Hi, George:
Great story. I'm in Canada, too. I haven't found posters under any floorboards (yet), but couple of years ago someone in Nova Scotia approached me with a batch of posters they actually found under a rug (!) in a house built in the 1920s. These were all early 20s movie posters and the best in the lot was a 10th anniversary Universal one-sheet that pictured Lon Chaney. Unfortunately (for me, anyway) they weren't interested in selling, they were just curious as to value. As for me, I was curious about how a rug with posters under it hadn't been moved in nearly 90 years! Great video. BTW, I worked as a broadcaster myself at the CBC for many years (in Montreal). And welcome to MoPo! Dave Rosen Posteropolis Vintage Movie Posters http://www.posteropolis.com/ _____ From: MoPo List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of George Bryce Sent: September-24-14 10:33 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [MOPO] Silent movie posters under our floorboards I am a new subscriber to the MoPo ListServ and am enjoying learning more about this community and movie memorabilia in general. By this, my first posting, I wanted to share an experience I think other MoPo subscribers will find interesting. This past summer I found a treasure trove of silent movie posters under the floorboards in our 90-year old house. Having had another floor replaced about a decade earlier, I anticipated I would find more posters under these floors. Therefore, I was as careful as one can be in ripping-up a old, damaged fir floor with powertools, crowbars, etc. I was not disappointed. (I have since replaced the old fir flooring with new oak engineered laminate flooring.) Under the floors in the two rooms that I was renovating, I found about ten intact posters and several "pieces" of posters. These posters were used to promote silent movies that came out between 1919 and 1923. The posters had been placed between the subfloor and the fir floor when our house was built in 1924 to dampen the squeaking sound that would otherwise occur without some interface between the two layers of wood. (The original fir floor came in strips about 3 inches wide and anywhere from four to 12 feet in length, and each strip was nailed down to the rougher subfloor about every 16 inches.) I was interviewed about my discovery by local journalists from both TV and radio of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC). I used one radio interview to create a soundtrack for a video/slideshow of the silent movie posters that I "uncovered" and have posted this video at following YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2jzuJe9XF0 (If this does not show as an "activate" link, go to YouTube and search using the subject line for this posting.) I had originally thought that it might be common for old houses like ours to have silent movie posters used as a floor interface sound dampening material. However, I have since learnt that it was a fairly rare event; other materials were used more often, mostly newspapers or even horsehair. I am wondering if others MoPo subscribers have found movie posters (from silent movies or not) under their floors? Or have heard of a similar occurrence, be it in Canada, the United States or elsewhere in the world? I trust you will enjoy this YouTube video, and I look forward to hearing from other subscribers about this find. Yours truly, George Bryce Vancouver, BC Canada _____ To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> &A=1 Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
