Steve Hannagan was the impetus behind the invention of the modern ski chair lift. After mulling over the rigors of reaching the top of a ski slope, Hannagan suggested to Averell Harriman that Sun Valley needed a “mechanical device” to take people up the mountain. Hannagan believed that the crowd coming to Sun Valley wanted […]
Steve Hannagan is credited not only with naming Sun Valley, he also had his team develop the famous skiing icon used in advertisements about the resort. Steve Hannagan’s Sun Valley Icon[1] Peter Ogibene in a Smithsonian article noted that Steve’s iconic theme for Sun Valley would not involve bathing beauties. Instead, Steve chose beefcake […]
The Hollywood and social celebrities that Steve Hannagan enticed to Sun Valley paled in comparison to arranging for Ernest Hemingway’s visit at the resort. In the fall of 1939, Hannagan heard that Hemingway was in Montana on a hunting trip, Hannagan immediately sent, Gene Van Guilder, his resident associate at Sun Valley, to find Hemingway […]
Steve Hannagan’s career was at full throttle in Sun Valley. Prior to Sun Valley’s existence and Hannagan’s publicity campaign most people associated with potatoes and timber not luxurious ski resorts. In Sun Valley, Hannagan became part of the story and his fame was acknowledged in Life, Look, and by national news columnists. Although Hannagan claimed […]