Ernest Dichter Papers - Hagley Museum and Library

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
Accession 2407
ERNEST DICHTER PAPERS
Speeches, Quizzes & Seminars
This Subgroup consists of 10 linear feet of Dr. Dichter’s speeches and other
presentations. It is divided into three Series: Speeches, Tests & Quizzes, and Seminars.
Dr. Dichter spent a great deal of time as a public speaker presenting his findings and
ideas in a wide variety of venues. His first preserved speech dates from October 15,
1943, when he described his method of depth interviews to a meeting of the Market
Research Council, but his active career as a public lecturer did not begin until 1951. The
last preserved speech dates from 1987. Dichter kept a stock of his speech texts for sale or
distribution and numbered them from 601 to 1156. This order has been preserved.
The speeches follow the trajectory of Dichter’s career and generally reflect the
findings and ideas one finds in the motivational studies and published writings of a given
year. During the 1950s and 1960s, when the Institute was at its height, many of the
speeches are those of Dichter’s vice presidents and other subordinates, including Ernest
Angel, Irving Gilman, John Kellogg, John Kishler, Tibor Koves, John Rimberg, and
William Schlackman. In the later years, a high percentage of the speeches were delivered
in German before European audiences, although English translations are often provided.
In many cases the speeches exist in several drafts, sometimes with accompanying letters
and notes. Dichter recycled many of the same ideas and often entire speeches for
different audiences at different times. There is also some overlap between the speeches
and the “Reprints,” which is often noted by Dr. Dichter in the front page margins.
Even before emigrating, Dr. Dichter had written psychological personality tests and
quizzes for popular magazines, a practice he continued throughout his career. Many were
for women’s magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Family Circle and Elle, and Dichter’s
output logically increased in the “Me Decade” of the 1970s. In the 1980s, Dichter began
numbering his quizzes as a continuation of his “Speeches” series, using Nos. 1157-1170.
However, the bulk remained organized alphabetically. The earliest quiz dates from 1944
and the latest from 1985.
Dr. Dichter also conducted seminars, especially in the later phases of his career.
Sometimes, as in the seminars for Expressen, a Swedish newspaper, or the “Teller-Seller”
seminars for motivating bank tellers, they were part of a larger motivational study.
Others were offered commercially, and still others as university courses. The “Seminars”
series is somewhat mixed. For some seminars, there are only publicity materials and
flyers.
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