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Auction History Result 5s0075 RKO RADIO PICTURES 1938-39 campaign book 1938 Astaire & Rogers, Marx Bros, Disney, ultra rare! Date Sold 9/6/2020 Sold For: Login or Register to see sold price. An Original Vintage Campaign Book (measures 9 3/4" x 12 1/2" [25 x 32 cm]; 38 pages) (Learn More) RKO Radio Pictures 1938-39, the 1938 spiral-bound campaign book ("Show news from RKO-Radio") sent to theater owners to encourage them to show RKO movies. The book includes one and two-page spreads on RKO's upcoming movies and top stars. Some of the movies and stars listed include Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, The Marx Brothers (in Room Service), Virginia City, The Saint series, a page on Walt Disney showing Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, an ad for Cary Grant and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in an unnamed movie (which would end up being Gunga Din, but not made until 1939), and many more! There are a number of artwork ads, and quite a few are especially distinctive, and some have images that we have never seen before. We have included images of many of the two-page spreads (but we wish we could have photographed the entire book, because there are so many great images!). Note that even though this campaign book was sent to many theater owners, it appears that very few examples have survived. I have been a collector of campaign books and related material for many years, and I know for certain that this campaign book is extremely rare! Also note that, as was often the case with these campaign books, some of the movies advertised were either never made, had their titles changed before they were released, or were made with different casts than those announced in the campaign book (I do not have time to research the titles in this campaign book to see which had changed titles or were never made, but if anyone has more information about any of these, please e-mail us and we will post it here)! Note that studios almost always spent far more money preparing campaign books than they did preparing movie posters (often hiring very talented and well-known illustration artists), because campaign books directly benefited the studio in getting theaters to book the movies, whereas posters more benefited the theaters, rather than the studios (although of course, what was good for the theaters was ultimately good for the studios as well). Finally, note that campaign books in general are extremely rare, and the best of them have often sold for hundreds of dollars, and in the case of the very finest, thousands of dollars! NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography. Important Added Info: Note that we have never previously auctioned this campaign book, which is unusual, because the RKO campaign books of the mid to late 1930s and the ones from the early 1940s come up to auction more often than those of any other studio. We DID auction what looked like this campaign book, but which was removed from an exhibitor magazine, and that version, which we only auctioned one time, sold for $525! This campaign book has an unusual suede cover, and it is spiral-bound, and perhaps those two features help account for its rarity. Condition: fair. The book must have come into contact with moisture at some point, because the suede of the covers is deteriorating around the edges (and more so on the blank back cover), and when you hold the book in your hands, some of the reddish color from the suede comes off on your hands. This must have something to do with the red dye used to color the suede, and it is very significant in that I don't know how to reverse the process, so the book probably needs to have a dust jacket put over the suede to prevent the color from coming off further. Also, some of the interior pages have some faint brown staining. Otherwise, this incredibly rare book is in pretty good condition, but bear in mind the above significant defects before bidding on it. Learn More about condition grades 
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