Life and Times of Barron Collier (1873-1939)

1. The Life and
Times of Barron
Collier
1873 - 1939

2. Early Streetcar Advertising History
Streetcar advertising had its beginning in the 1850’s to 1870’s. Here is
an 1890’s era electric streetcar with advertising cards in Memphis, TN.
Photo courtesy of Memphis and Shelby County Room, Memphis Public Library & Information Center

3. Chronological History
• Late 1850’s – first trace of advertising was done by Lord & Taylor
Department Store in horse-drawn streetcars in New York city
• 1860 – B. T. Babbitt used the Third Avenue horse car line in New York
to promote soap sales.
• Early 1870’s – first systematic selling of streetcar space was done by a
man named Sharp who secured the rights for the NYC Third Avenue
line.
• 1875 – William (Billy) J. Carleton, a conductor on the NYC Third
Avenue line began by tacking up signs in his car for some of his
regular patrons while he was still collecting fares. Finally, he gave up
his job as conductor and devoted all of his time to advertising.

4. • 1886 – William Carleton moved to Boston and became the first legitimate
car-advertising contractor there. He combined in efforts with George Kissam
to form Carleton & Kissam, one of the first organized selling operations.
Others that followed were Manhattan Street Railway Advertising Co.,
Western Advertising Co., George Elliot and Michigan Streetcar Advertising Co.
• 1892 – Barron Collier (age 19) secured an exclusive contract for streetcar
advertising in his home town of Memphis, Tennessee.
• 1893 – Barron Collier moved to New York City from Memphis, Tennessee and
formed the Consolidated Railway Advertising Company.
• 1899 – Artemas Ward who was ad manager for Sapolio, formed Ward & Gow.
Ward & Gow organized a syndicate of contractors in ten large cities and
started to sell streetcar space on a standardized basis; this plan met with
limited success as the different contractors cut prices and later dissolved their
partnership. Out of this failed partnership, Barron G. Collier successfully
organized these leading streetcar advertising companies into one single
selling unit – Street Railways Advertising Company.

5. In The Beginning …
Baron Gift Collier was born in Memphis,
Tennessee on March 23, 1873. His
father, Colonel Cowles Myles Collier was
a United States Naval Officer from
Virginia who resigned to serve the
Confederacy during the American Civil
War. Collier was named after war
heroes of the time. Barron Collier lived
downtown at 367 Pontotoc in Memphis,
Tennessee.

6. Left School at Age 16 …
Barron Collier attended the Market
Street School in Memphis at Third and
Market.
Despite his family's military background,
Barron Collier realized early on that
constraint and regimen were not for
him. Though hardly poor, his family’s
well- being went the way of the South
during Reconstruction after the Civil
War.
Being a very ambitious young man, he
left school at age 16 to begin making his
way in the world. He already was
working a full-time job soliciting freight
cargoes for the Illinois Central Railroad.

7. Collier soon realized to really make money that he would need to work for
himself. Collier's first Memphis business developed from meeting someone
who made street lights powered by gasoline, which made a brighter glow.
He convinced the Canton, Ohio Company which produced them to give him
franchise rights for Memphis. And then he sold Memphis officials on his
ability to light some suburban streets that were beyond the reach of the city's
gas mains. These lights each had a small gasoline tank. Collier hired 25 boys,
to push two-wheeled carts to refill the tanks and then make the rounds at
dusk to light them. He also made the rounds and lit and snuffed them out
himself. This proved successful in Memphis and then Collier negotiated
contracts in Hot Springs, Raleigh, and other southern cities. He was 17.

8. Next …
The success with the "Sun Vapor Street Light Co", Collier now had capital to
invest in additional businesses. In 1892 he acquired half interest in the
Memphis G. S. Standish print shop. The shop had an unprofitable contract that
sold advertising cards to the Memphis streetcars. Collier saw potential here
and set the stage for what would become the foundation of his immense
empire. At the age of 19, he secured an exclusive contract for streetcar
advertising in Memphis. He sold the ads, printed the cards, put the cards in
the cars, and paid the streetcar system a fee for the privilege.

9. Memphis Street Railway Company

11. Streetcar Cards
Collier helped to standardize the streetcar card size to 11" x 21" so the cards
would be interchangeable among various trolley car companies. This move
would prove very successful for Barron Collier and all of the advertisers.

12. Each Streetcar had about 32 cards –
changed monthly

13. Consolidated Railway
Advertising Company
Collier knew that electric streetcars were on the
horizon. And so they were. A talented salesman,
after getting the exclusive streetcar advertising
rights in Memphis, he worked his magic in the
Southern cities of Little Rock, Chattanooga,
Birmingham and New Orleans and sold
franchises in many others.

14. Moves to New York…
At the age of 20 he launched his
Consolidated Street Railway
Advertising Company in New York
City, and within six years he had
made his first million.
Collier’s tenacity would lead the
company to the top of the mass
transit advertising market,
eventually having more than 70
satellite offices from New York to
San Francisco, Canada to Cuba.

15. 1897

16. 1898

17. The NYC Flatiron Building ...
the executive offices of the
Streetcar Advertising Co.
were located here in 1905
....
Map and Streetcar
Locations

21. Collier also had offices at 220 W 42nd
Street in the 24 story Candler Building
(built 1912-1914)
Collier had operations at 114 Fifth Ave –
in this 19 story office building (built 1910)
near his Flat Iron Building headquarters
Current NYC Images of where Barron Collier had several of his businesses

22. By 1925, after acquiring other companies, Barron G. Collier Inc. became the
largest advertising organization in the world. Collier's type of advertising
cards are still found on public transportation today.

23. Streetcar Era in America
• One should note that at the time of Collier’s rise to power in the
streetcar advertising industry that there was less than 150 miles of
paved highway outside the cities in the United States.
• Only 18 people in 1,000 had telephones.
• Eleven million farmers tilled the land while six million worked in city
factories.
• The rural population was 45 million and 30 million lived in the cities.
• It was a time of great population migration to the big cities in
America in search of jobs.

24. His Marriage … Another Memphis Connection

25. Barron and Juliet Carnes Collier
His business interests continued
to thrive and in 1907, at the age
of 34, he married the lovely
Juliet Gordon Carnes, a well-
heeled Memphis woman 11
years his junior and his
childhood sweetheart. Their first
child, Barron Gift Collier Jr., was
born five months later. Two more
boys, Samuel and Cowles

26. Samuel T. Carnes
Juliet's father Samuel T. Carnes was a
prominent Memphian. He was
responsible for bringing electricity
and the first telephone to
Memphis. He also had the first
automobile in the city.

27. Carnes Family Mansion - 1932
451 Linden Avenue
(was 309 Linden under old #)
Barron Collier &
Juliet Carnes
Neighborhood
Barron Collier was born and raised at
367 Pontotoc … just a block or two
away from his future wife, Juliet Carnes

28. Collier’s Brownstone
Townhouse at 56 W 70th St in
New York City
Collier’s summer home near Tarrytown, NY
next door to John D. Rockefeller’s estate
Barron Collier owned LOTS of Homes…

29. In 1911 the Colliers visited Florida and fell in love with the
state. They bought an island, called Useppa, for $100,000.
1912 Cottage on Useppa Island, Florida

30. Villa Meineck at Baden Baden, Germany
The Collier's purchased this villa from the Krupp family in 1923.
Half of their summers were now spent here.
This home was later expropriated by Adolf Hitler in 1934.
In addition, Collier also owned three yachts … the 200-foot SS Florida, the 99-foot SS Baroness, and
the Adroit, a converted destroyer that usually operated in the Gulf of Mexico.

31. Moving to the Big Apple …
• When Collier first moved to the Big Apple, he knew no one there. It
was a shock, a drastic change from the polite Southern town he'd
grown up in. But he had no problem making friends there or
anywhere else. He made friends by the thousands. It was good
business. To win franchises he had to impress big people – business
tycoons, politicians, legislators, civic figures, etc.
• He counted among his friends some of the most formidable names in
the industrial world including William Randolph Hearst, Henry Ford,
Thomas Edison, Coleman DuPont, William Wrigley, H.J. Heinz, J. P.
Morgan, and John D. Rockefeller. In addition, he was personal friends
with a number of presidents including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Calvin
Coolidge and others as well as a number of Governors and Mayors of
his time.

32. Some of Collier’s Business Ventures
• Barron G. Collier Incorporated
• Street Railways Advertising Company
• Collier Advertising Service Incorporated
• Collier West Coast Motor Lines (later became
Trailways)
• Broadway Surface Advertising Corporation
• Collier Service Corporation
• Empire State Development Company
• Florida Gulf Coast Hotels Incorporated
• Florida-Collier Coast Hotels Incorporated
• Florida Development Company
• Florida Railroad & Navigation Corporation
• Florida Inter-Island Steamship Company, Ltd.
• Lee County Land Company
• Pacific Railways Advertising Company
• Philadelphia Advertising Company
• United Brokerage Company
• United Land and Stores Development and
Improvement Company
• Western Advertising Company
• Inter-County Telephone & Telegraph
Company
• Deep Lake Company
• Sparklin-Gift Construction Company
• Fort Myers Press (now Naples Daily News)
• Manhattan Mercantile Corporation
• Bank of the Everglades and several others

34. Some of Barron Collier’s Other Notable
Accomplishments
• A true pioneer, Barron G. Collier helped found the Boy Scouts of
America and served as first commissioner of Public relations. He was
recognized for his service to scouting with the prestigious Silver
Buffalo Award in 1932.
• Collier also help found Interpol, the world's largest police
organization.
• He invented the white and yellow dividing lines on America's
highways and served as a special deputy commissioner for public
safety in New York, where he campaigned against jaywalking.
• His less known enterprises included subway gum machines and also
owning, for a time, Luna Park in Coney Island.

35. Boy Scouts
Barron Collier had a very active role with
the Boy Scouts of America. He served on
the Boy Scouts of America’s national
committee as the first Commissioner of
Public Relations, a position he personally
developed. He sponsored a great deal of
streetcar advertising on promoting Boy
Scout activities and actively participated
in Scouting events with U.S. presidents
Roosevelt and Coolidge as well as various
state governors and city mayors. He was
also acting President of the Boy Scouts
Foundation of Greater New York and
Director of Boy Scouts of America.

36. INTERPOL
Collier’s affiliation with police work was quite extensive as he was the
Commissioner in charge of Foreign Relations of the International
Association of Chiefs of Police and a founder of the International World
Police, eventually becoming INTERPOL.
Collier’s main goal here was to promote the exchange of criminal
identification data and the return of captured criminals to the countries
where they were wanted for crimes. For his efforts, he received
numerous awards from different foreign countries.

37. Bureau of Public Safety
In 1922, Collier was appointed
Special Deputy Police Commissioner
in charge of the Public Safety Bureau
by the New York Mayor. He held this
position for three years.

38. Safety Campaign
Using his advertising prowess,
he invented “Aunty J. Walker”, a
miniature policewoman with a
night stick admonishing
pedestrians to stop jay-walking.
Virtually overnight, jaywalking
deaths were cut in half.
In 1924, Collier spent more than
thirty thousand dollars of his
own funds in an intensive drive
in the public schools, in an
effort to cut down fatalities
among children. In his spare time, Collier wrote two books … Stopping Street
Accidents (1925) and How Is Business in the United States (1927).

39. White and Yellow Dividing Lines on Highways
Perhaps most impressive of all,
Collier came up with the concept
of the white and yellow painted
road divider lines we all rely on
today. In the 1920’s, there were
no organized crosswalks and
people had difficulty crossing
roads safely. Drivers of vehicles
had no indication of whether it
was safe to pass on a road or not.

40. As if the above were not enough to keep a small army busy, Barron
Collier owned one of the world’s first amusement parks in Coney
Island. In 1923 Luna Park opened as an Epcot-like theme park. It
was owned by Barron Collier and Associates. With the deep
depression, the park went bankrupt in 1933 and Collier sold the Park
in 1935…a fire broke out in 1944 and destroyed most of the Park.

42. Collier’s Other Active Organizations …
• American Electric Railway Association
• American Transit Association
• Tarrytown Hospital
• Traveler’s Aid Society
• National Institute of Social Sciences
• Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York
• James Monroe Memorial Association and
Foundation
• George Washington/Sulgrave Institution*
• International Chamber of Commerce
• Italy-America Society
• Internationaler Club of Baden-Baden, Germany
• New York Southern Society
• The Pilgrims
• The Sons of Confederate Veterans
• Virginia Historical Society
• Tennessee Society
• United Hunts Racing Association
• Florida Historical Association
• New York Board of Trade
• Museum of the City of New York (Founder
and Director)
• Registered Democrat
• Protestant Episcopal Church

43. Among Collier’s Numerous Club Memberships
• Army and Navy Club
• Automobile Club of America
• Bankers Club
• Metropolitan Club
• Union League
• Uptown and Sphinx of New York
• Mid-Day and South Shore Club of
Chicago
• Pacific Union of San Francisco
• Boston Club of New Orleans
• Radium Springs Golf Club in Georgia
(founder)*
• Memphis Country Club
• Sleepy Hollow Country Club
• New York Yacht Club
• Cloud Club
• Empire State Club
• Sheriff’s NY Jury Association
• Deputy Sheriff of Westchester County, NY
• Consul-General-at-large of the Republic of
Georgia

44. *Radium Springs
Collier purchased Radium
Springs in 1925 and spent
nearly a million dollars on its
development (an amazing
sum of money for the time).
Development included a
casino and bathhouses
overlooking the spring, a
hotel, cottages and one of
the finest golf courses in the
South. Resort opened to
the public in 1927 and was
an instant success.

45. Among his Many Honors
• Received the prestigious Silver Buffalo Award for his support of Boy Scouts
of America
• Received an honorary degree of Doctor of Commercial Science from
Oglethorpe University in Georgia*
• Decorated by Numerous Foreign Governments
• Order of the Crown of Italy
• Crown of Belgium
• Great Silver Cross of Merit of Austria
• Certificate of the Soldidad of the Republic of Panama
• Republic of Georgia, Romania, France, Spain, Portugal, Estonia, and Pontifical
Academy of Tiberia
*While Barron Collier never formally even got his high school diploma, all
three of his sons would later graduate from Yale!

46. About the Man
His Recipe for Success
“As a boy”, he once confided to Nation’s
Business, “I decided success or failure in
business was not a matter of luck or
predestination. I decided that, as a
businessman, I simply was to be in
competition with the mental and
physical resistance of the other strivers
for success; that the man who had
mental energy never to give up was the
man who won; that human resistance
was the only barrier to success.”
Or Stated Another Way
“If a man has a meritorious article to
sell, whether it is advertising, railroad
securities, real estate, automobiles,
peanuts, candy or what not, and has
sufficient determination to sell it with
sufficient force to break down the
physical sales resistance of his
competitor and prospective customer,
he will inevitably succeed.”

47. On His Move from Memphis to New York
“I started to New York from Memphis with a one-way railroad ticket
and a very small sum of money. Subsequently, I was to experience
all of the thrills, disappointments, and joys of living in a Gramercy
Park boardinghouse, cooling my heels outside the offices of big
businessmen who did not seem particularly enthusiastic about
seeing me, and trying to struggle to the top of the heap.”

48. His First New York City Experiences on a Streetcar
“New York seemed peculiar to me. I had been raised in a southern
atmosphere of politeness and cordiality. At home in Tennessee when I
walked from my home to the office I bowed to everyone I met. I knew
everyone I met. When I rode in a streetcar I jumped up eagerly to give my
seat to a neighbor’s wife or daughter because I knew they would go straight
home and say what a polite man I was.
When I first came to New York I knew no one. I was appalled at the seeming
discourtesy. A man would rush right by, step on my feet and never stop to
ask pardon because he never expected to see me again.
Often, when I arose to give my seat to young women they thought I was
trying to flirt…. Once I had a fight with a man on an elevated train because
when I got up to give a lady my seat he jumped into it. I lifted him out of the
seat and she got in. He then appealed to the rest of the crowd and said I was
a ruffian.”

49. His Work Ethic
Barron Collier never seemed to run out of ideas or energy. A
persuasive and tenacious man, he worked 12 hours a day whether in
New York or on the road. Because of his high physical and mental
energy level, Barron Collier needed at least three different secretaries
to keep up with him every day. It is said that he would type a letter
himself while dictating another to a secretary.
When he traveled from New York to Florida his entourage often filled
an entire private train car. His traveling staff included experts and aides
and secretaries. At times when he had monumental files of
correspondence to answer, he took extra secretaries along, dictated to
them for hours, put them off at the next stop to return to New York.
“Mr. Collier is a Southerner. His charm is famous. He is the last word in graciousness.” – Miss. Brophy, NY Secretary

50. His Personality
Men who worked with Collier said he was innately generous, polite, and
always deeply concerned for their personal welfare. He NEVER showed
anger in public and had remarkable control of his emotions. But no one
could stop him. When anyone got in his way he simply kept on to his
objective, politely, considerately, but he won. They said, Collier was
never vengeful. He did what he thought was reasonable and right and
even a vanquished opponent usually saw it that way in the end.

51. Collier’s Reflection on Women
Collier once mused wistfully, “I
must admit that at 55, I still do not
understand women. In order to
assist in my perplexity, my wife has
been sweet enough to bring me
three sons and no daughters, so
that it is apparent that I still have
no chance to understand them.”
Juliet Collier and her three sons

52. Barron Collier, Jr.’s Comments About His Father
“My father was a brilliant and very
complex personality, but in one respect
he was simplicity itself—he had faith.
When I was a small boy, he used to tell
me, ‘You can do anything you want to do
– you just have to want to do it bad
enough’”
Barron Collier, Jr., Dec 6, 1965

53. His Florida Interests
• His Florida empire began to take shape in 1911 after Barron and Juliet
visited Florida and fell in love with the place. He immediately started
buying Florida property. At the time, the state wasn't the tropical paradise
it would later become.
• Barron G. Collier was an American entrepreneur who had a gift for
business. After making millions in the advertising business, Collier poured
$17 million dollars of his own money into Florida during the era of the
1920’s land boom. He bought up large tracts of land in Southwest Florida.
• Collier became the premier developer of Southwest Florida—the land he
viewed as Florida’s last frontier. Collier's buying continued and he acquired
over 1.3 million acres in the undeveloped wilderness. He then convinced
state and local governments as well as the Atlantic Coast Line railroad to
create access to the land. This undeveloped wilderness was now ripe for
development and Collier was ready.

54. Barron Collier and
The Tamiami Trail
One of his greatest accomplishments in
Florida was that he successfully lobbied for
and then helped build the Tamiami Trail,
(Highway 41) the cross-state highway which
linked Miami to Tampa. Halfway through
the project, when road construction
reached the western side of the Trail, the
Tamiami Trail project ran into financial
problems.
Barron Collier stepped up and agreed to
finance and complete the highway for the
State of Florida.

55. Collier County, Florida
• On May 8, 1923, the newly-created county in Southwest Florida was
named "Collier County" in Barron Collier’s honor. There were fewer
than 1,200 people living in Collier scattered over an area larger than
the state of Delaware at the time the county was created. Today, this
county includes the cities of Naples and Marco Island.
• True to his word, Collier and his team finished the final and longest
stretch of the Tamiami Trail in 1928. It had taken 5 years to complete.
• Collier County, Florida was the center of his holdings and is now
named for him. Sections of what became State and National Parks in
Southwest Florida are areas that Collier preserved from development
that remain natural to this day. At the time of his death, Barron Gift
Collier was the largest landowner in the State of Florida.

56. In an April 1935 interview for Holland’s, The
Magazine of the South, Barron Collier asked
the reporter “Why don’t you ask me what’s
the most fun I ever had in my life?”
His response was “Building the Tamiami Trail
across the Great Cypress Swamp in Florida,” he
said laughing. Mr. Collier’s face glowed as he
continued: “We have built there a road as
sturdy as the Appian Way – one of the finest
highways ever constructed in this country. It is
three hundred miles long and connects Tampa
with Miami; and thus the name Tamiami Trail.”

57. End of Life
• The last years of the advertising genius named Barron Collier, Sr. were
complicated by the stresses of the Great Depression, the erosion of
his nationwide advertising empire and by ill health.
• The Bank Holiday of 1933, stripped the nation for months of cash
money and credit and banking services. Collier obviously knew the
Bank Holiday was coming. The day before FDR closed the banks,
Collier walked into his New York offices and tossed $200,000 in cash
onto a desk. “This will keep us going for a while,” he said. At the time
when ready cash was very scarce, Collier was able to turn to the
thousands of dollars generated (in pennies) by another of his more
obscure franchises-subway gum machines.
• With little or no cash flow from his advertising businesses, he was
forced to declare bankruptcy. Luckily for his family and his heirs, he
was able to retain most of his Florida real estate holdings.

58. The Florida Court did
grant Barron Collier a
moratorium on his
personal debts but he
would not live to see
the final outcome …

59. March 13, 1939
• His last illness found him at the place he had
loved since 1911, Useppa Island. He fell ill in
February 1939 on Useppa and was rushed to
New York where he lived until March 13, 1939
where he passed away just 10 days short of his
66th birthday.
• Collier was survived by his wife and three sons,
Barron Jr., Miles, and Samuel. He was buried at
Woodlawn Cemetery in New York.
• It took years to sort out his finances, but Barron
Collier left a fortune behind. His family is still
capitalizing on the real estate empire he built.

60. Mrs. Barron Collier, Sr. lived to be 86
years old. She died at her home,
920 Fifth Avenue, in New York City
in 1971. She was survived by a son,
Barron Jr., eight grandchildren and
four great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Barron Collier, Sr.

61. Their Children …
Her other two sons, Sam and Miles
preceded her in death. Both were race car
enthusiasts as they introduced the MG
brand of automobile to the United States
and founded the Automobile Racing Club
of America. Sam who was born in 1912
died in a tragic race car accident at
Watkins Glen in NY in September 1950.
His brother Cowles Miles Collier was 39
when he contracted a rare form of polio
which took his life in April of 1954.
Barron Collier, Jr. passed away in 1976.