-cooled, which was a big deal. The agency helped make Lawrance's engines famous. Another client was Juan Trippe, who started Colonial Air Transport with airmail contracts. Later, his company became Pan Am, offering flights to South America.
In 1926, Richard E. Byrd became a client. He and pilot Floyd Bennett had flown over the North Pole, but they owed money for their trip. Bruno and Blythe arranged for their plane, the Josephine Ford, to be displayed in the window of Wanamaker's department store. This display helped them pay off their debt and earned Bruno and Blythe their fee.
Bruno and Blythe also helped Charles Lindbergh get ready for his famous flight across the Atlantic Ocean, which won him the Orteig Prize of $25,000. When Lindbergh was tired of all the reporters, he was sent to Bruno and Blythe.
Harry negotiated a special deal for Lindbergh's story with The New York Times for $125,000, but only if he made it to France. Lindbergh had asked the United States Weather Bureau to tell him when the weather over the North Atlantic Ocean was clear enough to fly. After flying for 33 hours and 39 minutes, Lindbergh landed the Spirit of Saint Louis at Le Bouget Field in Paris. Bruno and Blythe presented Lindbergh as an "everyday man" instead of a military hero. They also had to protect him from many people who wanted to use his fame.
Bruno also promoted three companies that built lighter-than-air vehicles, like airships. In 1928, he was there when the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin arrived. He also represented the company that built the ZMC-2, an all-metal airship. Sadly, Harry was also present at the terrible crash of the LZ 129 Hindenburg on May 8, 1937. He even helped pull Captain Ernst Lehmann from the burning wreckage and get him to the hospital, where he later died. Bruno and Blythe were the only company specializing in aviation publicity, so they could handle different clients even if they competed.
In 1931, Bruno and Blythe represented Wiley Post and his amazing navigator Harold Gatty for their flight around the world in the Winnie Mae. They also handled the Antarctica Expedition of Lincoln Ellsworth. They even helped raise money for Amelia Earhart.
Bruno and Blythe also worked with big companies like Beech Nut Packing Company, Standard Oil of New Jersey, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Packard Motor Car Company, and Royal Typewriter.
Promoting Boat Shows
Harry Bruno managed the publicity for the National Boat Show for 40 years, starting in 1926. He and Dick Blythe realized that people wouldn't buy boats if there weren't enough marinas (places to dock boats). So, Dick Blythe went to Miami, Florida to learn about building marinas. They wrote a guide and shared it with communities that could build marinas. They saw this problem as similar to the shortage of airports for planes. To promote Essomarine, a product from Standard Oil, Bruno hired the famous artist Ted Geisel to create a fun way to sell the boat lubricant. Visitors to the show were invited to join the "Seuss Navy," which was an imaginary but very creative and animated group.
Family Life
Harry married actress Nydia de Sosnowska in 1930, and they made their home in Montauk, New York.
Sadly, Dick Blythe became ill in 1932 and passed away in 1942 after a crash.
In 1942, Harry and Nydia bought a ranch in California and became farmers, growing dates and grapefruit. Nydia passed away in 1970 after forty years of marriage.
Before Nydia, Harry was married to Edith Lopez when he was in his early 20s. They had a daughter named Caroline, born on November 29, 1916. Caroline was his only child. His marriage to Edith lasted only a couple of years.
War Work
In 1941, Harry Bruno helped solve a big problem for the government during World War II. Companies that could supply parts for weapons didn't know what was needed. Harry came up with a clever plan: "Defence Special Trains" would travel to different communities, displaying the parts that were needed. Government agents on the train could then work directly with suppliers. This plan was quickly put into action and helped American manufacturing get a head start before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Bruno also worked with the Electric Launch Company, which built the first PT boat. He organized an event to celebrate its launch, with actor Lt. Robert Montgomery breaking a bottle on the boat.
During the war, Phelps Dodge hired Bruno to keep secret information about "Operation Pluto," a project to build underwater pipelines. After the war, Willys used his services to sell jeeps to the public.
In 1944, Harry Bruno published his autobiography and a history of aviation called Wings over America: The Story of American Aviation.
Second Agency: H. A. Bruno and Associates
In 1939, Harry Bruno was watching air races with Vincent Bendix. When Bendix asked for ideas to promote his company, Harry suggested the idea of a Bendix Trophy transcontinental air race. Bruno also promoted the Bendix automatic home laundry machine. They even hired famous actress Betty Grable and American Airlines stewardesses to pose with the machine! Bendix also convinced Bruno to move his agency offices to a fancier location at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
In 1954, Bruno reorganized his company, calling it H. A. Bruno and Associates. Russell D. Gudgeon, who had been a newspaper editor, became executive vice-president.
As a friend of James Rand, Jr., Bruno helped Remington Rand make their UNIVAC I computer more famous. Bruno suggested to Columbia Broadcasting System that during the Presidential election of 1952, the computer should be used to predict the results from early votes. The computer did a great job, which helped it become well-known and led to more sales.
Harry Bruno passed away in 1978.
