(Reprinted from Brandstand Summer 2007) During the late 1930s, R.J. Reynolds ran a series of testimonial ads under the tag line “for digestion’s sake” featuring minor celebrities of the day attesting to the virtues of smoking Camels. “They make food taste better and help digestion along” said star figure skater Betty Chase in a 1936 ad from the series. “They are rich and mellow and they are a delightful aid to digestion” stated Frank Buck while on his latest expedition to Malaysia to collect wild animals in 1939. It was an ad from this series which caught my eye recently when I noticed the name Al Mingalone among the celebrity endorsements. That name was familiar to me through an article which I had read about an unplanned balloon flight over Kennebunk, Maine in September, 1937. According to the story, Mingalone, a young Paramount News cameraman, was given the risky assignment of filming golfers on the Old Orchard Beach Golf Club while dangling from a cluster of 28 four-foot hydrogen-filled balloons. The idea was for Al, who was tethered with a clothesline tied to an automobile bumper, to jump in the air and then gently float over the golf course while filming the ground below. Meanwhile, another cameraman named Phil Coolidge was assigned to film the whole event from the ground. Just before the ascension, Mingalone decided that he needed a little more buoyancy and added two more balloons to the cluster. As soon as the balloon cluster was released, Mingalone shot upward. The 100 foot clothesline held momentarily but then, to the dismay of all present, it snapped. Locker-boy Thomas Bowman chased the escaping clothesline into a potato field across the road but the line slipped through his grasp when he stumbled and fell. Time Magazine reported that the cameraman rapidly rose to a height of over 2500 feet and into a rain cloud. Those on the ground including Father James Mullen of St. Margaret’s Parish {who had moments before blessed the ill-fated balloons}, jumped into an automobile and followed Mingalone toward Kennebunk. Two miles later, they spotted the drenched cameraman who had by then descended to 600 feet because of the added weight of his soaking wet clothes. Father Mullen, who just happened to be a sharpshooter, grabbed the rifle which Paramount had provided for just such an emergency. He quickly fired off two shots the first of which missed while the second punctured two of the balloons and started Mingalone slowly descending toward the ground. As luck would have it, Al had just started to execute his own plan to get back to earth. Holding a pair of scissors between his teeth, Mingalone slowly climbed up the 15 foot harness hoping to cut loose a few of the balloons. Unfortunately, just as he reached the ring, his hands went numb from the cold causing him to drop his 12 pound Bell and Howell camera setting off an immediate rise in altitude. Adding to his dilemma, Al was also now hopelessly entangled in his own harness. . | By then, all of York County was abuzz with word of the young cameraman’s misadventure and a great many locals were intently gazing into the sky. Luckily, one of these spectators spotted Mingalone quietly floating 200 feet over a cornfield in North Kennebunkport. Father Mullen and the rest of the ground crew quickly piled into their automobile and raced to the scene. Jumping from the car, the marksman priest dropped to one knee and fired off one final shot hitting his target and bringing Al slowly down to the ground. Running over to the spot where he landed, Al’s friends pounced on him and cut loose the harness finally putting an end to his one hour unscheduled flight. According to the article, Mr. Mingalone was uninjured and apparently unfazed by the incident even returning to the country club later that evening to play a round of bridge with Father Mullen The story of his balloon flight appeared in newspapers around the country and Al became a minor celebrity. We can only assume that it was not long after that he was contacted by Reynolds to do the endorsement.. R. Elliott, editor, Brandstand  In this photo taken by a spectator, Mingalone is seen drifting helplessly high above Kennebunk, Maine in September 1937  "I Smoke A Lot" says ace newsreel cameraman Al Mingalone. "Camels never frazzzle my nerves and after a hard days' work, I get a mighty comforting "lift" in energy with a Camel". (Camel ad 1937) |