Today in History - 1922

The first skywriting in the U.S. was demonstrated over Times Square, New York City, by Capt. Cyril Turner of the Royal Air Force. Flying at an altitude of 10,000 feet, he wrote letters in white smoke a half-mile high. The smoke was formed by oil, controlled by levers, dropped on the plane's hot exhaust pipe. The message in the sky was, Hello, U.S.A. Call Vanderbilt 7200. (Turner first used skywriting for advertising for a newspaper's name, Daily Mail,over England in May 1922.) In New York, Major Jack Savage was trying to sell this advertising idea to a skeptical George W. Hill, head of the American Tobacco Co. Savage had invited Hill to the Vanderbilt Hotel. Hill was convinced by the 47,000 telephone calls in less than 3 hours.