Whether it’s newspaper clippings saved from the day that will “live in infamy” or uniforms worn by the brave sailors stationed at the Hawaiian base, Pearl Harbor collectibles have a significance that is difficult to overstate.

“There’s just nothing that compares to that instance in history,” says WorthPoint Worthologist Chris Hughes.

Japan’s stunning strike on the U.S. Navy’s fleet at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, sank or damaged 21 ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, destroyed 188 aircraft and claimed more than 2,400 lives. The attack—the deadliest ever committed by a foreign power on U.S. soil—also plunged the nation headfirst into World War II. Before the attack, Americans had expressed little support for joining the war, but the devastation on Pearl Harbor quickly changed public opinion.

Because of Pearl Harbor’s historical importance, memorabilia can be difficult to find. Hughes says that war posters—many carrying the rallying cry, “Remember Pearl Harbor”—provide one of the easier points of entry for new collectors. Stressing sacrifice and strength, these colorful works can be had for anywhere from $75 to $250.

Reproductions are common, so Hughes warns beginners to be wary of posters priced for much less.

Clippings from magazines or newspapers chronicling the attack are also more common. WorthPoint’s sister site, GoAntiques, has Newsweek magazine issues from both the day of the attack and the week after, as well as an edition of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin printed on the day of the attack. The site, however, cautions that the copy of the newspaper may be a reproduction.

(left) Newsweek’s prescient cover story; (right) Honolulu Star-Bulletin’s Dec. 7 front page

For more seasoned collectors, personal items seem to hold the greatest appeal.

During the 1940s, sailors at Pearl Harbor sported white, “Donald Duck” type hats adorned with ribbons listing the ship to which they were assigned. Collectors, says Hughes, will often collect those ribbons if they list a ship that was sunk at Pearl Harbor.
Purple Hearts awarded posthumously are also sought-after collectibles.

“To find a medal group that’s named to someone killed at Pearl Harbor, that’s a Holy Grail item to a medal collector,” says Hughes. “They’re out there. They exist, but they sell at a premium.”

Photos taken by military personnel and personal correspondence from those who served at Pearl Harbor are also highly valued.

Hughes says collecting Pearl Harbor memorabilia takes patience and perseverance. In addition to GoAntiques, he suggests attending militaria shows and digging around online for items.

“There are discussion groups on the Internet that are very welcoming to new collectors,” shares Hughes.

To find out what your Pearl Harbor items might be worth, check out worthopedia.com or Goantiques’ PriceMiner tool, which is available by subscription.

Chris Hughes is a WorthPoint Worthologist specializing in 20th century militaria and the owner of Rally Point Militaria and Vietnam Uniform – Military Collectibles sites.

WorthPoint—Get the Most from Your Antiques & Collectibles

If you are a collector of circus posters, like this 1922 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey poster of a clown in white make-up, you'll want to be able to tell the authentic article from the reproductions.

So you’ve just found the most amazing circus poster online and want to bid on it. Or maybe you are thinking about buying one at an antique mall. How do you know it is real? Could it be a reproduction? You aren’t sure. What can you do?

Size is the first clue about whether or not a poster is original. The majority of collectible posters are one-sheet (28 inches by 42 inches) or half-sheet. But posters also came in larger sizes — three-sheet, six-sheet, nine-sheet, 16-sheet, 20-sheet, 28-sheet and many other sizes. One of the largest ever produced was for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, a gigantic 108-sheet billboard.

The circus poster reproductions seen most often are the six printed in 1960 by Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin and the vast assortment printed by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey beginning in the early 1970s and continuing through the early 1980s. Those are the ones we will concentrate on in this article. Some of those posters are shown above.

Al G. Barnes Circus Tiger Riding Elephant

Circus World Museum posters

The posters printed by Circus World Museum measure 13 ¼ inches by 19 inches each. If they haven’t been altered it’s easy to identify them because in the lower left border it says “Copyright 1960 Circus World Museum.” But I have seen these in antique shows with that line trimmed off and being passed off as original. Sometimes they are neatly framed and matted. The posters were originally sold as a set in a folder that said “Old Time Circus Posters – Six Colorful, Authentic Reproductions – Each Resplendent and Spectacular Reproduction is an Eye Feast of Beauty That Captures All the Unparalleled Magnificence of the Original Poster.” The titles and images of the six posters are:

Ringling Bros. – Army of 50 Clowns
Barnum & Bailey – Peerless Prodigies of Physical Phenomena . . .
Barnum & Bailey – The Meers Sisters
Al G. Barnes Circus – Tiger riding on an elephant
Adam Forepaugh & Sells Bros. – Automobile Double Forward Somersault
Forepaugh & Sells Brothers – Hippopotamus & Rhinoceros

Ringling Bros. – Army of 50 Clowns

Barnum & Bailey – Peerless Prodigies ...

Barnum & Bailey – The Meers Sisters

Adam Forepaugh & Sells Bros. – Automobile

Forepaugh & Sells Brothers – Hippo & Rhino

Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey posters

In the early 1970s Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey began reproducing many of their historic posters. They were advertised as “The Only Antique Posters Authorized by The Greatest Show On Earth.” These reproductions were sold at the concessions stands on the traveling shows and by mail as advertised in the souvenir program book. They were also sold in the gift shops at their theme park, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus World, which opened in 1974 in central Florida near Disney World.

Beginning with the 100th Anniversary Program in 1970, some of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey programs had poster reproductions inserted in the program book. These varied in size, but were about 16 inches by 20 inches. It’s easy to identify them because they were folded in quarters and have staple holes where they were inserted into the program. They continued this for several years.

In 1970 the 100th Edition of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey souvenir program advertised a set of four posters measuring 26 inches x 17 inches for $3.98 per set. Those posters were:

Barnum & Bailey – Tiger Head – Blue Background
Barnum & Bailey – 1000 Skits by 50 Original Clowns
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Giraffe Neck Women from Burma
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Dainty Miss Leitzel

Barnum & Bailey – Tiger Head, Blue Background	Barnum & Bailey – 1000 Skits by 50 Original Clowns
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Giraffe Neck Women	Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Dainty Miss Leitzel

Individual Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey posters

Starting in 1971 individual posters could be ordered from the souvenir program book. They were advertised as approximately 24 inches by 17 inches. All of these posters had an order number printed in the lower corner which begins with the letter “P.” Here’s a list of these posters:

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Chariot Races, Blue Background

1897 – Ringling Bros., Three Famous Aerial Artists

P-103 – 1935 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Chariot Races – Blue Background
P-104 – 1897 – Ringling Bros. – Three Famous Aerial Artists
P-105 – 1904 – Barnum & Bailey – The Great Florenz Troupe
P-109 – 1921 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Polar Bear – Red Background
P-113 – 1938 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Gargantua the Great
P-114 – 1938 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Terrell Jacobs & Lions
P-116 – 1888 – Ringling Bros. – Portraits of the five brothers
P-117 – 1927 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – May Wirth
P-118 – 1933 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Felix and 99 other Famous Clowns
P-123 – 1904 – Barnum & Bailey – Blue Ribbon Winners – High Jumpers
P-125 – 1917 – Barnum & Bailey – Clown Standing over Tents – Blue Background
P-127 – 1920 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Worlds Biggest Menagerie – Elephant Head & other Animals
P-128 – 1916 – Barnum & Bailey – By the Hair of their Heads
P-131 – 1900 – Barnum & Bailey – Clown Band – German Text
P-132 – 1915 – Barnum & Bailey – Great Groups of Trained Wild Beasts including Mlle. Adgie
P-136 – 1928 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Crouching Lion
P-137 – 1895 – Ringling Bros. Mlle Elena
P-141 – 1922 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – White Face Clown on left
P-143 – 1916 – Barnum & Bailey – Pallenberg – Bears That Dance
P-144 – 1913 – Barnum & Bailey – Great Free Street Parade
P-146 – 1916 – Barnum & Bailey – Roaring Tiger Head
P-149 – 1936 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Seated Clowns with Circus on their backs
P-152 – 1900 – Ringling Bros. – Portraits of the five brothers
P-153 – 1897 – Barnum & Bailey – Portraits of Barnum & Bailey
P-155 – 1932 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – 5 Big Herds of Performing Elephants
P-157 – 1903 – Barnum & Bailey – Miss Helen Girard
P-158 – 1906 – Barnum & Bailey – A Whole Horse Show
P-159 – 1925 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Chariot Races- Red Background
P-162 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – Giraffe Neck Women
P-202 – 1883 – Buffalo Bill’s Wild West – Featuring Indians

1904 – Barnum & Bailey; The Great Florenz Troupe	1938 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey; Gargantua the Great
1938 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey; Terrell Jacobs & Lions	1888 – Ringling Bros. – Portraits of the five brothers

]]> http://www.worthpoint.com/blog-entry/circus-posters-%e2%80%94-authentic-or-reproduction/feed 166 http://www.worthpoint.com/blog-entry/100-horror-film-posters http://www.worthpoint.com/blog-entry/100-horror-film-posters#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:42:07 +0000 Allan Maurer http://blog.worthpoint.com/?p=2375530

100 Horror Film Posters

By Allan Maurer

Now here’s a treat. Andrew Lindstrom’s blog “Well Medicated” displays 100 horror film posters.

My favorites include “Tarantula,” “Planet of the Vampires,” “Day of the Dead,” “Nosferatu,” the rare “Dracula” poster, “Robinson Crusoe on Mars,” and the unusual “Invaders From Mars” poster. The 1950s original version of “Invaders From Mars” was consciously designed to reflect a child’s nightmare vision of the world. Sure did work on me. I had nightmares for months after seeing it, despite the clearly visible zippers on the costumes the Martians wore.

Lindstrom includes lots of other posters, classic and modern.

This is an unusual collection, not the run-of-the-mill posters usually seen from any of the films he includes. You’ll surely have your own favorites.

Go take a look, but don’t droll on your keyboard…

Anytime there is an economic downturn, you can grab some collectibles at bargain-basement prices. This includes collectibles from the movie world.

The very best movie memorabilia pieces, items in perfect condition, well cared-for and preserved and representing a star, film or director of note, tend to maintain their value in all economic conditions.

But when cash is scarce, many items of lesser value go for prices you’ll never see again for quite a while after the economy recovers. Basically, that means if you have some cash right now, check out the movie poster auction sites.

This is speculative, at best. The cash crunch could make cheap buys not such a good idea if your own cash might run out or an economic downturn is prolonged.

If you have a bit to spend, however, buying movie memorabilia, particularly posters, may be an excellent investment.

I recently snagged nine half sheet movie posters for an average of $10 each that included a fine “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” directed by Robert Altman and starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie (not to mention Leonard Cohen’s moody ballads), and a superb “Theatre of Blood” half sheet showing Vincent Price framed by red theatre curtains and two daggers.

I found a very nice half sheet from “The Last Hurrah,” directed by John Ford and starring Spencer Tracy, for under $10. I can’t remember ever seeing posters from a film directed by Ford go that inexpensively in an auction. I’ve bid higher for the same item in similar condition and lost.

I haven’t seen prices like that for decent–if not perfect posters–for decades. Some of these items I’ve been buying have significant edgewear, tears, missing pieces, wrinkles. Few fail to sell. Movie paper sells in all conditions. But most are in very good condition.

Fixed-priced vendors still charge high end retail prices, but if you are willing to look, you might build the basis of a collection now for much less than it will likely cost when the economy recovers.

A number of artists best known for their work in other fields also did at least some movie posters.

Today, Charles Addams is best known for creating the “Addams Family,” as familiar to us now through the two movies and the television show as through the dark humor of his weird New Yorker cartoons.

Addams’ bizarre sense of humor is perhaps best caught in his cartoon of the entire Addams’ Family on the roof of their Gothic home, getting ready to pour boiling oil on a group of Christmas carolers below. The characters never had names until the TV sitcom, when Addams fleshed them out a bit, so to speak and now we know them as Gomez, Morticia, Lurch, Pugsley, Wednesday and Uncle Fester.

Addams did movie poster art for “Murder by Death,” (1976) and “How to Murder a Rich Uncle,” (1957), among other films.

“Murder By Death,” written by Neil Simon, author of the “Odd Couple,” starred writer Truman Capote in a farce about five famous literary detectives and their sidekicks invited to a mansion bizarre enough to have appeared in one of Addams cartoons to solve a mystery.

The IMBD listing for “Murder by Death” is here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074937. Wikipedia’s entry on Addams is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Addams

In a recent issue of a monthly newspaper dedicated to movie poster collecting, five of seven dealers used the one-sheet from 1957′s “Forbidden Planet” showing Robbie the Robot cradling sexy Anne Francis in his metallic arms as a prominent part of their ad.

The 1957 MGM film is often cited as a precursor to “Star Trek,” and featured, among other wonders, a Disney animated monster from the “ID.” It had all the MGM trimmings, stars, a big special effects budget, and a plot derived from Shakespeare’s “Tempest” set on the planet Altair IV.

About 25 years ago, I bought a “Forbidden Planet” 1-sheet at a science fiction convention for $30. It was perfect and I had it framed in my home for years.

Then during a time of financial need, I sold it at another science fiction convention. We were on the steps leading to the convention dealer’s room, which had not yet opened.

I should have known something was fishy when the dealer who bought it made sure it was original, then almost broke his hand reaching for his wallet.

He peeled off four bills and said, “I’ll give you $350 for it right now.”

At the time, I thought, great profit, took the money and handed over the poster.

Recently, I saw one offered at a fixed price from a dealer for $30,000.

That seems excessive to me, but it has regularly sold for $3,500 or more in recent years. All the movie paper from “Forbidden Planet” sells at high prices. Even single lobby cards can sell for hundreds of dollars.

But that one-sheet of Robbie the Robot holding Anne Francis (which he never does in the movie), has been described as the single most desired science fiction film movie poster.

It was a better investment than stocks and bonds, even with the profit I made then, let alone what it would bring now.

I say to myself, who knew?

But that’s part of the value of a site such as Worthpoint, I think.

You’ll know.

Some Tolkien fans never forgave Ralph Bakshi for his animated version of “The Lord of the Rings,” at least until Peter Jackson did the trilogy right in live action (and plenty of computer generated imagery).

Bakshi also directed the melancholy animated story based loosely on the doomed lives of all too many pop musicians in his “American Pop,” in 1981, which I can still watch with a mixture of pleasure and pain.

He did the posters for his version of “Lord of the Rings,” and “American Pop,” and while I’m not crazy about his version of LTR, I do really like his poster for “Cool World,” a film similar to “Who Killed Roger Rabbit” in its combination of live action and animation worlds.

Bakshi’s work still sells at reasonable prices. You could buy a one-sheet from “American Pop” last year for $14.00. A British Quad of “Fritz The Cat,” sold for $104.00 this year. Oddly enough, that is also exactly the high price for a 1-sheet from his 1978 version of “The Lord of the Rings.” Nothing from any of his films sold for much more than that.

I collect in a number of specific areas. Rather than randomly collecting movie art, I enjoy building wider collections that include toys, trading cards, ties, comix, magazines and books and so on.

I’ll collect anything from a movie or TV show in which aliens play a prominent role.
I’ll collect anything to do with any of the four films based on “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” for instance, or “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers,” or either version of “The Thing.”

Then little sub-collections develop. Somewhere along the line, I realized that I could probably collect everything to do with Saturday Night Live’s “The Coneheads,” for instance. Meep, meep…

At least five different posters advertised the film and I bought them all at reasonable prices ($20 or so). A poster from the TV show recently showed up on eBay and I bought that. I have the comic book version of the film, 50 35mm film cells (see the photos), all the trading cards based on the film, a Beldar tie, all the action figure toys, a TV guide with Beldar and Star Trek’s Captain Picard, a coffee mug showing the original threesome (Dan Akroyd, Jane Curtin, and in the Saturday Night Live sketches), a publicity book issued at the film’s release). There are a few more items, although none extremely rare and I’m sure I’ll eventually have anything ever connected with the Coneheads.

Do you think they somehow used their wily alien technology to make me CONSUME MASS QUANTITIES?

Pam Grier told an audience at Winston Salem’s 2008 Riverrun International Film Festival that when she went to meet director Quentin Tarantino, he told her he had written a movie with her in mind.

She also discovered that he “has the posters from all my movies,” she said. “I don’t even have them. They’re worth thousands of dollars.”

We don’t know how many Tarantino actually owns, but he would need a few for them to add up to thousands of dollars worth, not that the director of “Pulp Fiction,” would have a hard time coming up with the money. Tarantino is known to collect movies in just about every format and movie memorabilia such as posters as well (more about that in a coming post).

Grier starred in 1970s action films such as “Coffy,” (1973), in which she played nurse battling
drug dealers. She also played tough roles in black action films such as Foxy Brown (1974), Sheba, Baby (1975), Friday Foster (1975) and Greased Lightning (1975), among others. She appeared in many other genre films, from westerns to the Blackula sequel.

Since 2004, she has been a regular on Showtime’s “The L Word.”

Tarantino starred her in “Jackie Brown,” (1997), which he wrote because of his fondness for Grier’s work in those action films. Those, she said she did primarily for the money.

Her movie memorabilia does attract buyers.

One-sheets from “Coffy” in very good to fine condition sold at from $192 to $229 in 2006, according to one auction house listing of poster sales results, and from $227 to $36 in a variety of conditions more recently. Oddly enough, one lesser condition “Coffy” sold for $224, while one described as “good” sold for $36–which just goes to prove, you can find bargains or pay way too much in auctions.

A pressbook—the advertising book movie PR folks used to send to theaters with every film—went for $36 and an 8 by 10 gloss still for a bit over $30.

By comparison, a one-sheet from “Jackie Brown” (advance, showing Grier), sold for about $20 recently.

It’s not unusual to discover movie poster collectibles in unlikely locations. This time, the Phantom was hanging out in a sub shop.

Movie paper from Chaney’s films is rare and highly prized, regardless of type. The linen-backed six-sheet shown above from the original silent “Phantom of the Opera,” (1925) starring the legendary Lon Chaney, Sr. hung on the wall of an Italian restaurant, “The Classic Sub Shop,” in Philadelphia, PA, from 1963 to 1974. A Christie’s auction catalog from 1995 offered it for sale at $60,000 to $80,000. It sold at $57, 500.

Why the poster was valuable

Why was it so valuable? For one thing, it is the only known copy of the poster. A six-sheet is 81 inches by 81 inches. Linen-backing generally increases the value of movie posters, helping to preserve them and making them easier to frame properly. It is itself an expensive process and an exception to the general rule that collector’s want unrestored items.

Meanwhile, a one-sheet from Chaney’s “Phantom” in fine condition sold for $24,000 plus in 1993. A single still from the film sold for $290 in 2007.

Although Chaney is best remembered for his handful of horror films, he turned in numerous performances as a character actor in a variety of genres, including a role as a tough Marine drill sergeant and several turns as a gangster.

Chaney collectibles becoming more valuable

The Turner Classic Movie Channel has gone a long way to restoring recognition to this master of make-up known as “The Man of A Thousand Faces,” with its retrospective showing of his films and a documentary about him. Chaney’s work as a makeup artist led to him writing the article about it for the 11th Edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica.

James Cagney starred in a biopic (a movie biography) about Chaney (“A Man of A Thousand Faces”) that took great liberties with his story. The poster, which of course sells for much less than originals from Lon’s films, includes sketches of Cagney re-enacting Lon’s most famous parts, such as the “Phantom” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

Years ago, in 1954, when I was 7 or 8, I saw a little film called “The Rocket Man,” at the Columbia Theatre in the small town where I grew up. I was about the same age as the young boy, played by George “Foghorn” Winslow, known for his gravelly voice.

Winslow’s most famous film is probably “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” in 1953. He made “The Rocket Man” a year later.

In “The Rocket Man,” Winslow, wearing a space suit and helmet I very much coveted, discovers a weapon accidentally left behind by a real spaceman. When pointed at someone, it makes them tell the truth.

Now if that existed, it really would be a weapon. Think about how much politicians would pay to keep it out of our hands. In the movie, Winslow uses it to defeat the wiles of local politicians and bad guys.

Although TCM has shown “The Rocket Man” on very rare occasions, I have yet to see a commercially released version in any format. Posters or other movie paper from the film shows up in auctions now and then. I paid a mere $20 for the Insert shown above.

The Lenny Bruce connection

“The Rocket Man” is the only movie scripted by the so-called “sick comic” of the 1960s, Lenny Bruce, who mentions it briefly in his autobiography. Bruce was a tragic figure, brilliant, but addicted to heroin and hounded by local law enforcement coast to coast for his act, which many thought obscene. Compared to what can be heard in many nightclubs or on cable TV today, his act would be considered relatively mild.

Later, Dustin Hoffman would play Bruce in “Lenny,” directed by Bob Fosse. I collect lobby cards and posters from Fosse’s movies, which include “Cabaret” and “All That Jazz.”

Cliff Gorman, who did Bruce in a play about Lenny on Broadway in the 1970s, portrays Hoffman playing Lenny in Fosse’s autobiographical “All That Jazz,” which is enough to make you dizzy if you think about it.

Prices are still reasonable on many Fosse items. I recently bought a set of 8 lobby cards from “All That Jazz” for under $50.

Quite a few movies about invading aliens scared us during the collision of the Atomic Era with the Space Age in the 1950s.

Only one, however, transforms like some space creature to fit the zeitgeist of each new generation. Several of those original 50s films about aliens have been remade once.

The original 1956 “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” directed by Don Seigel, who would later do the first Dirty Harry film with Clint Eastwood, demonstrated a certain plastic ability to fit the viewers perceptions right away. Some saw the unfeeling pod people as commentary on the regimented thinking expected of communists, while others saw it as commentary on the regimented thinking of McCarthyism.

Many film buffs still think this is the best of the films. Its collectibles certainly bring the highest prices, with lobby cards in good condition selling for $150 and more each and one-sheets going for more than $1,000. I bought one 20 years ago for $30 and a couple of lobby cards I still have in absolutely perfect condition for about $5 each then.

Phil Kauffman’s “Body Snatchers”

In 1978, Phil Kauffman, who also directed “The Right Stuff,” another film I like quite a lot, helmed the second version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” It parodied the psycho-babble of the era, San Francisco acceptance of wonkiness, and political paranoia left over from the Nixon years .

Personally, I think this version is the best (so far). Its collectibles sell for decent if not excessive prices. I recently bought a French set of lobby cards from this version for under $30. I buy almost anything from this version and have American color stills, a German lobby card set, a pressbook and the one-sheet. Altogether they did not cost more than about $100.

”Body Snatchers” for the 90s and beyond

The 1993 version takes on the Army and paranoia about environmental pollution. It’s well directed by Abel Ferrara and delivers more than a few chills. I picked up the one-sheet from this version for $20 plus postage.

The latest version, starring the Queen of the Remakes, Nicole Kidman (who is often the best thing about them), is, Roger Ebert correctly opines, least of the lot. It focuses on paranoia about an out-of-control epidemic. The one-sheet, a nice shot of Kidman, remains inexpensive.

Tbe going rate for most recent posters such as this one still hover in the $20 to $25 range for really desirable items.You won’t get a poster from the most recent version of “Blade Runner” at that price, though.

Movie paper refers to cinema promotional material printed on paper. Movie display art also appeared on more durable card stock (LobX cards, half sheets, and insert cards, for instance).

Common popular sizes (in inches) include the following:

One sheet:

27” X 41” before the 1980s, thereafter, 27” X 40”

This is one of the most popular sizes of movie paper collected. They were stored folded before the 1980s, sometimes rolled thereafter.

Half sheets:

22” X 27” or 22” X 28”

Half sheets, no longer made, were a staple of movie advertising through the 1950s. They are popular with collectors because they’re easy to frame and display. Their card stock means they’re frequently in better condition than their one-sheet counterparts and they were generally stored flat, so they’re in better condition than many items from the same film printed on paper. They often appeared in one display window above several lobby cards.

LobX cards:

11” X 14” for the standard size, they also come in mini (8” X 10” or 8” X 11”) or Jumbo sized, 14” X 17”

Lobby cards are among the most collectible of movie posters. Their card stock means they’re better preserved than most paper items. Title cards, often with the same art that is also on a half sheet or one-sheet, are the most popular.

Lobby cards are easy to frame and display. The Standard size came in sets of eight. Sometimes a title card will sell for more than all the other cards in a set. Sets frequently show up in auctions. Many single cards are offered on eBay.

Insert Cards:

14” X 36” insert cards, easy to frame and sharing the better-preserved quality of card stock, remain popular, even though they have not been made for many years.

Insert cards fit those long, thin display windows common to movie theatres in the pre-measles era.

Glossy still photographs:

8” X 10” glossy still photographs—originals—come in black and white and color, but most, until very recently, came in black and whites (as many as 25 per movie) and were aimed at daily newspapers, weekly entertainment paper, and other media primarily printed in black and white.

Color slides frequently accompanied movie press kits more recently, along with black and white stills and the press information packets.

Window Cards:

22” X 28” vertical

14” X 28” standard

10” X 18” mini

Window cards sat in store display windows everywhere from barbershops to five and dimes at one time.

Frequently, those actually used, show fading from such window display.

They are on card stock and condition plays a role in their value, but they usually sell for much less than other movie display items.

Heralds:

5” X 7”
6” X 9”

Heralds often appeared two to a page in newspapers. Today, newspaper-page sized ads appear in special sections of major papers such as the New York Times, but heralds as such have mostly disappeared.

Heralds were produced in huge numbers. Some people actually focus on them, but they are on paper, often newsprint. They are not as valuable as other movie display art, but popular movie titles sell regularly in auctions.

Other sizes:

Subway:

45” X 59” horizontal; 30” X 45” vertical

Tough to display and not offered that often, these are the large posters often displayed in subways, transit malls and other highly trafficked areas.

Three sheets:

41” X 81”

Three sheets, first used in vaudeville and by circuses, usually came in two or three pieces cut horizontally. Their size makes them tougher to display. They’re printed on paper. They were originally three times the size of one-sheets, hence the name. There are other three-sheet sizes. Disney issued some at 41” X 78” for instance. Three sheets were common until the 1980s. Some collectors like the fact that these posters were printed in fewer numbers than more standard sizes, and are thus more rare.

Six sheet:

81” X 81”

The six-sheet is quite a poster, dominating if you display them. Fewer of them were made, which increases their attractiveness to some. Stored folded, they sometimes came in four pieces.

Other common movie paper collectibles include press kits, which usually include photos in various forms and the press information. These come in many forms, from a folder to a CD.

Press books were exhibitor’s manuals that included background information and feature stories about a film with stills, usually black and white, that newspapers or magazines could cut out and paste directly into a page layout.

They also include posters available, other promotional items and ideas. These remain relatively inexpensive. I bought one from the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers for $20.

Popular foreign sizes:

British Quad:

30” X 40”

The British Quad poster’s dramatic size appeals to many collectors and they generally draw good prices for desirable titles. Quads are the most popular British poster size.

Australian Daybill

13”X30” Australian Daybills were produced in low numbers and are fairly rare. They frequently have better art work than other movie paper. They’re a good buy if you can find them.

Italian one-sheet, or Foglio

28”X39” Always issued folded.

Italian Photobusta

14” X 20” through the 1950s, then 20” X 28”

These are similar to lobby card sets, often using the same artwork as lobby card and stills.

We’ll cover less popular, odd sizes, other foreign sizes, and unusual items such as standees and billboard sizes in another article.