TARGETED ADVERTISING, LONG, LONG BEFORE SOCIAL MEDIA-JUDGE HORACE W. GILMORE

Horace W. Gilmore (1918-2010) was a Wayne County Circuit Court Judge from 1956-1980.  He was appointed to the Federal bench by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 where he served until his death in 2010.

After getting a BA at U of M in 1939, he graduated from the U of M Law School in 1942.  He was a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve during WWII, and after the war served as a clerk to US Court of Appeals Judge Charles Simons.  He was in private practice, served as a special Assistant US Attorney, and as a deputy state attorney general before taking the bench in Wayne County.

Although Judge Gimore left the Wayne County bench before I finished law school, and I had limited appearances before him in Federal Court, I remember him as having a great reputation for intelligence and integrity.  And, apparently, Judge Gimore was way ahead of his time when it came to advertising to potential voters come election time.

Judge Gilmore did not have to worry about elections at all after his appointment to the Federal bench, but he had to run for Circuit Judge many times before advent of social media, the internet or even cable TV, for that matter.

Cruising the internet recently, I came upon the historical item shown above, offered for sale, though on a site other than eBay, if I recall.

An index-card (remember those?) sized piece, promoted Judge Gilmore as a judicial candidate in the November, 1976 election.  His qualifications and endorsements are nicely placed next to the 1976 U of M and MSU football schedules.

I am a little confused as to how these were distributed.  Not by mail.  Maybe campaign workers went door to door putting these in mailboxes.  A nice size to pin on a home bulletin board (remember those?), again in an era before the refrigerator magnet, which by the way is still a fresh self-promotional device, see below.

Judge Gimore's card was a nice, understated,value added piece that I find vastly superior to today's internet advertising and self-promotion.  I recently tried to read a single newspaper article online, and 9 ads from the same attorney were inserted symmetrically within the text.  Admittedly, it is a tough time to make money if you run a newspaper.

Judge Gilmore's card also proves that advancements in technology are not necessarily synonymous with  progress.