Comments on: Sunday, Sept. 23, 1906: The mysterious Mr. Sly

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 06:47:20 +0000

This story first caught my eye because Sept. 23, 1906 was the day my mother was born in PA.After digesting that coincidence I became interested in the story of Mr. Sly. I had never heard of this kind of promotion before and found it very interesting. I believe it could be done in these times but not in the larger cities maybe.

By: exile

exile — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 09:10:24 +0000

I had no idea this was also something American newspapers used to do. In the first half of the century it was a popular sales-booster for British national papers, which would send their mystery men to popular seaside resorts in summer. The novel Brighton Rock by Graham Greene even starts with something based on this.

By: B

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 03:23:29 +0000

The radio stations did this here in the Twin Cities twice within the last two years! And a St. Cloud station did it at least once.

By: shruti

shruti — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 22:13:32 +0000

This is a great entry and a great old piece! I wish something like this could work in the way it did back then, but i don’t know that it could. I love the slight differences in language that show its old-timeyness.

By: Lacy

Lacy — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:59:39 +0000

A local radio station here in TX did that a few years ago too, the search for Mrs. X. They had to adjust the rules after a few complaints of “assault” on women who resembled Mrs. X.

By: cliohdna

cliohdna — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 05:30:05 +0000

It’s already been used recently. I’m in Phoenix and a radio station used the concept last year. They gave out clues to the whereabouts of the “Bandit” who stole money from them. If you caught the Bandit you won the money as your reward.

By: Voltzen

Voltzen — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:50:30 +0000

Of course, Strib readers wouldn’t necessarily gravitate to a moniker like ‘Mr. Sly.’ Perhaps the contest could be updated with a more contemporary theme, like, “Where’s Par?”

By: Wenalway

Wenalway — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 18:34:19 +0000

You know, the Strib’s intrepid group of pseudojournalist designers could make this work. They could do what they do best: Full-page cutouts of Mr. Sly!

Yay! Journalism is saved again by designers!

By: Johnny Boy

Johnny Boy — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:55:09 +0000

I’m sure some publisher will think this is a great idea, provided they can use the same award amounts given out in 1906. Readers today may still pursue Mr. Sly for $50 to $250, but adjusted for inflation those awards would be $1,081 to $5,409 today. Heck, yeah, for five grand, I’ll call in sick for a week and troll around chilly Minnesota looking for Mr. Sly!