I was 12 or 13 and obsessed with finding movie posters for my room. I actually wrote to American International Pictures asking if I could buy directly from them. They sent back a postcard with John Ashley's picture. Not what I was looking for.
I was fooling around collaborating with John & Michael Brunas on a fanzine called "Terror Monsters". They directed me to Bruco Enterprises where I bought my first one sheet; MACABRE, the William Castle shocker. Stamped on the back was the address for Theater Poster Exchange. I bought a bunch of stuff: one sheets for 75 cents, lobby sets for $2.50, etc. I got a GODZILLA one sheet AND a three sheet plus a full CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON lobby set on that first order...all for somewhere in the ten dollar range.
Vacationing in Hollywood, I found treasure troves of great stuff, including a gorgeous one sheet from THE DEVIL COMMANDS. Bought it from a guy named Malcolm Willits for 5 bucks.
A lot of money!!!!!
I've come in and out of the hobby for 57 years and still loving it.
Greg Douglass
PS-Still waiting to find a HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL any size that won't bankrupt me.....
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 11:53 AM
From: "Ira Rubenstein" <irubenst...@pbs.org>
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Subject: Re: [MOPO] First Poster Stories
From: "Ira Rubenstein" <irubenst...@pbs.org>
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Subject: Re: [MOPO] First Poster Stories
OK -
I will jump in. I was interning for 20th Century Fox theatrical Marketing and Distribution. I was spending one week out at the Branch office in Sherman Oaks. They gave the intern the fun job to clean out the closet. Well, I came across some Return of The Jedi posters and other FOX films and I asked if I could take them home. YES! And that's what started it.
>From my internship I joined Fox in exhibitor relations and of course my job was sending out posters. And of course I got to keep a copy or two.
Then one year I asked NSS people for some posters as a present for my wife. Winnie The Pooh and some Star Wars. Came in the mail. That really kicked it into high gear.
My first significant purchase was a SINGIN IN THE RAIN one sheet. A co-worker told me about these auctions you could buy older posters. Again, my wife's favorite film. Got the poster. Took it to Sue to frame.
She looked it at it and said. Hey, this was once mine. Never folded version that hung at MGM in the Art Director's office. __ And Sue and I have been friends ever since.
And I now have over 1100 posters in my collection. And no more wall space.
Ira
On 3/18/20, 1:52 PM, "MoPo List on behalf of Alan Adler" <mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU on behalf of m...@charter.net> wrote:
Okay -
We’ve got all this time -
We’ve got this great forum.
Let’s crank it up a bit.
Every one of us has a story about the first poster we ever scored and changed our life.
Will start it off -
I was nine years old - it was 1957 - Asheboro, North Carolina - the Carolina Theater -
Would take a cab from elementary school to go to the movies before walking down the street to my parents dress shop and ride home with them.
Saw I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF and was instantly transformed beyond my ears into a frothing teenager.
Begged the manager of the theater for that poster.
He said they always have to send them back - they cost money - (maybe 35 cents pack then?) -
Begged the manager even more.
He caved and gave me the insert from Teenage Werewolf.
I was never the same.
Cobalt ink began to run through my veins.
Would stop to go through the garbage cans behind the theater before I went to the movies.
Ah, the days of trash picking.
Oddly enough, when I started the Fox Archives -
Started going through the studio trash.
My wife began to call me an executive dumpster diver.
Eventually I curated the Fox Museum - THE HALL OF COOL STUFF - in Australia.
It contained nearly six million dollars worth of trash I salvaged and stopped from being tossed.
Trash these days just isn’t what it was!
Alan Adler
Museum of Mom and Pop Culture
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.filmfan.com&d=DwIFaQ&c=QX2OfGk7aRC3kh1nmtbeQQ&r=1ABCRTqq8ZKdvyai6WoqCObnYf2li9myHFS5WHeM88A&m=cPwoRzQt95eK554q-guCea8A21CTJ41hUYaP_kA6cb8&s=n97V7Jont2f-32h5RkNgPbjbRQhA31P44VcLzNH21Jk&e=
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I will jump in. I was interning for 20th Century Fox theatrical Marketing and Distribution. I was spending one week out at the Branch office in Sherman Oaks. They gave the intern the fun job to clean out the closet. Well, I came across some Return of The Jedi posters and other FOX films and I asked if I could take them home. YES! And that's what started it.
>From my internship I joined Fox in exhibitor relations and of course my job was sending out posters. And of course I got to keep a copy or two.
Then one year I asked NSS people for some posters as a present for my wife. Winnie The Pooh and some Star Wars. Came in the mail. That really kicked it into high gear.
My first significant purchase was a SINGIN IN THE RAIN one sheet. A co-worker told me about these auctions you could buy older posters. Again, my wife's favorite film. Got the poster. Took it to Sue to frame.
She looked it at it and said. Hey, this was once mine. Never folded version that hung at MGM in the Art Director's office. __ And Sue and I have been friends ever since.
And I now have over 1100 posters in my collection. And no more wall space.
Ira
On 3/18/20, 1:52 PM, "MoPo List on behalf of Alan Adler" <mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU on behalf of m...@charter.net> wrote:
Okay -
We’ve got all this time -
We’ve got this great forum.
Let’s crank it up a bit.
Every one of us has a story about the first poster we ever scored and changed our life.
Will start it off -
I was nine years old - it was 1957 - Asheboro, North Carolina - the Carolina Theater -
Would take a cab from elementary school to go to the movies before walking down the street to my parents dress shop and ride home with them.
Saw I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF and was instantly transformed beyond my ears into a frothing teenager.
Begged the manager of the theater for that poster.
He said they always have to send them back - they cost money - (maybe 35 cents pack then?) -
Begged the manager even more.
He caved and gave me the insert from Teenage Werewolf.
I was never the same.
Cobalt ink began to run through my veins.
Would stop to go through the garbage cans behind the theater before I went to the movies.
Ah, the days of trash picking.
Oddly enough, when I started the Fox Archives -
Started going through the studio trash.
My wife began to call me an executive dumpster diver.
Eventually I curated the Fox Museum - THE HALL OF COOL STUFF - in Australia.
It contained nearly six million dollars worth of trash I salvaged and stopped from being tossed.
Trash these days just isn’t what it was!
Alan Adler
Museum of Mom and Pop Culture
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.filmfan.com&d=DwIFaQ&c=QX2OfGk7aRC3kh1nmtbeQQ&r=1ABCRTqq8ZKdvyai6WoqCObnYf2li9myHFS5WHeM88A&m=cPwoRzQt95eK554q-guCea8A21CTJ41hUYaP_kA6cb8&s=n97V7Jont2f-32h5RkNgPbjbRQhA31P44VcLzNH21Jk&e=
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
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