ALFRED CHENEY JOHNSTON, The Making of the Book JAZZ AGE BEAUTIES, # 6

Richard Ziegfeld was a firestorm of enthusiasm. He was thrilled to hear about the Johnston book project at ABRAMS, and was pleased to offer his support or advice. We talked about his own Ziegfeld research, the process of working with ABRAMS, and of course, what he and his wife Paulette had learned about Alfred Cheney Johnston. With Richard passionate about all things Ziegfeld, and me passionate about all things ACJ, we ended up talking on the phone well past midnight into the morning hours.
Johnston’s splendid photographs are a constant thread throughout “The Ziegfeld Touch,” though unfortunately many of them were reproduced in sizes just a bit larger than postage stamps. He told me that he found most of them at the New York Public Library, filed not under Johnston, but under individual performer’s names. In the back of the book he listed the Ziegfeld “cast of characters” of which Johnston was one. Of special interest was a comment about Johnston stating that he required punctuality for his photographic sittings. According to Richard and Paulette’s research, the photographer “crossed you off his list” if you didn’t arrive on time!!
“The Ziegfeld Touch” would become an invaluable resource for JAZZ AGE BEAUTIES. Richard and Paulette had spent YEARS researching every detail of the history of Florenz Ziegfeld and the Ziegfeld Follies. Details like show dates, performer’s bios, behind the scenes show productions costs, advertising, interviews with Ziegfeld relatives, facts about his creative production staff, and page after page of marvelous visuals from the shows. In the coming years, I would return to it over and over again…
When I asked him if he had ever found any correspondence related to ACJ, such as bills sent to Ziegfeld or business related letters, Richard told me that he had just missed a couple of potential treasure troves of such items during his research. One, was a storage warehouse filled with Ziegfeld related items that went up in flames a few years before he began his research. The other was Ziegfeld’s old law firm, who just a short time before Richard’s call, had decided to destroy all of the old paperwork related to Ziegfeld court cases. Both would have been priceless finds, and in both cases, much history was lost.
Our conversation turned to the process of creating books and selling them. Richard’s and Paulette’s experience became a grueling one that cost them far more than their advance funds. Research, fact checking, obtaining images, laying out the book, arguing over design and layout all took its toll. “If I had it to do over again, I would go a more commercial publisher,” he concluded.
“Maybe you’ll want to check with other publishers. ABRAMS may not be the best fit for your book. They sell to institutions and not the mass marketplace…they print 150 titles a year and only devote 1 week to PR for each title. That hurt us. I ended up having to hire a publicity agent for $10,000, and even then the we didn’t reach the mainstream like we should have.”