For the opening of Pinocchio (1940) Walt Disney’s publicity department decided to hire eleven midgets, dress them in Pinocchio outfits, and have them frisk about on top of the theater marquee on opening day. At lunchtime, food and refreshments were passed up to the marquee, including a couple of quarts of liquor.
By three o’clock that afternoon things had gotten out of hand and an amused crowd in Times Square was regaled by the spectacle of eleven stark-naked midgets belching noisily and enjoying a crap game atop the Broadway marquee. Police with ladders removed the gamblers in pillowcases.
Source:
Boller, Paul F., and Ronald L. Davis. "Social Life and Publicity." Hollywood Anecdotes. New York: Morrow, 1987. 381. Print.
Original Source Listed:
Niven, Bring on the Empty Horses, p. 27.
Further Reading:
IN PILLOWCASES!That is glorious!