Griffith, Thomas Morris

Thomas Morris Griffith (November 4, 1895 - September 23, 1954) was an American advertising executive best. Remembered for creating St. Petersburg's mascot 'Mr. Sunshine'. Born in Montpelier, Ohio, Griffith graduated from Hillsdale College in Michigan and received a Master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1918. He served in the Navy during World War I and found a job in Detroit, Michigan working for an advertising agency after the war. Griffith worked for this ad agency for three years before deciding to open his own firm. In 1924, Griffith closed his agency in Detroit and moved his family to St. Petersburg, Florida, where his parents lived. He found a job with the C.C. Carr Advertising Agency soon after arriving in Florida. Griffith took over the C.C. Carr firm in 1930 and renamed it the Griffith Advertising Agency. Griffith's firm survived the Great Depression and then weathered World War II. Before World War II, Griffith had focused almost entirely on travel accounts, but diversified during the war to include commercial and industrial accounts. Griffith merged his firm with the Tampa-based R.E. McCarthy Advertising Agency in 1950 and was renamed Griffith-McCarthy Inc. Griffith-McCarthy grew into one of Florida's largest advertising agencies and had more than 100 clients at the time of Griffith's death in 1954. The partnership between Griffith and McCarthy ended after Thomas Griffith's death and Griffith's sons, Donald and. Joe Griffith, took over the firm. Donald and Joe continued to run the firm until 1968 when Joe Griffith left the firm and became the general manager of a dental chair manufacturing firm in St. Petersburg. W.M. Zemp and Associates bought the advertising firm in 1969 and Donald Griffith, who was the president of the Griffith Advertising Agency at the time of the sale, joined the Zemp staff.