Archives Center Poster Collection
name: label: Creator
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
topic: label: Topic
content: Film posters
label: Topic
content: Propaganda
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Collection donated by Nelse L. Greenway, July 6, 2001, and Martha Rosen, May 29, 2002.
creator: label: Creator
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
setName: label: See more items in
content: Archives Center Poster Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: An artificial collection of posters on various subjects, at present organized according to donor and/or subject. Examples of contents include motion picture posters and propaganda posters.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Motion pictures have been exhibited in the United States since debuting at the Columbian Exposition in 1893.  The public=s love affair with Athe movies@ has never waned.  Beginning with silent films with simple plots the motion picture industry has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry where the small simple film costs millions of dollars and a great portion of a motion picture budget is designated for advertising.  Movie posters have been an integral marketing tool for the motion picture from its inception.  Movie posters attempt to capture the essence of the film in one clear defining image and image that will hopefully remain in the consumers mind.  Early movie posters boasted original artwork with bright colors and bold lettering.  Beginning in the 1950s, movie posters began to use actual photographs from the movie itself as the primary artwork for the movie poster.  In the latter 20th century almost all movie posters were photographic in nature.  With the expansion of motion pictures into the home video market from the early 1980s onward, movie posters became not only a marketing tool for the movie theatre but for the video store as well.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 128 Posters (15 map-folders)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1917-1998, undated
custodhist: label: Ownership and Custodial History
content: This collection is a repository for miscellaneous posters from varied sources, including curatorial units, the public, and SI staff, which may be augmented periodically by new acquisitions. Donors include David Newsome, Nelse L. Greenway, and Verna Borup.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0751
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Posters
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Collections divided into four series.

Series 1: Miscellaneous Posters, 1917-1990

Series 2: World War One Posters, 1917-1919

Series 3: Motion Pictures Posters, 1963-2016

Series 4: Soviet Propaganda Posters, 1959-1960
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Craig Orr, archvist, and Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., archivist, 2002.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Posters -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Posters -- Soviet Union
label: Genre/Form
content: Posters -- Motion pictures -- 20th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: An artificial collection of posters on various subjects from various sources, including curatorial units, the public, and SI staff.  Series one consists of miscellaneous posters, typically acquired one or two at a time.  The remaining series contain posters acquired from individual sources, usually all relating to one topic.  Detailed cataloging information for many of these posters can be found following this finding aid. This collection is augmented periodically by new acquisitions.
label: Scope and Contents note
content: The movie posters, all except two from the 1990s, represent a wide range of popular films, including both adult and children's films, live action and animated, and studio and independently made films.