According to MPW, the first production company to employ in-house poster designers was Metro, in 1915:
This full-page ad ran in the August 7, 1915 issue of MPW, calling into question the claims about Metro, (perhaps Vitagraph did not have in-house poster artists but contracted out?)
Lynde Denig conducted an interview with William Wright of the Kalem Company in the August 7, 1915 issue of The Moving Picture World on the subject of film lengths. The conversation led to Wright’s boasting of the merits of the company based, in part on the fine quality of its posters (which could be purchased from the General Film Company) as a selling point for the company to exhibitors:
Likewise, Essanay advertises special posters and (MPW July 31, 1915, p. 764):
Nonetheless, independent lithographers were still advertising posters and pendants in the pages of MPW in 1915. These three ads all appeared on the same ad-filled page of the August 7th issue
I’m not sure where to place this ad: but it appears that some distributors were still selling reels to exhibitors outright in 1915:
Kiss me / American Mutoscope and Biograph Company.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
United States : American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1904.
SUMMARY
Opens on a stage set of a street with a sidewalk and a high fence completely covered with female burlesque troupe posters. The four posters visible advertise actual contemporary burlesquers Fred Irwin’s Majestics, Rose Sydell (of her London Belles), Phil Sheridan’s New City Sports (with the tag line “Ain’t we three birds”), and the Rentz-Santley Co. One of the center posters–that for Rose Sydell–features an attractive woman with nude shoulders. Two well-dressed women pass along the sidewalk, glancing disapprovingly at the images covering the fence. They are followed by a woman and a younger girl, perhaps her daughter. The latter pauses to look at the Sydell poster; the older woman, looking back, reacts in horror at what she sees and drags the girl away. An older bearded gentleman then strolls by, enjoying an eyeful of the posters, and is about to walk off when he is drawn back to the woman in the Rose Sydell ad. He jumps as she seemingly comes to life and turns to look at him seductively, pursing her lips. The man rubs his eyes, but still the woman in the poster watches him. He finally puts on his eyeglasses and examines the girl closely. Unbeknownst to him, an older woman enters the scene. Shocked, she grabs the man by his ear and drags him away as he blows a kiss to the “poster.”
From Biograph bulletin no. 55: A high board fence is shown covered with theatrical posters. The one in the center shows the head and shoulders of a pretty girl. An old farmer and his wife are strolling along, the old gentleman being a little ahead. He looks at the picture of the girl and fancies he sees the eyes winking at him. He puts on his glasses to make sure that he is not dreaming, when the girl leans forward with an expression as if inviting him to have a kiss. The old man is about to take advantage of his delusion when his wife appears on the scene, and taking him by the ears rushes him away. 68 feet. Class B.
NOTES
Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 27Feb1904; H42803.
