Hidden for over eighty years! A newly discovered stash of incredibly rare and valuable vintage movie posters from the Golden Age of Hollywood has been unearthed in British Columbia, Canada. The posters were found in an old home undergoing renovation.
While workers were tearing down walls and pulling up floorboards, they came across over one hundred different highly collectible posters from the mid-1930s. All of them are insert size 14″ x 36″ and were printed in the USA for use in theaters back when the films were originally released. Untouched for over eighty years they were used as insulation. Some are one of a kind only known surviving specimens and for a few titles there are just a handful of examples known to exist. Among the premium posters found were posters for The Bride of Frankenstein and Werewolf of London. A few of these posters have been known to sell for over $50,000.00, and many of them are worth well over $1000.00. Condition varies from poor to excellent and several will be restored.
Unlike other collectibles like comic books and baseball cards where any alteration is frowned upon and can negatively affect the value, restoration of old movie posters is looked at similarly to vintage automobiles. It is acceptable and can increase the value.
Eighty years ago, these posters were seen as having very little worth. Many titles from this era are extremely rare and the vast majority did not survive because after they were used at the theater they were generally discarded. Thankfully, someone took a stack of them from a theater storeroom and used them for insulation in their home.
The total value of this cache is estimated to be over $250,000.00. The owner of the posters contacted David A. Lieberman from CineMasterpieces.com. Mr. Lieberman is the recurring featured movie poster expert on The History Channel TV show Pawn Stars. He expressed: “We get a lot of phone calls where someone thinks they may have stumbled upon a treasure. Those calls are almost always false alarms. As soon as we received photos from this discovery, we realized these posters were authentic and this was a jackpot. This is an extraordinary find.”
These incredible rarities will soon be available for sale at CineMasterpieces.com. The owner of the posters wishes to remain anonymous.
A complete list and photos will be published soon at cinemasterpieces.com/movieposternews.htm.
