Early Life
Bruce Barton literally was the son of a preacher man. He was born on August 5, 1886 to William Eleazer Barton and Esther Treat (Bushnell) Barton in Robbins, Tennessee (Applegate/Thompson, 1994). Bruce used to say that he grew up a poor, traveling evangelist's child, but in reality, his father became a pastor in Boston and then Chicago. His parents were the greatest influences in his life -- "the happiest and most successful people I have ever known." They provided him with a firm spiritual foundation that he relied on heavily throughout his lifetime (Fox, 1984).
Barton Quote:
If you can give your son or daughter only one gift, let it be Enthusiasm.
(http://www.bemorecreative.com/one/526.htm)
Barton went on to Amherst College where he graduated in 1907 at the top of his class. He had planned to go on to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin with dreams of becoming an American history professor. But after a summer of working as a timekeeper in a Montana construction camp, he decided to investigate a career in publishing (Fox, 1984). He worked as editor for a couple of small journals in Chicago, but then moved to New York in 1912 to assume the position of assistant sales manager for Collier's magazine. A journal that editorially attacked advertising, is ironically, where Bruce Barton, the adman, was born (Applegate/Thompson, 1994).
INTRO EARLY LIFE NEW ADMAN BDO BBDO JESUS POLITICS BIBLIOGRAPHY