Lloyd Victor Francis Jacquet was born on March 7, 1899 in Brooklyn. His father, Francis Jacquet, was born in 1868 in France in the Rhone-Alpes region in the town of Druillat, near Geneva, Switzerland. His father came to America in 1889. His mother, Eugenie Charriere, was born in 1870 in France and came to America in 1886. His parents married in 1897 in New York City and had two children. His younger sister, Georgette Jacquet, was born in 1901. The father was a hotel cook. The family lived at 478 Sixteenth Street in Brooklyn.
The two Jacquet children attended public school in Brooklyn.
In 1914 at the age of fifteen Lloyd Jacquet began to attend the Manual Training High School of Brooklyn.
While still a high school student he became fascinated with amateur radio. He joined his school Radio Club and formed a Brooklyn-wide affiliation of radio clubs. He also joined the Wireless Association of America, which was founded by Hugo Gernsback (1884-1967), an entrepreneur from Luxemburg who operated a mail-order business of radio parts, The Electro Importing Company, located at 243 Fulton Street in Lower Manhattan. Gernsback promoted the radio hobby through various publications, such as Modern Electrics, Electrical Experimenter, Practical Electrics, Science & Invention, and Radio Amateur News.
While Lloyd Jacquet was still in his Junior year of high school he wrote editorial letters about the radio hobby to the juvenile section of his local newspaper, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
By May of 1918 he had completed his high school studies and was drafted by the U.S. Navy during the Great War. He served as a Radio Operator, Seaman Second Class, on the U.S.S. Bridge, a Navy Supply Ship.
On June 26, 1918 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on the commencement celebration at Manual Training High School, at which Lloyd Jacquet made a surprise appearance dressed in uniform after having received emergency shore leave from his officers to attend the ceremony. He gave an impromptu speech and accepted the first diploma of his class as the entire assembly cheered. This memorable experience of popular acclaim in his formative years was an early triumphant episode in a long career as a public spokesman for juvenile hobbyists.
On August 7, 1919 he was honorably discharged from military service. He returned to NYC and lived with his family at 284 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, and began to attend the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn for advanced study of electronics and radio craft.
In 1921 he completed his Sophomore year at college and then entered the work force, when he was hired by the editorial staff of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle for his expertise on "wireless" operation as a veteran of the Great War.
In 1922 he wrote Radio Review editorials for The New York Evening Mail.
By 1923 Lloyd Jacquet was the editor of Amateur Radio Magazine, which solidified his reputation as a leading proponent of the ham radio community.
In April 17, 1925 The New York Times reported that Lloyd Jacquet, American representative at the Paris International Amateur Radio Convention, had cabled receipt of an experimental Trans-Atlantic radio broadcast from WAHG of Richmond Hill, Long Island, NY. This scientific milestone was heralded in newspapers around the world. In response to this publicity he was promoted to Editor of The Brooklyn Eagle weekly radio page, and his column was syndicated by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.
During the roaring twenties the McClure Newspaper Syndicate was America's oldest and most important central supplier of news, features, and comic strips for the worldwide newspaper industry. Most locally-based newspapers subscribed to the McClure Syndicate for access to famous comic strips, serialized novels by famous authors, and sensational news coverage concerning trans-atlantic flights, stratospheric balloon ascents, and arctic exploration by airships and airplanes, all of which depended on news flash reports from intrepid radio operators.
On August 24, 1925 Lloyd Jacquet married Mary Grace Mullane, who was born on February 23, 1901 in NYC of Irish ancestry. She worked as a saleslady. The married couple moved to 2308 University Avenue in the Bronx, NY. They had no children.
In 1926 Lloyd Jacquet wrote the monthly column, "Listening In," for Popular Radio.
In 1927 he hosted the WABC radio program "Going To Press."
In 1928 Lloyd Jacquet hosted a regular WABC radio show of songs and was a Guest Announcer on several WNBC radio shows.
On February 20, 1929 an involuntary petition of bankruptcy was filed against Hugo Gernsback's radio station, WRNY, as well as his radio supply company, The Electro Importing Co., and Experimenter Publications, Inc. This began a curious legal process to reorganize the ownership and financial structure of Gernsback's enterprise in coordination with Teck Publications, which was owned by Bernarr Macfadden (1868-1955), the publisher of Liberty Magazine and Member of the Board of Directors of the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.
By 1930 Lloyd Jacquet was the editor of the weekly radio column at The New York Herald Tribune. He was also a member of the Executive Board of the Newspaper Radio Editor's Association, which met with leaders of the Radio Manufacturer's Association, as well as the President of NBC, Merlin H. Aylesworth (1886-1952), and the President of CBS, William S. Paley (1901-1990), to discuss the impact of fast-paced developments in radio technology on the news and advertising industries.
In 1930 Lloyd Jacquet and his wife lived at 14 Seaman Avenue in Baldwin Village, a section of Hempstead in Nassau County, Long Island, NY.
In 1931 Lloyd Jacquet wrote feature articles for Radio Digest, which was produced by Macfadden's Teck Publications.
In December 1934 The New York Herald Tribune stopped printing an amateur radio column, after which time Lloyd Jacquet served as the newspaper's Science Editor.
On January 11, 1935 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that their former Radio Editor, Lloyd Jacquet, was the editor of New Fun Magazine for juveniles, which included "new comic strips and special departments devoted to aircraft, sports, the radio and the movies." The article also included a curious statement that the publisher had "secured the co-operation of The Eagle for the publication of this tabloid-size monthly periodical." This "co-operation" was clearly defined in a special letter inserted in several advanced copies of New Fun sent to a select group of businessmen. This special insert was printed to resemble an informal hand-written letter from Lloyd Jacquet, and was dated January 11, 1935, which was the same day as the newspaper article. His letter is a friendly appeal for acceptance, but it also mentions that New Fun is "hot off the Daily Eagle press," which explains the newspaper's co-operative role was to print New Fun.
The publisher of New Fun was Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson (1890-1965), a veteran of The Great War and a celebrated author of war fiction as well as popular newspaper editorials. He had achieved fame as an outspoken critic of the U.S. War Department, which resulted in a lengthy court martial trial for treason. Sensational details of the trial were reported in newspapers for several years. In 1925 he had formed the Wheeler-Nicholson Newspaper Syndicate, to supply news, fiction, editorials, and comic strips to newspapers. Several such ventures had been purchased by the dominant McClure Newspaper Syndicate as a way to eliminate competition. For instance in 1916 the McClure Syndicate had purchased the Wheeler Syndicate and later absorbed the Bell Syndicate under terms of joint ownership.
The first issue of New Fun is dated February 1935. The title "New Fun" is a qualified reference to a long-running British humor magazine "FUN" which was distributed in the U.S. by the McClure Syndicate. The first issues of New Fun, and a second title, More Fun, carried original features by Adolphe Barreaux, Lyman Anderson, Jack Warren and Paul Jepsen. These artists were associated with the Barreaux's Majestic Art Studio, and had all previously provided artwork for various periodicals of pulp fiction, pin-ups, gags, and comic strips published by Frank Armer and Harry Donenfeld.
In 1931 the McClure Newspaper Syndicate had changed their corporate name to North American Newspaper Alliance, Inc, and was commonly called N.A.N.A., It may be worth noting that early issues of New Fun listed the publisher as National Allied Newspaper Syndicate, Inc.
National Allied was located at 49 West 45th Street, which is between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. That is the same address for the headquarters of the Affiliation of the American Newspaper Guild. At that same time 49 West 45th Street was also the address for Dance Magazine, which was produced by Macfadden Publications and edited by Harold Brainerd Hersey (1893-1956). Hersey had been an editor of Macfadden magazines for over ten years, and was also associated with the former pulp magazine publisher, William H. Clayton (1884-1946), who at that time was an editor of Macfadden's Liberty Magazine.
During the Great Depression The New York Herald Tribune reported that the acquisition of Liberty Magazine gave Macfadden's publishing empire "a total annual circulation of more than 140,000,000, second only to the Curtis Publishing Company," the Philadelphia publishers of The Saturday Evening Post. This top national ranking entitled Macafadden to charge the highest rates in the advertising industry.
It is curious that Macfadden's Liberty Magazine listed John N. Wheeler (1886-1973) as Executive Editor, while at that same time he also served as General Manager of N.A.N.A. Similarly, Liberty Magazine listed Clinton T. Brainard (1865-1935) as another executive editor, while at that same time he served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of N.A.N.A.
The various overlapping interests of the McClure Syndicate and Macfadden Publications at 49 West 45th Street suggests a business connection between N.A.N.A and National Allied Newspaper Syndicate. It seems likely that N.A.N.A. extended credit to Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson for operating funds, printing costs, office space, and business personnel, such as Lloyd Jacquet, William H. Cook (1888-1964), and John F. Mahon (1897-1967), all of whom had previous associations with the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.
Close inspection of the first four issues of New Fun reveal a small business emblem "S * M" to identify the newsstand distributor as S-M News Company. When this company was founded in 1919 the original name was Popular Science & McCall Newspaper Distributing Company. Over the years the company also handled many additional titles and grew to become the largest independent distributor of magazines and newspapers. By 1935 the company was popularly referred to as "Science & McCall" or "S & M News Co." with offices at 229 Fourth Avenue (also known as Park Avenue South) between 17th and 18th Streets. S-M News handled newsstand distribution of The Brooklyn Eagle and many McClure Syndicated Newspapers.
The full color covers of New Fun and More Fun were printed on color presses at Eastern Color Printing of Waterbury, Connecticut, which normally produced Sunday Supplement Magazines and Sunday Pages of color comic strips handled by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.
The indicia of New Fun March 1935 listed the Circulation Manager as Rexford L. May (1883-1952). He was a Promoter of Newspaper Circulation and Advertising at The New York Herald Tribune. He was also an uncle of the comic book editor, Marjorie May (1911-2000), whose family owned World Color Printing at 420 DeSoto Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri.
On August 15, 1935 the famous American humorist, home-spun philosopher, vaudeville star and radio entertainer, Will Rogers (1879-1935) died at the age of fifty-six. Among the nation's outpouring of heartfelt editorials, The New York Daily Mirror published an essay by George Matthew Adams, who suggested a fitting tribute would be a National Will Rogers Memorial Fund for retirement homes for elderly journalists, "who have served their public so faithfully, largely because of the glory in that service alone." The columnist credited the idea to "his associate Lloyd Jacquet, himself a newspaper man who has honored his profession wherever he has served." Oddly enough, at that same time the George Matthew Adams Syndicate offered news, features, and comic strips drawn by Adolphe Barreaux, Jack Warren, and Paul Jepsen, all of whose work appeared in New Fun and More Fun and all of whom also worked for the Majestic Art Studio of 125 East 46th Street.
In the summer of 1936 Lloyd Jacquet, still located at 49 West 45th Street, joined with Harold Hersey and H. D. Cushing to form a pulp magazine publishing company, C.J.H. Publications, Inc. The initials C.J.H. refer to Cushing, Jacquet, and Hersey. Each pulp magazine produced by this company followed an innovative format to feature a famous newspaper comic strip character, Dan Dunn, Tailspin Tommy, and Flash Gordon. These popular comic strips had all been handled by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate and were licensed on behalf of their creators by Stephen Slesinger.
The first issue of Tailspin Tommy Air Adventure Magazine included a story by Lloyd Jacquet under the pen-name "Jay Kay."
In 1936 Harold Hersey announced in The Author & Journalist Magazine that C.J.H. Publications was publishing a fourth title, Mystery Adventures, so aspiring authors were instructed to mail prospective manuscripts to 49 West 45th Street.
When Mystery Adventures finally appeared on newsstands the contents page identified Harold Hersey as Editor, but the address was listed as 120 West 42nd Street, instead of 49 West 45th, and the publisher was listed as Movie Digest, and not C.J.H. Publications. Movie Digest was a Hollywood fan magazine published by Macfadden, so the impression persists that operational credit for these publications was extended by Macfadden Publications or by his influence on the McClure Newspaper Syndicate (N.A.N.A.).
The last pulp magazine produced by C.J.H. Publications, Tailspin Tommy (Volume 1 - Issue 2), had a cover date of January 1937. The final page contained a Statement of Ownership, which identified all three partners of C.J.H. as Cushing, Jacquet, and Hersey. After this final issue the C.J.H. partnership was dissolved, when Harold Hersey suffered a painful attack of arthritus, which left him bedridden for two years. Hersey's autobiography, Pulpwood Editor, from 1938 contains no mention of this unique chapter in the history of pulp publications.
After this break-up, H. D. Cushing formed Comics Premium Company, to handle returned and un-sold comic books, which were re-sold in bulk to other businesses for use as free give-aways to promote sales stimulation. He headed this successful enterprise for the rest of his life.
In 1938 Lloyd Jacquet established Funnies, Inc. at 49 West 45th Street. His business manager was John F. Mahon, who had also been Business Manager at National Allied Periodicals. Funnies, Inc. provided editorial direction for freelance writers, artists, and advertising specialists to create material for comic book publishers. His clients included Centaur, Marvel and Fawcett.
In September 1939 Lloyd Jacquet stopped working as the Science Editor at The New York Herald Tribune.
On November 3, 1939 he leased a more affordable apartment at 22 West 77th Street on the Upper West Side.
In 1939 Lloyd Jacquet produced Motion Picture Funnies Weekly as a novelty promotional comic book offered for free at affiliated movie theaters. The back cover of the first issue of this title lists the company address at 45 West 45th Street and the Business manager as "Mr. Mahon." At that same time Macfadden Publications produced Silver Screen and Screenland Magazine at 45 West 45th Street. It is curious that the service entrance of 45 West 45th Street is directly beside the entrance to 49 West 45th Street. In 1940 the NYC Telephone Directory listed Funnies, Inc. at 45 West 45th Street. At the same time the 1940 U.S. Census listed Lloyd Jacquet as a "salesman of electrical radio supplies." This may refer to The Electro Importing Company that was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1906, but was taken over in 1929 by Macfadden's Teck Publications. Various hobby magazines and comic books associated with Macfadden Publications continued to run advertisements for mail-order radio parts. Funnies, Inc., was most likely in business with Macfadden Publications, which did promote mail-order sales of radio parts with advertisements in their periodicals. This might explain the apparently conflicting listings of Lloyd Jacquet in 1940 as President of Funnies, Inc. as well as "salesman of electrical radio supplies."
In 1941 the Lloyd Jacquet Studios provided material for Albert L. Kanter's newly formed Gilberton Publishing Co. for the Classic Illustrated Comic The Three Musketeers, which was drawn by Malcolm Kildale.
On October 5, 1942 Lloyd Jacquet leased a new apartment at 175 West 76th Street.
In 1943 during WWII Lloyd Jacquet served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve aboard the U.S.S. Hermitage (AP54). Duties brought his ship throughout the treacherous oceans of the war-torn world. He was again honorable discharged in 1946.
During his WWII service overseas it is possible his wife Mary Grace Jacquet oversaw continued production at his shop.
In 1946 his shop produced material for the patriotic comic book, Your United States.
In 1947 his shop produced material for the Catholic publication, Treasure Chest.
The 1948 NYC Telephone Directory still listed Lloyd Jacquet Studios at 49 West 45th Street.
On April 6, 1951 The Brooklyn Eagle reported that Lloyd Jacquet had edited the Alumni Roster of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and presented a bound copy to the College President on the 25th Anniversary of the alumni association.
On November 19, 1956 The New York Times reported the twentieth annual meeting of the Jules Verne Society of NYC, of which only four members still belonged, Nathan Bengis, a French teacher from the Bronx, James Irald, employee of the Pierre Hotel, Roswell Ward, an employee of Sperry Gyroscope, and Lloyd Jacquet, "a gentleman who deals in comic books."
In 1961 his wife Mary Grace Jacquet died at the age of sixty.
Lloyd Jacquet died at the age seventy on March 1, 1970.
© David Saunders 2014 |
