Trade Ads are adverts placed in British
Trade magazines for the purpose of announcing a coming release or special
event. During and post-war disruptions, damage and paper drives have caused
a massive amount of information and poster loss. Documentation of poster
releases has become a monumental nightmare, especially for wartime releases.
Also, with the paper shortages, sometimes only stills were released on a
particular film.
Trade ads have become a shining beacon in
the British collectors arena, showing when and what type of ad campaign
that the studio had in mind when they released the film. These trade ads
have become very collectible, especially when no actual poster can be found.
A
Trade Ad will normally be a single or double page from the magazine so it
will vary in size depending on which publication it came from. When it is
a double page, there is normally staple holes from the binding of the publication.
The most common sizes are: 8 1/2x11, 12x18, 11x17 and 17x22. NOTICE: The
Trade Ad on the left, it is a 2 page ad so if you look close, you can see
the line down the center.
Luckily, there were numerous Trade magazines
available since the beginning of the industry. BUT getting hold of the trade
magazines can be tough. There is a wonderful project that is in process
at Birkbeck College, University of London, called the
London Project, which is taking the early trade papers and documenting
the early years of the film industry from 1894-1914. This is EXTREMELY important
AND very time consuming. They are documenting people, locations, registrations
of companies and what they advertised as their services. Unfortunately,
I haven't been able to find anyone who is documenting all the film releases
by all the small independent studios in a format that is accessable to the
public. Hopefully, this will be a project that we be tackled in the near
future.
Here's a list of the trade magazines that
we've identified so far.
Title |
Years |
Type |
| Amateur Cine World |
1934-1967 |
Industry |
| Astorian |
1931-1932 |
In House |
| Belfast Film Review |
1937-1940 |
Industry |
| Biogram |
1919-1923 |
Industry |
| Bioscope |
1908-1932 |
Industry |
| Bioscope Rapid Reviews |
1927-1932 |
Industry |
| British Journal of Photography |
1935-1970 |
Industry |
| British Kinema Chronicle |
1913-1918 |
Industry |
| British Kinematograph Society |
1931-1936 |
Industry |
| C.E.A. Film Reports |
1930-1971 |
Industry |
| C.E.A. Registered Film Lists |
1930-1970 |
Industry |
| Camera |
1886-1887 |
Industry |
| Cine Goer |
1916 |
Fan |
| Cine Technician |
1937-1956 |
Industry |
| Cinegram |
1938-1939 |
Fan |
| Cinema |
1935-1957 |
Industry |
| Cinema Evening News |
1921-1922 |
Industry |
| Cinema Quarterly |
1932-1935 |
Industry |
| Cinema World Illustrated |
1927-1929 |
Industry |
| Cinematograph Times |
1928-1935 |
Industry |
| Cinematography & Biograph |
1906-1907 |
Industry |
| Commercial Film |
1935-1936 |
Industry |
| Daily Film Renter |
1933-1957 |
Industry |
| Edison Kinetogram |
1910-1913 |
In House |
| Empire Weekly News |
1933-1938 |
In House |
| Exhibitor's Pocket Record |
1914 |
Industry |
| Exhibitor's Guide & Kinema |
1914-1915 |
Industry |
| Express Overseas Mail |
1914-1916 |
In House |
| Famous Players Review |
1915 |
In House |
| Film Art |
1933-1937 |
Industry |
| Film Censor |
1912-1916 |
Industry |
| Film Flashes |
1915-1916 |
Fan |
| Film Pictorial |
1932-1939 |
Fan |
| Film Society Programmes |
1925-1939 |
In House |
| Film Weekly |
1928-1939 |
Fan |
| Films: Cinema Trade Journal |
1915-1923 |
Industry |
| Gaumont British News |
1930-1933 |
In House |
| Gaumont Weekly |
1913 |
Industry |
| Gebescope News |
1936-1938 |
In House |
| Hepworth Picture-Play Paper |
1916 |
In House |
| Home Movies & Home Talkies |
1932-1940 |
Industry |
| Illustrated Film Monthly |
1913-1914 |
Fan |
| J D Walkers World Film Cat. |
1913-1916 |
In House |
| Jour. Ass. of Cine Technicians |
1935-1991 |
Industry |
| Jour. Brit. Kinematograph Soc. |
1937-1947 |
Industry |
| Jour. of Photographic Society |
1923-1931 |
Industry |
| Journal of Television Society |
1931-1938 |
Industry |
| Kine Weekly |
1907-1971 |
Industry |
| Kinematograph Monthly Record |
1912-1922 |
Industry |
| Kinetradogram |
1913 |
Industry |
| Listener |
1929-1990 |
Industry |
| London Film Guide |
1935-1940 |
Industry |
| London Pictorial |
1932-1933 |
Fan |
| London Reporter |
1936 |
Industry |
| McCarthy Ratings |
1934-1939 |
In House |
| Metropolitan Motion Picture |
1937-1942 |
Industry |
| Monthly Film Bulletin |
1934-1991 |
Industry |
| Motion Picture Studio |
1921-1924 |
Industry |
| Moving Pictures Offered List |
1913-1918 |
Industry |
| Optical Magic Lantern Journal |
1889-1907 |
Industry |
| Paramount Service |
1928-1938 |
In House |
| Pathe Cine Journal |
1913-1914 |
In House |
| Pathe Weekly Bulletin |
1914-1915 |
In House |
| Pathescope Monthly |
1929-1937 |
In House |
| Photographic Review of Reviews |
1892-1893 |
Industry |
| Picture Plays |
1919-1920 |
Fan |
| Picture Show |
1919-1960 |
Fan |
| Picturegoer |
1921-1960 |
Fan |
| Pictures and the Picturegoer |
1913-1920 |
Fan |
| Projection Lantern & Cinemato. |
1906-1907 |
Industry |
| Radio Times |
1936- |
Industry |
| Review |
1915-1917 |
Fan |
| Rinking World & Picture Theatre |
1909-1910 |
Industry |
| Scottish Cinema |
1919-1920 |
Industry |
| Screen Pictorial |
1936-1939 |
Fan |
| Sight and Sound |
1932- |
Industry |
| Stoll Herald |
1921-1939 |
In House |
| Talbot Tatler |
1911-1915 |
In House |
| Talkie Magazine |
1933 |
Fan |
| Theatre and Film Illustrated |
1928-1930 |
Industry |
| Top-Line Indicator |
1912-1913 |
Industry |
| Transatlantic Review |
1913-1917 |
In House |
| Vitagraph Life Portrayals |
1913-1914 |
In House |
| Walturdaw's Weekly Budget |
1913-1914 |
In House |
some information from British Film
Institute & the London Project
