Charles Milton Newcomb

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CHARLES MILTON NEWCOMB


The Newcomb Lectures
IF you are an association secretary or a program committee chairman and you require a speaker for a dinner, luncheon, or other meeting, there are certain things you want to know about him.

It is the purpose of this booklet to tell about Charles Milton Newcomb, M.A., and his lecture work.

Mr. Newcomb calls himself a student of human behavior and his lectures deal with familiar aspects of everyday life presented from the viewpoint of a trained psychologist and served with an abundance of humor.

For twenty years he has been on the lecture platform, appearing before the leading clubs and trade associations of the United States and Canada with many return dates.  Such a record indicates that he is both an entertaining and forceful speaker.  Without doubt he is one of the best after-dinner speakers in the country.

Mr. Newcomb resigned his position on the faculty of a leading university to become the Executive Secretary of the Industrial Association of Cleveland.  This brought him into intimate touch with men and affairs in business and industry.  He was for a time a contributor to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, his daily article on the editorial page of that paper attracting wide attention.  He has been on the air repeatedly from WTAM and other radio stations.



Speaking Record
The following items will indicate how successful Mr. Newcomb's work has been—

The Executives Club of Chicago, comprising a thousand business leaders of that city, is without doubt one of the greatest luncheon clubs in America.  Mr. Newcomb shares with one other man the distinction of having spoken for this club four successive years.

No more alert and critical audiences exist anywhere than in the Advertising Clubs in our large cities.  Mr. Newcomb has spoken three times for the Cleveland and Buffalo Advertising Clubs and twice each for the Rochester, Omaha and Pittsburgh Clubs.

The old saying that a prophet is not without honor save in his own country does not apply to Charles Milton Newcomb.  In his home town of Cleveland he was this year guest of honor and speaker
 at four of the largest dinners of the year, the annual banquets of the Banker's Club, the Real Estate Board, the Traffic Club and the University Club.

The president of the Indianapolis Rotary Club, introducing Mr. Newcomb at a recent meeting of the club, said: You have become an institution with us.  This is the third year we have had you and we want you again next year.  Other officials in Rotary, Kiwanis, and other luncheon clubs have said substantially the same thing.  Mr. Newcomb has addressed Rotary Clubs in New York, Chicago, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Rochester, Syracuse, and other cities, and Kiwanis Clubs in Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit and other cities, many of them two and three times.

Association Secretaries are sophisticated individuals.  It is significant that both the National Association of Commercial Organization Secretaries and the American Trade Executive Association chose Charles Milton Newcomb to address their annual banquets this year.

The National Life Insurance Co. of Vermont holds a meeting of their honor men each year at Banff in the Canadian Rockies.  Charles Milton Newcomb spoke at their banquet this year.  He was also speaker for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company's New York convention dinner and was on the program of the Wisconsin Insurance Day at Milwaukee.

Five section meetings of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in Chicago, Detroit, and other cities had Mr. Newcomb on their programs last year.  He spoke at the dinner given in Chicago by the Western Society of Engineers on the occasion of their presentation of the Washington Medal to Orville Wright.

The greatest Safety School in the United States is under the direction of the Milwaukee Association of Commerce.  For two successive years Charles Milton Newcomb has addressed this splendid audience of about 3000 men.

A sporting event unrivalled in its class is the Gold Cup Speedboat Races held annually at Detroit.  Each year following the races an elaborate banquet is given at the million-dollar Detroit Yacht Club.  Two years in succession they have had Charles Milton Newcomb for their speaker.




The Psychology of Laughter
A Humorous-Scientific Talk Which Is Both Entertaining and Inspirational

Without doubt this is one of the most unique lectures ever offered on the American platform.  It combines three things:

First—It is a scientific lecture and as such discusses the underlying laws of laughter.
Second—It is good entertainment; the audience laughs almost continuously at the laboratory specimens introduced throughout the talk.
Third—There is a very definite and vital message which applies to every hearer and which, because of its extreme importance, never fails to carry home.


Here are some of the questions asked in this lecture.

Why do we laugh?

What is it that makes a thing funny, and why, when we say it is funny, do we laugh at it?

What causes nervous breakdowns, why are they increasing among business men, and how may laughter be used to prevent them?

Why were Abraham Lincoln and Lloyd George able to withstand the strain which broke Woodrow Wilson?

What is the purpose and meaning of laughter in our lives?

Although a scientific discourse, The Psychology of Laughter is by no means a dry discussion of principles.  Two good laughs a minute, Roars of laughter, A red-letter day, An ideal after-dinner speech, Went over with a bang, The best yet.  These are some of the comments from satisfied committees.

Last year Mr. Newcomb addressed the initial meeting of the Foreman's Safety School, Milwaukee, an audience of 3500.  Following the talk, he received this letter from the management:

Your address was 100%—and this expression is used advisedly.  For in so large a hall and before so huge an audience, it is not an easy task to make an address of such a character as to appeal agreeably to—so far as we know—every one of your hearers.

IF a man kant laff there iz sum mistake made in putting him together.—Josh Billings.




What Are You Afraid Of
An Inspirational Talk on the Philosophy of Courage


What is fear?
Why was it given to man?
Of what five things are we all afraid?
What is courage and how may it be cultivated?
What are the three antidotes for fear?

This timely lecture on the subject What Are You Afraid Of?  has met with instant success.  In a clear and forceful manner Mr. Newcomb presents an analysis of fear, shows its real meaning, and tells how it may be dealt with.

Using the same method which has made his lecture on Laughter so popular, he intersperses bits of humor throughout the talk.  There is not a dull moment from beginning to end.

Your lecture is a triumph, deserving to be heard from coast to coast.

This was the comment of Charles W. Mears, Dean of the Cleveland Advertising school, following the delivery of this lecture at the Cleveland Advertising Club where it was first given.

The Executives' Club of Chicago, hearing of the lecture, wired asking for the same talk.  Following this engagement the International News Service carried a column article about the lecture which was printed in newspapers all over the country.

Requests for this lecture from sales conferences, trade association dinners, luncheon clubs, etc., began to come in.  It has been given before many of the leading clubs of the country and for some of our largest industrial and business concerns.

Says one hearer, I have never heard a more thrilling climax to any lecture.  Your description of the incident in which Captain Oates walks out into the storm, followed by the poem 'A Very Gallant Gentleman,' was marvelous.  Your audience sat spellbound until the last word.

COURAGE is doing what has to be done whether you are fit or not, and even though the rest quit.—Harry F. Ward.




The Psychology of Alcohol
An Unusual Lecture Offering a Study of the Alcohol Motive


What are the three reasons why men drink?
What connection is there between civilization and drinking?
All men wear masks to conceal their real selves.  Why?  There are two very interesting reasons.
What is the connection between drinking and the inferiority complex?
Whence come the delusions of grandeur which the drunken man shares in common with the crazy man?

This is not a talk on prohibition which is concerned with whether or not men should be allowed to have alcohol, but answers the question why in the first place do men want to drink alcohol?

The desire for alcohol is not new.  One of the first things Noah did when he got off the ark was to plant a vineyard and when the grapes were ripe he made wine and got drunk.  Later an Arabian chemist invented the still and since then mankind has had a real liquor problem.

As an independent investigator Mr. Newcomb presents a scientific study of the matter.  Moreover there are a lot of good laughs to be had.

You won over every one of your hearers at the start.  I have heard more favorable commendation of your talk than has reached me in connection with any of our programs this year.—Milwaukee Optimist Club.

A splendid talk.  One of the most successful meetings of the season.  There was more fun and laughter in it than 'in a barrel of home brew,' as one of the boys remarked after the lecture.—Rochester Advertising Club.

An unusually sane analysis of the subject couched in Mr. Newcomb's characteristic style of apt and humorous illustrations.  The ideas are a new and wholesome departure from anything we have heard or read on the subject.  Our members were immensely pleased.—Chicago Executives Club.

DRINKING is a habit of mind.

—Jack London.




COMMENT

Clubs
Chicago Rotary Club

Jokes were fast and furious.  We hand this speaker the palm.  Tuesday's meeting was a real tonic.

Detroit Kiwanis Club

One of the most entertaining and mirth-provoking addresses ever delivered at a Kiwanian meeting.

Omaha Ad-Sell League

Gales of laughter swept the room, but behind the fun was food for thought.

Greater Buffalo Advertising Club

Your talk on 'What Are You Afraid Of?'  was 100% in every way.  We hope to hear you again in the near future.

Monroe, (Mich.) Exchange Club

Should he come again all would laugh at the same jokes—that's how good he is.

Syracuse Rotary Club

Laughter, especially for business men is invaluable and anyone who can produce it in such quantities as you did yesterday by good clean humor is a benefactor to the race.  More power to you.

Rochester Advertising Club

The surprising thing of it was that, out of all this mountainous mass of undiluted humor, there were so few stories we had heard before; and even those were so delightfully recounted that we had to laugh again anyway—harder than we did when we first heard them.

We need this chap Newcomb here at least once a twelve-month to keep our re-plasticised diaphragms from petrifying into beaver board!



Trade Associations
American Face Brick Association

A great success!  You 'delivered the goods'.

American Society for Steel Treating

Your brilliant talk contributed greatly to the success of the occasion.

National Safety Council

We shall long remember the philosophy and humor of your address at our Cleveland Safety Congress.

Natural Gas and Petroleum Association of Canada

Your humor was irresistible and the logical development of your theme was a treat.  We have never had a more interesting or entertaining hour.


Eastman Kodak Company

Our men are for you one hundred per cent.  You are right now on our list for next year.

American Hotel Association of the U. S. and Canada

Your talk at our Denver banquet made a distinct hit.  Everyone who heard you was delighted and we will be anxious to hear you again at some future date.

Purchasing Agents Association of Detroit

Never have we listened to a more interesting subject nor to a speaker who could present his message more interestingly and forcefully.

National Funeral Directors Association

Your talk on 'Laughter' went over big at our conference of State Association Executives.  They showed by their generous applause that they enjoyed every minute of your splendid address.

National Restaurant Association

Your talk was a complete success, an educational stimulant and an inspiration to our crowd.  It answered the very purpose for which we had selected the subject as a part of our program.

National Confectioners Association

I want to tell you how much we enjoyed your address at Atlantic City.  It was undoubtedly one of the most entertaining, instructive, and worth-while addresses that we have ever had at any of our annual conventions.

American Institute of Electrical Engineers

In view of the loud and prolonged laughter throughout your talk it is needless for me to tell you how much we enjoyed it.  You helped make our banquet a wonderfully successful one.

Chicago Association of Commerce

Many of our members have summed up their thoughts as follows, 'That's the kind of a talk I like to hear.  I could sit and listen to Newcomb all day.'  It was one of the most successful meetings of the year for the Advertising Council.



Bankers' Associations
The Bankers Club of Cleveland

Your talk on What Are You Afraid Of? was very much enjoyed and helped to make the occasion one of the best we have ever had.

Virginia Bankers Association

Everybody enjoyed your talk immensely, I have heard nothing but favorable comment.

Financial Advertisers Association

We greatly appreciated your splendid address, I heard most flattering comments on every hand.


Detroit Stock Exchange Annual Dinner

We enjoyed both your company and your after-dinner talk and I only wish I could pass on to you all the nice things that were said about you, as well as the requests to have you with us again.



In the Lumber Industry
Appalachian Logging Congress

Your talk caught on almost instantaneously and went over with a bang!

National-American Lumber Association

There was not a dull minute.  We have used many humorists in our time, but you will always stand at the top of the list so far as our association is concerned.

The North Carolina Pine Association

You have won a warm place in the affection of our people and unusually early calls have been made for your re-appearance a year hence.

Northeastern Retail Lumbermen's Ass'n

Your address before our Association was one of the high lights of our 34th annual convention.  I have been kept busy, ever since, answering inquiries, asking, How can we get Newcomb to come to our town?

Retail Lumber Dealers Ass'n of Pennsylvania

Charles Milton Newcomb is a remarkable humorist, but best of all, leaves something behind of lasting benefit.  His philosophy is sound and he held his audience spellbound from beginning to end.



Teachers' Associations
Michigan State Teachers Ass'n

We have never had a speaker concerning whom we have had such enthusiastic comments after the banquet.

Rochester Teachers Association

You did us all a world of good with your splendid address.  The 'Psychology of Laughter' should be heard by all teachers everywhere.



Some time ago the Delineator Magazine offered a number of prizes for the best essay on the subject What Is the Matter With Teaching?  David Starr Jordan and other leading educators were the judges.  More than 3000 essays were submitted.  The first prize of $500.00 was awarded to Charles Milton Newcomb.


Rotary Club of New York City

I want to thank you for the interesting and enjoyable talk you gave us yesterday.  We have long looked forward to having you with us and the hearty applause with which your remarks were received would indicate that our members would very much enjoy hearing you again.  You will be interested to know that the various metropolitan newspapers devoted considerable space to reporting your address.

Chicago Executives Club

It was apparent from the frequent and strong applause that you made a decided hit and any one who goes over with our Club as you did deserves to be told about it.  It is a real art to deliver a speech wherein the various ideas are woven together with a thread of continuity, at the same time lighted up with sparkles of humor to relieve the tension.

Nat'l Ass'n of Commercial Organization Secretaries

You satisfied our crowd of more than four hundred secretaries of Chambers of Commerce—one hundred per cent.  And while the laughter from the crowd seemed almost continuous there was something more than fun.  There was something left after you sat down that will remain with us for a long while.

The Milwaukee Association of Commerce

Permit us to express our sincere appreciation of your splendid address What Are You Afraid Of?  delivered at the Foreman's Safety School banquet.  This was perhaps the largest banquet in the world with an attendance of 2700.  Your talk went over in great style and all were very much pleased.



Chicago Rotary Club
This was Charles Milton Newcomb's third appearance before our club.  Few speakers have their stories so well knit together that the laughs are sustained in one constant explosion, but this is Newcomb's particular capability.  He makes you laugh and think and you carry something away with you when it's all over—in your head, not on your hip.

From The Gyrator, official organ of the Chicago Rotary Club.




To a Third Party
The following are extracts from letters written by trade association secretaries to fellow secretaries.

Nat'l Ass'n of Farm Equipment Mfrgs.

My dear Mr. ______:

From a remark made by Mr. Charles Milton Newcomb I understand that your organization has him under consideration for an engagement.  He was the principal speaker at our annual banquet in Chicago on October 13th and it affords me real pleasure to advise you that his address on The Psychology of Laughter was very well received by a large audience of men and women.  We have had high-class humorous speakers on previous similar occasions but we have had no one who made a greater hit than Mr. Newcomb.  Also he has a real message for his audience.

Yours very truly,
H. J. Sameit, Secretary,

New York State Retail Hardware Ass'n.

My dear ______:

I understand you are considering Mr. Charles Milton Newcomb as a speaker for your convention dinner in May.

Mr. Newcomb spoke at our recent banquet in Rochester—his topic was The Psychology of Laughter and he talked for forty-five minutes—that is, he talked when his audience would stay quiet long enough for him to be heard.  He could have continued for another hour and still not have lost a hearer, but he had the good sense to stop when his audience was worked up to a really high pitch of enthusiasm.

We never entertained a speaker who jumped into favor as quickly as did Mr. Newcomb and the subject he discussed gave him opportunity for a lot of truth and philosophy along with witty anecdote that got over to the crowd from the moment he uttered his first word.

Sincerely yours,
John B. Foley, Secretary,

CHARLES MILTON NEWCOMB
501 Bulkley Building
CLEVELAND, OHIO

IMPORTANT.  While Mr. Newcomb may always be reached through his Cleveland office he may be reached more directly by addressing
111 N. Franklin Ave.
DELAWARE, OHIO.