After their first batches of nearly text-only ads achieved outstanding results, Albert Kiffer and Elsa Sommaire decided to elevate their work, and began looking for an art director whose ideas meshed with theirs. At the time, Sommaire was dating a man named Elbert Malandro. His twin brother, Delbert, was an illustrator with a history of designing ads for clothing stores.

The first ad he created for Fine’s brought so many customers to a special sales event that a line stretched around the block, and the staff had to let people enter the store in batches. Even though all the sale merchandise sold out long before the last group of shoppers walked through the door, none of them left.