by Richard G. Ebel

Generation after generation, the family that owned the venerable Geiger Bros. direct house has lent leadership to the Association--three of the Association’s chief elected officers carried the Geiger name.

Frank A. Geiger and his brother, Charles, purchased the firm in 1907 from their father and an uncle. When the National Association of Advertising Novelty Manufacturers needed a secretary who could be entrusted with the precious Ex-Salesmen’s List, it drafted Frank. There was quibbling over the stipend paid to defray the secretary’s clerical expenses. Frank wanted less, the board insisted on paying more. The board prevailed.

Frank became the Advertising Specialty Association’s chief elected officer (the title was then president) for the 1924-25 term. In 1935, he assumed the post of treasurer and the responsibility of overseeing the Association’s Depression-era finances. He held that position for 10 years.

His son, Francis O., entered the family business in 1930. When the Advertising Specialty Guild was formed, he became active in the organization and was its president in 1955-56.

Another son, Raymond, joined Geiger Bros. a couple years after his brother. Soon Raymond became identified with the Farmers’ Almanac, a nostalgic piece of Americana published since 1818. The owner was retiring and was looking specifically for a young, qualified philosopher to take over. It just so happened that Raymond had been graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in philosophy.

Raymond purchased the Farmers’ Almanac and took the title editor and Philom. (an abbreviation of philomathy - "lover of learning"). By the time Geiger Bros. celebrated its centennial in 1978, the Farmers’ Almanac boasted a circulation of six-and-one-half million.

With that kind of popularity, Raymond became a media personality, traveled extensively promoting the Farmers’ Almanac and, by association, calendar advertising. His impressions were reported by the Wall Street Journal, Reader’s Digest and The New York Times. He also made radio and TV appearances, and humorist Art Linkletter called him the "most interviewed man in America."

During Raymond’s term as president of ASNA (1959-60), the organization was on the threshold of significant innovation, particularly in education leading to the introduction of the CAS seminar.

Raymond’s sons, Eugene and Peter, represented a new generation of family commitment to the Association. Both later served as board vice chairs. Gene Geiger also chaired the PPAI’s Technology, Terminology & Standards Committee. In that position, he helped shepherd the development of the ePromoStandards Alliance intended to facilitate the industry’s business transaction technology.

Peter succeeded his father as the Farmers’ Almanac Philom., which carries with it the travel and media appearances associated with one of the most recognized publications in the U.S.