This is a great topic, Bruce!
I have done some research in this line, since archive.org [2] has
scanned all of the Moving Picture World publications from 1909, there
is tons of info to look through! I am thinking of one day doing a
video on this topic, as it is fun to research.
The earliest 6-color, beautifully rendered Studio one-sheets for
individual releases began being produced in Q3 1909. Essanay and Slig
were two of the first Studios (known then as Film Manufacturers) to
begin producing beautiful 6-color stone litho one sheets to advertise
specific films. This was huge news in the industry at the time. Here
is how it was covered in Moving Picture World:
_“We are in receipt of a handsome litho. Title poster of the Essanay
subject, “Wonders of Nature,” their release of August 18. This is
the second, we are informed, of the series of posters they are
issuing. We find the poster an exceptionally attractive one, made in
six colors, and measuring 28 by 42 inches. Besides a large
illustration, depicting a scene from the film, the design includes the
Indian head, the Essanay Company’s trade-mark and the title of the
film. The poster, we feel, should prove a real adornment to any
theater lobby or billboard.”_
This passage from a Q3 1909 Moving Picture World speaks to how novel
the concept was:
_“New York Motion Picture Company creates a new style of poster -
synopsis of the story of the film printed in large and clear Gothic
type which can easily be read by the public in the light of the street
lamp. In addition to this they furnish a full sheet colored poster,
lithographed in many colors and bearing close resemblance to the
actors in some important incident of the play.”_
I found it interesting that just 5 months earlier, in Feb 1909, a
trade commentary in the publication 'The Nickelodeon' stated the
following:
_“Posters may be any size from 12x18 inches or even smaller, to the
big three-sheet billboard poster, however, 24x36” is about as large
as the picture theater manager will ever care to use."_
The theatre owners didn't immediately take to displaying posters. The
industry was changing rapidly in 1909, where the small Nickelodeon
theatres (often 200 seats or less) that dominated the industry since
about 1905 started losing favor to bigger theatres (200-1000 seats).
These bigger, more prestigious theatres didn't want to have their
beautiful lobbies plastered with campy bill-posters (up until 1909,
posters were mostly block-letter type or stock posters). Instead, they
favored photo enlargements with a synopsis of the film blown up for
people to read.
By November 1909, it seemed posters started taking the industry by
storm. (it's also interesting to note that the term 'poster' is used
much more frequently in the trade publications of 1909 & 1910 than you
will find in publications from the 1930's. It was big news at the
time!):
“Until recently, nobody seemed to care for [the poster]. Any old
thing in the way of a crude design and crude printing suited your
indifferent movie theater exhibitor – any old thing with some idea
of dramatic situation and plenty of crude color was considered good
enough to put outside the moving picture theater.
But a little while ago it occurred to some alert minds that better
things than these could be done, and so the manufacturers and others
have been sending out specially made posters illustrating the
particular pictures shown. One or two of the manufacturers have had
pieces of their film subjects suitably enlarged, and these when
surrounded with striking borders make very effective posters. This is
symptomatic of the progressive instinct. The movie picture theater is
progressing all along the line, in the quality of the pictures, the
house, the audience, the music, and so it is only reasonable to expect
progress in the matter of such an important item as the poster.”
“Is the moving picture theater coming to the same state of things?
Are we near the time when the billboard will contain 24-sheet posters
illustrating some scene in a Pathe or Biograph film? Shall we see fine
specimens of color printing, good designs and all the rest of it,
advertising films all over the country? Are we, in short, to witness
the theatricalization of the moving picture at the poster end of
matters? It certainly looks asi f we were, judging by the trend and
tendency of the moving picture at this very moment.”
I found this following commentary to be hilarious... with posters now
in full effect, we see some early examples of misleading, or 'false'
advertising (possibly worse offenders than the notorious AIP! lol)
This was in a July 1910 article in Moving Picture World.
“A flagrant example recently noticed was a poster showing a man
holding a dagger in a threatening attitude over some men seated at a
table. This was used to advertise Selig’s industrial film,
“Opening an Oyster.” On asking the exhibitor where the poster
applied, he said: “The men at the table were supposed to be eating
oysters!”
By March 1910 (just 8 months after the big studios began producing
one-sheets for all of their releases), the film exchanges (at the
time, the Studio's didn't run their own exchanges... from what I
understand all film was distributed by Independent Exchanges in 1910)
had to come up with ways to organize their poster departments... here
is an early article on innovations in the newly designed poster
department at film exchanges, from the publication “The Film
Index” from March 1910. (these notes are paraphrased from the
article, not directly quoted)
Innovation in poster departments at exchange: Theatre Film Exchange
designs method to store and file posters… by reel number… keeps 40
weeks of posters, rolled in 4” square x 26” deep pigeon holes…
850 apertures total, each holds 100 posters. 22 new reels come into
this exchange weekly, so this file system covers 40 weeks of reels.
Posters didn’t make money, but helped with rentals, so it was a fine
business… but they had to convince theater owners in 1910 to use
posters.
I found an image of an August 1909 Essanay one-sheet, which sold at
LiveAuctioneers. This is within the first two months of these
modern-style 6-color one-sheets being produced. This poster is
especially cool because this was a sample copy sent to a theatre to
convince them to start using posters to advertise. It says:
IMPORTANT!!
The attache is a sample copy of the handsome six-color litho poster
issued by the Essanay Film Mfg. Co. for both Wednesday and Saturday
releases
OUTLAY SMALL COMPARED WITH RESULTS.
The outlay for a proper poster display is so small, compared with the
results to be obtained, that it should not be consdered as an expense
item to a man who is alive to his own interests.
In the cities the exhibitor should use our posters to secure a proper
lobby display; in the smaller towns they should be used not only in
the lobby, but placed in prominent show windows in the office, hotels
and public building.
YOUR INTEREST IS OURS
Exhibitor - Try the poster game, and soon you'll say, "It's more than
worth while." Ask your film exchange for Essanay Posters
Here's a link to the poster:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/116000607_a-kiss-in-the-dark-silent-film-movie-poster-1909
[3]
I have lots more info to share... but this is all for now!
Garth
On Thu, Jul 20, 2023 at 8:37 PM Bruce Hershenson
<[email protected]> wrote:
The very first "movie posters" appeared at the same time movies were
first made, around 1896. They were small posters with a vertical
format, advertising the machines and the process, rather than
individual movies!
Here are more important milestones in the early history of movie
posters (I am just writing these off the "top of my head", and I
welcome any additions or corrections):
c.1898 - what is believed to be the first poster for a specific
movie is seen, for the comedy short "Watering the Gardener"
c.1901 - the first traditional one-sheets for single movies appear
c.1909 - the first one-sheets with actors billed appear
c.1909 - the first exhibitor magazines appear
c.1910 - the first three-sheets appear (printed on 3 one-sheet sized
pieces, hence the name)
c.1912 - the first 8x10 stills appear
c.1913 - the first six-sheets appear (printed on 6 one-sheet sized
pieces, hence the name)
c.1913 - the first 14x22 window cards appear
c.1914 - the first souvenir program books appear
c.1915 - the first 11x14 lobby cards appear (the very first ones are
vertically oriented)
c.1916 - the first pressbooks appear
c.1917 - the first 22x28 half-sheets (called "displays") appear
c.1920 - the first 14x36 inserts appear
c.1920 - the first 24-sheets appear (printed on 24 one-sheet sized
pieces, hence the name)
c.1920 - the first studio yearbooks (also called "campaign books")
appear
ATTENTION ALL YOU POSTER HISTORY BUFFS! As I said above, the above
chart was created in minutes, and I welcome any additions or
corrections. I would LOVE to greatly expand it, and I would
especially like to add similar dates for every movie poster
producing country! Please email me if you have information to help
make this a reality!
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Links:
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[2] http://archive.org
[3]
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/116000607_a-kiss-in-the-dark-silent-film-movie-poster-1909
[4]
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