BeatRoute Magazine [AB] print e-edition - [May 2018]

THE COLLECTING DETECTIVE
Movie collectibles: Here’s lookin’ at you, kid!
BY DAVID DALEY
The Gamblers cinema slide 1919.
Moving-picture shows have captivated advertisements that came in sets of four, or
the buying public since they first started eight, and were displayed in, you guessed it,
squeezing out vaudeville stage acts and filling theatre lobbies.
local theatres in the early 1900s. These “photo Cinema slides were popular from about
plays” were silent, of course, but the piano (or 1905 to the mid-1920s, when “talkies”
organ) was there to fill the air with music and began to take over. These 3¼ x 4” glass-plate
help the viewers get into the spirit of the film. photographs were loaded into lantern-style
Most of those movies are now lost to the ages, projectors that cast images and text onto
but the lively sheet music scores with their the screen before and after shows and during
decorative covers remain for collectors to seek intermissions. Slides showcased coming
today.
features, told jokes or tried to peddle Shinola
Movie collectibles are now a massive consumer
to a captive audience. Examples can be found
industry with some items going for mil-
in colour, or beautiful black white, and often
lions of dollars, but you don’t have to be Richie have a space on them for the projectionist’s
Rich to take some of the silver screen magic own notes. Starting at about $15 per plate
home with you. Here’s the skinny, there’s all on eBay, these glassy images are lot of fun to
kinds of really cool stuff you can snag for a song collect and learn about.
— if you’ve got your wits about you. I mean Ephemera such as ticket stubs are considered
serious film collectibles, not the mass-produced desirable to some, while others worship celebrity
commercial crud. I’m talking about fascinating
autographs. Naturally, there’s no shortage
historical relics that you can sink your teeth into of demand for vintage “stag” reels and unique
— the meaty, seedy underbelly of Hollywood film-associated toys.
Babylon, not the glut of mainstream dreck that More specialized collecting interests are best
the chumps lick up these days. Whether it’s explored through online markets and forums,
storyboards, soundtrack records, 8 x 10” photo but there’s also a fair amount of late 20th century
stills or the hard-copy movies in their various
movie swag that turns up at garage sales and
media formats, a trove of nifty knick-knacks flea markets. Collectors groups on social media
awaits the discerning collector.
are also an asset when hunting down merchandise
Visual art has long been trying to sell show
and connecting with likeminded curators
tickets and movie posters, and are the seat-fillers
of cinema memorabilia. Cinememorablia?
of the film collectibles world. Sought for Anyway, The Calgary VHS Tape Swap group
their genre categories, artistic quality and star on Facebook regularly posts the latest delectable
appeal, these enduringly, hot what-nots range
movie camp — buying, selling and trading
widely in price and availability. Few examples among members. Word to the wise, their swapmeet
survived the scrap paper drives of World War II,
hoards are a rich source of horror titles for
but you can still acquire some remarkably cool those looking to feed their analog addiction.
movie posters without losing your shirt.
Collectors go gaga for the oversized prints Visit the Calgary VHS Tape Swap here:
destined for billboard paste-jobs at drive-ins. www.facebook.com/groups/CalgaryVHS/
Meanwhile, lobby cards were smaller movie
ARTS BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 11