Buying or Selling Vintage Movie Trade Ads?  Is the overall condition of the piece the most important factor in your decision to buy or shy away?

Sometimes the obvious is not quite so obvious when dealing with aged materials. For years I thought that some of my rarest pieces were somewhat flawed. Let me explain: I have a collection from the 30"s and some of the rarest pieces have a slight fold down the middle of the page, not a crease but a very slight fold.

As a result I have mistakenly thought that my pieces were worth less, but not so. Those of you who are collectors can probably remember some of the pieces that you passed on because of this flaw.

For those pieces coming from Theatres,  I thought the fold was a result of some careless projectionist unaware that someday someone would want to collect these magazines and have them in excellant shape.

Well, I have good news for both buyers and sellers. You do not need to be afraid to own these pieces, and the value should not be degraded, because the fold isn't a result of some carelessness on behalf of the projectionist, the Theatre manager or careless seller or  previous collector.

The slight fold a little off centered is the result of the US Postal System. Most magazines, trade journals were and still are today folded around the other mail being delivered to the same address. The wider trade journals did not and can not fit through the standard mail slot or box. We get our mail delivered this way today.

If the piece you own or are considering buying has a slight fold down the center or slightly off centered, it hasn't been flawed. It's been Authenticated by the Postal System. The Good News is as a result it may be worth more than less.

If the piece your looking at is advertised as coming from a particular "Theatre". I suggest you look for the slight fold (which may be hard to see in the picture) or ask the seller if one exists. If the answer is yes, the piece has been mail through the postal system. (not sure about mail in other countries, but i'm guessing it's all pretty much the same.)

Does this mean that if the piece doesn't have a slight fold that it's a fake?

No, there can be several reasons why it wouldn't have been folded. Different mail carriers, the mails destination was opened at time of delivery and therefore did not need to be folded inorder to be dropped through a slot.

If your looking at an entire magazine that is being presented as origional from years gone by, it probably is. It would be considerably more difficult to produce a copy of the origional than it would a single piece.

Hope this helps, and Happy Collecting !