In an effort to control the number of materials going
through it, the NSS instituted a date and coding system. The NSS had regional
offices set up throughout the country. All movie materials distributed
through the National Screen Service bore the NSS number.
The NSS number is usually found on the bottom border
of the poster, normally on the right side. It is found in the lower left
corner - see sample). To mid-1977, the NSS number consisted of two digits,
then a slash (/), and one to four numbers. The first two numbers indicated
the year of the release, the slash was a divider, and the last four digits
represented the sequential order of the movie for that year. For example,
an NSS number of 65/100 indicated that the movie was released in 1965,
and was the 100th movie title coded by NSS for the year 1965.
The NSS changed their numbering system during 1977.
The same numeric breakdown was used, but the slash (/) was eliminated.
The first two digits of the number represent the year the poster is released.
The last digits represent the sequential order of the release for the
particular year.
