H.W. Sears, popular lecturer

              H. W. SEARS
POPULAR LECTURER
The  Labadie Lecture   and  Amusement  Bureau, 1420   Chestnut   Street,        Philadelphia
156    Fifth    Avenue,             New    York
H. W. Sears, " The Taffy Man"
Happy is the man who finds his mission in the world. Dr. H. W. Sears found his when he began by his lectures to drive out the blues and rout the demons of grumbling with his scourge of satire, wit, and humor. Like the poet the lecturer is born, not made. Such is the inimitable. Dr. Sears with his word pictures, sound logic, true philosophy and gospel ethics, seasoned with good spirits, pathos, and soul-stirring eloquence. He is Sam Jones and Dr. Willetts in one, for he has the pungent sarcasm and brilliant gift of the one and the pathetic and inspiring power of the other. Dr. Sears is unique and without a peer of his kind to entertain and edify any audience on any occasion. He is one of the greatest entertainers and best drawing cards on the lecture platform today. Every lecture course is richer when he is in it, and every Chautauqua program is sadly defective when he is left out.     You have not heard the best until you hear him.     He is always at his best.
Subjects:
"More Taffy and Less Epitaphy" "Grumblers and Their Cure" Climbing the Mountain Before You Get to It" "Stickability"
What the Leading Platform Men Say
Frank W. Gunsaulus, Chicago, Ill., Aug. 12,1093
I have asked Dr. Sears to come to the Armour Institute of Technology, Chicago, and give his eloquent lecture on "Grumblers," to our thirteen hundred students, for the reason that I wish thern to hear and enjoy a clean, enobling, and profoundly sensible lecture; one which made me laugh more advantageously and more constantly than any lecture I have heard since the days of dear old John B. Gough, of whom the Doctor re¬minds me so much.
Thos. E. Green
I am always delighted to hear Dr. Sears. He will make you laugh a hundred times in a hun¬dred minutes, and when he is through he will not have to apologize for any thing he has said. His lectures are of the clean, humorous kind. I have had many inquiries about him the last year.
Captain Richard Pearson Hobson
I have heard Dr. Sears lecture and commend him most heartily and enthusiastically. As a humorist he has no superior.
Lou J. Beauchamp, "The Laughing Philosopher," Hamilton, Ohio
I have heard Dr. H. W. Sears in his lectures on "More Taffy and Less Epitaphy" and "Grum¬blers and Their Cure." He touched in me the fountains of laughter and tears, and won my affections, respect, and love. He is a great¬hearted, great-brained, great-souled man, and the platform needs him.
Col. George W. Bain
Dr. H. W. Sears off the platform is a very lovable man; on the platform he makes others lovable. He has a remedy for every human fault and his medicine is as palatable as ever mor¬tal swallowed. The person he cannot entertain I pity, and those he betters and blesses are many. He is worthy of any platform and of all confidence.
Dr. A. A. Willetts
Dr. H. W. Sears lectures are good for dyspep¬sia; they exorcise the spirit of grumbling and despondency; they drive all the "blue devils" out of the windows. Mingling with his irrestible merriment are most earnest and eloquent ap¬peals to true manliness and true womanliness, while his clear and reasonant voice stirs the pulses of patriotism like the notes of a bugle.
Col. L. F. Copeland, Harrisburg', Pa.
Dr. H. W. Sears should be heard everywhere; his humor is delicious, his pathos melting, his lessons valuable. May he live to be as old as the errors he combats and flourish like a green bay tree. I commend him to all lecture asso¬ciations, assembly and Chautauqua managers. I guarantee his work and will stand for his worth as a man as well as a lecturer.
A Few Words From Public Men
W. H. Gibson, Gen. Sec. Y. M. C. A. Lancaster, Pa.
Lancaster has had many men prominent in all the various walks of life, lecture before the Young Men's Christian Associa¬tion, but no one man has thus far ever won the hearts of the thousands of persons who heard him as Dr. H. W. Sears. He gave three lectures within ten days and addressed the Men's meeting- on Sunday afternoon. His geniality, big heartedness and sunshiny disposition are like a tonic and as contagious as. an epidemic. Every body went away better for having heard Dr. Sears. I certainly commend Dr. Sears to organiza¬tions looking for a lecturer who will not only entertain but do good.
B. Loneley Pres. Columbian Lyceum Bureau
For successive seasons Dr. H. W. Sears has filled lecture en¬gagements for us and has prov¬ed one of our very strongest and  most  popular  "attractions."
Edwin L. BarKer, Editor of "The Lyceumite"
I want you to tell everybody that I said that you were one of the best popular lecturers on the platform. Your whole-soul genial personality that you constantly mix with your "taffy" is good for the blues.
I always laugh and forget my troubles when listening to you, yet I always feel the beating of your big heart and know there is a lot of good in everything you say. May you keep on giving more "taffy" and good advice to grum¬blers for many, many years.
H. W. Eldvidge, Gen. Sec. Y. H. C. A., Allentown, Pa.
Dr. H. W. Sears spoke for us yesterday. He had an audience of a thousand people, and he carried them with him for an hour and a half. Never heard a man his equal, and we must have him next year. He is. the best man this season. Not a person present who was not helped and blessed, and I smile every time I think of the Doc¬tor and his fund  of stories.
W. L. Radcliffe, Sec. Y. H. C. A., Cumberland, Hd.
To the Labadie L.ecture and Amusement Bureau: You have placed not only the Y. M. C. A. but all Cumberland under last¬ing obligations to you for hav¬ing sent us Dr. H.  W.  Sears.
We can endorse him without reservation both as a speaker of religious meetings and as a lecturer. We have had nearly all the great lecturers during the past ten years and not one of them has ever surpassed Dr. Sears. I most gladly recom¬mend him to my brother Y. M. C. A. secretaries as one of the brightest men on the American platform  today.
Among the Chautauquas
Lexington   Ky.   Chautauqua
Dr. Sears' lectures are a happy combination of wit. hum¬or,  and  good  sense.
W. G. Archer, Manager Seven Hills Chautauqua
Dr. Sears lectured at the Seven Hills Chautauqua during the Assembly of 1902, and again this season. 1903. and was en¬gaged immediately by the man¬agement to return for the seas¬on of 1904. a compliment paid to no other lecturer on our platform.
Rockford (Ill.) Chautauqua
Dr. Sears had his audience convulsed with laughter all the way through his lecture last night.
Bethesda (0.) Chautauqua
Dr. H. W. Sears lectured to the largest crowd of the As¬sembly in his second lecture "Grumblers and Their Cure." It was Sears the moralist and not the humorist, talking. He con¬cluded his lecture with a peroration of the magnificence of which held his audience en-hanced. As he reached the cli¬max the applause was spontane¬ous, prolonged and loud.
F. B. Sheldon, Supt. Chautauqua, Beatrice, Neb.
I can truthfully say that dur¬ing the Assembly just closed no man on our platform gave more universal satisfaction that Dr. H.  W.  Sears.
Columbus (Ind.) Chautauqua
The lecture in the afternoon by Dr. H. W. Sears was one of the brilliant stars that illumin¬ate man's pathway leading to better and  nobler  things.
Urbana (0.) Chautauqua
One of the best lectures ever delivered  on  the grounds.
KanKakee (Ill.) Chautauqua Dr.   Sears'    lecture   yesterday afternoon     was     a     revelation. Those  who  came   to   frown   re-mained  to   laugh.
Mont Eagle (Tenn.) Assembly The largest and most appre¬ciative audience of the season greeted Dr. Sears of Illinois, who lectured last night. No better lectures have ever been heard   here.
Decatur (Ill.) Chautuaqua
The audience at the Chautau¬qua last evening was the larg¬est which has greeted any speaker at the evening program ^ince the Chautauqua was be¬gun. Dr. H. W. Sears was the attraction and no audience has ever been  better pleased.
Winona (Ind.) Assembly No  audience  was   ever  better pleased   and    more    thoroughly entertained   than    the    one  who heard   Dr.   Sears  last   night.
Delavan Lake (Wis.) Chautauqua!
There was a general demand for Dr. Sears to return here next year, and the demand has been  met.
C. E. Byrd, Superintendent Louisiana Chautauqua
We have had many of the most noted men and disting¬uished lecturers on our Chau¬tauqua platform for the last ten years, but we consider Dr. Sears the best of all.
M. L. Datfy, Platform Manager, Kankakee, Ill.
Dr. Sears' lecture is the best I have heard at any Chautauqua this   season.
J. S.  McClain,  Secretary  Lake
Madison Chautauqua,
Madison, S.D.
Dr. H. W. Sears was con¬verted in a clover field. He has been giving the world honey ever since. He can outsmile the man in the moon, and his lec¬tures demonstrate that life is worth living. His lectures con¬tain the elements that satisfy and please the audience and management  as  well.
Old Salem (Ill.) Chautauqua The big feature on Wednes¬day proved to be the lecture by Dr. Sears. "More Taffy and L.ess Epitaphy." Dr. Sears was the first and only man who held his audience to the end. He quit with several hundred more peo¬ple than when he began. The managers of Old Salem voted to have Dr. Sears return next season and give him an after¬noon audience.
Piasa (Ill.) Chautauqua
Dr. H. W. Sears was even bet¬ter than he was last year.
PRESS   NOTICES
The Cumberland   (Ohio)  Echo.
As a humorist, Dr. Sears stands in a class by himself and possesses the ability to keep his audience in a roar of laughter at his droll mimicry and original jokes.
Reading  (Pa.)  Times.
The speaker of the afternoon was Dr. H. W. Sears, the popular lecturer, who with his sparkling wit, intense earnest-ness, and dramatic eloquence, held his audience for a full hour as he presented his recipe for the true philosophy of life.
Parkersburg (W. Va.) Times.
The lecture delivered last night by Dr. H. YY. Sears at the Camden theater under the auspices of the local Y. M. C. A. was an unqualified success.
A large and intellectual audience lis¬tened to Dr. Sears' lecture on "More Taf¬fy and Less Epitaphy." The lecture was one permitting of both humor and pathos and so delighted the audience that an in¬formal reception was held at the conclu¬sion in order that the audience might meet Dr. Sears.
Peoria (Ill.) Journal.
Dr. Sears' lecture in the evening on "More Taffy and Less Epitaphy" proved highly entertaining. The Doctor is so in-genuous, so naive in his humor, so in¬tensely interesting all the way through, that he captivated his audience at the very outset and carried them through to the end without a single one feeling tired or wishing to go away. In fact, when he came to close his lecture there were many calls from the great audience to keep on. All who heard him this evening will hear him tomorrow evening, and many more will come.
The New Orleans (La.) Daily Picayune.
The crowning event of the evening was the lecture at 8 o'clock by Dr. H. W. Sears of Decatur, Ill. Every one is in love with Dr. Sears. He has become the great Chautauqua favorite. The audience yelled and cheered at the deserved tribute he paid Jeff Davis. No lecture was ever given here that was more thoroughly en¬joyed.
The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser.
Those who heard Dr. Sears last night compare him to Governor Bob Taylor. He is a great Chautauqua favorite. He lectured tonight to a large audience on "Grumblers," and held his audience spell¬bound by his matchless oratory and im¬agery. He has but few equals as a popu¬lar lecturer.
Tiffin  (Ohio)  Tribune.
One of the best lectures given in our city for years was delivered last evening by Dr. H. W. Sears, under the auspices of the local Christian Endeavor union, upon the subject "More Taffy and Less Epitaphy." The speaker is a large, port¬ly man, with a round genial face and hu¬mor in his smile. From the time he was introduced until the close, his lecture was punctuated with applause and laughter.
Bay City (Mich.) Tribune.
Dr. H. W. Sears, "The Taffy Aran," bore out his reputation at the opera house last night in the Y. M. C. A. course. His happy and funny stories caused more laughter than a comic opera. He is so firmly convinced of the success and pro¬priety of his own optimistic views that he does not hesitate to take orthodoxy by the ears and shake it, but he does it so good naturedly that the victims laugh with him.
Tn a word. Dr. Sears' idea of life is a laugh, a good laugh and caused by the right motive and directed to the right end.
Mauch Chunk (Pa.,  News.
Dr. II. W. Sears/The Taffy Man," lec¬tured before a large audience in the Y. M. C. A. Auditorium last evening. He kept his auditors in laughter almost con¬tinuously. His lecture was a truly won¬derful combination of satire, wit, humor, sound logic, true philosophy and gospel ethics brought out in soul-stirring eloquence. Should Dr. Sears some to Mauch Chunk in the future, he will no doubt be greeted with a much larger audience.