Howdy - Put me down for 1957 and a poster from I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF begged from Bob White, the manager of the Sunset Theater in Asheboro, North Carolina.
The amazing thing is that posters were trash back then - only worth pennies - the price of manufacture and rental to NSS - but just plan disposable other than that - time and changing culture has made them art. Maybe in New York or LA old paper had some small bankable charm in the old days - but growing up in a small town in North Carolina - I was nothing more than a pest digging trough trash cans for garbage. My father supported my habit - he loved movies and helped me appreciate the art of the posters despite the lack of dollar value - He also understood the touchstone the posters were for further enjoyment of the film. I’d find a room full of posters and my father would rent a U-haul and hire a couple guys to dig them out so I could bring them home. But in those days - where I lived - most people thought I was just plain not right in the head (many still do) - but there was an odd aloneness to a hobby that no one else practiced or understood. After ten years of collecting, one day when I was in my early 20’s on a trip to DC I walked past a small poster store. The first one I’d ever seen or heard of. I did a double-take and almost fainted. In that single moment I realized there were other people out there that saw value in old movie posters, too. And I was no longer alone. I was vindicated. I went in the store and had everything they had. If only there’d been a Dracula or two I could have gotten them for a few bucks. But the line from Treasure of Sierra Madre sums of my feelings for those days. “Thanks, mountain!” I say. The movie poster gods have been good to me - and I’ve been grateful for a lifetime. At 71, I still sort and file nearly every day. And thanks to a bad memory, every time I open a box I have the thrill of finding something I forgot I had! Alan > On Apr 13, 2020, at 5:08 PM, Susan Heim <[email protected]> wrote: > > Great question Glenn.. I know I have customers who started collecting the > the 1950's. I have one customer who's father was good friends with someone > who ran a National Screen Service and, on weekends, they would drop > by to see the friend and the friend would give my customer, who was about 10 > or 11 in those days movie posters and lobby card sets. So, for any given > film, and he particularly collected Elizabeth Taylor and Alfred Hitchcock, > he owned the one sheet, 40x60, 30x40 and lobby card set for each of their > films, all in mint, never used condition. My customer kept up with the > friend over the years, and developed other film poster interests all the way > back to the 1920's, and collected hundreds of posters. It's really amazing to > hold in your hands a mint copy of something that is 60 or 90 years old when > you go to frame it...... > > I know Ron Borst started collecting pretty early.....when I first started > collecting back in 1973, I knew other collectors that had been collecting > since the 1940's finding posters in old bookstores in Hollywood. > > Sue > Hollywood Poster Frames > > From: MoPo List <[email protected]> on behalf of Glenn Taranto > <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, April 13, 2020 11:59 PM > To: [email protected] <[email protected]> > Subject: [MOPO] Has anyone ever wonder this...? > > Hello All - > > OK, Admittedly too much time on my hands... > > Have any of you ever wondered (or know) who is considered the earliest know > poster collector? Forry Ackerman, perhaps? > > I can just imagine some kid standing in front of a Paramount theatre and > staring at a Metropolis one sheet wishing they could own it. > > GT > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > <https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flistserv.american.edu%2Fscripts%2Fwa-american.exe%3FSUBED1%3DMoPo-L%26A%3D1&data=02%7C01%7C%7C2fae5ac57a8548c0cf4208d7e006c53e%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637224191982434070&sdata=RMC%2Bf0aBy2NinEL5q3GKgYRW4Jxro%2BHupuo7%2B9H425I%3D&reserved=0> > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&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.
