Displayed is an almost life-sized Johnny Roventini Philip Morris Bellboy die-cut advertising display. In 1933, Roventini was a fully grown 22-year-old man who was 3'11" tall (47 inches), weighed 59 lbs. and was working as a bellboy at the New Yorker Hotel, in midtown Manhattan in New York City. Milton H. Biow was the chief executive of an advertising agency, and he had been alerted to Roventini's distinct, high-pitched pages in the lobby of the New Yorker. In that era, upscale hotels had beautifully furnished lobbies, and often persons would meet there or receive phone calls, and the bellboy would go around the lobby, paging someone to the phone. Biow asked Roventini to page "Philip Morris," the name of a cigarette. But Johnny Roventini thought the page request was real and not, as he later found out, an audition. Biow loved Johnny's voice and charisma, and Johnny was hired to represent Philip Morros cigarettes, which he did from 1933 to 1974. Roventini became a "living spokesman" for Philip Morris, proclaiming, "Call for Philip Morris" on radio and then later on television, as a sponsor of the 1952 I Love Lucy television show. 

The die-cut, made of cardboard, is approx. 43.5" tall, and the section that depicts Johnny Roventini is 40.5" tall, only 6.5" less than his real height. The die-cut depicts Roventini in his traditional bellhop uniform: red usher's jacket, piped trousers, black pillbox hat, and white gloves. A patch on Johnny's uniform reads, "Call for Philip Morris." On the "floor" below Johnny is machine printed: "Call for Philip Morris" and "AMERICA'S FINEST 15 CENT CIGARETTE." The base of the display measures 8.5x15.5". On back of the display is a workable, attached display stand. There is some cracking across the chin in the display. Around many of the edges is wear and minor paper loss. The pillbox hat exhibits some bubbling, and the pants have some tiny paper loss. The "floor" of the display has some cracks, bubbling, light stains, and paper loss. The display weighs approximately 26 ounces. The stand enables the display to be upright. The offering makes a wonderful piece of nostalgia, when the cry of "Call for Philip Morris" was familiar to practically everyone. As a working display, the offering will bring its vintage look and enhance any collection.