Waite or Not?

kwaw

Damn, I guess I never realized how cruel that review actually was. It's mighty cold, insulting someone's job like that. I always thought it was an idiom or something, insinuating Waite was frothy and without substance, I never imagined he was telling him "don't quit your day job."

Well, the joke is on Crowley in the end, in as much as Waite was able to sustain a living from his writing, which is more than Crowley was ever able to do (except maybe perhaps for a short period as editor of the International during WW1, supplemented by a little spying on the side).
 

ravenest

In as much as his advertising copy portrayed Horlick's Malted Milk as some sort of fix-all elixir; but in that he was simply emulating typical unregulated advertising strategy of the time.

quote:

From February 1898, for a period of some five years, both London and provincial newspapers were bombarded with a constant stream of brief paragraph announcements--advertisements extolling the virtues of Horlick's Malted Milk. They recommended the drink as a cure for dyspepsia, malnutrition, and influenza, as a means of preventing tuberculosis, and as a specific to 'restore balance to deranged constitutions'. Malted Milk would give stamina to cyclists, restore overworked clergymen, business-men, and 'brain workers', and 'spread health instead of typhoid-which cannot always be said of cow's milk', it was presented as a significant factor in winning the South African War, while those who did not drink it appeared to be in imminent danger of serious illness or death. One of the second series of 'paragraphs' is typical:

THE CHILD LOOKS LIKE A CHANGELING. It is quite shrunk and shrivelled; its eyes seem dim; its skin is clammy; it wails rather than cries. And it was such a bonny baby a few weeks back. What can have come over it? In a case like this you may be quite sure that the mischief lies in its food. Give it Horlick's Malted Milk, and you will soon find that it is not a changeling, but your own bonny baby once more. Horlick's Malted Milk is the best food for children in health and sickness. It has saved many little lives when they seemed past all medical aid. All like it, all thrive on it. 'Your chemist will supply it ...

These advertisements had one thing in common: they were all written by A.E. Waite.

The choice of Waite as a copywriter was due to James Elliott, who had set up as an advertising agent after the collapse of the publishing house and had somehow acquired the Horlick's account. So impressed was James Horlick, the English partner of the firm, that he invited Waite to take the post of Manager of the London Office. Waite was offered the appointment in December 1898 but was not able to take it up until the following February, by which time he was suffering from influenza, and on the day he was due to begin work 'reached Victoria more dead than alive and providentially met Elliott by a mere chance. He saw my condition and could think of but one nostrum, being a half tumbler of neat Scotch whisky, adding a splash of water. It was a bad day at the close of February, 1899; and I believe to this moment that the said nostrum saved my life' (SLT, p. 152)

Waite was evidently a man of little faith when it came to the curative value of the product that was about to provide him with his income...

R. A. Gilbert Magician of Many Parts, p.83/84

:laugh:

Fantastic ! Thanks (hmmmm , maybe Crowley saw that add campaign ? )

Your baby is a changeling .... :laugh:
 

ravenest

Well, the joke is on Crowley in the end, in as much as Waite was able to sustain a living from his writing, which is more than Crowley was ever able to do (except maybe perhaps for a short period as editor of the International during WW1, supplemented by a little spying on the side).

Yes ... I think the old boy was really pissed about that .... a definite 'magical wedgie' there ... in the long run.
 

frejasphere

Oh shame I missed out on the detective fun - love a good facial recognition journey... :)
If the mystery was still unsolved I would enthusiastically bet my 'hat' (and anything else I could find) on that the lean faced man in the suit ... isn't A.E. Waite :D

Learnt some interesting things though, about malted milk and not so friendly competition, so thank you all for that :)

*wave*
 

kwaw

If I were to make a guess as to when that photo was taken, it screams 1920's to me -- far too late for a picture of a young Waite.
 

frejasphere

If I were to make a guess as to when that photo was taken, it screams 1920's to me -- far too late for a picture of a young Waite...

You're right - and... even with a mo, this guy looks more related to Nicolas Cage than the other photos of Mr Waite (sorry, couldn't help myself ;))
 

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Laura Borealis

You're right - and... even with a mo, this guy looks more related to Nicolas Cage than the other photos of Mr Waite (sorry, couldn't help myself ;))

:laugh: Funny, but it does illustrate that it's not the lack of mustache that make this guy look different from Waite. It's the face shape.

And the only "evidence" that it IS Waite is a picture on some dude's blog, which, if you look at the rest of the blog, doesn't look terribly authoritative.
 

kwaw

.. also, in other photo's where his hair is other than a wavy brush-backed mess, Waite parted his hair on the other side.
 

frejasphere

:laugh: Funny, but it does illustrate that it's not the lack of mustache that make this guy look different from Waite. It's the face shape.

And the only "evidence" that it IS Waite is a picture on some dude's blog, which, if you look at the rest of the blog, doesn't look terribly authoritative.

I agree :)

.. also, in other photo's where his hair is other than a wavy brush-backed mess, Waite parted his hair on the other side.

That too :) although photos could be 'mirrored' even in the pre-digital-era by exposing the negative on the wrong side (intentionally or accidentally)...

I'm sticking with the ancient relative of Mr Cage, or maybe a relative of the dude who wrote the article :D