Albert D. Lasker (1880-1952) was called “The Father of Modern Advertising” and was a pioneer in advertising sales of everything from cigarettes (Lucky Strike) to breakfast (Quaker Oats). Lasker was elected to The Lambs during World War II as a Non-Professional Member in 1943.
He was born May 1, 1880, the third of eight children, in Freiburgh, Baden-Wurttenberg, Germany. He was brought back to Galveston, Texas by his American parents, Morris & Nettie, as soon as he was strong enough to travel. After high school in Galveston, his father, a successful banker, got him a position “sweeping floors and cleaning up” for $10 per week at Lord & Thomas, a prestigious Chicago advertising firm.
He quickly rose through the ranks becoming their top salesman. He eventually bought the company where he stayed for 40 years while the firm became the largest advertising firm in the U.S. with offices in New York, Toronto, Paris, London, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. He “invented ” the idea of “drinking orange juice for health” right after he started to represent The Sunkist Growers Company. In 1911, Lasker created a Palmolive dish soap campaign that propelled that brand to number one. He also represented:
Van Camp’s pork and beans;
California Fruit Exchange;
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.;
Kimberly-Clark;
American Tobacco;
Pepsodent;
Quaker Oats Company.
Lasker wrote The Personal Reminiscences of Albert Lasker for American Heritage in 1955. In 1960, author John Gunther wrote, Taken at the Flood: The Story of Albert D. Lasker. The Man Who Sold America: The Amazing (But True!) Story of Albert D. Lasker by Jeff Cruikshank and Arthur Schultz (2010) is the most recent: The book explores how Lasker transformed the advertising industry from a field of hucksters to a sophisticated, “reason-why” approach, and how he applied these skills to various aspects of American life, including politics, professional sports, and social services.
In 1921 Lasker became chairman of United States Shipping Board. In 1938 he retired as president from Lord and Thomas.
In 1942 Lasker set up the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, which funds medical research. It is still going strong today as the Lasker Foundation.
He was married three times: to Flora Warner in 1902 until her death in 1936, to silent movie star Doris Kenyon in 1938 for six months, and finally to Mary Woodard in 1940. Lasker had a mausoleum built in Chicago for his first wife, and a second grander one in New York for Lasker and his third wife.
Lasker died on May 30, 1952, at the age of 72. He and his wife, Mary, are interred in Sleepy Hallow Cemetery, in an Art Deco style mausoleum.