John Caples; Ad Man Wrote Enduring American Phrase

John Caples, who 64 years ago gave America one of its most enduring catch phrases--”They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano . . . but When I Started to Play!”--died Sunday in New York City.

The veteran advertising executive and copywriter, whose headline on an advertisement for the U.S. (correspondence) School of Music, gave birth to a cottage industry of similar phrases over the years, was 90.

Caples was a beginning copywriter when he wrote the headline--since included in the anthology “100 Greatest Advertisements”--and text for a magazine advertisement.

It produced thousands of responses and made Caples an overnight sensation in the advertising field. He went on to become a much sought-after expert in direct-response advertisements.

The catch phrase itself was adapted by comedians in their acts and eventually became a part of the American idiom.

Caples was employed by the Ruthrauff & Ryan Inc. agency in New York composing ads for hair restorers, patent medicines, mail-order schools and other reader-response accounts.

After his success with the music school ad he went to work for Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn, becoming a vice president in 1941 and later creative director. He retired in 1982.

He wrote several books on advertising and was credited with developing copy testing and research for advertising campaigns.

His books included “Tested Advertising Methods,” “Advertising Ideas” and “Making Ads Pay.”

Caples was critical of sophisticated advertising campaigns, encouraging writers to use simple language and straightforward approaches.

The John Caples Award is given each year by the Direct Marketing Creative Guild, a trade group.

Caples, a native New Yorker, graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1924 after serving as a seaman in World War I. He was called back into the Navy during World War II and rose to the rank of commander.