The History of the Hobby

[brude]

I was breast-fed on Famous Monsters and I was under the impression that he had quite a few early Universal posters.
In fact, I do remember reading an issue where he was displaying a few of the six different Phantom (1925) one sheets that he said he owned.
Does anyone remember this, the pics and/or what issue they appeared in?

[movieposterodyssey]

Oh yeah, I've seen pics were had some old universal stuff. Once into the 40's he started collecting the stuff he missed out on.

[MoviePosterBid.com]

The poster hadn't quite became a household item yet.

not true Anthony.
all through the 1800s it was very popular to have portraits of Geo Washington (aka poster prints), large maps, art posters, Lilly Langtree posters, posters of their favorite stage actors, William Shakespeare, Revolutionary or Civil War scenes, classic renaissance paintings done as prints.. there were lots of subjects that people had posters displayed and they were always the focal point of a home or establishment (like saloons), they just weren't called posters at the time

what these items had in common for the most part was that they were either famous scenes or portraits.

show or stage posters were plain broadsides with lots of text and maybe a small b&w portrait of a star

Actual posters of course really don't become interesting until color lithography becomes more cheaply available, increasing propagation into popular culture and becoming a stage for artists like Gustav Klimt, Toulouse Lautrec and Henri Fantin-Latour. This was the point at which it becomes common for a larger audience to more easily buy posters as the prices became affordable and the subject matter expanded. Probably the most common type of poster in someone's home in the 1920s, by which time color printing had afforded a preponderance of society to afford posters for the home, would be the illustrated calendar with a huge homey print, an image of a pinup girl, a railroad image or touristy location

[MoviePosterBid.com]

I was breast-fed on Famous Monsters and I was under the impression that he had quite a few early Universal posters.
In fact, I do remember reading an issue where he was displaying a few of the six different Phantom (1925) one sheets that he said he owned.
Does anyone remember this, the pics and/or what issue they appeared in?

I don't believe he had a Phantom poster as the two that turned up in Ohlinger's store in 1970s are the only ones I know of.
I thought that Borst got his Frankenstein one sheet from Forry though.

[110x75]

I was breast-fed on Famous Monsters and I was under the impression that he had quite a few early Universal posters.
In fact, I do remember reading an issue where he was displaying a few of the six different Phantom (1925) one sheets that he said he owned.
Does anyone remember this, the pics and/or what issue they appeared in?

If it was in FM, Mr. Waines surely remembers.

[paul waines]

If it was in FM, Mr. Waines surely remembers.

I do remember Forry did have several early posters, he also saved the original sound disc's for the likes of Frankenstein, Dracula, Murders in the Rue Morgue, etc.

If anyone can remember the Famous Monsters issue number with the pics of Forry's posters, I'll post them up here, may have a look through a few copies if I get the time.....

[rumble]

I think Forry Ackerman formed his collection when movie paper was not yet highly valued, and he used it mostly as working material for the magazine. He also treated some posters quite badly by modern standard, including backing them on foam or plywood! I really don't think that even if he had taken sackloads of Universal posters in the 30s that many of them would have survived or stayed in his collection.

But what's worse, he may have been a little too trusting with some of the many visitors to the Ackermansion, and it has been said that some people walked out there with stuff that not strictly belonged to them. He was also known for giving away stuff on the spur of the moment. So from what I understand, there was not really all that much of high value left at the end.

Seemed like a great guy and he came to Sweden several times - I wish I had been taken the chance and met him then!

[jayn_j]

So, how many here recall the details of the auctions of the collection?  I recall that at least some of it went on eBay and it sort of flooded the market.  We only picked up one item from that auction, a Dolens painting, acrylic on Masonite of an alien sunrise.  I don't recall any really great posters there, but the ones that were auctioned on eBay went above our thresholds.

[MoviePosterBid.com]

Eric, Forry was collecting starting at 13 years old. The magazine wasn't a twinkle in his eye yet

Jay, there was also an auction at Guernseys in 1989 at the Armory in NYC on 63rd st.
I was there for most of the auction but got nothing significant

I have the catalog, but it's buried somewhere

[lynaron]

Ron got his FRANKENSTEIN from Larry Edmunds on Hollywood Blvd.  IIRC he paid a thousand bucks for it.  The most paid for a movie poster at that time. 

[rumble]

Eric, Forry was collecting starting at 13 years old. The magazine wasn't a twinkle in his eye yet

True, but I think the magazine was started mainly to exploit the collection! Just about everything in there came from his personal collection, with the added witty taglines he was famous for...

[rumble]

BTW, some ten years ago there were a few posters on eBay hailing from the Ackermonster collection. They were all backed (or more correctly, permanently glued on plywood I believe) and drastically cut down to whatever size Forry wanted them in... Again, this was done before there was much value in movie paper. If we all had hindsight in advance we would all be rich!

[MoviePosterBid.com]

Ron got his FRANKENSTEIN from Larry Edmunds on Hollywood Blvd.  IIRC he paid a thousand bucks for it.  The most paid for a movie poster at that time. 

oh that's right.. don't know how I forgot that

[MoviePosterBid.com]

as a visitor to Forry's home I noted many things like that. On one narrow wall down in the basement, he had glued original Virgil Finlay drawings - about 20-30 of them I think. GLUED TO THE WALL

he had owned lots of science fiction pulp covers by Frank Paul at one point. as he sold them he had a friend recreate the paintings so he could replace the sold items

but forgetting Forry, when we used to go to comic book conventions in 1967-68-69 etc, we used to use tomato crates and no bags. We used to stack the books high on teh table like a used book store. I swatted a fly at my table once with a Spider-Man #1. None of us considered the material anything more than something that provided us with joy.

[crowzilla]

I do remember Forry did have several early posters, he also saved the original sound disc's for the likes of Frankenstein, Dracula, Murders in the Rue Morgue, etc.

If anyone can remember the Famous Monsters issue number with the pics of Forry's posters, I'll post them up here, may have a look through a few copies if I get the time.....

He definitely had the sound discs for Frankenstein and Murders (not sure about Dracula) and on at least one occasion the Frankenstein was stolen and then the thief offered to sell it back to him.

He never had any original Phantom posters.  Most of the individual photos of early posters printed in FM were from stills or pressbooks. The first time I saw a 1947 Dracula 1-sheet was in FM, but when I asked him about it, he confessed it was just a photo from a still.

There are lots of photos of the Askermansion all over the internet, so it is easy to look at some of the great things he did have. One of the best collections is here: http://www.fanac.org/Fan_Photo_Album/a02-p00.html
going through it you can see lots of original artwork and props, stills, etc and of course some posters.
Probably the best poster photo in the group is this one:


You can see from it that while he did have an original Son of Frankenstein Pressbook (cover only) and a Raven TC, the Dracula and Dracula's Daughter half sheets he had were Realart releases (and there is a Phantom Realart posted below those), and his Old Dark House is a re-release also. The bad thing about his lobby collection is that he laminated the vast majority of them (and then thumbtacked them to the walls) so he didn't have to worry about them being damaged.
 

[brude]

He never had any original Phantom posters.  Most of the individual photos of early posters printed in FM were from stills or pressbooks. The first time I saw a 1947 Dracula 1-sheet was in FM, but when I asked him about it, he confessed it was just a photo from a still.

Unfortunately, I do not have any of my old FMs, but I am sure that he was standing in front of one (or two) on the wall and the caption said that they were just two of the six different one sheets that he owned from the film's original release. This pic had a huge impact on me at the time as I was a kid and had just begun lusting after poster paper.
Maybe Quadfather Waines might be able to find the issue, which I'm guessing was somewhere between #25-#50 (if that narrows it down a bit, Paul).

[CineMasterpieces]

"I swatted a fly at my table once with a Spider-Man #1"

The Spider killed the fly.

[CSM]

Great pic Sean thanks for digging that up!

[crowzilla]

Unfortunately, I do not have any of my old FMs, but I am sure that he was standing in front of one (or two) on the wall and the caption said that they were just two of the six different one sheets that he owned from the film's original release. This pic had a huge impact on me at the time as I was a kid and had just begun lusting after poster paper.
Maybe Quadfather Waines might be able to find the issue, which I'm guessing was somewhere between #25-#50 (if that narrows it down a bit, Paul).

Just like Forry's Lon Chaney hat from London After Midnight, and his Karloff Mummy ring, not everything was as it seemed in Forry's collection.
Many of us, myself included, would not be collecting if it weren't for him - and while he did indeed have an amazing collection, it just did not contain some of the things we were led to believe.

[brude]

Just like Forry's Lon Chaney hat from London After Midnight, and his Karloff Mummy ring, not everything was as it seemed in Forry's collection.
Many of us, myself included, would not be collecting if it weren't for him - and while he did indeed have an amazing collection, it just did not contain some of the things we were led to believe.

As Forry's Children, we should start a thread about the man where we could detail and dissect the many photos taken of his collection -- separate some of the fact from the fiction.
Some scans from the pages of FM would be a plus if anyone can get 'em. hint...hint...

I've started gathering internet pics to upload and credit.

[paul waines]

As Forry's Children, we should start a thread about the man where we could detail and dissect the many photos taken of his collection -- separate some of the fact from the fiction.
Some scans from the pages of FM would be a plus if anyone can get 'em. hint...hint...

I've started gathering internet pics to upload and credit.

Great Idea Ted, and I'll have a look through my FM's over the weekend, and post in the Forry thread if I find the pics...

[kovacs01]

Scary things is...we are making the history of this hobby right now.  There may be others who spend more dough, or find more outrageous material.  But, most of their stories will probably never be told publicly.  Never forget that today's weird occurrences and random knee-slappers become tomorrow's history. Today's random finds and strange acquisitions are the kind of thing that some young collector will consider a gold nugget when we all have floating cars and replicant maids.

[CSM]

Scary things is...we are making the history of this hobby right now.  There may be others who spend more dough, or find more outrageous material.  But, most of their stories will probably never be told publicly.  Never forget that today's weird occurrences and random knee-slappers become tomorrow's history. Today's random finds and strange acquisitions are the kind of thing that some young collector will consider a gold nugget when we all have floating cars and replicant maids.

Dibs on Nexus 29 models!

[Ari]

Is Kerry selling ?

[movieposterodyssey]

not true Anthony.
all through the 1800s it was very popular to have portraits of Geo Washington (aka poster prints), large maps, art posters, Lilly Langtree posters, posters of their favorite stage actors, William Shakespeare, Revolutionary or Civil War scenes, classic renaissance paintings done as prints.. there were lots of subjects that people had posters displayed and they were always the focal point of a home or establishment (like saloons), they just weren't called posters at the time

what these items had in common for the most part was that they were either famous scenes or portraits.

show or stage posters were plain broadsides with lots of text and maybe a small b&w portrait of a star

Actual posters of course really don't become interesting until color lithography becomes more cheaply available, increasing propagation into popular culture and becoming a stage for artists like Gustav Klimt, Toulouse Lautrec and Henri Fantin-Latour. This was the point at which it becomes common for a larger audience to more easily buy posters as the prices became affordable and the subject matter expanded. Probably the most common type of poster in someone's home in the 1920s, by which time color printing had afforded a preponderance of society to afford posters for the home, would be the illustrated calendar with a huge homey print, an image of a pinup girl, a railroad image or touristy location

I would classify most of the 1800's material as art prints, Rich. Yeah, some people like Roy Bean had their Lily's hanging in the bar but it wasn't a mainstream idea within a household. Most of it was just paintings. Of course people had material hanging their houses way before movies, but the poster, itself, didn't become mainstream in households until the culture changed. Once the stars of stage and screen, sports, starting dominating, then bedrooms became littered with posters. Not just the Washington painting over the mantle anymore.