Vintage movie posters were issued in various formats and sizes, most were originally
folded for ease of storage and distribution. This does not effect the value as all vintage
one sheets were folded and most of the inserts and half sheets. All 3 sheets, 6 sheets
and billboard sizes were folded but lobby cards, stills and mini lobby cards were
rarely folded.
MOVIE POSTER Sizes LARGE and SMALL.
MOVIE POSTERS SIZES AND THEIR ABREVIATED NAMES
The most common size of movie posters is referred to as a
One Sheet which measures 27"x 41".
Several other sizes used to be made for each movie. Most of these sizes have been discontinued and are no longer made for films today.
From the smallest to the largest sizes.
8" x 10" referred to as a Still . This is an actual glossy photograph. Usually Black and White (B&W or BW) although some were printed in color. Some famous photographers got their start on film sets in Hollywood as still photographers. Unfortunately they did not sign their work and due to most studios policy of animinity the records of who took which photo were either never kept of lost to posterity.
8" x 10" referred to as Mini Lobby Cards. These differ from Stills mentioned above in that these were usually printed on card stock like regular lobby cards using the litho printing process and not the developing process that is used in devloping prints with an emulsion and darkroom techniques. They have the title of the film printed on the bottom border with film and studion credits, numbered and usually have an NSS or National Screen Service number.
11" x 14" referred to as Lobby Cards These came in sets usually of 8 but sometimes low budget studios would issue these in four card sets eg. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Disembodied, and Roger Corman's Attack of the Crab Monsters to name but a few. Most sets consist of a Title Card and seven scene cards. The same artwork that wss used on the half sheet was often used on the Title Card making it a mini poster.
Some US studios would sometimes issue 9 card sets eg. 101 Dalmations and some of the Apes series.
22" x 28" referred to as a Half Sheet (HS) rarer than one sheets due to numbers produced.
14" x 36" referred to as an Insert (INS) rarer than one sheets due to numbers produced.
27" x 41" referred to as a One Sheet still produced to this day although slightly smaller 27" x 40".
40" x 60" referred to as a Two Sheet.
41" x 81" referred to as a 3 sheet (3 sh) size may vary slightly. Usually issued in two sections although some were issued as one large sheet.
81" x 81" referred to as a 6 sheet (6 sh) size may vary slightly. Usually issued in three or four sectons.
Movie Posters go right up to Ten and Twenty sheets which are small and large billboard sizes respectively.
History of Posters
Theatrical advertising art began with original circus posters which were posted in each
town on the tour by advance men. When flickers or moving pictures were in their infancy
posters were used in a similar way to draw an audience. Gas Stations, bakerys and general
stores were all favorite spots for window cards which had a blank space at the top of the
poster for placing the name and location of the theatre with show times. Pulp fiction
was an early influence as were Circus posters. The same bold vivid graphics were used
to draw audiences into in the first few decades of the film industry a black and white film.
The poster would speak volumes and create an allure that was designed to attract both sexes.
During World War II paper drives a lot of movie posters were donated to be recycled for the
war effort creating a rarity for many famous film posters.
National Screen Service was created to distribute posters to theatres. The NSS number was
created as a universal filing system. Roadshow posters were sent by the individual studios
accompanying the reels directly to the large theatres in each major city bypassing National
Sceen Service hence no NSS number on any of the posters. Once the film won oscars the posters
were distributed by National Screen service and their number printed on each poster. These are
considered rerelease posters by most collectors.
A rerelease poster is an original theatrical for a film that has had an earlier release and is being
released again. A perfect example would be Snow White which is rereleased to theatres every
few years since its creation.
Today many of the sizes of that were available for vintage movie posters are no longer produced.
Inserts were the first to disappear. Most studios just produce the one sheet size poster which has
shrunk to 27" x 40" removing an inch from the vintage 27" x 41" one sheet. Lobby card sets are
rarely produced as are half sheets.
www.learnaboutmovieposters.com is an excellent source for the history and care and preservation of vintage movie posters.
