The Culture of Communications

The Thomas Cusack Company

Thomas Cusack (B. 1858 – D. 1926) was a pioneer and entrepreneur in the outdoor advertising industry.

Cusack emigrated with his family from Ireland to New York City in 1861. Shortly after the move, his parents died, leaving him and his younger brother orphaned. Cusack was raised by relatives in Chicago, where he learned how to paint, a skill that made him a wealthy man.

At 17, Cusack established his own sign painting business, the Thomas Cusack Company. The business soon grew profitable, leasing over 100,000 billboards and advertising spaces. According to a 1924 Time article, he had offices in almost one hundred cities, controlled over 40 million square feet of wall surface and over 1.8 million square feet of billboards. Cusack was known as the “billboard baron”.

The business grew to annual revenue of over $20 million. It was sold to New York bankers for $24 million who listed it. Eventually, it was broken up. Cusack purchased an entire town and built a plush mansion in Colorado. He died on November 19, 1926, at the age of 68.

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Love this campaign from Ogilvy. How do you attract a more youthful audience to the opera? Well, you hope they read long form ads. Or you surmise potential opera lovers are highly literal.

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