John Caples

Article summary

John Caples (May 11, 1900 – June 18, 1990) was an American advertiser, writer, copy editor, and engineer. Born in New York City, Caples grew up in an educated household. He attended the Horace Mann School for elementary education and later enrolled at Columbia University. However, he transferred to the United States Naval Academy, earning a degree in engineering, after deciding to avoid a public speaking requirement at Columbia. In the 1920s, Caples began working at Ruthrauff & Ryan. During 1925-1926, he created the well-known U.S. School of Music advertisement titled "They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano But When I Started to Play!" In 1927, he joined the advertising agency BBDO, where he eventually became a vice president. Caples wrote several books on advertising, including Tested Advertising Methods (1932), Advertising for Immediate Sales (1936), and Making Ads Pay (1957). He was recognized for his work in copywriting and advertising, being inducted into the Copywriters Hall of Fame in 1973 and the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame in 1978.

Key claims

1. date of birth: 1900-05-11 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. date of death: 1990-06-18 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of birth is "1900-05-11". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the date of death is "1990-06-18". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

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