Pressbook Covers
Pressbooks were created by distributors to promote their films in local markets. Sent directly to movie theaters, pressbooks provided promotional materials and suggested strategies for local exhibitors to bring people into the theater and maximize profits for both parties. The digitized pressbooks in this collection date from the 1910s through the 1970s. Represented are major studios Warner Bros., MGM, 20th Century-Fox, Columbia, and United Artists, as well as several independent distributors.
Visit the Pressbooks Collection page to learn more about the pressbooks digitized in the Media History Digital Library.
There are 1559 pressbooks digititized and available online to browse and read in the Media History Digital Library. The earliest pressbook is from 1914, and the most recent was published in 1977. The WCFTR has thousands more pressbooks in its collections, and our goal is to eventually digitize and upload every one of them to be viewed online. Please consider donating to support our work.
Pressbook Covers
Visualization created by Ben Pettis using the Isotope JavaScript library.
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