Confessions of a Prehistoric Adman

“Confessions of a Prehistoric Adman” is Harvey Gabor’s account of growing up Jewish in the Bronx to his experiences as a young man in Manhattan. He talks about the challenges of living in a neighborhood that had no cul-de-sacs, no private houses dotting grassy hillsides, no lawns. Just sidewalks and streets onto which the inhabitants of the apartment houses poured every day. With a mixture of humor and pathos some stories show the tensions that existed between ethnic groups and Harvey’s private fears of confrontations and the ever-present possibility of a bloody nose. Other stories poke fun at the foibles peculiar to Jewish families. His description of his experience as a teen-aged waiter in the Catskills and brush with the local sheriff is a riot. Harvey then goes on to describe what it was like as a young, single man to move to Manhattan and the sometimes bizarre people and situations he encountered. He didn’t need a gym; he walked the city for hours from end to end observing and sometimes participating in the fascinating happenings on the subway and streets. His friends and he couldn’t wait to hit the pavement. Who needs grass when you can have the deliciously sleazy Times Square in the days before Mayor Giuliani turned it into Disneyland? Harvey later became an acclaimed advertising executive and his book includes examples and wry commentary on the ad world. The stories are in turn, funny, sad and all true.

“Confessions of a Prehistoric Adman” is Harvey Gabor’s account of growing up Jewish in the Bronx to his experiences as a young man in Manhattan. He talks about the challenges of living in a neighborhood that had no cul-de-sacs, no private houses dotting grassy hillsides, no lawns. Just sidewalks and streets onto which the inhabitants of the apartment houses poured every day. With a mixture of humor and pathos some stories show the tensions that existed between ethnic groups and Harvey’s private fears of confrontations and the ever-present possibility of a bloody nose. He relates what happens when the first black boy in the neighborhood wants to join the stickball game. Also, he tells why he never saw the end of the Saturday morning show at the Loews Paradise theater. How about the Irish intellectual who wasn’t? Other stories poke fun at the foibles peculiar to Jewish families. His description of his experience as a teen-aged waiter in the Catskills and brush with the local sheriff is a riot. The account of his army unit trying to find their way out of Queens via the elusive Triborough Bridge will make you relieved that Khrushchev blinked during the Cuban missile crisis. Harvey then goes on to describe what it was like as a young, single man to move to Manhattan and the sometimes bizarre people and situations he encounters. He didn’t need a gym; he walked the city for hours from end to end observing and sometimes participating in the fascinating happenings on the subway and streets. “Who needs green grass when you can have the deliciously sleazy Times Square in the days before Mayor Giuliani turned it into Disneyland?“ he asks. Harvey and his friends, naïve and full of raging hormones, couldn’t wait to hit the pavement which sometimes landed them in uncomfortable and even dangerous situations. Gabor later became an acclaimed creative director in advertising circles and his book includes examples and wry commentary on the ad world including his beef with “Mad Men.” The stories are in turn, funny, sad and all true.

Harvey Gabor’s “Hilltop, I Want to Buy the World a Coke” was chosen as one of the best commercials of all time. It’s also in the Advertising Hall of Fame. In 2012 he was asked by GOOGLE, with their advertising agency Johannes Leonardo a question: “How would you like to create a commercial on the internet that would combine your 1971 Coke commercial with GOOGLE’S latest cutting edge technology and new media?” They met. They were successful and won the top prize at the Cannes Lions Mobile Grand Prix. You can see Harvey on the internet: PROJECT RE- BRIEF COCA- COLA MOBILE AD AND DEMO. Harvey has been an art director, copywriter, illustrator, and creative director. His career includes McCann-Erickson, Wells Rich Green, Lintas and Ogilvy. Harvey has earned 5 gold medals and 7 Clios for both print and television, 2 gold medals from the International Film and TV Festival and over 200 certificate awards from the One Club, The Andy Awards, The New York Art Director’s Club, and the New York Society of Illustrators. The accounts he has worked on include Sunoco, Ralston, General Foods, Hershey, Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Mennen, DuBarry, Lever, Savings and Loan Associates, Carnation, Schlitz Beer, Lufthansa, Pepsico, Zayre, Rogaine, Stolichnaya, Mennen and Marymount Manhattan College. He has written speeches for the CEO of Detroit Edison, the Chairman of Kelly Services, the President of AAA and the President of HAP. He taught copywriting at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan. His play, “Rommel’s Garden,” was performed at the Harold Clurman Theater in New York City. Harvey also wrote a “humor” column for Archives Magazine, an advertising publication. Harvey has a BFA from the Cooper Union.